Kernel 2.6.30

[john wendel]

On 06/19/2009 11:17 AM, Bill Davidsen wrote:
> john wendel wrote:
>> On 06/19/2009 06:10 AM, Antonio Olivares wrote:
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>>
>>> BTW,
>>> If kernel.org releases 2.6.30.1, Are there any delta *.tar.gz's that
>>> one can download instead of downloading
>> the full kernel source again to update to 2.6.30.1? I have been
>> yearning to ask this question, but never had the
>> courage or the determination to do so. I generally follow Fedora
>> kernels, but sometimes I get eager to run
>> the latest and greatest. I run rawhide too, but they are at
>> 2.6.30-6.fc12. Someone told me that there were patches
>> that one could download and recompile to get the latest version, but
>> they don't tell me how and there does not seem to
>> exist documentation as to how to do it. All of this in case Fedora
>> stays a little bit behind, they are doing the right
>> thing though testing and making sure that the kernels work :), and
>> that the changes upstream do not affect the endusers in a bad way.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Antonio
>>
>> How to patch the Linux kernel
>>
>> Download the latest patch file for the kernel you're running - You'll
>> see it on the kernel.org website.
>>
>> Put the patch file in the directory with the original, unpatched
>> kernel source. Run "make mrproper". Run bunzip to uncompress the patch
>> file. Run patch -P1 < "patch-file-name"
>>
>> Now your kernel is patched to the latest version. Do your kernel build.
>>
> Having done a full clean, you need a config file, so 'defconfig' or
> 'allmod' or whatever is appropriate. If I have built a config with the
> crud out, I generally save the config (or just make clean) and then make
> the config to set any new options.
>
> Very much why I want to have a tool to build only the modules I need,
> even on a four CPU system with big memory and fast disk a full build
> fails the breath test (can you hold your breath while it builds).
>

Right about the config file. I always keep a copy of the config file in 
the build directory, outside the kernel directory.

The real problem I've had with building a custom kernel is not hardware 
related, it's software related. There are lots of hidden dependencies in 
useland code that can break if you don't build in the right set of 
kernel features. I don't know how to solve this one. I just start with a 
very minimal configuration and build, test, and repeat until everything 
I'm interested in works. I'm currently trying to build 2.6.30 on F11 to 
boot without a ramdisk (no modules). So far, no luck.

Luckily, I enjoy this crap.

John