Kernel question

[David Hacker]

If you notice most distros include a copy of the .config file in the 
boot directory as config-2.4.5 for instance.  I am not sure the reason 
that is just what I have always heard to do.  I think that the default 
config when building a new kernel comes from this file if it is 
present, but I am not positive on that.
I find it is much easier to determine what to keep and what not to keep 
if you use make xconfig.  This gives a fairly good description of each 
option and what it does as well as whether it is recomended.
Well, good luck folks.  Happy kernel building.

David C. Hacker, DVM
212 N 1st St #2
New Salem, ND 58563
(701) 843-8179
On Jun 12, 2004, at 12:22 PM, Geert Janssens wrote:

> 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
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