Re: [seul-edu] In Need of the BIG Picture

[Ray Olszewski <ray@comarre.com>]

After you follow the procedure you describe here, your kernel (not kernal)
file is /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage . It is NOT the file called
vmlinux or vmlinuz.

After you do "make bzImage" you can try doing "make install". Depending on
the distribution and kernel version, some Makefiles have a procedure in them
to install the new kernel and reconfigure LILO. At least my
Debian-distributed kernel-source packages have this target.

Without seeing the actual error, I can't be sure, but a "target" error
usually means the Makefile doesn't have an entry for what you told it to do
(in this case, no entry for "modules_install"). You should be getting a
message (not an error; not even a warning) that says something like "nothing
to do for targer 'make modules_install'". A true error seems odd in this
instance, since that is a pretty standard piece of the Makefile (even on my
old system with a 2.0.36 kernel tree); check your work for a typo.

If you write again, be sure to mention what kernel you are trying to
compile. I assume you are compiling on a Slackware host, but you might also
mention what version of Slackware.

I don't know how small your test kernel should be. The real ones I compile
typically are around 500 kB as bzImage files.

At 04:14 PM 7/19/00 -0500, Robert Maynord wrote:
>Dear SEUL Friends:
>
>As per your suggestions, I have been exploring the process of compiling the
>Linux kernal for use on my P90s at school. I have been using "make
>menuconfig" to select what is to be included.  Just to see if I could make
>a VERY small test kernal, I removed checks for 99% of the possible choices,
>leaving only a very few items such as the Pentium chip, a cdrom, and the
>floppy. No sound, alternate file systems, radio, or anything like that is
>included.  After "make menuconfig", I use:
>
>make clean
>make dep
>make bzImage
>make modules
>make modules_install (which gives me a "target" error, presumably because I
>have no modules checked in "make menuconfig".
>
>The problem is, I end up with a kernal (vmlinux) that is 1082 K compared to
>735 K for the original (Slackware) distribution kernal. The original
>distribution kernal uses 16 MG ram after loading, and then needs the swap
>drive.  I hate to think what my kernal would do!
>
>This is one of those situations where I am obviously missing out on the BIG
>picture.  The standard distribution kernals are supposed to be very
>bloated.  How big should a "streamlined" kernal be?


--
------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski                                        -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, CA           	 	         ray@comarre.com        
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