# How do I compile a kernel in SLED11 SP2? **URL:** \ **Category:** SLED Updates\ **Created:** [May 4, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/how-do-i-compile-a-kernel-in-sled11-sp2/22586 "2012-05-04T22:54:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kriswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@kriswood](https://forums.suse.com/u/kriswood)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/how-do-i-compile-a-kernel-in-sled11-sp2/22586/1 "2012-05-04T22:54:43Z")
I’ve been asked to test a staging driver in the latest kernel to see if it’s stable. The environment I need to test it in is SLED11 SP2. I’ve been using Linux for many many years, but have never had an occasion to use staging drivers (or compile a kernel) in the past and could use some pointers. I’m following this tutorial: [http://www.howtoforge.com/kernel\_compilation\_suse](http://www.howtoforge.com/kernel_compilation_suse) The staging drivers I need to test are in this kernel: [http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.0/testing/linux-3.4-rc5.tar.bz2](http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.0/testing/linux-3.4-rc5.tar.bz2) My first question is, do I need to compile the whole kernel to see if one driver works? If so I have some questions about the tutorial. The tutorial says to install ncurses-devel, which isn’t on the DVD. This system is not registered so YAST isn’t getting anything off the online repos. I used the version for OpenSUSE 11.1 here: ftp://rpmfind.net/linux/opensuse/distribution/11.1/repo/oss/suse/x86\_64/ncurses-devel-5.6-89.16.x86\_64.rpm Will this work for SLED11? If not, do I need to register in order to get the correct ncurses-devel for this system? Using the version of ncurses-devel that I am everything goes fine until compiling the RPM. There are no errors but the resulting RPM is for the same kernel version as comes with SP2 (that being 3.0.13-0.27) rather than 3.4-rc5. I double checked to make sure I ran make from the correct directory, I’m not sure what went wrong, any ideas? When trying to install the resulting RPM I get hundreds of conflicts with existing packages of the same version numbers. What do I do about these? ---
**Author:** ![malcolmlewis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/malcolmlewis/32/11375_2.png) [@malcolmlewis](https://forums.suse.com/u/malcolmlewis)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/how-do-i-compile-a-kernel-in-sled11-sp2/22586/2 "2012-05-05T00:41:27Z")
> [@kriswood](#): > > I’ve been asked to test a staging driver in the latest kernel to see if > it’s stable. The environment I need to test it in is SLED11 SP2. I’ve > been using Linux for many many years, but have never had an occasion to > use staging drivers (or compile a kernel) in the past and could use some > pointers. > > I’m following this tutorial: > [http://www.howtoforge.com/kernel\_compilation\_suse](http://www.howtoforge.com/kernel_compilation_suse) > > The staging drivers I need to test are in this kernel: > [http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.0/testing/linux-3.4-rc5.tar.bz2](http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.0/testing/linux-3.4-rc5.tar.bz2) > > My first question is, do I need to compile the whole kernel to see if > one driver works? If so I have some questions about the tutorial. > > The tutorial says to install ncurses-devel, which isn’t on the DVD. > This system is not registered so YAST isn’t getting anything off the > online repos. I used the version for OpenSUSE 11.1 here: > ftp://rpmfind.net/linux/opensuse/distribution/11.1/repo/oss/suse/x86\_64/ncurses-devel-5.6-89.16.x86\_64.rpm > > Will this work for SLED11? If not, do I need to register in order to > get the correct ncurses-devel for this system? > > Using the version of ncurses-devel that I am everything goes fine until > compiling the RPM. There are no errors but the resulting RPM is for the > same kernel version as comes with SP2 (that being 3.0.13-0.27) rather > than 3.4-rc5. I double checked to make sure I ran make from the correct > directory, I’m not sure what went wrong, any ideas? > > When trying to install the resulting RPM I get hundreds of conflicts > with existing packages of the same version numbers. What do I do about > these? Hi You can do it all from the command line, have a look at this post; [http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/pre-release-beta/421320-questions-help-regarding-kernel-2-6-31-a.html#post2036276](http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/pre-release-beta/421320-questions-help-regarding-kernel-2-6-31-a.html#post2036276) lwfinger is one of the wireless kernel developers… If you decide on adding development files, download and add the SLE 11 SP2 SDK iso image as a local repository. – Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890) openSUSE 12.1 (x86\_64) Kernel 3.1.10-1.9-desktop up 1 day 17:36, 4 users, load average: 0.04, 0.04, 0.05 CPU Intel i5 CPU M520@2.40GHz | Intel Arrandale GPU