#use wml::debian::template title="Errata: Running Linux 2.2.x in slink"

This page documents known problems with running the Linux 2.2.x kernel in Debian 2.1 (slink).

The slink release is certified and officially tested for use with the late 2.0.x Linux kernels. Since the freeze of Debian occurred before Linux 2.2's release, and the change of the kernel's major version number can introduce complex issues, it was decided to stick with the proven 2.0 line of kernels.

Debian releases, however, are not necessarily kernel version bound. You may run any kernel you wish in Debian. We simply can give no assurances, however, that everything will function properly. If you do decide to move up to the Linux 2.2 line, and experience problems with a package, you may have luck running the ``unstable'' (potato) version of that package.

The kernel-source-2.2.1 package is shipped in the distribution to aid users who want to run the Linux 2.2.x kernels. However, it is recommended that you check the standard kernel distribution sites, such as kernel.org, for newer versions of the 2.2.x source tree and additional errata. There are known bugs in 2.2.1, and that version is known to have caused data corruption for some. You should get the patches for the newer 2.2 series kernel and apply them to the Linux kernel source tree.

Potentially Problematic Packages

Note that this list is incomplete. Please submit a bug against www.debian.org if you find other problems not listed. Check the bug logs for the package in question as well as well; try to make sure that the problem was introduced in Linux 2.2.

sysutils
procinfo suffers from a segmentation fault. The version from unstable fixes this.
netbase
In Linux 2.2, ipautofw must be replaced by ipmasqadm and ipfwadm is replaced with ipchains. The ``unstable'' netbase package contains a wrapper script, ipfwadm-wrapper, to ease the transition.

ifconfig won't show aliases interfaces, and ipchains doesn't always clear packet counters. Some routes built by the the netbase init scripts will cause harmless warning messages.

All of these issues are solved in the unstable version.

pcmcia-source
The version pcmcia-source in slink cannot be compiled with the 2.2 kernel. Fixed in the unstable version.
dhcpcd
Breaks for Linux 2.2, use the unstable version.
dhcp-client-beta
The /etc/dhclient-script doesn't work with 2.2. The version from unstable fixes this.
wanpipe
Version 2.0.1, in slink, is incompatible with the 2.2. kernels. Version 2.0.4 and up, which you can get from unstable, will work for the 2.2 kernels, but not with the 2.0 kernels (a kernel patch for 2.0 is included in the unstable version, however).
lsof
There doesn't seem to be a version of lsof which works with the 2.2 kernels.
acct
The accounting structure has changed in the 2.2 kernel. Hopefully a package that works with the new kernel will be available soon.
isdnutils
isdnutils 3.0 or greater in Debian should work with both 2.0.x and 2.1.x kernels. This is only the case because the Debian package maintainer took special trouble to make sure this is the case. Other distributions may not be so lucky.
diald
The slink diald package has problems creating routes dynamically in Linux 2.2. There is not yet a version which fixes this in potato.