Difference between revisions of "Configure the Kernel"
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Make a note of the version that is emerged, which will usually be in the format ''2.6.x-gentoo-ry''. Here ''x'' represents the kernel version, and ''y'' represents the Gentoo release version of that particular kernel version. In this example we'll use ''2.6.34-gentoo-r12'' as our example. | Make a note of the version that is emerged, which will usually be in the format ''2.6.x-gentoo-ry''. Here ''x'' represents the kernel version, and ''y'' represents the Gentoo release version of that particular kernel version. In this example we'll use ''2.6.34-gentoo-r12'' as our example. | ||
| − | We'll start by selecting the correct kernel seed for our architecture ([http://kernel-seeds.org/seeds/64_bit/ x86_64] for 64-bit systems or [http://kernel-seeds.org/seeds/32_bit/ x86] for 32-bit systems). | + | We'll start by selecting the correct kernel seed for our architecture ([http://kernel-seeds.org/seeds/64_bit/gentoo/ x86_64] for 64-bit systems or [http://kernel-seeds.org/seeds/32_bit/gentoo/ x86] for 32-bit systems). |
Revision as of 14:51, 21 November 2010
Installing Gentoo - Configure the Kernel
Configuring the Linux kernel is the most difficult part of performing a Gentoo installation.
The components of the Linux kernel can either be built-in or compiled as modules which can be loaded or unloaded. Most Linux distributions will provide you with a generic kernel image with most of the hardware drivers and other components available as modules. The advantage of this method is that another piece of software can probe the system, determine the hardware components, and load the appropriate modules at startup, much in the same way that your Gentoo installation CD did. The disadvantage is that certain parts of the kernel and most of the modules will never be used. Our goal is to create the smallest, fastest, most efficient kernel possible for your target environment.
Thankfully, most of the hard part has already been done for you. Some time ago, an advocate by the name of Pappy McFae blessed us with "kernel seeds" for a number of different architectures which are freely available at his website, kernel-seeds.org. His goal was to provide starting kernel configurations, geared towards everyday use, but with the unnecessary components removed. Using of of Pappy's kernel seeds, all you need do is add in the drivers for your specific hardware and any other components you may require. Personally, I noticed a performance of around 20% using one of Pappy's kernel seeds as compared to the default kernel configuration provided by the Gentoo devs.
Our first step will be to emerge the kernel source files and determine what version of the kernel we'll be using.
# emerge -av gentoo-sources
Make a note of the version that is emerged, which will usually be in the format 2.6.x-gentoo-ry. Here x represents the kernel version, and y represents the Gentoo release version of that particular kernel version. In this example we'll use 2.6.34-gentoo-r12 as our example.
We'll start by selecting the correct kernel seed for our architecture (x86_64 for 64-bit systems or x86 for 32-bit systems).