Figuring Out Your Needs
Choosing a Kernel

Content by Christian Hansen (original archived HERE). Edited by Major Tom.
Last content update: 29 Mar 2001

Note: Most files linked from these pages are missing unfortunately.
Disclaimer: The information presented here is decades old and relevant only for legacy linux distros.


There is a few things to consider, before you download one of the kernels below:

Size: Be sure not to pick a kernel too large to fit with the rest on the diskette. This can of course be tricky, if you don't have a filelist.

Device Drivers: At least your harddisk controller should be supported.

Kernel Version: It is always a good idea to go for a version matching the one used by your distro. On the other hand, the latest device driver for IBM SCSI is in 2.2.18. If you plan to do serious networking, it is a good idea to go above 2.0.x. Masquerading and firewalling using *ipchains*, requires a 2.2.x.

Warning! File extensions are *.exe, to force your browser to treat the file as a binary, and not a text file that could be corrupted during download. Use right-click and save-as. When download is completed, rename the file to vmlinuz, before transfer to your Linux system.

KernelDistroDevices supported
2.2.18N/A 603KB State of the art. Latest 3.2 ibmmca scsi. Built in D-Link DE-320CT. (+3C529 and 3C523).
Fits exactly into RedHat 6.0 netboot.img.
D-Link users: At hardware install, BIOS defaults to BNC. Boot from reference diskette to change to RJ45.
2.2.18N/A 797KBState of the art. Latest 3.2 ibmmca scsi. Check what's inside.

Content created and/or collected by:
Louis F. Ohland, Peter H. Wendt, David L. Beem, William R. Walsh, Tatsuo Sunagawa, Tomáš Slavotínek, Jim Shorney, Tim N. Clarke, Kevin Bowling, and many others.

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