hi, i'm using slackware 10.2, 2.4.31 kernel, i wanted to know if recompiling the kernel would improve performance? do i have to change the configuration (make xconfig) or just a plain recompilation would do?
i'm still a newbie & this is the 1st time i'm trying something on the kernel, plz help

I don't find recompiling makes much difference to performance. A good way to do it though is to keep your existing .config and do a 'make oldconfig'. And then adjust it to your needs.

Hi,

Rather open question! Your need to compile a custom kernel can be dictated by several conditions. One would be to trim the kernel to have optimum size. Another would be that your hardware requires special conditions, such as a specific controller that requires you to include a driver. As to the reasoning to compile for a specific processor family to gain performance, on the i86 class you will not see much gain. For 64 class machines, you will see some difference in the single verse the multiple core arena.

As for your question about the 'make xconfig'. You would do this to make the selections for the new kernel that is desired. To just do a 'plain recompilation' as you suggest, the old or current config would be used. To continue to compile without change in the .config file then the kernel would remain the same each time the 'make' is done.

You could look at some of the on-line reference in my sig to get some good background information!

I have some older hardware so doing a 'make distclean' to clear out all the "generic" stuff, then only added in what was specific to my computer, caused a huge difference in boot time.

regards,
...drkstr