What is NPTL and why are there kernel build problems?

[Damian Donnelly]

Before I get shot down in flames, I would like to say that I know very 
little about Linux.

What is NPTL and why are there kernel build problems? Where can I read about 
it?
What work arounds are there when the kernel doesn't build?
I had the following error:

kernel.o (.text+0xfc3): In function 'schedule'
undefined reference to 'active_load_balence'

...and I was told "...This is a KNOWN and benign problem with building NPTL 
kernels. I have found that it will sometimes go away if you re-run make 
BzImage. Strangely, I have also had success by entering make menuconfig, 
exiting, saving the unchanged configuration and then rerunning make dep and 
make
bzImage. Someone else suggested running "make oldconfig" twice."

It seems a fairly hit and miss affair. I dont want to have to re-try the 
build in the hope that it will suddenly work in every kernel I change - it 
takes time that I could better spend doing something else.

I'm just looking for information; I'm in no way critisizing.

Thanks.

_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. 
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail