No, you misunderstood me. I used to use LFS as an alternative day-to-day system but for the last couple of years I've just used it as a rescue system for emergencies. No applications needed.

OK, it builds. Whether it will boot or not is another matter. It's a long time since I built a kernel and I may have lost the knack of it. The point is that I didn't see any weirdness along the way and I didn't have to carry out any unauthorised patching.

Mind you, I'm talking about basic LFS only. I'll have to put in some bits and pieces from the early chapters of BLFS, but I'm not building this system for daily use as I used to do in the good old days, only as an emergency rescue device.

I agree with @derguteweka that the pip/wheel/python stuff is an unpleasant nuisance. You copy those commands over and then you look at them and think, "wtf does all that mean??" The whole point of LFS used to be that once you'd done it, you understood exactly how a Linux system was put together. I don't think that's the case any more.

I can't boot it! Usually with a bad kernel, it boots and then panics. But this one won't boot at all. I select it from the elilo menu, the kernel appears to load and then it halts and buzzes at me: dum-dum-dum-daaaa. Over and over. I wonder what that means; I've never heard it before on this machine.

Some time when I have the energy, I'll try a hybrid boot with my Slackware kernel and initrd. Right now, I'm cheesed off.

Further info: Just found this in a Lenovo manual on POST beep symptoms:

BEEP SYMPTOM
3 short beeps followed by 1 long beep.
BEEP MEANING
Memory not detected.
SUGGESTED ACTIONS
Investigate memory subsystem. Ensure that any memory module(s) are properly seated in the connectors.

Now that is nonsense! Slackware and AntiX both use the memory normally. And in this case, the pattern isn't occurring at POST but after a kernel has loaded, so it must be a kernel config problem. This version of LFS sets a number of kernel config parameters that I never messed with before but afaik I followed those instructions religiously.

Oh, the dreaded 'beeps' - that's not good. I always use a config from a previously built LFS that i know works on this machine so not (much) drama on 1st boot. It's just 'make oldconfig', then answer (usually No) on any new config options/hardware drivers. Good idea to try the Slack kernel (i think i would try the 'huge' variant if they still do those).

Ah, yes. I built several LFS, then the (now defunct) HLFS followed by Kevux before I promoted myself to Slackware. You could understand things then. But we have become accustomed to layers of sophistication and complication that the ordinary mortal just takes for granted - until they go belly up.

Twenty years ago, it was 2 hours or reading help and/or google to build a kernel from scratch. Today, it would be three at least. I'd suggest doing it once, as a learning experience. Then when it goes belly up, copy any distro config file (usually in /boot) and use that . It will have safe enough options.

I used to do that on my old drive. I had two alternating LFS partitions, one for the current LFS and one for the previous one. The new LFS went onto the latter with the current one as build host. But this new drive is much smaller, so I can only have one LFS partition at a time. I built this new LFS out of Slackware but, like a fool, I forgot to save the kernel config before I cleared the partition. I won't make that mistake again!

I have two irons in the fire now. I can do a hybrid boot with the Slackware kernel and initrd (they're all on the ESP so it's just a matter of tweaking the elilo.config file). But I'm also rebuilding the proper LFS kernel (6.7.4) using a doctored version of my Slackware config. We'll see how it goes.

I always start with the currently running config:A quilck look to see if anything major changed, then boot if it fails go back and try again, usually the running config works fine, especially for minor kernel updates.
Hazel dont know if it matters but I boot from grub no initrd, just a fubar'ed system.

I usually do that too. I've already explained why I couldn't do the same this time around.
I don't think it makes any difference what bootloader you use. Elilo had already loaded the kernel when the machine halted and the buzzing started. I don't intend to use an initrd either. I never used one in LFS before. It's just a matter of getting a kernel that boots. Then perhaps you can give me some commands that failed for you and I'll try them out.