New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

void · 2006-08-27 05:14:31

Greetings. Im a new Arch user having come over from Slackware. I wanted to build a custom kernel for my system. With Slackware all I did was download the kernel (from kernel.org), link the source to a folder, do a make menuconfig, customize all my settings, build it, install it, edit my boot manager and I was good to go.

In Arch, having read some Wikis, I have to use PKGBUILD and ABS which I am totally lost with. Are there more detailed tutorials for ABS and custom kernel builds?

Thanks
Void

tomk · 2006-08-27 05:49:17

It is highly recommended that you use ABS, but you don't have to. You can do it the old way if you prefer. The difference is that your kernel will not be under pacman's control, something you will appreciate more fully as you grow accustomed to the way things are done in Arch.

I always thought the ABS info available in the wiki was quite thorough. You might be better off starting with a smaller package, something less critical than your kernel. Pick something non-essential from the AUR, have a look through the PKGBUILD, run makepkg, and see what happens. Come back here with any questions.

Welcome to Arch BTW - I should have said that first, shouldn't I?

void · 2006-08-27 06:23:09

I'm sorry to waste your time, I never just searched for ABS in the wiki so no wonder I got confused. I found an ABS wiki that I read over and helped a lot.

Sorry again to waste your time, that was my newb fault

--void

tomk · 2006-08-27 07:05:25

No apology necessary. It's great to see people coming to Arch and getting stuck in straight away. As long as you're getting something out of it, it's not a waste of time.

Insane-Boy · 2006-08-27 11:06:34

void wrote:

Greetings. Im a new Arch user having come over from Slackware. I wanted to build a custom kernel for my system. With Slackware all I did was download the kernel (from kernel.org), link the source to a folder, do a make menuconfig, customize all my settings, build it, install it, edit my boot manager and I was good to go.
In Arch, having read some Wikis, I have to use PKGBUILD and ABS which I am totally lost with. Are there more detailed tutorials for ABS and custom kernel builds?
Thanks
Void

I think you can build your kernel without abs ?You just only be sure in all options which you make or you will never make your kernel up and running:)
The build is same as the slackware build which you've made.

fk · 2006-08-27 11:46:19

With Slackware all I did was download the kernel (from kernel.org), link the source to a folder, do a make menuconfig, customize all my settings, build it, install it, edit my boot manager and I was good to go.

you can do this also in Arch.

Chris|MD · 2006-08-27 20:25:12

The biggest problem i had is that there is no clean kernel pkgbuild.
Havent used it before so you can easily run in trouble.
Tried to strip down there ones used for the kernel26 but its full of patches and scripts i dont even know what they do.

Kris · 2006-08-27 20:46:16

Is it "dangerous" to make the kernel the good ol' way? I mean, with menuconfig

mr.MikyMaus · 2006-08-27 20:59:05

I prefer to build kernel the good old way. Then It's just two files in /boot and some modules (not many for me since I prefere as complete kernel as possible).

Another reason for that is that I upgrade kernel quite often. I have quite new hardware (Asus A3FC) and it's not fully supported yet.

I am also testing different kernel configurations, just out of curiosity , so making it via makepkg is really not an option for me..

But anything else I need, I do it by makepkg. It's the most perfect way of installing new software while making it packaging-system compatible. Imagine doing something like that on Debian

-M

tomk · 2006-08-27 21:39:20

Chris|MD wrote:

Tried to strip down there ones used for the kernel26 but its full of patches and scripts i dont even know what they do.

The current kernel26 PKGBUILD applies 5 patches, and the purpose of each is given in a comment. If you feel you can do without them, just comment out the related patch commands. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "scripts" in this context - all PKGBUILDs include a build() function, which is called by makepkg. Remove that, and you have nothing. If you are referring to the various cp and install commands within the build function, these are required to move the minimum amount of data required from the compiled kernel tree in the source directory to /usr/src/linux-<version> directory in the package directory. I'd be happy to clarify any of this further in you want.

Kris wrote:

Is it "dangerous" to make the kernel the good ol' way? I mean, with menuconfig

Of course not. You miss out on pacman's benefits, but if you're OK with that, fire away.

mr.MikyMaus wrote:

Another reason for that is that I upgrade kernel quite often. I have quite new hardware (Asus A3FC) and it's not fully supported yet.
I am also testing different kernel configurations, just out of curiosity , so making it via makepkg is really not an option for me.

I also upgrade/test different kernels, patchsets, configs etc - I generally have a minimum of four kernels on my machine at any one time - and I do them all with makepkg. Each to their own, I suppose ...........

bigbob73 · 2006-08-27 22:56:47

Kris wrote:

Is it "dangerous" to make the kernel the good ol' way? I mean, with menuconfig

not in the least, i do it all the time with no problems

Arch Linux

#1 2006-08-27 05:14:31

New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

#2 2006-08-27 05:49:17

Re: New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

#3 2006-08-27 06:23:09

Re: New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

#4 2006-08-27 07:05:25

Re: New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

#5 2006-08-27 11:06:34

Re: New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

#6 2006-08-27 11:46:19

Re: New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

#7 2006-08-27 20:25:12

Re: New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

#8 2006-08-27 20:46:16

Re: New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

#9 2006-08-27 20:59:05

Re: New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

#10 2006-08-27 21:39:20

Re: New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

#11 2006-08-27 22:56:47

Re: New Arch User Lost with Custom Kernel

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