Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Kernel Config
Before building your kernel, you need a configuration. The downloaded kernel source
does not include your Pi's kernel settings. If you want to build the kernel with the same
configuration as the one you are using, grab your configuration from your running Pi:
$ scp pi@rasp:/proc/config.gz.
Then uncompress the configuration and move it into place:
$ gunzip <config.gz >~/work/rasp/linux−rpi−3.10.y/.config
Alternatively, because there may be new options that were not used by your old
kernel, you may want to start with a fresh set of default options for your kernel. Copying
these defaults will give you a good starting point from which to proceed (assuming the
directory
~/work/rasp/linux-rpi-3.10.y
):
$ cp./arch/arm/configs/bcmrpi_defconfig .config
At this point, you can modify the configuration, but for your first build, I suggest
you leave it as is. Once you get a successful build and run of the kernel, you can go back
with confidence and make changes. Otherwise, if the new kernel fails, you won't know
whether it was the kernel, your build procedure, or the configuration that you chose.
If you downloaded your kernel from the Git repositoryfail if you copied the
bcmrpi_
defconfig
configuration. The reason is that some of the configured modules may not be
fully developed (or undergoing changes), but are enabled in the configuration for testing.
For example, if an
IPTables
module fails to compile, you may need to disable it in the
configuration. If the option is difficult to find in the menu (see
make menuconfig
next), it
is an accepted practice to just edit the
.config
file. Things are often easier to find with the
editor.
make menuconfig
The first time around, you should start
make menuconfig
and then just exit. When you
decide later that you need to make configuration changes, you can either use the menu-
driven approach here or edit the
.config
file directly. The menu-driven approach is
usually best since it can guide you through the process:
$ make menuconfig
