Gentoo Archives: gentoo-doc-cvs

From: Tim Yamin <plasmaroo@×××××××××××.org>
To: gentoo-doc-cvs@l.g.o
Subject: [gentoo-doc-cvs] cvs commit: genkernel.xml
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 16:51:37
Message-Id: 200507241650.j6OGodTS013119@robin.gentoo.org
1 plasmaroo 05/07/24 16:51:15
2
3 Modified: xml/htdocs/doc/en genkernel.xml
4 Log:
5 Update to 3.2.0 and restructure and reword (thanks to major contributions from Jimi Ayodele) and add netbooting information (thanks to contributions
6 from Thomas Seiler).
7
8 Revision Changes Path
9 1.17 +712 -271 xml/htdocs/doc/en/genkernel.xml
10
11 file : http://www.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/xml/htdocs/doc/en/genkernel.xml?rev=1.17&content-type=text/x-cvsweb-markup&cvsroot=gentoo
12 plain: http://www.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/xml/htdocs/doc/en/genkernel.xml?rev=1.17&content-type=text/plain&cvsroot=gentoo
13 diff : http://www.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/xml/htdocs/doc/en/genkernel.xml.diff?r1=1.16&r2=1.17&cvsroot=gentoo
14
15 Index: genkernel.xml
16 ===================================================================
17 RCS file: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/genkernel.xml,v
18 retrieving revision 1.16
19 retrieving revision 1.17
20 diff -u -r1.16 -r1.17
21 --- genkernel.xml 26 Jun 2005 23:50:57 -0000 1.16
22 +++ genkernel.xml 24 Jul 2005 16:51:15 -0000 1.17
23 @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
24 <?xml version='1.0' encoding="UTF-8"?>
25 -<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/genkernel.xml,v 1.16 2005/06/26 23:50:57 vanquirius Exp $ -->
26 +<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/genkernel.xml,v 1.17 2005/07/24 16:51:15 plasmaroo Exp $ -->
27 <!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd">
28
29 <guide link="/doc/en/genkernel.xml">
30 @@ -9,460 +9,901 @@
31 <mail link="plasmaroo@g.o">Tim Yamin</mail>
32 </author>
33
34 +<!-- folajimi@×××××××××.net -->
35 +<author title="Contributor">
36 + Jimi Ayodele
37 +</author>
38 +
39 +<!-- thseiler@×××××.com -->
40 +<author title="NFS Support">
41 + Thomas Seiler
42 +</author>
43 +
44 <abstract>
45 -This guide intends to provide a reference of all the functions
46 -provided by genkernel.
47 +This guide intends to provide a reference of all the functions provided by
48 +genkernel.
49 </abstract>
50
51 <license/>
52
53 -<version>1.1.2.3</version>
54 -<date>2005-06-26</date>
55 +<version>1.2</version>
56 +<date>2005-07-24</date>
57
58 <chapter>
59 <title>Introduction</title>
60 <section>
61 -<title>Introduction</title>
62 +<title>Rationale</title>
63 <body>
64
65 <p>
66 -Genkernel is designed to allow users who are not previously used to
67 -compiling a kernel to use a similar setup to that one that is used on
68 -the Gentoo Installation CDs which auto-detects your hardware.
69 -</p>
70 -
71 -<p>
72 -Some users may also be interested in using genkernel for hardware
73 -which requires initialization and a working kernel before it can be
74 -booted. Because genkernel also automatically compiles your kernel modules,
75 -thus allowing hardware which needs to be loaded with module parameters
76 -to be used.
77 +For users who are not privy to kernel compilation, genkernel is a tool to
78 +automate this process. It can help you create a kernel image akin to those
79 +available on Gentoo Installation CDs, which are designed to auto-detect the
80 +hardware configuration of your system. Some users may also be interested in
81 +using genkernel for hardware requiring initialization and a working kernel
82 +before the system starts up. Since genkernel automatically compiles your kernel
83 +modules, you can use hardware that may require certain module parameters to be
84 +loaded for proper operation.
85 </p>
86
87 </body>
88 </section>
89 +
90 <section>
91 -<title>Is genkernel for me?</title>
92 +<title>Target Audience</title>
93 <body>
94
95 <p>
96 -Genkernel is often a good choice to those who are unused to compiling
97 -their own kernel or those who are not certain about their hardware
98 -configurations.
99 -</p>
100 -
101 -<p>
102 -Because genkernel is designed to use a generic configuration, it
103 -should be able to support all of your hardware - however, because all
104 -the drivers and modules have to be compiled as well, compiling a
105 -kernel by yourself is often much faster provided you know what you need.
106 +If you are either uncertain about how to compile a kernel, or are just
107 +unfamiliar with your hardware configuration, genkernel is a very handy tool.
108 +It is designed to take the pain out of the kernel compiling process, and
109 +supports most hardware by default.
110 </p>
111
112 <p>
113 -Genkernel does not however, currently support booting the sytem from
114 -LVM2/EVMS2 partitions. Users are recommended to use a manually compiled
115 -kernel for the time being.
116 +However, if you know what drivers are required by your system, you may be able
117 +to further reduce the time taken to compile the kernel. This is possible since
118 +you can direct genkernel to only build drivers relevant to your hardware.
119 +Oftentimes, the number of drivers required by your system will be fewer
120 +(implying a shorter kernel compilation time) than the default configuration
121 +provides.
122 </p>
123
124 </body>
125 </section>
126 <section>
127 -<title>Getting genkernel</title>
128 +<title>Installing genkernel</title>
129 <body>
130
131 <p>
132 -You can obtain genkernel by simply running <c>emerge genkernel</c>. Don't
133 -forget to use the <c>-k</c> flag for emerge if you are using binary packages,
134 -i.e. GRP. Due to the GRP packages having an older version of genkernel, the
135 -flags are different. As a result, you should consult the <uri
136 -link="/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&amp;chap=10">
137 -Gentoo Handbook</uri> and <path>genkernel --help</path>.
138 +To obtain genkernel, run <c>emerge genkernel</c> from the command line. If you
139 +are using the
140 +<uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/2005.0/hb-install-about.xml#doc_chap2_sect1">
141 +Gentoo Reference Platform</uri> (GRP), remember to install binary packages by
142 +passing the <c>-k</c> flag to emerge. Since the GRP is bundled with an older
143 +version of genkernel, the flags may be different. In any case, consult
144 +<c>genkernel --help</c> for help on how to use the version of genkernel
145 +installed on your system.
146 </p>
147 -
148 +
149 </body>
150 </section>
151 +</chapter>
152 +
153 +<chapter>
154 +<title>Working with genkernel</title>
155 <section>
156 -<title>Supported platforms</title>
157 +<title>How to use genkernel</title>
158 <body>
159
160 <p>
161 -As of genkernel 3.0.2, the following platforms should be
162 -supported: alpha, amd64, parisc, parisc64, ppc, ppc64, sparc, sparc64, and x86.
163 +Although there are several ways to run genkernel, the least-intrusive approach
164 +is provided by <c>genkernel all</c>. Here, a generic configuration which works
165 +well for most systems is used. As was mentioned earlier, this approach is not
166 +without drawbacks; most of the modules created are useless to the average user
167 +and may increase compile time. Below is an illustration of a more efficient
168 +approach, achieved by passing certain flags to genkernel as root:
169 </p>
170
171 -</body>
172 -</section>
173 -</chapter>
174 +<pre caption="Running genkernel (with flags)">
175 +# genkernel --bootsplash --no-install --no-clean --menuconfig all
176 +</pre>
177
178 -<chapter>
179 -<title>Genkernel usage</title>
180 -<section>
181 -<title>Introduction</title>
182 -<body>
183 +<p>
184 +The above operation causes genkernel to create a bootsplash-enabled kernel
185 +(<c>--bootsplash</c>) that will have to be manually installed
186 +(<c>--no-install</c>). While preparing the kernel source tree, genkernel will
187 +refrain from cleaning out any preexisting object files present in the source
188 +tree (<c>--no-clean</c>). A menu-driven kernel configuration utility will be
189 +displayed that allows the user to select which modules will be built for the
190 +system (<c>--menuconfig</c>).
191 +</p>
192
193 <p>
194 -Genkernel is designed to work in three modes:
195 +There are other flags which alter the result provided by genkernel. For
196 +instance, replacing <c>--no install</c> with the <c>--install</c> flag allows
197 +genkernel to automatically install the new kernel in the <path>/boot</path>
198 +directory. Using the <c>--mountboot</c> flag allows genkernel to mount your
199 +<path>/boot</path> partition automatically, if necessary.
200 </p>
201
202 -<ul>
203 - <li>"all" mode: this builds the kernel and the initrd</li>
204 - <li>"kernel" mode: this only builds the kernel image</li>
205 - <li>"initrd" mode: this only builds the initrd</li>
206 -</ul>
207 +<p>
208 +Remember, genkernel is designed to make kernel compilation easy and
209 +stress-free. For this reason, genkernel features several flags to ease the
210 +kernel compilation effort. For example, there are flags to help with kernel
211 +configuration, while others affect the actual compilation. Some flags even help
212 +debug the compilation process. For those interested in further optimization,
213 +there are flags that affect kernel assembling, packaging and even kernel
214
215
216
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