I'm running Centos 4 update 5. I compiled the 2.6.29.4 kernel from kernel.org. I'd like to apply the bigphysarea patch, but

1) Don't know where to find it OR don't know how to create the patch? Does anyone know how?

2) Is there an alternative to using bigphsyarea patch?

3) I'm still not sure what this patch is even for other than reserving a specific amount of continuous memory...does mem=XX on the kernel line work instead of bigphysarea=XX ?

4) If anyone can point me to a kernel.org kernel and the patch and instructions on how to patch it and put the right kernel options in the .config...that would be awesome.

5) I'm also not sure if the bigphysarea patch is built into the kernel since i've only seen it for 2.4.

6) Basically, i just want to know how to reserve a continuous amount of memory. Or is this not needed in 2.6? 2.6 handles memory better? Or maybe a kernel option I need to choose?

Why do you want/need to reserve a continuous amount of memory? Maybe understanding the motivation would help to find a better solution to your question.