Baslinux mailing list

[Sindi Keesan <keesan AT iamjlamb.com>]

> > ># You may specify a kernel with the following variables.
> > >#  KERN_INCLUDE  The include directory for the target kernel.
> > >#  MODULEDIR     The directory where netdriver modules should be 
> > >installed.
> > 
> > KERN_INCLUDE=/usr/src/linux-2.2.16/include
> > MODULEDIR=/lib/modules/2.2.16/misc
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > Steven
> 
> Thanks, Steven.  Do I need to install ALL of the kernel source or just the
> kernel headers for 2.2.16 (which I think are in that /include directory)?
> 
> Sindi
> 

At the scyld site there are also instructions on how to compile modules 
using the provided source code.   Here is an extract from that page, and I 
do need to install the entire kernel source code, apparently.  Ugh.  There 
is no mention below of needing to use the Makefile that is in the network 
directory along with the driver source code.


This site is for PCI fast ethernet cards (the slower ones seem to be 
already available for SW71).
   
   [12]Network Drivers
   [13]Network Driver Updates
   [14]Gigabit Ethernet - Hamachi
   [15]Gigabit Ethernet - Yellowfin
   [16]Tulip NIC Architecture
   [17]3Com Vortex Ethercards
   [18]Intel PCI EEPro 100 Series
   [19]SMSC "Epic" Series
   [20]RealTek RTL8139
   [21]Other Linux PCI Drivers
   [22]PCI NE2000 Cards
   [23]3Com 3c515
   [24]3Com EtherLink III Series
   [25]RTL8002/RTL8012 Driver
   [26]Tulip Driver Development
   [27]Tulip Media
   [28]Ethercard Diagnostics
   [29]EtherLink III Series Setup
   [30]Wake on LAN under Linux
   [31]Atlantic Setup
   [32]MII Transceiver Status
   [33]Gigabit and 100Mbps
   [34]Solving PCI IRQ Problems
   [35]Driver Licensing
   [36]Auto-Negotiation Intro
   [37]Drivers as Kernel Modules
   [38]Linux USB Drivers
   [39]Linux USB Ethernet
   [40]Linux USB Tuner Support


Compiling a Device Driver Module


   If a pre-compiled module is not available, you'll have to compile one
   from the driver source code, or the source code RPM (SRPM). In the
   instructions below driver.c refers to the name of the driver source
   file for your device e.g. 3c59x.c, and driver.o refers to the compiled
   driver module binary.
     * Verify that the source code for your current kernel version is
       installed.

[If it is not on the Slackware 7.1 CD I quit here!  If I have it maybe I 
can compile my own kernel for fun, with sound support and with ppp and 
slhc built in.]

     * If you don't have a /usr/include/linux/version.h file, do
       cd /usr/src/linux; make include/linux/version.h
     * Copy the driver source code to a source directory. I usually use
       /usr/src/modules/driver.c.
     * Compile the file using the compile-command at the bottom of the
       driver source file. If a compile-command is not there use the
       following compile command:
gcc -DMODULE -D__KERNEL__ -O6 -c driver.c

[This differs in a few ways from the instructions I ran across somewhere 
else - no -W (warning), -06 instead of -02, and nothing here about 
-isystem.  I think a Makefile does something similar and you just type 
make instead of specifying it all on one line after gcc.  At yet another 
site it says not to compile this as root.]

     * As 'root', test the module by doing "insmod driver.o".
[I wonder if whoever compiled the module before skipped this step]

     * Install the driver module in the proper location for your
       distribution. This is usually
       /lib/modules/kernel-version/net/driver.o. The command to do this
       is
    install -m 644 driver.o /lib/modules/`uname -r`/net/

[For BL2 do I need a /net/ directory or can I just copy my .o file to 
2.2.16/misc/? What is this `uname -r` and install -m business?]

Possible problems and solutions

   If you get an "linux/version.h no such file or directory" message when
   compiling the driver, you either have not installed the kernel source
   code, or you haven't run
        cd /usr/src/linux; make include/linux/version.h

   yet. Most modern distributions install the essential header files of
   the kernel source code, including a pre-built "version.h", so this
   isn't always necessary.

   If you get a "modversions.h not found" message when compiling the
   driver, delete '-DMODVERSIONS' from the command used to compile the
   driver module.

Testing the New Module

   As 'root', load the module using "insmod driver.o" and execute the
   appropriate 'route add -net ...' for your local network.

   If the networking works correctly, add the module to your system
   configuration. For Slackware and most other systems, add the insmod
   command to /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 or /etc/rc.d/rc.local. RedHat users
   should add the insmod line to /etc/rc.d/rc.modules or copy driver.o to
   /lib/modules/`uname -r`/net/ and add the following line to
   /etc/conf.modules:
  alias eth0 driver

[I think this loads the module when you boot and is optional.]
.....
References

   1. http://www.scyld.com/index.html