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deltamalloc
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Joined: 18 Jan 2013
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 1:06 am    Post subject: Kernel configuration annoyances Reply with quote

Whenever I manually configure a kernel and select only device drivers that are needed I am confronted with the following annoyance:

I use lspci -k to see which modules the running kernel are using, as well as what the device name string of each needed device is. I use menuconfig and look through the list to see if I can find the device name I'm looking for, then I confirm in the help for the option to see if the compiled module is the same as the one used by the currently running kernel. If I am not sure which module to use, e.g. if two names are similar or I cannot find exactly the same name I'm looking for, I again look in the help to see what the compiled module will be called.

However, this has some problems:

Sometimes I am unable to find the option I'm looking for. E.g. the help may not contain the name of the compiled module, or I'm simply unable to find it. If I knew the exact name of the option as in CONFIG_ ... then I could just manually edit .config and enable it (is that good practice?).

What is the proper way to do this? Surely there must be some better way to do it than what I'm doing. Is there no tool that can combine .config, the kernel source tree and lspci and create a proper kernel config for me? Because I'm starting to get pretty tired of doing this, it is easy to make mistakes on unfamiliar systems and this is an extra hurdle when trying to set up a system that needs an initramfs -- thinking that there is a problem with the initramfs when in fact the kernel doesn't even have the correct device driver.
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666threesixes666
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 1:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i use a mesh approach to compiling kernels. i don't bang my head against the wall trying to use a non optimal system to generate an optimal system.

i go around all the problems of gentoo, by live cd with modules that load everything, like xubuntu, then run lsmod etc from the live cd to get a good idea of what to do about kernel compilation. i document hardware systems per system in a note book. ie i check to see what the live media is doing right that i am doing wrong.


Last edited by 666threesixes666 on Fri Aug 30, 2013 4:35 am; edited 1 time in total
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Jaglover
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 1:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Editing .config manually is not good practice.
You can hit '/' in make menuconfig and search.
You can hit F8 in make nconfig.
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666threesixes666
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 1:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

me too, about jaglovers post. / will show what other options need to be activated to make the goal option show up in the menuconfig. although editing .config is not well recieved and accepted, i do it sometimes. after all copying a previously generated .config is technically modifying the new sources .config. if you make a mistake or the driver depends upon other kernel options it will throw errors in the first lines of make.
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kurly
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 1:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Do not directly edit your .config; the first lines of the file state as much. Jaglover's advice in this situation is good and correct.
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aeyeaws64
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

speaking of the kernel, why is logitech tard device in the default config and unable to be removed. lol? if you unselect everything it makes it a module
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666threesixes666
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 11:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

default fddi in kernel always makes me scratch my head. people in the server room should know how to compile that into the kernel, and wifi out makes me scratch my head too. should be more geared to people that are clueless about compiling kernels, rather than catering to people that should be fired if they cant.
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