Does anyone use the original config "generic" / "generic-smp"?

a4z · 04-11-2018, 12:50 PM

the only reason for an initrd are the file system drivers, at least for me.
back the days I always rebuild the generic-smp, but with extX drivers inbuild, than I did not need the initrd
today I use the huge kernel, it works. initrd is too stressful, creating it gives me nothing than work and a wast of time.

Darth Vader · 04-11-2018, 01:56 PM

I use exclusively the generic/generic-smp. From starts.

In fact, I do not remember preciselly how looks the native installer, as I use the hard way (literally: manual installation), and having an external USB hard-drive of 500GB, hosting both x86 and x86_64 installations (in different partitions, of course) including local mirrors, with everything kept up2date.

I do not know why, but I feel that the combination of generic(-smp) and initrd works better.

Alien Bob · 04-11-2018, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by a4z

the only reason for an initrd are the file system drivers, at least for me.
back the days I always rebuild the generic-smp, but with extX drivers inbuild, than I did not need the initrd
today I use the huge kernel, it works. initrd is too stressful, creating it gives me nothing than work and a wast of time.

For a 'normal' no-frills installation, you don't need an initrd if you are happy with a huge kernel.
In case you want to use RAID, LVM or LUKS, you are required to use an initrd.

Ne01eX · 04-11-2018, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Didier Spaier

If not in Slackware 15.0, at least in the next version there won't be a huge kernel anymore anyway, so better be prepared.

Time for saving kernel-configs?

chemfire · 04-11-2018, 03:07 PM

I pretty much use the generic kernels and an initrd. Installing a new initrd with elilo is easier and safer than ever. Just build the image mount the vfat filesystem under /boot if its not already and and go.

This is super nice too because typically you can copy the system to any, including very different machines and with an initrid update and maybe a few deletes of things under /etc/udev/persistent.... its good to go.

Ne01eX · 04-11-2018, 03:47 PM

...if your not using proprietary drivers, such as NVidia. :-D :-D :-D

TheTKS · 04-11-2018, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Didier Spaier

If not in Slackware 15.0, at least in the next version there won't be a huge kernel anymore anyway, so better be prepared.

Didier, thanks for the heads up. Trying generic is on my “some day” list, but I’ve had no great reason not to just run huge. If it’s going to go away in the next version or two, I’ll go figure out how to do it with grub, although on reading the instructions it doesn’t sound like there’s much to it, if everything goes smoothly.

Has anyone here ever had trouble switching to generic?

allend · 04-11-2018, 06:18 PM

Quote:

That's I'm wondering why people use the initrd and modules in general, if can immediately create the monolith for youself.

I use the generic kernel and an initrd to reduce RAM usage. Also, although I have never seen it, apparently it has been reported that the huge kernel can suffer from conflicts on certain hardware. It is faster to build an initrd than to create a monolith with additional options.

coralfang · 04-12-2018, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alien Bob

I see no reason for myself to modify the generic kernel configuration these days. I used to compile custom kernels a lot but I am exclusively using Slackware's default generic configs now, combined with an initrd, done so for years.

If i feel like running a patched kernel once in a while (usually the postfactum patches for me), i'll copy over the currently running generic config to build from, then adjust the few new options for what the patches provide. Other than that i'll also use the generic config with no changes if i feel like compiling the latest mainline kernel.

ttk · 04-12-2018, 05:51 PM

I exclusively use the 64-bit huge smp kernel.

Slackware's stability is a key feature to me. By using the same kernel binary as some other Slackware users, I am less likely to have bugs in my systems' kernels that other people do not find.