[PlanetCCRMA] updated: new planetcore components (kernel/alsa)

[Fernando Pablo Lopez-Lezcano]

[I have not updated the web site yet, I'll wait till the packages move
to their final destination for that, you get the "avant premiere" in
this list]

So, here it is. This is a new release of the planetcore components of
the Planet CCRMA package collection. For a few days these packages will
live in the "planetedge" repository so they can get a bit more testing
from Planet CCRMA users elsewhere in the world, after that they will
move to the "planetcore" repository replacing the current core
components (I have all new packages running on all machines here at
CCRMA). 

There are two kernels and matching sets of alsa drivers, the Planet
CCRMA kernel (best latency) and the RedHat capabilities enabled kernel
(best compatibility). The Planet CCRMA kernel is now (hopefully) more
compatible with the original RedHat kernel, see below for more details. 

If you want to try the latest and greatest:

a) add the following line to your /etc/atp/sources.list file
   for RedHat 7.3 (all in one line):
   rpm http://www-ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/apt redhat/7.3/en/i386
planetedge
   for RedHat 8.0 (all in one line):
   rpm http://www-ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/apt redhat/8.0/en/i386
planetedge
   for RedHat 9 (all in one line):
   rpm http://www-ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/apt redhat/9/en/i386
planetedge

(the mirrors will need a day or so to sync)

b) apt-get update

c) install the desired core components:
   for the Planet CCRMA kernel and alsa drivers (all in one line):
      apt-get -o RPM::Install-Options::=--oldpackage install
planetccrma-core
   or for multiprocessor machines (all in one line)
      apt-get -o RPM::Install-Options::=--oldpackage install
planetccrma-core-smp
   for the capabilities enabled RedHat kernel (all in one line):
      apt-get -o RPM::Install-Options::=--oldpackage install
planetccrma-core-redhat
   or (all in one line)
      apt-get -o RPM::Install-Options::=--oldpackage install
planetccrma-core-redhat-smp

Caveats:

* after testing that it works edit /boot/grub/grub.conf and make it the
default kernel

* when you first start the new alsa you may get errors when reloading
your existing mixer configuration because the control names or locations
may have changed since the last upgrade. If that happens you can use
alsamixer (or gamix or qamix) to make sure the configuration is to your
liking and store it again using "/usr/sbin/alsactl store". On the next
alsa restart the configuration should load without problems. 

Feedback welcome...
Enjoy!
-- Fernando


PS: what's new???

---- Planet CCRMA kernel 2.4.22-6.ll[smp] ----

* based on official 2.4.22 release
* acpi is now part of the official kernel tree so I dropped the "acpi"
  suffix. It is official now so probably all bugs are gone :-) As usual
  you can disable acpi by adding "acpi=off" in the kernel boot line.

This is the list of core patches, pretty much the same as for the older
kernel:

- capabilities patch
- preemptible kernel patch
- low latency patch (enabled through proc)
- read latency tuning
- desktop tuning 1 and 2
- HZ=1000
- drm updates from the redhat kernel
- drm low latency patch
- dma support for cdrom audio extraction

- NEW: lm_sensors 2.6.5 kernel modules
- NEW: nfs patches (2.4.22 was not very reliable in that respect)
- NEW: usb fix for unicorn usb drivers

I added the following drivers and fixes from RedHat, this should make
the Planet CCRMA kernel a little bit more compatible with the RedHat
kernel (caveat: this is untested as I don't have the hardware that
requires it - the kernel builds and runs, that's it :-):

- wvlan_cs driver
- orinoco_old_cs driver
- laptop battery improvements for Gericom/Advent laptops
- generic drivers/addon infrastructure
- dell megarac remote access cards driver
- broadcom 5820 driver
- iSCSI driver
- cipe 1.4.5 kernel modules
- qla2x00 driver
- aep ssl accelerator card
- feral qlogic driver
- ecc reporting module
- backport of the 2.5 edd feature to find the boot device

---- RedHat kernel 2.4.20-20.1.caps ----

This is the latest release of the RedHat kernel with the capabilities
patch added. 

---- ALSA driver 0.9.6-2.cvs ----

New version of the ALSA drivers, based on ALSA CVS of 2003/08/25