How to Install Specific Version of Linux Header in a Raspberry Pi

2 minute read

Hi, this post is a follow-up to another post, where I needed a specific version of Linux header.

If we search for linux headers using the following command:

$ apt search linux-headers

we see, there is nothing less than 5.10+ version. However, I wanted to install version 4.9.

In this post, I will go through the steps to install a specific linux header in a Raspberry Pi.

Download the source code for the kernel version you want to install. You can find the source code at https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux. You need to select 4.9 from the branch and then download zip file.

Extract the source code to the /usr/src directory

 $ sudo cp linux-rpi-4.9.y-stable.zip /usr/src/
 $ cd /usr/src/

 $ sudo unzip linux-rpi-4.9.y-stable.zip

Change to the extracted source code directory
```
 $ cd linux-rpi-4.9.y-stable/
```

Check bcmxxxx_deconfig version, check the xxxx part

 $ ls arch/arm/configs/

I got 2709

 $ sudo make bcm2709_defconfig

Next we need to create zImage
```
 $ sudo make clean
 $ sudo make mrproper
 $ sudo make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf- bcm2709_defconfig
 $ sudo make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf- zImage
```
After executing the last command we can get a error like
```
 usr/bin/ld: scripts/dtc/dtc-parser.tab.o:(.bss+0x10): multiple definition of 'yylloc'; scripts/dtc/dtc-lexer.lex.o:(.bss+0x0): first defined here
```
we need to edit the scripts/dtc/dtc-lexer-lex.c file in that case, find the line ‘YYLTYPE yylloc’ and change it to ‘extern YYLTYPE yylloc’. I found the solution here.

Now, let’s run the command again. This will take a while (hours!). You can do other things in the meantime.
If the build process completes successfully this time, the zImage file should be in the arch/arm/boot folder. Copy the “zImage” file to the “/boot” directory on your Raspberry Pi’s SD card.
```
 $ sudo cp arch/arm/boot/zImage /boot
```
Configure the kernel using the existing configuration file (.config)
```
 $ sudo make oldconfig
```
Compile the kernel
```
 $ sudo make -j$(nproc)
```
This also takes some time.
Install the kernel modules
```
 $ sudo make modules_install
```
Install the kernel
```
$ sudo make install
```
Reboot the system to start using the new kernel.

That’s all!

You can also read my other posts related to Raspberry Pi:

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