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Recommended update for Linux kernel (k_deflt)

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(Last modified: 11JUL2003)


solutions Recommended update for Linux kernel (k_deflt) SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (c13fec4147c1e1063a3c729270c7c673)

Applies to

Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for IBM zSeries

Package: k_deflt
Release: 20030711
Obsoletes: none

Indications

This update should be installed on all systems.
This update should be installed on all systems.
This article applies to systems with the k_deflt kernel package installed, please use the appropriate kernel package if you are using a different kernel:
You can find out which kernel package you are using with
rpm -qf /boot/kernel/image

Contraindications

Using z/VM 4.3 and PTF UM30652 not installed.

Description

Fixes
This update fixes varies problems and has the following enhancements:
  • Fixes for low memory emergency IDAL handling.
  • DASD devices will not be set 'online' on slow/fast systems.
  • DIAG250-disk on 64Bit system causes endless loop.
  • DASD driver: IFCC handling fixed.
  • CIO: Handling of not operational paths.
  • CIO: oopses from debug feature.
  • Kernel: s390dbf - invalid call of create_proc_entry().
  • Address space switching instruction in user space does not fault.
  • DASD driver: problems when echoing invalid DEVNO to /proc/dasd/devices.
  • /proc/cio_ignore parsing.
  • CTC: System hang on shutdown of remote OS/390.
  • Clearing of .bss section.
  • Fixed-point divide exception in boot process.
  • Chandev configuration.
  • Many IUCV devices.
  • Module loader.
  • vmalloc() with user specified length.
  • Memory management: dirty bit clearing.
  • Starting a LCS network device with specific module parameters causes an address exception.
  • Deadlock in memory management code.
  • xpram parameter parsing.
  • Elevator Algorithm was deactivated for DASD. Depending on the loadprofile this can improve I/O-performance up to 10%.
  • Addtional debug info for DASD and QDIO. This affects only the analysis of a dump and does not impact performance.
  • Fixed RAID 1 problem which could lead to oopses.
  • Disabled CONFIG_WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT in default config.
  • Corrected sysinfo call in s390 31-Bit emulation.
  • Inserted length check to avoid possible exploit in s390 31-Bit emulation.
  • Remove SMP-unsafe BUG in __remove_inode_page.
  • Add fix to handle BSG intruction correctly (set control reg5.)
  • Added fix for TIOCCONS.
  • Add patches.common/nethashfix.
  • Fix the following calls in the 32-Bit emulation Layer: readv, writev, msgget, msgrcv, msgsnd, semget, fcntl.
IBM code drops
This update includes the following IBM code drops:
  • 2003-03-17 kernel 2.4.17 for the "August 2001 stream"
  • 2003-04-16 kernel 2.4.17 for the "August 2001 stream"
  • 2003-07-07 kernel 2.4.17 for the "August 2001 stream"

Installation notes

This update is provided as an RPM package that can easily be installed onto a running system either by YaST Online Update (YOU) or by manual installation with
rpm -Fvh k_deflt.rpm zipl
Please do not forget to run zipl after installing the kernel RPM for the system to remain bootable.
Finally, reboot the system with
shutdown -r now
to load the new kernel (replace "now" with the appropriate amount of time to allow local users to cleanly log out, for example "+5" for five minutes.)

links to download packages

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.


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