[wplug] I'm a Linux whimp (need kernel help)

Brandon Kuczenski brandon at 301south.net
Thu Aug 11 23:12:55 EDT 2005


On Thu, 11 Aug 2005, Robert E. Coutch wrote:

> Well - It looks like I need to make a kernel config !!!
>
> These are the things I have nightmares about.
> Wish me luck - I'm going in.
>

'cd /usr/src/linux && make menuconfig' is a pretty generously documented 
tool -- every kernel option has a screen's worth of documentation.

TLDP had a good tutorial on how to compile a custom kernel (probably still 
does -- I can never find anything on that site!)  But what I've never 
learned are the distro-specific ways of managing kernels.  I certainly 
know nothing about SuSE.  But 'make menuconfig' is your friend.

-Brandon

>
> On Thursday 11 August 2005 04:12 pm, Robert E. Coutch wrote:
>> Yes - It's true.
>>
>> You see I've been using Linux since early 2000.
>> I can get a system up and running and configure most services.
>> I can apply patches and build packages from tar balls, and SRPMS.
>> I can troubleshoot and resolve many problems.
>>
>> I can do lots of various tasks but there is still one area where I fear to
>> tread.
>> I'm a total noob when it comes to the kernel.
>> Oh sure, I've updated my kernel and installed drivers but this has been
>> through RPM's or install scripts.
>>
>> Now I have encountered a situation that requires skills I don't posses.
>>
>> Here's the situation:
>>
>> I have a Thinkpad T23 that my company gave me when it was replaced with a
>> newer laptop.
>> I have SuSE 9.3 up and running with all the ACPI and other laptop goodies
>> working great.
>> This laptop uses the SuperSavage IX/C video chipset and I want to get 3D
>> acceleration working.
>>
>> I first tried using CVS to get the latest DRI goodies for this chipset
>> since it's not normally included in any of the popular distros.
>> I got the files fine but during the make process I ran into some errors
>> (actually, a lot of errors).
>> I went to the DRI website and grabbed a tarball snapshot.
>> The extracted snapshot had an install script that was going to build and
>> install everything I needed.
>> I provided what I thought were the proper paths to the kernel files.
>> I do have kernel sources on my machine.
>> The script reported it could not find my kernel config. file.
>>
>> In the process of grabbing the kernel sources from SuSE I had also grabbed
>> a DRM source package.
>>
>> I'm not sure if the SuSE RPM did this or if the DRI script did this but I
>> now see the sources for the savage DRM module in my kernel sources
>> ( /usr/src/kernel-modules/drm).
>>
>> I gave you this long synopsis so you can comment on what I should and
>> shouldn't have done.
>>
>> So finally - here's the question:
>> HOW DO I BUILD THESE MODULE SOURCES INTO MODULES ?
>>
>>
>> Thanks for any help,
>>
>> Bob
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>> wplug at wplug.org
>> http://www.wplug.org/mailman/listinfo/wplug
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