Kernel question

[Geert Janssens]

David Hacker wrote:
> 
> On Jun 11, 2004, at 11:25 AM, Jason Warm wrote:
> 
>> David,
>>   Thanks for the help.  Am now running the 2.6.5 kernel.  Just a few  
>> more
>> questions though if you (or anyone else reading this thread) could help
>> me out with.
>>
>> 1.  While the kernel is up and running fine, when I downloaded it 
>> from  the
>> ppckernels.org and extracted.  The modules directory appears to be  
>> empty.
>> It has a BUILD and a kernel directory, but both seem to be empty.  Is  
>> this
>> normal?
> 
> 
> If the module folder is empty then they probably built everything into  
> the kernel and didn't build any modules.  Jjust copy it over to  
> /lib/modules/2.6.5 anyway.
> 
>> 2.  Could you point me to a good FAQ that explains the major difference
>> between the 2.4 and 2.6 kernels.
> 
> 
> Not right off hand.
> 
>> 3.  Could you point me to some good instructions on compiling the  kernel
>> myself from source (this is something I really want to learn).
> 
> 
> It isn't very hard.  Just download the source and copy it to /usr/src.   
> Then tar-xvzf ??????? to extract the file.  Then if this is going to be  
> your main kernel make a symbolic link like ln -s  
> /usr/src/linux-2.6.5???? /usr/src/linux.  Then cd linux.  Then make  
> xconfig or make menuconfig.  This is where you select which features  
> you want and don't want in your kernel.  It will start with a config  
> matching the running kernel and you can change from there.  Deciding if  
> you want things built in the kernel or as modules.  After than type  
> make vmlinux modules modules_install.  Once done you have to copy  
> vmlinux, System.map, and .config to the boot dir.
> 
I second most of these instructions. I just wonder why you copy the 
.config to /boot as well. It is certainly not necessary to run the 
kernel. Do you do this to have a backup ?

Additionally, while these instructions are indeed easy, the hard part 
for first time kernel builders is no doubt selecting which features to 
keep and reject. There are so many options, a lot of which are for x86 
users only, and a lot of them have quite cryptic names for the average 
mac user.

I know to some degree by now which options are useful for me and my 
machine) and which ones are not. But unfortunatly, newcomers will have 
to use a little trial and error and lots of documentation reading (like 
the information that comes in the Documentation directory of the 
kernel's source, the help messages in the config tool, websites, google,...)

But I don't want to scare away anyone from trying, it's worth the effort.

Cheers,

Geert