Compiling Kernel Guide Request

nejnej25 · 01-01-2018, 06:27 AM

Please give me some good tutorial how to compile a kernel. I want to learn it so if something is missing like drivers or module I am ready and know how to fix that stuff.

Mill J · 01-01-2018, 06:54 AM

Try the kernel section in LFS http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/

Shadow_7 · 01-01-2018, 07:07 AM

There's a ./Documentation/ path in the kernel source tree that should outline the process fairly well. If you want to bundle it as a package for a distro, most distros have a guide too.

https://www.kernel.org/

Teufel · 01-01-2018, 07:51 AM

Linux Kernel in a Nutshell

cirosantilli · 01-01-2018, 12:52 PM

Compiling the kernel is easy, the harder part is getting a suitable userland.

This automate everything with Buildroot: https://github.com/cirosantilli/linu...l-module-cheat

sundialsvcs · 01-03-2018, 10:00 AM

I am especially careful and systematic when compiling kernels:

I make a separate, named, non-hidden copy of every hidden .config file, read-only in a subdirectory that's well out of the way.
Before compiling the kernel, I rename the .config file out of the way, then do make distclean, then rename it back.
If I have to repeat the process, I repeat the entire process, including the making of yet-another copy of the config.

In this way, I always know the exact set of configuration-options that were used for every kernel that I made or attempted to make, and I can diff to reliably see the exact set of differences between any one and any other. (Also, I can't futz-up the configuration by accident such that I cannot reliably and instantly get back to any other prior known-good state.) I also know that everything has been re-compiled, all at the same time. (The kernel is actually not a particularly-large program. It doesn't take long.)

Shadow_7 · 01-04-2018, 06:20 AM

I just copy the distros config from /boot/ and make oldconfig. Plus maybe make menuconfig to tweak a couple things, like timings for a more responsive / realtime-ish audio needs. Even though it's technically slower for certain workloads.