I am trying to minimize my kernel/modules by using "make localmodconfig". But, since I am not totally sure about that I "just" want to use the modules that are loaded in the system when issuing "make localmodconfig", I am thinking of using i.e. Meld or similar to pick something in between a large configuration and the smaller one. But, since some of the configuration options are dependent on and/or selected by other options, just melding the configuration files might not work I think. Will there be configuration warnings if I run i.e. "make silentoldconfig" on a "manually" changed configuration file that is in someway inconsistent?

I suspect that you could very well get errors or warnings.

Are you just trying to reconfigure your kernel?

If so just install what you need during the "make modules" during the install or rebuild of your kernel.

http://www.linuxtopia.org/online_boo...n/ch07s03.html

I'm not sure if make localmodconfig is the right tool and I've never used it.
-::-Best to wait on members with this experience.-::-

I don't understand.
You want a minimal kernel - but you want to add other stuff ????.
Then you want to screw it all up by manually editting the .config ????.

Hmmm - the make is pretty accommodating; it will just stop. It's easy enough to run the localmod then adjust the config options as you want (from within the menuconfig) - I normally turn on kernel debugging, but not much more.

I don't really WANT to screw it up, but I guess that might be the result. The meld step was to speed up the menuconfig/xconfig step so that I don't have to manually go through every sub menu, should I want to configure something in between the original configuration and localmod.

I suggest that, in the best of times, "the kernel is never particularly large."

Therefore, if you want to, you can go through the list of modules, making sure that you actually need them, or that any which you might not need are, in fact, "modules" and not compiled directly into the kernel.

You will very rapidly reach a point of diminishing returns here. Exactly how many kilobytes is " .. .. " worth to you?

I booted up a Knoppix disk and noticed which modules it loaded for my computer. I then built a custom (Gentoo ...) kernel configuration that embedded the necessary drivers for my hardware directly into the kernel. I was enable to completely eliminate the "initrd" pre-boot step.

Because Gentoo is a purely source-based distribution, I compiled everything specifically for my processor type, for single-processor since my (old ...) CPU didn't have cores, and so on.

Drivers for removable devices were compiled as loadable modules, which would be loaded when the device was inserted and removed when I pulled it out.

I wound up with a system that could boot in six seconds flat, and which breathed new life into a machine that had originally been sold with Windows 95 on it. The hardware finally failed, but I still have the disk drive. (Maybe someday, "Old Dobbin" will get a new and virtual after-life ...)