Any way to enable PAE in backtrack 4 R1 Kernel?

[Xavierr]

Hi there, I am currently running Backtrack 4 R1 as my primary OS in a computer with 8gb of ram and I was wondering if anyone knows how to enable PAE in the backtrack 4 R1 kernel? I realize PAE won't allow me to use all my ram for single processes, but Since I often run multiple programs it will definately be worth utilizing all my available resources. Could I simply add a line to my /boot/config-2.6.34 file, then recompile my kernel? Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks!, oh and a big thanks to all who worked to create this distro! I love it.

[ravenmsb]

Yes Kind of...... The following is only for the brave and those not afraid to break everything not to say it will but this is a buggy kernel recompile.

It works for me I can only have one network interface but I can enable and disable them in bios and use one or the other not sure what to do next but I'm experimenting... This is really not ideal but since I have to switch video cards in my bios currently as well it has become easy to deal with....

So again one more time only for the curious unafraid and willing to repair....

1. cd /usr/src/linux-source-`uname -r`

2. zcat /proc/config.gz > .config

3. make menuconfig

4. In the menu choose: Processor type and features -> High Memory Support (4GB) -> 64GB, and then exit the program saving the changes.

5. make

6. make modules

7. make modules_install

8. mkinitramfs -o /boot/initrd.img-`uname -r` `uname -r`

9. cp /usr/src/linux-source-`uname -r`/arch/x86/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-`uname -r`-hmem

10. cp /usr/src/linux-source-`uname -r`/System.map /boot/System.map

11. vim /etc/grub/menu.lst

#####add something like this#######
title BackTrack 4 R1 (PwnSauce Revolution)
uuid (Your UUID Here)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34-hmem root=UUID=(Your UUID Here) pci=nocrs ro quiet vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.34-hmem
quiet

12. update grub config

13. reboot and maybe it will be perfect maybe you will have errors you can and or can't live with...

I'd recommend backing up your Kernel System Map and your initrd.img if things go back copy them all back and try again

[ravenmsb]

I updated this in the new R2 and it works flawless for me. This is not to say it will work 100% for everyone. Here are the steps I used. I used a mix of information from the forums and on the backtrack wiki.

##############################################
#Upgrade BT4-R2 Kernel with PAE High Memory 64GB
#Caution! Upgrading the kernel can cause fatal problems.
#The backtrack developers have reasons to exclude modules
##############################################


###############[Upgrading from Backtrack 4 R1]##########

01. apt-get install linux-source-2.6.35.8

02. cd /usr/src

03. tar xvjf linux-source-2.6.35.8.tar.bz2

04. rm linux

05. ln -s linux-source-2.6.35.8 linux

06. cd /usr/src/linux

07. cp /boot/config-2.6.35.8 .config

08. make menuconfig
In the menu Choose Processor type and features -> High Memory Support (4GB) -> 64GB and then choose exit and save the changes.

09. make
Be patient this can take a long time.

10. make modules

11. make modules_install

12. make scripts && make prepare

13. mkinitramfs -o /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35.8 2.6.35.8

14. cp /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.35.8/arch/x86/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35.8

15. cp /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.35.8/System.map /boot/System.map-2.6.35.8

16. ln -s /usr/src/linux /lib/modules/2.6.35.8/build

17. Update your menu.lst

18. reboot

19. fix-splash

###########[Upgrading the Backtrack 4 R2 ISO]#############

01. mkdir /root/BUILD/

02. cd /root/BUILD/

03. copy your iso to the build directory.

04. wget offsec.com/bt4-customise.sh

05. sed 's/bt4-pre-final/bt4-r2/g' bt4-customise.sh >mod

06. mv mod bt4-customise.sh

07. chmod 755 bt4-customise.sh

08. ./bt4-customise.sh

################################################## #
#Once inside the chroot environment we can modify the kernel and other tools.
################################################## #

01. cd /usr/src/linux

02. cp /boot/config-2.6.35.8 .config

03. make menuconfig
In the menu Choose Processor type and features -> High Memory Support (4GB) -> 64GB and then choose exit and save the changes.

04. make
Be patient this can take a long time.

05. make modules

06. make modules_install

07. make scripts && make prepare

08. mkinitramfs -o /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35.8 2.6.35.8

09. cp /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.35.8/arch/x86/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35.8

10. cp /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.35.8/System.map /boot/System.map-2.6.35.8

11. ln -s /usr/src/linux /lib/modules/2.6.35.8/build

12. install addition packages

13. apt-get update && dist-upgrade

14. apt-get clean

15. history -c

16. exit