I have a server with 4gigs of RAM and because of the way memory is addressed, I need to utilize PAE support in my kernel. So, obviously I build a custom kernel for this box that uses PAE. Everything runs great and I normally have no issues at all with this setup. Until today that is.

Today I needed to install jdk14. I really didn’t want to, but something I needed on the box requires it. So, I head into the /usr/ports/java/jdk14 directory and issue a make install. Of course, I then remember, and am notified, that because of Sun’s licensing requirements I have to go out and manually fetch the files. No big deal. I fetch the files and away we go.

The next thing I find is that linux-sun-jdk14 is installing. Huh? I want the native build! Not the linux one. A little investigation shows that in order to build the native build I have to install the linux one. Then, once I have the native build installed, I can remove the linux one and go my merry way. OK. It’s a pain, but I can deal with that.

So, of again I go and manually fetch the files needed for the linux jdk. The install stops again and I find that I need to load the linprocfs module in order to install the linux jdk. This is where I really lose my patience. I can’t load the module because with PAE support in the kernel, you have to skip building modules!

I’m now in the middle of rebuilding to a standard SMP kernel, so that I can complete installation. After installation I’ll remove the linux jdk and switch back to my custom PAE kernel. It’ll work, but it sure is a pain. If anyone has any tricks to accomplish this in a better way, I’m all ears.