SEO

Hi all,

Work-related problem. I wasn't here when the system architecture
was put in place, but have been told at different times that we are
using "Slackware" or "Linux From Scratch." From what little is
available at the LFS website, apparently it's possible that the two
are the same, so here I am. If someone knows otherwise, please feel
free to direct me to a more appropriate group for this question.

Scenario: I download source code for the rt2570 driver for Linksys
USB Wifi adapter. Compile it, no problem. Install it, no problem.
Go to try to load it (with insmod) and get errors in kernel log as
follows:

rt2570: disagrees about version of symbol copy_from_user
rt2570: Unknown symbol copy_from_user
rt2570: disagrees about version of symbol copy_to_user
rt2570: Unknown symbol copy_to_user

This seems contradictory. Are the symbols there, but wrongly
versioned -- or are they missing? In either case, how can I fix
them? Read on...

I've tried to find info on the Web but haven't found much. One
place says that this error means that a data structure, or function
signature, was declared one way and used another way, introducing
potential driver/kernel incompatibliities, and that the loader is
(rightfully!) protecting me from the consequences. Another place says
that the module wasn't compiled under the same version of the kernel
as where I'm trying to load it.

I'm pretty sure it's not that latter case: I recently recompiled
the kernel from the same source code against which I just compiled the
driver.

So, can anyone confirm, refute, or shed further light on, what any
of this means, and what I can do to overcome it? Thanks in advance.

Oh, I should mention that we're running version 2.6.15.2 of the
kernel, for historical reasons, and that it is not really in my power
to change that at this time. Later, perhaps, but not now.

Also, please reply right here, not to my e-mail, because the e-mail
address you may see here is no longer valid. Gotta get me a new
Google Groups account I guess. :-p

Thanks again,

Chris

On Fri, 9 May 2008, Chris wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Work-related problem. I wasn't here when the system architecture
> was put in place, but have been told at different times that we are
> using "Slackware" or "Linux From Scratch." From what little is
> available at the LFS website, apparently it's possible that the two
> are the same, so here I am. If someone knows otherwise, please feel
> free to direct me to a more appropriate group for this question.
>
"Linux From Scratch" means precisely that, starting from scratch. You
do end up having to bootstrap with something in order to get a basic
system running that you can then compile things on top of, but it's
the antithesis of a distribution.

Slackware is a Linux distribution. All the work is done, you just
have to install it.

The only relevance the latter would have to the former is if Slackware
was used to provide the initial system to create the actual Linux
from scratch.

All you have to do is look in /etc. If it's Slackware, there should
be a file named "slackware-version", and looking in there will tell
you which version.

Obviously, such a file could be deleted, but there's little reason to
do so.

Obviously also, such a file would not be there if it is Linux from
scratch, or if it's some other distribution, which would have
its own system for marking itself.

Michael