module vs inbuild

[reup]

hello,

could someone tells me if it is better to use modules or to compile in the kernel. I am not talking about the files systems, or basic hardware but something like sound card ?

I had a sound card for wich I could not find the right kernel options. a live distro would load 10 modules for the sound card, but my gentoo would load only 1

so I went to the kernel and enabled ALL the sound options as modules(around 20?) , after next reboot, I found in lsmod about 10 modules loaded. so my question are :

1 should I rebuild my kernel with the one found in lsmod as part of the kernel ?
2 can I leave the selected modules that are not loaded in the kernel, as modules or does it impact on my kernel size and speed ?

thanks

reup

[PaulBredbury]

Normally, it is better (i.e. less likelihood of kernel problems, no need to manually load them before use) for modules to be built-in.

ALSA is a special case - I recommend that alsa-driver be used, so that the version of alsa is independent of the kernel version.
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Improve your font rendering and ALSA sound

[reup]

cool,

but what about modules that are selected as modules in the .config, but are not needed.

what if I compile a driver for a network card that I do not have, it will not load at boot, but will it slow down my system (cannot imagine why) and will it grow the kernel size ? (ha yes, that could slow down the system)

reup

[PaulBredbury]

It's only a problem if the kernel module misbehaves, and activates even though it shouldn't - then it could slow down the system, I suppose. Normally, it will just bloat the kernel by an insignificant amount.

The standard practice with a kernel is to compile-in whatever's useful for the particular PC, and remove everything else.

[JDCentral]

Personally, I build-in everything that's absolutely necessary for the computer to boot, and put everything else as modules - (sound, video, joystick drivers, etc..).

That way, when (and if) I have a problem with the driver, I'm able to simply remove the module and my computer is able to boot "normally", until I find time to investigate the issue. It also gives me a little bit of flexability, sometimes.

That's just my personal practice, though.
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