Installing System Upgrades

Think Differently. Think MkLinux

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Installing newer versions of the operating system.

David Gatwood coordinates kernel development for MkLinux and provides regular updates to the system. See the Kernel Updates Page for the latest system versions.

There are four major components to MkLinux which may need to be swapped out when upgrading to a new version.

• Mach Kernel
• vmlinux server
• System.map
• default_pager

The Mach Kernel talks to the hardware. This is the microkernel behind the "Mk" in MkLinux. On Macintosh systems, it is stored in the Extensions folder of your MacOS startup disk.

The vmlinux server provides the operating system functionality. This file is stored on the root partition of your Linux system in the /mach_servers directory.

System.map is a text file containing information used internally by vmlinux. The system will function without this file, but it aides in tracking down problems. You should keep this file up to date with your vmlinux server. Like the file vmlinux, the System.map file is stored on the root partition in the /mach_servers directory.

The default_pager does not change frequently and can usually be skipped. This is the server which handles virtual memory management under MkLinux.

There are two options for installing an upgrade. (Choose one)

• Using MkLinux only
  There is a small chance that this could corrupt your Mac OS system disk.
• Using MacOS and MkLinux
  This is the safe way to guarantee no file system corruption for Mac or MkLinux.

Using MkLinux only

• Download the files.
  Using your favorite file transfer utility, obtain new copies of the Mach_Kernel.gz, vmlinux.gz and System.map.gz files.
• Uncompress the files.
  Use gunzip to uncompress the new files.
  
  gunzip Mach_Kernel.gz vmlinux.gz System.map.gz
  
• Become the root user
  From here on, you will need to be the superuser to upgrade the system.
• Mount your Mac OS System disk
  Use hfsutils to mount the bootable mac partition, either with the command line or with xhfs.
  
  hmount /dev/sdXX
  
  Where 'XX' denotes the drive letter and the partition number of the HFS volume holding your System Folder. If you do not recall the partition number, use pdisk to examine your disk partition table. It is generally better to err on the side of caution and not use the linux kernel HFS code to write to your system disk.
• Change into the Extensions folder
  
  hcd ":System Folder:Extensions"
  
  This is where you must place the new Mach Kernel.
• Back up or delete your old Mach Kernel
  If you want a backup version of the Mach Kernel (always a good idea) you can rename your current version with
  
  hrename "Mach Kernel" "Mach Kernel - backup"
  
  If you have a previous backup you can delete it using
  
  hdel ":Mach Kernel - backup"
• Copy Mach_Kernel to your Extensions folder
  Use the following command to copy and rename the Mach_Kernel file into Extensions folder.
  
  hcopy -r Mach_Kernel ":Mach Kernel"
  
  The MkLinux booter will not recognize the Mach Kernel unless it is named "Mach Kernel" with a space not an underscore.
• Install the vmlinux and System.map files
  The uncompressed vmlinux and System.map files belong in the /mach_servers directory. You should rename the old files to vmlinux.old and System.map.old, just in case the new versions don't work on your machine, and cp the new files into this directory. If you are installing a new version of the default_pager or mach_init, they also belong in this directory.
• Reboot the machine.
  Use shutdown -r now to reboot the system.

Using the MacOS and MkLinux

• Download files in binary mode to your machine.
  All of these files are linux binaries, even those which are placed in the Macintosh System folder. It is important to prevent the automatic conversion of some characters which can take place during file transfers.
• Uncompress the file Mach_Kernel.gz
  The file was compressed with the utility, gzip. There are several applications which can be used to decompress the file, MacGzip, Stuffit Deluxe, etc.
• Rename the file to "Mach Kernel"
  It is important that the file have precisely this name in order for the booter to find it. Be sure to replace the underscore, '_', in the name with a space.
• Place the file in your Extensions folder.
  The file "Mach Kernel" is not a Macintosh extension, so the Mac OS will not recognize it if you simply drop it on System Folder. You must place the file in your Extensions folder yourself.
• Reboot into MkLinux
  At this point you will have the new Mach Kernel installed and an older vmlinux. There is no guarantee that this will work. One reason you might want to do things this way would be if you cannot download the files from within MkLinux.
• Mount the HFS partition
  As the root user, use either hfsutils or mount the hfs partition read-only.
  
  hmount /dev/sdXX
  or
  mount -t hfs -r /dev/sdXX /mnt/mac
  
  Where 'XX' refers to the drive letter and partition number of the HFS volume containing the vmlinux and System.map files. The mount command expects a mount point (here called /mnt/mac), but the hmount command does not expect one.
• Copy the vmlinux server and System.map files
  Use hcopy or cp to move the new files onto your linux partition if you mount your HFS volume with hmount or mount respectively. Use gunzip to uncompress the files, if you have not already done this.
• Unmount the HFS volume.
  Use
  
  humount
  or
  umount /mnt/mac
  
  to unmount your HFS volume if you originally mounted the volume using hmount or mount respectively.
• Install the vmlinux and System.map files
  The uncompressed vmlinux and System.map files belong in the /mach_servers directory. You should rename the old files in this directory to vmlinux.old and System.map.old, just in case the new versions don't work on your machine, and cp the new files to this location. If you are installing a new version of the default_pager or mach_init, they also belong in this directory.
• Reboot the machine.
  Use shutdown -r now to reboot the system and try out your new kernel/server pair.