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Kernel 2.6.32.1-deadlock released for Debian/Ubuntu (Deadlock)

robert — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:33:00 +0000

Yesterday, the kernel development team have released kernel version 2.6.32.1. As I was looking at the ChangeLog from kernel.org website, I have noticed that there are not much changes to this kernel, besides tons of fixed for ext4 file system. It seems the previous kernel, 2.6.32, had some regression when it came to ext4 file system. I’m not really sure how much of the issues were solved regarding the ext4 file system, but I hope it did improve, as there was some performance losses because of this.

The packages build now, also included the same goodies like the previous kernel packages, but with some updates. First of all, like in all of the kernel builds, acerhdf module was updated to version 0.5.22 (Acer Aspire One Fan control module), coretemp fixed to support also Intel Atom processors, added unionfs support, btrfs support (kind of an experimental version), ureadahead patch, and of course a very custom kernel configuration.

The kernel was build totally different than the other versions build by me and it suppose to be more stable, faster and responsive. I have test the new build on my laptops and it does seem to have a performance upgrade, if I can call it like that.

The installation instruction I wont write like always, but I will tell you from where you can get the packages or kernel source code in case you wanna build this kernel yourself. To download the deb packages, please go to http://dl.robertalks.com/kernel/2.6.32.1-deadlock/ (US/CA mirror) or http://mirror.visualserver.org/kernel/2.6.32.1-deadlock/ (CZ/EU mirror) and for the kernel source code and kernel configuration go to http://dl.robertalks.com/kernel/source/ (US/CA mirror) or http://mirror.visualserver.org/kernel/source/ (CZ/EU mirror)

Kernel 2.6.32-final for Debian/Ubuntu is here!

robert — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:52:00 +0000

Today, the kernel development team has release the stable version of the kernel 2.6.32. This version should include a lot of bug fixes, improvements and added functionality and drivers. Like usual, when there is a kernel release, I also do a kernel package release, which in this case is called “final“, as its a major and stable release of a new kernel tree, 2 6.32. I’m not gonna talk too much about the this kernel release, but I will talk about the package which includes this kernel. To find what actually has changed in this kernel version, I would recommend all of you to read the change log from http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.32.

One major, or important patch to this kernel build is ureadahead (über-readahead), which also is included in Ubuntu 9.10 kernel and OS. If you didn’t know, Ubuntu has moved away from sreadahead in favor of ureadahead, but the patch was only for kernel 2.6.31. Other important add-on’s are, acerhdf kernel module (0.5.20) for Acer Aspire One netbook fan control, coretemp support for Intel Atom processor, but this time I haven’t patch it myself, as it is fixed within the kernel module and a custom kernel configuration for a much more responsive and stable system.

Also, Selinux and Apparmor are removed, plus a lot of hacking option from the kernel. This should make the kernel itself smaller, more responsive and faster, but my tests are limited to 2 laptops/desktops, so I will need you guys to test and play with this kernel build to see how is holding up.

To install this new kernel packages, you need to use dpkg and of course to download at least linux-image-2.6.32-final_1_i386.deb package from http://dl.robertalks.com/kernel/2.6.32-final/ (US/CA) or http://mirror.visualserver.org/kernel/2.6.32-final/ (CZ) and if you are thinking of building you own kernel, maybe for a different Linux distribution or just because you want to, you can download the source code and kernel config file from http://dl.robertalks.com/kernel/source/ (US/CA) or http://mirror.visualserver.org/kernel/source/ (CZ).

Update: The debian package were rebuild using an older version of libc6, which will allow users with older version of Ubuntu/Debian to use this kernel.

Update: I’ve build a new kernel 2.6.32 named final-union with unionfs file system support. Can be found in the same place and if you need or use unionfs that you should download the packages. If not, the just ignore this update.

Preview kernel 2.6.31.6 with ureadahead patch (2.6.31.6-bullet) for Ubuntu/Debian.

robert — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:55:45 +0000

This is not a full release of the normal kernel packages or this not a new kernel version. Its the same 2.6.31.6 kernel, but with über-readahead (ureadahead) patch. Also is a preview because to be honest I’m not 100% sure that is gonna work fine.

I haven’t fully tested this kernel with the new patch, so I can’t really say how good or bad it is, but all of you, who use Ubuntu 9.10 should try to move to this kernel as yesterday the guys from Ubuntu added to the main repositories ureadahead, the replacement of sreadahead. So to be able to use it, you will need this kernel.

Please download it and install it and use it, so I can be 100% sure it works fine on other desktops/laptops/netbooks.

To download the package please go to: http://dl.robertalks.com/kernel/2.6.31.6-bullet/.

Update: In case ureadahead was installed, but never ran, you will need to create the pack file /var/lib/ureadahead/pack manually. For this you will need to run this command: sudo ureadahead -v (to see whats going on).

Kernel 2.6.31.6-dragonfly released for Debian/Ubuntu (Dragonfly)

robert — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:53:22 +0000

Not so long ago the kernel development team release kernel 2.6.31.5 and now 2.6.31.6, well actually yesterday, but who’s counting. Normally I wouldn’t build and release any packages from this kernel tree due to a lot of regression and not as much speed and stability. But since version 2.6.31.5, seems that a lot of parts of the kernel where fixed and works much more smoother then before. Also, I successfully patch this version with sreadahead, which gave me quite a big headache, well more or less a day it took me to create the patch and configure the kernel so it would really work with sreadahead. To find what actually has changed in this kernel version, I would recommend all of you to read the change log from http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.31.6.

In this release, like in the previous ones, you get the same goodies, acerhdf module (0.5.20) for Acer Aspire One netbooks, coretemp patch for Intel Atom processors, enabling of kernel mode settings for Intel i915 video driver plus a custom kernel configuration to run a bit more faster and smoother. The kernel mode settings will help those of you who use a newer version of Ubuntu/Debian, also will improve the booting screen, not so much flickering as before.

Also, to not forget, I have remove from e1000e module (driver for Intel Ethernet controllers) a very annoying error reporting, which seems to be harmless. The guys called it AER (Advanced Error Reporting), but the only thing you would get would be some kernel error similar to this: pci_enable_pcie_error_reporting failed 0xOFFFFF. The error appeared in kernel version 2.6.30, which never affected the Intel ethernet adapter.

To install this new kernel packages, you need to use dpkg and of course to download at least linux-image-2.6.31.6-dragonfly_1_i386.deb package from http://dl.robertalks.com/kernel/2.6.31.6-dragonfly/ (US/CA) or http://mirror.visualserver.org/kernel/2.6.31.6-dragonfly/ (CZ) and if you are thinking of building you own kernel, maybe for a different Linux distribution or just because you want to, you can download the source code and kernel config file from http://dl.robertalks.com/kernel/source/ (US/CA) or http://mirror.visualserver.org/kernel/source/ (CZ).

Please test this new kernel packages, play with them, abuse them and in case of any issues please drop me a comment or mail.

Ceers!