Re: Compiling stuff
On Tue, Dec 12, 2000 at 01:34:41PM +0100, Peter Hugosson-Miller wrote:
>
> I've just put my brave hat on and compiled my kernel for the first
> time. Thanks to Robert Guthrie and his tip to use kernel-package,
> and KMDWAF, everything just worked first try!
>
> I do have a couple of questions, though.
>
> 1) There were many warnings during the compile, although no errors
> that I noticed (bit difficult to be sure, as they flash by so
> quickly). Is this normal, or should I be analysing this (this is
> 2.2.17 from the source on the 2.2r0 CD BTW).
I dunno if this is a problem. The kernel may do many things that the
compiler interprets as "unsafe", or the compiler is unable to validate
some variables/behaviors. I think the warning level is set pretty high
for kernel compiles by default which will often generate many messages.
Any definitive error would cause the compile to halt. 2.2.17 seems
pretty stable though (although that's configuration dependent).
> 2) I've noticed that my machine boots faster, and some things run
> quite a lot faster than before. This I would kind of expect, as I
> selected the Pentium II option in xconfig. This got me thinking,
> maybe there are other packages that would benifit from being
> recompiled. Advice in this area would be most welcome.
I think, out of anything, the kernel is most able to take advantage of
processor specific features. This may provide a little speed-up for all
programs in general. The benefits for most C/C++ code for these
optimizations is somewhat contested. Some folks believe there is little
gain for most programs. There's an i686 libc in woody now, which
may/may not provide some enhancements to code. I've had it installed
for a couple weeks, but can't say I've noticed a demonstrable difference
compared with the 2.0 => 2.2 kernel upgrade.
> 3) Everything seems to work OK, but there could still conceivably
> be some nasty problems lurking around waiting to be discovered.
> Any tips as how I would look for these (or am I just being too
> paranoid)?
Check your syslog for weird kernel messages.
> This last is interesting especially, as if all is well I plan to
> go for the 2.2.18 patch to try and talk to my Rio 500 via USB as
> a next stage, and I want to be sure I'm on the right track before
> I start.
--
Eric G. Miller <egm2@jps.net>
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