Pappy's preconfigs!

pappy_mcfae · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 6:29 am Post subject:

I may have missed the debut of 4.17.0, but not by much. Plus, I am still on full speed internet_via_phone, so getting the newbies done went more quickly than usual. Not perfection, but at least one project today went well.

32-bit
64-bit

As always, enjoy!

Cheers,
Pappy
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johngalt · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 4:38 pm Post subject:

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 6:23 pm Post subject:

johngalt,

The concept is unchanged since the kernel seeds project.
While the seeds there are not current, the method remains sound.
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Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

johngalt · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 6:30 pm Post subject:

Ahh, thanks. I was under the (mistaken) impression that these were applied differently.
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johngalt · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 6:44 pm Post subject:

So, in configuring the default sources 4.9.95-gentoo, I should search the thread to the links for hte 4.9.x pre-config?
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NeddySeagoon · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 6:53 pm Post subject:

johngalt,

That would be ideal. The closest to 4.9.95 is the one you want.
Drop it in the kernel as .config, then run make oldconfig.
Next, use make menuconfig to add your hardware. Its guaranteed to not boot if you skip that.
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Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

johngalt · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:25 pm Post subject:

Lol - yeah, mmost definitely not gonna work if I don't do my own hardware in there.

Thanks!
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johngalt · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 9:14 pm Post subject:

So, I'm going through the entire thing - would it be easier if I just searched for the various hardware I have?

for instance /intel, /nec, /realtek, /nvidia, /nouveau, /marvell, etc.?

Or just plod through the entire thing (my default methodology - kernel config is one thing I ma most definitely not afraid of).

Also, I noticed what to me seem like peculiarities.

For example:

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 9:39 pm Post subject:

johngalt,

When advanced is disabled, you get

johngalt · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 9:51 pm Post subject:

Ahhh, that exlpains it.

I should have looked at that part more carefully. Thanks!
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pappy_mcfae · Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 3:55 am Post subject:

When I first began the project, the initial .config file was a horror show with most hardware drivers and networking options set to on. The result was an ungainly mess. Sure, things worked, but there were also conflicts and other issues caused by the default .config setup. Those additional but unneeded options were the causes of numerous errors.

From that basic setup, I went through and turned pretty much everything off, then started turning things back on until I got to a place where booting was successful again. Once that was done, I did a bit more experimenting until I got a basic group of settings. When added to the proper device drivers, I got kernels that just worked.

I don't experiment as much as I used to because the basic seed settings still just work. I do make sure that the new kernel source continues to work, as I use the new source and settings on this machine. I don't release the new .configs until I am sure my system boots and runs properly. So far, so good.

Thanks for asking.

Cheers,
Pappy
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pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20067

On a related subject, is there an "easier" way to see the difference between kernel configs other than an actual command line diff? I tried comparing one of the seeds from a 4.x version with my config, but the differences were significant. I've also tried using two sets of "make menuconfig" and that too is pretty daunting, though I do go through that when setting up entirely new systems.
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Quis separabit? Quo animo?

johngalt · Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 6:09 am Post subject:

@Pappy - thanks for the explanations. I've been wondering at a few of the default settings (Read: Amateur radio) in the last couple of kernels I've compiled.
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pappy_mcfae · Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 12:49 am Post subject:

Yes. Many of the settings I ran into in the kernel setup made no sense. And yes, the HAM radio thing was one of them. The biggest issues were driver conflicts caused by having everyone set to on, including drivers sure to cause conflicts with each other. I wondered at the time how any of the kernels I saw in the early days worked at all. The advent of the SATA drivers brought a whole new level of, "oh, shit". I can't begin to tell you how many kernels I saw that had multiple IDE drivers selected for the same controller. I wondered at how the system with these settings could have worked at all. Some actually didn't.

The seed concept simplified things greatly, and the errors caused by conflicts went away. I came to believe that it was, in fact true that a machine could run linux as well as or better than it ran windows. The seeds continue to show this to be true as well.

Cheers,
Pappy
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johngalt · Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 5:19 am Post subject:

I can attest to that.

My desktop, eVGA X58 Classified 3 motherboard, has both an ICH10R chipset for SATA II and a Marvell 88SE9123 chipset for providing SATA `III' (Marvell's is limited to 5 Gb/s, not full 6), but also provides for a legacy IDE connection. In Windows, especially with 7/8, if I did not install the ancient Marvell-specific drivers, the device manager showed the SATA `III' ports as IDE :evil:

Interestingly enough, there is a set of drivers for both Marvell SATA as well as Marvell PATA in the kernel config - and also interestingly enough, SRCD loads only the Marvell PATA drivers when booting on that system (and that interface is never in use - even my BR RW is SATA).

Either way, though, your pre-config rocks- it really kills all the cruft, and I wholeheartedly appreciate that. While I'm not scared of kernel configuration, it's been a while and there is most definitely a lot more there than there used to be lol.
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pappy_mcfae · Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 8:22 am Post subject:

According to my voluminous distfiles, kernel source ups itself by about a meg or two for each new tar.xz iteration. That translates to a lot more like fifty megs or so with the fully installed sources stored in /usr/src.

At one time, I had all the decompressed kernel sources from about 2.6.22 until I stopped producing the original kernel seeds on one hard drive so I could configure .config files for those that asked. If I ever get real internet again, I might return to that avocation. For now, I prefer the new simpler approach. One .config to cover one major iteration. It makes the whole thing easier and fun. Plus, it requires just a tad more understanding, and teaches the skill of working with the Linux kernel a little better.

Cheers,
Pappy.
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johngalt · Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:48 pm Post subject:

Indeed.

Funny story - I started looking at exploring Linux much more recently than most folks here - around the time of Fedora Core (IIRC). I tried it, liked it compared to my then WinXP box, and then tried to figure out how to make it work faster - and that's when I learned about what compilation really meant. I did all I could to make Fedora run faster and smoother, and finally, after compiling my own kernel, I had reached my limit in terms of what I could do to customize it for my use.

It was then that I was suggest to learn about Gentoo - back when it was a more hands on from-scratch distro.

Alas, my system was getting long int the tooth, and my new job required me to have Windows-based machines for various things, so after a few years I jumped ship back to Windows.

Now, I'm at a point where I know I can run Windows in a VM of some time under Linux more easily than I can run Linux in a VM under Windows (yes, it can be done, but Hyper-V is a PITA when trying to run Gen 2 VMs on a BIOS-only box - it just never has worked right for me), plus, my Windows licenses are digital, all tied to my Microsoft account, and I have 4 already set to run as VMs in testing a lot of things in WinX over the last few years.

But all this started from my desire to learn how to build a machine specific kernel so instead of having a 45 second boot time I could have it down as low as 20 seconds lol.

But, yeah, manually configuring a kernel is work - but it pays dividends (IMO) in the long run.....

Incidentally - change from a couple of days ago, but looks like that the 4.14.xx kernel is now default.
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OldTango · l33t Joined: 21 Feb 2004 Posts: 718

pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20067

I haven't, but thanks for the tip. I don't currently have an available GUI with which to test, but I'll make a note of it.
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Quis separabit? Quo animo?

johngalt · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:35 pm Post subject:

Out of curiosity - any particular reason this isn't a sticky-fied post?
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cwr · Veteran Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 1969

Either by volume or age or relevance, it really ought to be sticky.

Will

pappy_mcfae · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:57 am Post subject:

It probably belongs in unsupported software, but I agree, it should be stickied.

Neddy Seagoon, could this post get stickied and moved if necessary, please?

Thanks,

Cheers,
Pappy
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NeddySeagoon · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:26 pm Post subject:

Stuck and moved as requested.

Moved from Kernel & Hardware to Unsupported Software.
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Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

pappy_mcfae · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 9:03 pm Post subject:

Thank you, kind sir.

Cheers,
Pappy
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johngalt · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 9:40 pm Post subject:

Indeed - thanks!

Off to change my bms....
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