Arch Linux

nephish

Member

Registered: 2005-06-08

Posts: 95

questions about a brand new kernel

hello there all. i am looking for some tips

i just installed a new kernel, the archck one from the aur. And. i dig it. But this brings me to a tinkers obsession like question.

if i build my own kernel, what would the advantages be. The kernel i have now supports all the hardware i have, so i dont really need to build one. But will i get a performance boost if i do.

for example, i have an amd sempron. if i built a kernel with , i guess it would be the k7 arch type ? would that help me much over a kernel that is already 686 optimized ?

how about having a lighter kernel, if there are a bazillion modules i know i will never need, will it be beneficial to strip it down some ? would it boot faster ? how about over all performance ?

after all of this, is it likely that i would even notice the difference ?

i am kinda light on multimedia apps, i use gnome (most of the time)

just wondering.

whats your opinion ?

phrakture

Arch Overlord

From: behind you

Registered: 2003-10-29

Posts: 7,879

Website

Re: questions about a brand new kernel

if i build my own kernel, what would the advantages be. The kernel i have now supports all the hardware i have, so i dont really need to build one. But will i get a performance boost if i do.

The only difference you can make when it comes to hardware would have to do with building things as part of the kernel as opposed to modules.  However, I must point out that the module loader is very good and very fast.  The extra time it takes to load a kernel that's 1k larger is going to almost balance out with the time it takes to load 1k worth of modules at runtime.

for example, i have an amd sempron. if i built a kernel with , i guess it would be the k7 arch type ? would that help me much over a kernel that is already 686 optimized ?

Yes, it will perform better.  That's a given - but by how much, that is the question.  I'd try some benchmarks with benchmarking apps compiled for 686 and your specific processor first, and see if you get a decent percentage boost.

how about having a lighter kernel, if there are a bazillion modules i know i will never need, will it be beneficial to strip it down some ? would it boot faster ? how about over all performance ?

The only thing you save by removing modules is disk space - thats the point of compiling things as modules.

after all of this, is it likely that i would even notice the difference ?

I'd doubt it, but who knows, maybe there's a placebo effect.

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dtw

Forum Fellow

From: UK

Registered: 2004-08-03

Posts: 4,439

Website

Re: questions about a brand new kernel

I think gentoo should change its name to placebo...

nephish

Member

Registered: 2005-06-08

Posts: 95

Re: questions about a brand new kernel

placebo - thats funny.
i think i will wait a bit, because everything is so much how i like it now. but when i get an irristable urge to tinker again, i will give it a go.
thanks !

Cam

Member

From: Brisbane, Aus

Registered: 2004-12-21

Posts: 658

Website

Re: questions about a brand new kernel

It's not all it's cracked up to be. I've compiled my own kernels a few times but I keep going back to the archck package from [community] cause it works and it much easier to maintain

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mmccaskill

Member

From: NC

Registered: 2005-02-21

Posts: 163

Re: questions about a brand new kernel

I would but I don't use preemption and the archck is built with involuntary preemption. CK has said with his patches one doesn't need preemption, although I haven't verified this for myself. I also have a particular wireless driver that doesn't play nice with preemption.

nephish

Member

Registered: 2005-06-08

Posts: 95

Re: questions about a brand new kernel

i hope i am still on topic here....
what does it mean to be preempting ?

mmccaskill

Member

From: NC

Registered: 2005-02-21

Posts: 163

Re: questions about a brand new kernel

It basically means that the while the kernel is doing something relatively important (say A), if something else comes along that is more important (say B), the kernel can switch over to B without letting A finish what it is doing.

Some drivers, like the one I use, were not written with such things in mind as previous versions of Linux didn't preempt. Futhermore, it is sometimes more work to update the driver to the current kernel API than it is worth. As with my driver, the group is rewritting it from scratch with preemption in mind.

nephish

Member

Registered: 2005-06-08

Posts: 95

Re: questions about a brand new kernel

ok, makes sense. Makes me wonder how all this is done on other operating systems. Then again, the big one has not really been upgraded since what, 2001 ?