2.6 Kernel Config Questions

Duo Secundus · 02-13-2006, 02:56 PM

I'm trying to make the kernel config for 2.6 as small as possible, including or using as modules the hardware that I have. I've got some questions (using 2.6.14.3; I know that it's not the newest).

Relevant hardware:
Intel Pentium 3.2ghz (HT)
Intel D875pbz mobo
1gb PC3200 ram
Intel Gigabit ethernet controller (built-in the mobo)
nVidia GeForce FX 5500
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Digital
Western Digital WD360 SATA hard drive
Plextor PX-716SA cd/dvd burner (SATA)

Question #1:

Code:

CONFIG_NOHIGHMEM is not set
CONFIG_HIGHMEM4G=y
CONFIG_HIGHMEM64G is not set

Because I have 1GB of RAM, I've enabled CONFIG_HIGHMEM4G. Just out of curiosity, say I have exactly 4GB of RAM. Which setting do I enable, CONFIG_HIGHMEM4G or CONFIG_HIGHMEM64G?

Question #2:

Code:

# CONFIG_IP_DCCP is not set
# CONFIG_IP_SCTP is not set
# CONFIG_SCTP_HMAC_NONE is not set
# CONFIG_SCTP_HMAC_SHA1 is not set
# CONFIG_SCTP_HMAC_MD5 is not set
# CONFIG_ATM is not set
# CONFIG_BRIDGE is not set
# CONFIG_VLAN_8021Q is not set
# CONFIG_DECNET is not set
# CONFIG_LLC2 is not set
# CONFIG_IPX is not set
# CONFIG_ATALK is not set
# CONFIG_X25 is not set
# CONFIG_LAPB is not set
# CONFIG_NET_DIVERT is not set
# CONFIG_ECONET is not set
# CONFIG_WAN_ROUTER is not set
# CONFIG_NET_SCHED is not set
# CONFIG_NET_SCH_CLK_JIFFIES is not set
# CONFIG_NET_SCH_CLK_GETTIMEOFDAY is not set
# CONFIG_NET_SCH_CLK_CPU is not set

Under Networking Options, if the machine's primary use is as a single desktop for home, connecting to the Internet with my cable modem and the built-in Intel Gigabit module, without any home networking, do I need any of the options above?

Question #3:

Code:

#
# Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)
#
CONFIG_NET_ETHERNET=y
CONFIG_MII=m
(snip)
CONFIG_NET_PCI=y
(snip)
#
# Ethernet (1000 Mbit)
#
CONFIG_E1000=y
CONFIG_E1000_NAPI=y

CONFIG_NET_ETHERNET & CONFIG_NET_PCI is under Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit). But my ethernet controller is an Intel Gigabit (e1000). Do I still need to enable CONFIG_NET_ETHERNET & CONFIG_NET_PCI because I have an on-board controller, even though it's not 10/100 Mbit? Or will I be okay if I don't enable those two and still have CONFIG_E1000 enabled?

Question #4:

Code:

# CONFIG_WAN is not set
# CONFIG_FDDI is not set
# CONFIG_HIPPI is not set
# CONFIG_PLIP is not set
# CONFIG_PPP is not set
# CONFIG_SLIP is not set
# CONFIG_NET_FC is not set
# CONFIG_SHAPER is not set
# CONFIG_NETCONSOLE is not set
# CONFIG_NETPOLL is not set
# CONFIG_NET_POLL_CONTROLLER is not set

See Question #2. Do I need any of these?

Question #5:

Code:

CONFIG_AGP=m
(snip)
CONFIG_AGP_INTEL=m

Do I need AGPGART at all, if I intend to use the one that comes with the nVIDIA driver instead (the driver that you can get from nvidia.com)?

Question #6:

Code:

#
# Graphics Support
#
CONFIG_FB_NVIDIA=m
CONFIG_FB_NVIDIA_I2C=y
# CONFIG_FB_RIVA is not set

I'm not clear as to which I should enable, NVIDIA or RIVA. For NVIDIA, according to the menuconfig help I need an nVidia TNT or newer. For RIVA, I need a Riva/GeForce board. It looks like for my GeForce FX 5500, I could select either. Which is correct?

Question #7:

Code:

#
# Network File Systems
#
# CONFIG_NFS_FS is not set
# CONFIG_NFSD is not set
# CONFIG_SMB_FS is not set
# CONFIG_CIFS is not set
# CONFIG_NCP_FS is not set
# CONFIG_CODA_FS is not set
# CONFIG_AFS_FS is not set
# CONFIG_9P_FS is not set

See Question #2. Again, do I need any of these?

Thanks in advance.

69

RedShirt · 02-13-2006, 03:21 PM

Firstly... these options... are you using "make config" rather than a menu or xconfig? I haven't seen some of those listed that way...

Question #1:
You do NOT want High mem enabled if you don't have MORE than 4 gig. which means, at 1 gig, or exactly 4 gig, you don't need(or want) high mem enabled.

Question #2:
Offhand, I think the only one would need would be IPX if you plan to do anything gaming, some use IPX instead of TCP.

Question #3:
Couldn't tell you, it would be much easier in xconfig though, because then you could select the gigabit and exact drivers, rather than generics.

Question #4:
PPP and WAN could be needed, depending on your cable modem and how they need you to set everything up.

Question #5:
Yes. You need both the intel and the agpgart. Those are not for the CARD, but for the AGP chipsets on the motherbaord that interface with the cards. Both ATI and nvidia use those to configure their modules.

Question #6: EDIT I mean 7
No if you plan on not using NFS. NFS is not normal for home users, and I highly doubt you plan on using it. If you don't know what it is, you don't need or want it. But you could check into NFS and decide that for yourself.

Further Edit: To answer #6:
AMD64 needs frambuffer support, at least according to gentoo and a few other isntall docs I have seen for various things, otherwise, no, not nessecary, though I still use the ATI one anyway for my ATI card, BECAUSE I CAN!

bulliver · 02-13-2006, 03:27 PM

1: The kernel help says "Select this if you have a 32-bit processor and between 1 and 4 gigabytes of physical RAM." so I guess that would be inclusive.

2: No, you don't need that.

3. Again, from the help: "the answer to this question won't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause the configurator to skip all the questions about Ethernet network cards."

4. No, you don't need.

5. The binary nVidia module will use it's own AGPGART, though you may be wise to keep this one as a module just in case. Edit: after reading RedShirt's response, I checked in my config, and I do have AGPGART support for my chipset, so I guess I am wrong here. I thought I had read that the driver uses it's own AGPGART driver, but I cannot seem to find any docs that confirm or deny this, so keep it in...

6. I use plain old VESA VGA graphics support for my framebuffer (nVidia Gforce FX5700), so I don't know what to tell you here. Try and see...

7. If, as you say, you don't want to do home networking then you don't need any of that.

I highly recommend using the built in help for anything you are unsure of, as it would have answered 5 of your 7 questions here, and that is what it is there for.

Duo Secundus · 02-13-2006, 06:57 PM

I use menuconfig, but the options I listed above come directly from the .config file.

bulliver, regarding #3:
"the answer to this question won't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause the configurator to skip all the questions about Ethernet network cards."
I'm aware of this, and this is where I'm not clear. Does this mean that saying "N" will make the configurator skip the questions about the 10/100 Mbit cards and the 1000 Mbit cards and the 10000 Mbit cards? Or will the configurator skip just the questions about the 10/100 Mbit cards?

I have a Question #8:
Regarding the SATA configuration, I know which options to enable, but I remember reading that one has to also edit the libata.h file under include/linux and change #undef ATA_ENABLE_ATAPI to #define ATA_ENABLE_ATAPI, but I don't see that option anymore in 2.6.15. Do I change something else, or is no changes necessary?

Thanks,
69

bulliver · 02-13-2006, 07:04 PM

Quote:

I'm aware of this, and this is where I'm not clear. Does this mean that saying "N" will make the configurator skip the questions about the 10/100 Mbit cards and the 1000 Mbit cards and the 10000 Mbit cards? Or will the configurator skip just the questions about the 10/100 Mbit cards?

Try and see

My understanding is that it will skip all questions relevant to ethernet drivers. This doesn't really even matter as per your stated goal anyway, as it doesn't add _anything_ to the kernel itself. Your kernel will not be a single byte larger whether it is enabled or not.

Sorry, can't help with SATA as I have none...

gabebster · 02-13-2006, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duo Secundus

Question #6:

Code:

#
# Graphics Support
#
CONFIG_FB_NVIDIA=m
CONFIG_FB_NVIDIA_I2C=y
# CONFIG_FB_RIVA is not set

I'm not clear as to which I should enable, NVIDIA or RIVA. For NVIDIA, according to the menuconfig help I need an nVidia TNT or newer. For RIVA, I need a Riva/GeForce board. It looks like for my GeForce FX 5500, I could select either. Which is correct?

If you plan on using the nvidia drivers do not enable framebuffer support for nvidia. If you want frambuffer support just use VESA_FB. FB_NVIDIA will make so you can't install the nvidia driver.

Question 3 I have the same motherboard and I don't have anything enabled in 10/100Mbit section the onlything that I have enabled is the e1000 driver.

RedShirt · 02-13-2006, 11:01 PM

Question #8: That is not true.

I have SATA drives, the only thing you need to configure is the kernel(and obviously boot loader). So long as you have properly set your SATA drivers and SCSI generic, etc, you are clear.

Duo Secundus · 02-17-2006, 11:14 AM

If we're talking about just the SATA hard drives, then I would agree with you. I can get my Western Digital WD360 SATA hard drive to work fine. The problem is the Plextor PX-716SA SATA cd/dvd burner. Searching these forums and the HCL was where I found the tip to change to #define ATA_ENABLE_ATAPI in include/linux/libata.h. (I checked kernel version 2.6.15.3.) So I didn't change libata.h, compiled the kernel, and the Plextor isn't being seen AFAIK. When I get home from work today, I can post the output of the relevant files, but what file should I post, besides dmesg?

69

Duo Secundus · 02-18-2006, 09:32 PM

I compiled the kernel again, this time version 2.6.15.4. Here is a portion of dmesg that pertains to the drives:

Code:

libata version 1.20 loaded.
ata_piix 0000:00:1f.2: version 1.05
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1f.2[A] -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1f.2 to 64
ata1: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0xEC00 ctl 0xE802 bmdma 0xDC00 irq 16
ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0xE400 ctl 0xE002 bmdma 0xDC08 irq 16
ata1: dev 0 cfg 49:2f00 82:74eb 83:7f63 84:4003 85:74e9 86:3c43 87:4003 88:207f
ata1: dev 0 ATA-6, max UDMA/133, 72303840 sectors: LBA48
ata1: dev 0 configured for UDMA/133
scsi0 : ata_piix
ata2: dev 0 cfg 49:0f00 82:0000 83:0000 84:0000 85:0000 86:0000 87:0000 88:101f
ata2: dev 0 ATAPI, max UDMA/66
ata2(0): applying bridge limits
ata2: dev 0 configured for UDMA/66
scsi1 : ata_piix
  Vendor: ATA       Model: WDC WD360GD-00FL  Rev: 33.0
  Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 05
ata2(0): WARNING: ATAPI is disabled, device ignored.
SCSI device sda: 72303840 512-byte hdwr sectors (37020 MB)
SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
SCSI device sda: 72303840 512-byte hdwr sectors (37020 MB)
SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
 sda: sda1 sda2 sda3
sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi disk sda

So the Plextor PX-716SA is being ignored. But again, "#undef ATA_ENABLE_ATAPI" is not found in libata.h. I do see this line, however:

Code:

#undef ATAPI_ENABLE_DMADIR     /* enables ATAPI DMADIR bridge support */

Do I enable this instead?

69

RedShirt · 02-18-2006, 11:15 PM

Try it, my guess is the old name is depreciated to that.

Duo Secundus · 02-19-2006, 01:15 AM

Figured it out, after some extensive research...

I had to add the following line to my lilo.conf (in bold):

Code:

image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/sda1
label = Linux-2.6.15.4
append = "libata.atapi_enabled=1"
read-only

Now the burner is seen as /dev/sr0. I can now read a disc, burn an .iso to CD, and burn an .iso to DVD. Ugh, this whole process gave me a headache.

69