[wplug] redhat kernel woes

Lance Tost ltost at pobox.com
Thu Jun 19 09:11:51 EDT 2003


make oldconfig is just another way to configure the options you want 
compiled into the kernel.  Back in the day, it was the only option (no X, 
no menus, etc).  Nowadays, you probably want to do make menuconfig or make 
xconfig... much, much easier to use.

On Thu, 19 Jun 2003, Vanco, Donald wrote:

> Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 08:24:30 -0400
> From: "Vanco, Donald" <VANCOD at pios.com>
> Reply-To: wplug at wplug.org
> To: "'wplug at wplug.org'" <wplug at wplug.org>
> Subject: RE: [wplug] redhat kernel woes
> 
> Sorry Keir - I stand corrected.....
> 
> I wrote:
> > Keir Josephson wrote:
> >> Here's what I normally do when I want to cut some fat out of a Red
> >> Hat kernel.
> > 
> > <snip>
> > 
> >> 4) # uname -a (check the kernel rev currently running)
> >> 
> >> 5) # cp configs/<kernelrev>.config .config (this way your sure to
> >> have the right config for you current kernel)
> >> 
> >> 6) # make oldconfig
> > 
> > 	By running a "make oldconfig" you're simply blasting the .config
> > file you created with the copy above - do one, do the other, but no
> > need to do both as "the last wins".
> 
> BZZZZZZZZZT!  
> 
> I was really curious aboot this so I asked someone who might know....
> 
> Arjan van de Ven wrote:
> > On Wed, Jun 18, 2003 at 03:40:02PM -0400, Vanco, Donald wrote:
> >> 1) RH provides a directory of .config 'templates'.  My assumption
> >> here is that these are the actual .config files that are used to
> >> generate the kernels we find in a distro in RPM format.  Is that an
> >> accurate statement? 
> > 
> > yes. they are used in the
> > make mrproper
> > copy file
> > make oldconfig
> > make dep
> > make bzImage
> > make modules
> > 
> > etc process
> >> 
> >> 2) Based on the above as true, when I run a "make oldconfig" should
> >> not the resulting .config file be pretty much identical to one
> >> contained in the aforementioned configs dir?  Or am I missing the
> >> point of "make oldconfig"? ('cause they differ pretty greatly)
> > 
> > you need make oldconfig on the ones in the config dir
> >> 
> >> 3) I've had compile failures when copying a .config into the source
> >> tree and NOT running a "make (menu,x)config" at saving off the file.
> >  Are there some
> >> bits that get flipped by this process?
> > 
> > if you don't do any of this the .config is just not used, or worse,
> > very very partially used.
> 
> 	Sadly, not a very complete explanation as to "why", and I suppose
> the true answer for me would lie in learning more about the kernel source /
> compile process than I'm really feeling the need to do....... but Keir was
> correct to list the steps he did.  I've never done it that way myself, but
> then I've always used the files in the config directory as a "starting
> point" for a highly modified kernel anyway....
> 	An interesting anecdote - I've taken the RHCE class twice - for 6.2
> and 7.3 - and neither time did the process for kernel compilation follow
> these steps.....  I had always thought that "make oldconfig" was merely a
> means to generate a base .config file that represents the running kernel.
> Apparently, it's much more pivotal in some way.
> 
> 	Out of insatiable curiosity I did the following:
> make mrproper
> make oldconfig
> (copied off .config file)
> make mrproper
> (copied template .config from "configs")
> make oldconfig
> 
> ...and then ran a diff on the 2 of them - and there's NO difference.  So I'm
> still confused by (the requirement of) these steps.  Perhaps the secret lies
> in NOT running an "as compiled by Red Hat" kernel.  I am, in fact, running a
> "stock" RH kernel, perhaps this weekend I'll trim mine down and see what
> happens when running a "custom kernel"....
> 	...if I'm not too busy watching TV.
> 
> 
> 	Arjan went on to comment:
> >> 5) Is "make install" deprecated?  It seems to be only "lilo
> >> friendly" - is 
> > 
> > incorrect, it does grub just fine
> 
> 	...as noted by Alex in another post....
> 
> 
> 	For the curious, I also asked:
> >> 4) "make pdfdocs" has always ralphed on me, telling me I need to
> >> install DocBook Stylesheets.  What are they and where can I get
> >> them?  I've not seen a RH package that directly correlates in
> >> name.....  Is it the sgml stuff? (I have sgml-common installed)
> 
> 	...and got another somewhat cryptic answer: 
> > there's a package, but if I make the kernel rpm require it it drags
> > in half the distro ;)
> 
> Don
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-- 
Lance Tost <ltost at pobox.com>




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