[gentoo-user] Re: Testing new kernels - saving dumps / strip down kernel options

[nunojsilva@ist.utl.pt (Nuno J. Silva)]

On 2013-01-08, Stefan G. Weichinger wrote:

[...]
> * I remember a thread here where this was discussed already:
>
> How do you guys get to your .config for a recent kernel? "make
> oldconfig" doesn't always work out best, I recall?
>
> My kernel config is maintained along for years now and has survived
> several hardware changes. I don't have any obvious problems but I wonder
> if I have something in there that is deprecated and might be better
> thrown out.

I don't use anything other than stable code releases from portage, but
even then I usually do make oldconfig, followed by a by-hand inspection
of the options with make menuconfig, to catch stuff that got through me
in make oldconfig, and to see if there's any change in other options
that I want to tune.

> Does it make sense to take the .config from the gentoo install dvd for
> example and remove all the stuff I don't have? Maybe still too much
> enabled options in the end.

Even then, if you do that and tune the config several times, you'll
likely end up with a lighter kernel. Just drop anything you don't need
from the device drivers.

> "make allnoconfig" as a start?

That is probably much better than the config from the install dvd, yes,
in fact most of the work coming from an "Add-It-All" config is that you
have to disable many, many entries.

> allmodconfig ?

I'd go with allnoconfig, although if you compile lots of stuff as
modules, you can then check lsmod to see what does, in fact, get loaded.

> I'd be happy to hear your opinions.

-- 
Nuno Silva (aka njsg)
http://njsg.sdf-eu.org/