Slackware SMP kernel

corbis_demon · 11-12-2010, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by user100

No that would be equal to each other.

So a machine with a single-CPU/multi-cores is functionally equal to a machine with multi-cpu/(possibly)multi-cores? Ok, if I didn't get this backwards, an SMP system treats all processors as equal. I had previously held the thought that SMP, and then NUMA worked only on MIMD/MPMD designs, and hence, had disbled SMP in my kernel. Guess I should recompile

lumak · 11-13-2010, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DVD/README.TXT

... The best kernel to run (even on a one CPU/core machine) is the generic SMP one ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by DVD/CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT

For most systems, you should use the generic SMP kernel if it will run, even if your system is not SMP-capable. Some newer hardware needs the local APIC enabled in the SMP kernel, and theoretically there should not be a performance penalty with using the SMP-capable kernel on a uniprocessor machine, as the SMP kernel tests for this and makes necessary adjustments. Furthermore, the kernel sources shipped with Slackware are configured for SMP usage, so you won't have to modify those to build external modules (such as NVidia or ATI proprietary drivers) if you use the SMP kernel.

If you decide to use one of the non-SMP kernels, you will need to follow the instructions in /extra/linux-2.6.33.4-nosmp-sdk/README.TXT to modify your kernel sources for non-SMP usage. Note that this only applies if you are using the Slackware-provided non-SMP kernel - if you build a custom kernel, the symlinks at /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/{build,source} will point to the correct kernel source so long as you don't (re)move it.

Slackware is designed to run on any reasonable hardware configuration by default. As far as the kernel is concerned, you should only ever have to add modules specific to your graphics processor or ancillary devices... and make an initrd image to use the generic kernel which has most hardware supported through modules.