RedHat 6.2 Intel - Oracle8i (8.1.5)

Question

RedHat Linux 6.2 Server Install (Intel) 256Mb RAM, Oracle8i (8.1.5) for Linux Intel.
Please help, I am thoroughly confused, I just want the install to go well and am sure this is a critical task. I am not a c guy so don't quite follow the "Configure the Linux Kernel for Oracle8i" steps. More importantly I DO NOT know how to re-build the kernel if I did successfully make any changes.
Below are is the excerpt from the Install Guide for Oracle Database 8i (8.1.5) CD Pack v5 for Linux Intel - "Configure the Linux Kernel for Oracle8i". Directly below is a copy of my shmparam.h and sem.h files. I have no idea on how to configure. Can someone maybe paste copies of their files, or show me how to make my changes if necessary?
Thanks A MILLION In Advance For All That Can Help! Seriously!
Chris Becker
MCDBA MCSE
shmparam.h:
#ifndef ASMI386SHMPARAM_H
#define ASMI386SHMPARAM_H
/* address range for shared memory attaches if no address passed to shmat() */
#define SHM_RANGE_START     0x50000000
#define SHM_RANGE_END     0x60000000
* Format of a swap-entry for shared memory pages currently out in
* swap space (see also mm/swap.c).
* SWP_TYPE = SHM_SWP_TYPE
* SWP_OFFSET is used as follows:
* bits 0..6 : id of shared memory segment page belongs to (SHM_ID)
* bits 7..21: index of page within shared memory segment (SHM_IDX)
*          (actually fewer bits get used since SHMMAX is so low)
* Keep SHMID_BITS as low as possible since SHMMNI depends on it and
* there is a static array of size SHMMNI.
#define SHMID_BITS     7
#define SHM_ID_MASK     ((1<<_SHM_ID_BITS)-1)
#define SHM_IDX_SHIFT     (_SHM_ID_BITS)
#define SHMIDX_BITS     15
#define SHM_IDX_MASK     ((1<<_SHM_IDX_BITS)-1)
* SHMID_BITS + SHMIDX_BITS must be <= 24 on the i386 and
* SHMMAX <= (PAGE_SIZE << SHMIDX_BITS).
#define SHMMAX 0x2000000          /* max shared seg size (bytes) */
/* Try not to change the default shipped SHMMAX - people rely on it */
#define SHMMIN 1 /* really PAGE_SIZE */     /* min shared seg size (bytes) */
#define SHMMNI (1<<_SHM_ID_BITS)     /* max num of segs system wide */
#define SHMALL                    /* max shm system wide (pages) */ \
     (1<<(_SHM_IDX_BITS+SHMID_BITS))
#define     SHMLBA PAGE_SIZE          /* attach addr a multiple of this */
#define SHMSEG SHMMNI               /* max shared segs per process */
#endif /* ASMI386SHMPARAM_H */
===================================================================
sem.h:
#ifndef LINUXSEM_H
#define LINUXSEM_H
#include <linux/ipc.h>
/* semop flags */
#define SEM_UNDO 0x1000 /* undo the operation on exit */
/* semctl Command Definitions. */
#define GETPID 11 /* get sempid */
#define GETVAL 12 /* get semval */
#define GETALL 13 /* get all semval's */
#define GETNCNT 14 /* get semncnt */
#define GETZCNT 15 /* get semzcnt */
#define SETVAL 16 /* set semval */
#define SETALL 17 /* set all semval's */
/* ipcs ctl cmds */
#define SEM_STAT 18
#define SEM_INFO 19
/* One semid data structure for each set of semaphores in the system. */
struct semid_ds {
     struct ipc_perm     sem_perm;          /* permissions .. see ipc.h */
     __kernel_time_t     sem_otime;          /* last semop time */
     __kernel_time_t     sem_ctime;          /* last change time */
     struct sem     sem_base;          / ptr to first semaphore in array */
     struct sem_queue sem_pending;          / pending operations to be processed */
     struct sem_queue **sem_pending_last;     /* last pending operation */
     struct sem_undo     undo;               / undo requests on this array */
     unsigned short     sem_nsems;          /* no. of semaphores in array */
/* semop system calls takes an array of these. */
struct sembuf {
     unsigned short sem_num;     /* semaphore index in array */
     short          sem_op;          /* semaphore operation */
     short          sem_flg;     /* operation flags */
/* arg for semctl system calls. */
union semun {
     int val;               /* value for SETVAL */
     struct semid_ds buf;          / buffer for IPC_STAT & IPC_SET */
     unsigned short array;          / array for GETALL & SETALL */
     struct seminfo __buf;          / buffer for IPC_INFO */
     void *__pad;
struct seminfo {
     int semmap;
     int semmni;
     int semmns;
     int semmnu;
     int semmsl;
     int semopm;
     int semume;
     int semusz;
     int semvmx;
     int semaem;
#define SEMMNI 128 /* ? max # of semaphore identifiers */
#define SEMMSL 250 /* <= 512 max num of semaphores per id */
#define SEMMNS (SEMMNI*SEMMSL) /* ? max # of semaphores in system */
#define SEMOPM 32     /* ~ 100 max num of ops per semop call */
#define SEMVMX 32767 /* semaphore maximum value */
/* unused */
#define SEMUME SEMOPM /* max num of undo entries per process */
#define SEMMNU SEMMNS /* num of undo structures system wide */
#define SEMAEM (SEMVMX >> 1) /* adjust on exit max value */
#define SEMMAP SEMMNS /* # of entries in semaphore map */
#define SEMUSZ 20          /* sizeof struct sem_undo */
#ifdef __KERNEL__
/* One semaphore structure for each semaphore in the system. */
struct sem {
     int     semval;          /* current value */
     int     sempid;          /* pid of last operation */
/* One queue for each semaphore set in the system. */
struct sem_queue {
     struct sem_queue *     next;     /* next entry in the queue */
     struct sem_queue **     prev;     /* previous entry in the queue, *(q->prev) == q */
     struct wait_queue *     sleeper; /* sleeping process */
     struct sem_undo *     undo;     /* undo structure */
     int                pid;     /* process id of requesting process */
     int                status;     /* completion status of operation */
     struct semid_ds *     sma;     /* semaphore array for operations */
     struct sembuf *          sops;     /* array of pending operations */
     int               nsops;     /* number of operations */
     int               alter;     /* operation will alter semaphore */
/* Each task has a list of undo requests. They are executed automatically
* when the process exits.
struct sem_undo {
     struct sem_undo *     proc_next;     /* next entry on this process */
     struct sem_undo *     id_next;     /* next entry on this semaphore set */
     int               semid;          /* semaphore set identifier */
     short *               semadj;          /* array of adjustments, one per semaphore */
asmlinkage int sys_semget (key_t key, int nsems, int semflg);
asmlinkage int sys_semop (int semid, struct sembuf *sops, unsigned nsops);
asmlinkage int sys_semctl (int semid, int semnum, int cmd, union semun arg);
#endif /* __KERNEL__ */
#endif /* LINUXSEM_H */
=================================================================
Configure the Linux Kernel for Oracle8i
Configure the Linux kernel Interprocess Communication (IPC) parameters to accommodate the Shared Global Area (SGA) structure
of the Oracle8i Server. You will not be able to start up the database if the system does not have adequate shared memory to
accommodate the SGA.
1. Use the ipcs command to obtain a list of the current shared memory and semaphore segments of the system. and their
identification number and owner.
2. Set the following kernel parameters in:
/usr/src/linux/include/asm/shmparam.h and
/usr/src/linux/include/linux/sem.h
- maximum size of the shared memory segment (SHMMAX)
- minimum size of the shared memory segment (SHMMIN)
- maximum number of shared memory identifiers in the system (SHMMNI)
- maximum number of shared memeory segments a user process can attach (SHMSEG)
- maximum number of semaphore identifiers in the system (SEMMNI)
- maximum number of semaphores in a ser (SEMMSL)
- maximum number of semaphores in the system (SEMMNS)
- maximum number of operations per semop call (SEMOPM)
- semaphore maximum value (SEMVMX)
The total allowable shared memory is determined by the formula:
SHMMAX * SHMSEG
Table 2-1 shows the recommended settings. The recommended values are optimal for one instance and are based on the default
initsid.ora file. If you plan to install more than one instance, or to modify the initsid.ora file extensively, set these
parameters higher.
To set the kernel parameter for SEMMNS, use the formula in Table2-1. For example, consider a system that has three Oracle
instances with the PROCESSES parameter in their initsid.ora files set to the following values:
ORACLE_SID=A, PROCESSES=100
ORACLE_SID=B, PROCESSES=100
ORACLE_SID=C, PROCESSES=200
The value of SEMMNS is calculated as follows:
some formula i'm sure i don't have to worry about.
3. Rebuild the kernel if you have modified the kernel, shared memory, or semaphore parameters.

Answer 1

Just in case anyone is having same problems, I discovered how to handle this:
linux kernels from major version 2.2 forward allow dynamic system settings at runtime. You can change the maximum size of shared memory, SHMMAX, for example by echoing the desired value to the appropriate parameter location in the running kernel. Edit the linux startup script file
/etc/rc.d/rc.local and add the following line:
echo 500001024 > /proc/sys/kernel/shmmax
this is an appropriate shared mem max for an SGA of 500,000,000 bytes.
(thanks Dan Jefferson http://www.dbatoolbox.com/WP2001/linux/linux1_nt1.pdf )
bye the bye - 8.1.5 - desupported by Oracle, install >= 8.1.6 on RH6.2 goes smooth...
Chris