fmem compile error with make

Question

I'm trying to figure out how to run the make command. I'm trying to make use of fmem (a tool found on the internet), and it is said that "make" must be run from a terminal in the folder.

However I get this:

root@bakie:/home/tux/Documents/fmem/fmem_1.6-0# make
rm -f *.o *.ko *.mod.c Module.symvers Module.markers modules.order \.*.o.cmd \.*.ko.cmd \.*.o.d
rm -rf \.tmp_versions
make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build SUBDIRS=`pwd` modules
make: *** /lib/modules/3.10-3-686-pae/build: No such file or directory.  Stop.
make: *** [fmem] Error 2

Thanks for making me see clearer.

Answer 1

You're missing the Linux kernel's headers. You can install them like so:

$ sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Any time you're attempting to compile C/C++ software you often need libraries and header files. The header files can contain function prototypes and implementations of said functions. The libraries are binary blob files that contain compiled code that the compile can incorporate when told to do so by your source code.

The big clue to this stuff missing is this line in your output:

make: * /lib/modules/3.10-3-686-pae/build: No such file or directory. Stop.

This is telling you that a library is missing, and anytime you see "modules" missing that's a good indicator that it's something to do with the Linux kernel.