Issue
I'm new to the kernel community and I'm learning how to compile and install the Linux kernel, but I'm unable to install it. I'm running a 6 core Ryzen 5 and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, and I'm using gcc for my compiler. My current kernel version is 5.11.0-38-generic and I'm trying to compile and install version 5.14.14. I'm using Greg Kroah Heartman's Linux Kernel in a nutshell as a guide. First I download the most recent mainline kernel from kernel.org. Then, I run make menuconfig to generate a .config for my system. Next, I run make -j12 to compile the kernel, which runs fine and doesn't return any errors. I've been running into trouble with installing it. After running make install I get the following error output:
arch/x86/Makefile:148: CONFIG_X86_X32 enabled but no binutils support
sh ./arch/x86/boot/install.sh \
5.14.14 arch/x86/boot/bzImage \
System.map "/boot"
*** Missing file: arch/x86/boot/bzImage
*** You need to run "make" before "make install".
make[1]: *** [arch/x86/boot/Makefile:161: install] Error 1
make: *** [arch/x86/Makefile:280: install] Error 2
install.sh is telling me that there is no bzImage file in my arch directory. I checked and indeed the file is missing. I tried looking up "missing bzImage file" but couldn't find anything helpful. Why isn't make generating a big zImage file?
Solution
I tried Justin Iurman's recommendation in the above comment and it worked for installing the kernel. I needed to run make bzImage before make. I had to edit one line in the config file before make bzImage was successful. However, sudo make install gave some strange output:
arch/x86/Makefile:148: CONFIG_X86_X32 enabled but no binutils support
sh ./arch/x86/boot/install.sh \
5.14.14 arch/x86/boot/bzImage \
System.map "/boot"
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/apt-auto-removal 5.14.14 /boot/vmlinuz-5.14.14
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms 5.14.14 /boot/vmlinuz-5.14.14
* dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 5.14.14 Error! Your kernel headers for kernel 5.14.14 cannot be found.
Please install the linux-headers-5.14.14 package,
or use the --kernelsourcedir option to tell DKMS where it's located
Error! Your kernel headers for kernel 5.14.14 cannot be found.
Please install the linux-headers-5.14.14 package,
or use the --kernelsourcedir option to tell DKMS where it's located
[ OK ]
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools 5.14.14 /boot/vmlinuz-5.14.14
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.14.14
W: missing /lib/modules/5.14.14
W: Ensure all necessary drivers are built into the linux image!
depmod: ERROR: could not open directory /lib/modules/5.14.14: No such file or directory
depmod: FATAL: could not search modules: No such file or directory
cat: /var/tmp/mkinitramfs_lEKSEC/lib/modules/5.14.14/modules.builtin: No such file or directory
depmod: WARNING: could not open modules.order at /var/tmp/mkinitramfs_lEKSEC/lib/modules/5.14.14: No such file or directory
depmod: WARNING: could not open modules.builtin at /var/tmp/mkinitramfs_lEKSEC/lib/modules/5.14.14: No such file or directory
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/unattended-upgrades 5.14.14 /boot/vmlinuz-5.14.14
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/update-notifier 5.14.14 /boot/vmlinuz-5.14.14
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/xx-update-initrd-links 5.14.14 /boot/vmlinuz-5.14.14
I: /boot/initrd.img.old is now a symlink to initrd.img-5.11.0-38-generic
I: /boot/initrd.img is now a symlink to initrd.img-5.14.14
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub 5.14.14 /boot/vmlinuz-5.14.14
Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub'
Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub.d/init-select.cfg'
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.14.14
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.14.14
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.11.0-38-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.11.0-38-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.11.0-37-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.11.0-37-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.elf
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
done
It seems that although I was able to install the kernel, it didn't boot properly, but since my question was on installing the kernel, I'll mark this question closed.
Answered By - David Chidester