Newbie kernel compiling advice

[playahater]

hi ya all .. ) .. i`ve been useing linux for a while .. but i have never been compiling the kernel and ..
i have a little problem .. with comiling it while installing gentoo 2005.1 with "emerge kernel source" and I could use some help ..
my configuration is:
nf7-s rev2,0
athlon tbredb 2400+
creative live 5.1
radeon 9000Pro
seiemens lan router
dvdr pioneer 108
usb devices >> mouse, hp5150, hp3970c, usb rack,

so here`s my problem ..
i`ve read all installation manual .. understood it .. and did everything as said during installation .. exept one part .. and that is kernel(don`t understand how to configure it) ..
and ofcource .. the first thing i did was lsmod and lspci -v ..
i have compiled it as i thought it should be compiled, according to my hardware configuration offcourse .. and when I try to boot it .. everything worked fine exept my ethernet card on nf7-s (integrated) and usb mouse .. didn`t try other usb devices though ..
after that .. i thought .. i look for answer here in forum ..
as far as i have figured out .. my first mistake was .. that i did all compiling without modules .. i`ve compiled everything directly into kernel ..

so .. mu question would be ..

What Is generally wise to compile directly into kernel and what as a module .. and according to my hardware configuration ???
If someone could point me on what should i pay more attention while compiling ... ...
for example ..

dri? .. not at all, as a module or directly in order to have 3d acceleration
alsa? .. as a module or directly
eth0? .. as a module or directly
sata? .. as a module or directly
oss? .. not at all, as a module or directly
something i missed? .. not at all, as a module or directly

10x in advance ..

btw .. gentoo is the best distro ever ..
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[sandcrawler]

My 2Cents


I compile mainboard items (nics, etc) into the kernel if they aren't likely to change. I make sound stuff modular most of the time. Everything else I modularize or just leave out completely if I know I won't be using it.

With that said, I haven't used an nforce chipset recently, but when I last did, there was a separate module you had to emerge. Looking at google the new driver is in the kernel as "forcedeth" Make sure that driver is in the kernel.

As far as the mouse goes, search for other topics with me as the author. I've posted a few on ati xorg configs and usb mice.


take care.
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sandcrawler

[boniek]

To make your USB mouse and integrated network card work select (this is based upon 2.6.13-ck6 kernel):
Device Drivers
<*>Support for Host-side Bus
<*>OHCI HCD Support
<*>EHCI HCD (USB 2.0) Support (this is optional, set this if you have any USB2.0 compilant devices)
<*>USB Human Interface Device (full HID) Support
[*]HID Input Layer Support
<*>Network Device Support
<*>Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)
<*>EISA, VLB, PCI and on board controllers
<*>Reverse Engineered nForce Ethernet Support
Input Device Support
[*]Mouse
<*>PS/2 Mouse

If you plan on using any modules set also:
Loadable Module Support
<*>Enable loadable module support
<*>Automatic kernel module loading

You should compile driver directly into kernel, if you plan on using device, for which this driver was written, all the time or very often i.e. mouse or sound-card. Compiling as module is recommended for things used rarely, as you can keep memory usage of kernel as low as possible by unloading modules when they are not needed.
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[playahater]

10x ya all for fast reply ..
aaahhhaaa .. sooo .. what i`m gonna use all the time .. goes directly into kernel .. ql .. so .. eth0,alsa,mouse are on top of the list for now ..
well i thought that something in kernel, in order to work, must be conpiled as a modul .. ie eth .. i`ve read somewhere that my ehternet needs to be compiled as a modul or it won`t work ..
guess i was wrong ..again ..
OK .. no problem .. I`ll try to recompile today and see what happens .. ..

BIG 10x again ..

i`ll post result .. )
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[playahater]

Wooooohhhhhooooo .. its alive .. ))

i did it .. with a help from u guyz .. ofcourse .. ..
everything is working just fine ..

i have another problem .. cuz i`m a command-line fan .. .. i want to have the same enviroment as in livecd .. nice .. smooth .. blue .. background ..
but .. i`ll ask that in some other section ..
my present problem doesn`t belong here .. )

Hudge 10x again .. )
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