Arch Linux

RedScare

Member

Registered: 2009-03-28

Posts: 91

Arch packages and a custom kernel

If I were to compile a custom kernel for Arch, is there a way for me to get a list of packages that I need to reinstall because they act as modules to the kernel (I will precompile everything that is necessary directly into the kernel, but some things, such as the nvidia driver and the vmware driver, do not come with the kernel)? Also, would there be a way to automatically install kernel based packages to a different kernel (depending on which I'm running)? I am not compiling the kernel because I need to, but for the learning experience and the performance boost, so if it is too much of a pain to maintain the system and it is not worth the performance boost, I probably will just leave the vanilla kernel.

TheBodziO

Member

From: Dukla, Poland

Registered: 2006-07-28

Posts: 230

Website

Re: Arch packages and a custom kernel

If I were to compile a custom kernel for Arch, is there a way for me to get a list of packages that I need to reinstall because they act as modules to the kernel (I will precompile everything that is necessary directly into the kernel, but some things, such as the nvidia driver and the vmware driver, do not come with the kernel)?

If you mean which packages on your system need to be recompiled and if you haven't messed with your installed packages db then do:

pacman -Qi <your-current-kernel-package>

You will be able to tell which packages require this kernel (they are "volunteers" for recompilation).

Also, would there be a way to automatically install kernel based packages to a different kernel (depending on which I'm running)?

Kernel is just another package from the pacman's point of view so briefly: yes.

I am not compiling the kernel because I need to, but for the learning experience and the performance boost, so if it is too much of a pain to maintain the system and it is not worth the performance boost, I probably will just leave the vanilla kernel.

I'm not the kind of guy to discourage any experimentation but I woudn't expect any noticable performance boost by using self configured vanilla kernel. Anyway… Do! Try!

PS. I'd start from modifying PKGBUILD for one of the stock kernels.

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