Very Computer

by **Eric Warne** » Fri, 02 Apr 1999 04:00:00

Hello All,
I'm a Linux * getting to grips with Red Hat 5.2. I've
just tried my first kernel rebuild to bring me up to 2.2.2 (wow!) The
compile kept failing with the message:

"System is too big. Try using bzImage or modules."

The 'fail data' resulting was:

Boot 512 bytes
Setup 1288 bytes
System 522kB

So I did like the message said and tried 'bzImage'. This compiled with
no errors and actually works - hurrah! The odd thing is that the
resulting kernel is 540kB - but that doesn't seem to be "too big" any
more.

I just know the answer won't be this easy but - How big is a kernel
'allowed' to grow to before the system forces it to be a "bz" and is
there any way of knowing you've got there before the compile?

Yours somewhat confused,

Eric

--
Eric Warner

North Wales, UK.

by **Paul Kimo** » Fri, 02 Apr 1999 04:00:00

> "System is too big. Try using bzImage or modules."

> The 'fail data' resulting was:

> Boot 512 bytes
> Setup 1288 bytes
> System 522kB

> So I did like the message said and tried 'bzImage'. This compiled with
> no errors and actually works - hurrah! The odd thing is that the
> resulting kernel is 540kB - but that doesn't seem to be "too big" any
> more.

> I just know the answer won't be this easy but - How big is a kernel
> 'allowed' to grow to before the system forces it to be a "bz" and is
> there any way of knowing you've got there before the compile?

The answer probably _is_ easy (but I don't know it). You gave
the size of the compressed, bootable kernel image, but I believe
that "too big" (or not) refers to the _uncompressed_ kernel, which
is (roughly or exactly?) the file "vmlinux".

If "bzImage" boots on your machine, you might as well always use it.
Some kernel developers have asserted that "zImage" is obsolete.

--

Very Computer

Kernel Compile - How Big Is Too Big?

Kernel Compile - How Big Is Too Big?

Kernel Compile - How Big Is Too Big?