Chapter 4 System Configuration users. The answer is a definite maybe. There are few instances where you will need to compile a kernel specific to your system. Most users can use a precompiled kernel and the loadable kernel modules to achieve a fully working system. You will want to compile a kernel for your system if you are upgrading kernel versions to one that we do not currently offer in Slackware, or if you have patched the kernel source to get special device support that is not in the native kernel source. Anyone with an SMP system will definitely want to compile a kernel with SMP support. Also, many users find a custom compiled kernel runs much faster on their machine. You may find it useful to compile the kernel with optimizations for the specific processor in your machine. Building your own kernel is not that hard. The first step is to make sure you have the kernel source installed on your system. Make sure that you installed the packages from the K series during the installation. You will also want to make sure you have the D series installed, specifically the C compiler, GNU make, and GNU binutils. In general, it’s a good idea to have the entire D series installed if you plan on doing any kind of development. You can also download the latest kernel source from EGFIFGHKJ /G/MLGLGLONd\UR 3V_bRITfN 5 3Vcb/ Y|^M3G3$5 3$1 . Linux Kernel version 2.4.x Compilation % su Password: # cd /usr/src/linux
The first step is to bring the kernel source into its base state. We issue this command ! )" 9 to do that (note, you may wish to back-up the file as this command will delete it without warning): #
make mrproper
Now you can configure the kernel for your system. The current kernel offers three ways of doing this. The first is the original text-based question and answer system. It asks a bunch of questions and then builds a configuration file. The problem with this method is that if you mess up, you must start over. The method that most people
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