I seem to be an idiot. I wanted to add sound to by Woody install, and figured I needed to build me a kernel (to add isapnp which seems not to be there by default). The kernel (2.2.20) that installed with the woody installer used the RTL8139 loadable module, and worked great.
I followed the "make-kpkg" instructions, determined to build a kernel the "Debian Way." When I went to install it, I did not back up the modules and ignored warnings about the modules, and SURPRISE! The rtl8139 modules fail to load due to unresolved symbols. MY incorrect assumption was that since I was rebuilding mostly the same kernel, I shouldn't have an issue to reuse the old modules. Well, that was wrong. Worse, I can't get make-kpkg modules_install to work. I'm not sure exactly which source I need in /usr/src/modules, and the make process seems to error out every time. Of course, the system is off the air (no ethernet) so I can't cut and paste exact messages 8-( So the way I see it I have several ways to unhose myself, but can't find good docs on the best way to proceed: 1) Get the right source somewhere and compile and install the kernel right. 2) Punt, and revert to the stock kernel [1] I have booted the "rescue" disk but it also fails to work (same unresolved symbols problem). I guess I need to better understand how the boot process and module linking works 8-( I can't apt-get anything since I wiped the ethernet out 8-( I'm feeling dumb. I also assumed (hoped?) that dpkg would have backed up the old kernel for me as part of the process. I wish the kernel build process FAQ had a section on "you've screwed yourself! *NOW* what do you do?" I hate to wipe and reinstall but I'm on the brink of that 8-( I guess Debian isn't for wimps. [1] Is it easy to add an isa PNP sound card to the kernel without a recompile? ESS 1869, for the curious. I was thinking perhaps I should revert to the stock kernel and try to install ALSA. Whee.
