Maybe my frequent kernel building could be of some help to the community? And how to build?

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated - linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

Thanks in advance for your remarks.

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

However, boot testing is probably even more helpful, such as you have already tried. The /dev/sda2 root problem is probably just a configuration problem. Would you like to try to diagnose it?

Quoted 2 lines · Randy Dunlap

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

Saying "mainline" you mean the *gitN patch from kernel.org? I think I could do it. What is the ultimate source of the mmotm patch?

Quoted 3 lines

However, boot testing is probably even more helpful, such as you have already tried. The /dev/sda2 root problem is probably just a configuration problem. Would you like to try to diagnose it?

I uninstalled that kernel and now I don't have that config.

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

However, boot testing is probably even more helpful, such as you have already tried. The /dev/sda2 root problem is probably just a configuration problem. Would you like to try to diagnose it?

Quoted 2 lines · Randy Dunlap

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

I think that if Andrew's git repo is up to date usually I will be testing his work. Is this somethink what used to be suffixed -mm?

Quoted 3 lines

However, boot testing is probably even more helpful, such as you have already tried. The /dev/sda2 root problem is probably just a configuration problem. Would you like to try to diagnose it?

Previously I wrote that I do not have the config - I forgot that I had built DEB package, so the config is there, I even have the source package, so I think we can diagnose it. Shall I send you the .config file off-list (there is some size limit as far as I know).

Quoted 8 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 7 lines

Quoted 3 lines

However, boot testing is probably even more helpful, such as you have already tried. The /dev/sda2 root problem is probably just a configuration problem. Would you like to try to diagnose it?

Previously I wrote that I do not have the config - I forgot that I had built DEB package, so the config is there, I even have the source package, so I think we can diagnose it. Shall I send you the .config file off-list (there is some size limit as far as I know).

Quoted 2 lines

The size limit shouldn't stop a kernel config file. Just send it, please.

Ok, please find it attached.

OK, are you using lilo or grub?

Whatever boot loader it is, please
show us a working boot loader config entry and the failing boot loader config entry.

The first thing that I would try is enabling CONFIG_DEVTMPFS and CONFIG_DEVTMPFS_MOUNT, rebuild, reboot...

The first thing that I would try is enabling CONFIG_DEVTMPFS and CONFIG_DEVTMPFS_MOUNT, rebuild, reboot...

Quoted 2 lines · Randy Dunlap

The first thing that I would try is enabling CONFIG_DEVTMPFS and CONFIG_DEVTMPFS_MOUNT, rebuild, reboot...

I've rebuilt and it boots fine. Just after booting the kernel it had to think for a while and I was afraid that it won't boot at all. But it booted.

BTW What is this message during building about? Should I worry?

WARNING: modpost: Found 106 section mismatch(es).
To see full details build your kernel with:
'make CONFIG_DEBUG_SECTION_MISMATCH=y'

Quoted 14 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated - linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

Quoted 1 line

Thanks in advance for your remarks.

Many linux-next builds are done daily: see
http://kisskb.ellerman.id.au/kisskb/branch/9/

and then I do 25 x86_32 randconfigs and 25 x64_64 randconfigs daily and fix most build errors that I find in them. (I am also using a quad-core PC with a cron job that finds the next day's linux-next, downloads it, and does 50 builds.)

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time, just various/random combinations of them.

Quoted 6 lines · Randy Dunlap

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time, just various/random combinations of them.

I am glad I can help. At last I sat down to write the scripts, I was so excited I couldn't fall asleep ;-). I figured it out in such a way:

- separate system user for building
- in his crontab everyminute a build try starts with randomized options you mentioned - this works, I hope

The problem is that it requires my assistance, because it asks a few questions like in make oldconfig when there are new options available. I do not know how to fix this.

Here are the scripts:

# randomize-conf.sh

#!/bin/bash

NETENABLED=0
function enable_or_not(){
if test $RANDOM -lt 16383 ; then

    if test $1=CONFIG_NET ; then
      NETENABLED=1
      echo $1=y
      return
    fi
    if test $1=CONFIG_INET && test $NETENABLED -eq 1 ; then
      if test $RANDOM -lt 16383 ; then
        echo $1=y
      else
        echo '# CONFIG_'$1' is not set'
      fi
      return
    fi
  else
    echo '# CONFIG_'$1' is not set'

fi
}

while read LINE ; do
FIRST=$(echo $LINE | cut -d '=' -f 1)
case $FIRST in

    CONFIG_SMP)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_SMP
    ;;
    CONFIG_SYSFS)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_SYSFS
    ;;
    CONFIG_PROC_FS)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_PROC_FS
    ;;
    CONFIG_PM)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_PM
    ;;
    CONFIG_PCI)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_PCI
    ;;
    CONFIG_BLOCK)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_BLOCK
    ;;
    CONFIG_NET)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_NET
    ;;
    CONFIG_INET)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_INET
    ;;
    CONFIG_HOTPLUG)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_HOTPLUG
    ;;
    *)
      echo $LINE

esac
done

# try-build.sh

#!/bin/bash

RCPT=phz@localhost

function tidy(){
rm ../results/.config 2>/dev/null
rm ../results/build.log 2>/dev/null
rm ../BUILDING-NOW 2>/dev/null
}

cd ~/kernel/linux
if test -f ../BUILDING-NOW ; then
exit 0
else
touch ../BUILDING-NOW
make mrproper
cat ../config.all | ../randomize-conf.sh > ./.config make prepare

cp .config ../results/
make -j 10 2>&1 > ../results/build.log
if test $? -ne 0 ; then

    (cat ../results/.config && cat ../results/build.log) | mail -s
'Build failed at kernel phase' $RCPT
    mv ../results/.config ../results/.config.kf.$(date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S)
    tidy
    exit 0
  fi
  make -j 10 modules 2>&1 >> ../results/build.log
  if test $? -ne 0 ; then
    (cat ../results/.config && cat ../results/build.log) | mail -s
'Build failed at modules phase' $RCPT
    mv ../results/.config ../results/.config.mf.$(date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S)
    tidy
    exit 0

fi
echo OK | mail -s 'ok' $RCPT
tidy
fi

Quoted 93 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 6 lines · Randy Dunlap

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time, just various/random combinations of them.

I am glad I can help. At last I sat down to write the scripts, I was so excited I couldn't fall asleep ;-). I figured it out in such a way:

- separate system user for building
- in his crontab everyminute a build try starts with randomized options you mentioned - this works, I hope

The problem is that it requires my assistance, because it asks a few questions like in make oldconfig when there are new options available. I do not know how to fix this.

Here are the scripts:

# randomize-conf.sh

#!/bin/bash

NETENABLED=0
function enable_or_not(){
if test $RANDOM -lt 16383 ; then

    if test $1=CONFIG_NET ; then
      NETENABLED=1
      echo $1=y
      return
    fi
    if test $1=CONFIG_INET && test $NETENABLED -eq 1 ; then
      if test $RANDOM -lt 16383 ; then
        echo $1=y
      else
        echo '# CONFIG_'$1' is not set'
      fi
      return
    fi
  else
    echo '# CONFIG_'$1' is not set'

fi
}

while read LINE ; do
FIRST=$(echo $LINE | cut -d '=' -f 1)
case $FIRST in

    CONFIG_SMP)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_SMP
    ;;
    CONFIG_SYSFS)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_SYSFS
    ;;
    CONFIG_PROC_FS)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_PROC_FS
    ;;
    CONFIG_PM)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_PM
    ;;
    CONFIG_PCI)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_PCI
    ;;
    CONFIG_BLOCK)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_BLOCK
    ;;
    CONFIG_NET)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_NET
    ;;
    CONFIG_INET)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_INET
    ;;
    CONFIG_HOTPLUG)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_HOTPLUG
    ;;
    *)
      echo $LINE

esac
done

# try-build.sh

#!/bin/bash

RCPT=phz@localhost

function tidy(){
rm ../results/.config 2>/dev/null
rm ../results/build.log 2>/dev/null
rm ../BUILDING-NOW 2>/dev/null
}

Quoted 8 lines

cd ~/kernel/linux
if test -f ../BUILDING-NOW ; then
exit 0
else
touch ../BUILDING-NOW
make mrproper
cat ../config.all | ../randomize-conf.sh > ./.config make prepare

Hm, I'm not even familiar with "make prepare". Instead at this point I use "make oldconfig", and to help it along with answers (non-interactive answers, that is), use 'yes', like:

yes '' | make oldconfig

I think that this will fix what you described...

Quoted 107 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 93 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 6 lines · Randy Dunlap

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time, just various/random combinations of them.

I am glad I can help. At last I sat down to write the scripts, I was so excited I couldn't fall asleep ;-). I figured it out in such a way:

- separate system user for building
- in his crontab everyminute a build try starts with randomized options you mentioned - this works, I hope

The problem is that it requires my assistance, because it asks a few questions like in make oldconfig when there are new options available. I do not know how to fix this.

Here are the scripts:

# randomize-conf.sh

#!/bin/bash

NETENABLED=0
function enable_or_not(){
if test $RANDOM -lt 16383 ; then

    if test $1=CONFIG_NET ; then
      NETENABLED=1
      echo $1=y
      return
    fi
    if test $1=CONFIG_INET && test $NETENABLED -eq 1 ; then
      if test $RANDOM -lt 16383 ; then
        echo $1=y
      else
        echo '# CONFIG_'$1' is not set'
      fi
      return
    fi
  else
    echo '# CONFIG_'$1' is not set'

fi
}

while read LINE ; do
FIRST=$(echo $LINE | cut -d '=' -f 1)
case $FIRST in

    CONFIG_SMP)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_SMP
    ;;
    CONFIG_SYSFS)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_SYSFS
    ;;
    CONFIG_PROC_FS)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_PROC_FS
    ;;
    CONFIG_PM)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_PM
    ;;
    CONFIG_PCI)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_PCI
    ;;
    CONFIG_BLOCK)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_BLOCK
    ;;
    CONFIG_NET)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_NET
    ;;
    CONFIG_INET)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_INET
    ;;
    CONFIG_HOTPLUG)
      enable_or_not CONFIG_HOTPLUG
    ;;
    *)
      echo $LINE

esac
done

# try-build.sh

#!/bin/bash

RCPT=phz@localhost

function tidy(){
rm ../results/.config 2>/dev/null
rm ../results/build.log 2>/dev/null
rm ../BUILDING-NOW 2>/dev/null
}

Quoted 8 lines

cd ~/kernel/linux
if test -f ../BUILDING-NOW ; then
exit 0
else
touch ../BUILDING-NOW
make mrproper
cat ../config.all | ../randomize-conf.sh > ./.config make prepare

Hm, I'm not even familiar with "make prepare". Instead at this point I use "make oldconfig", and to help it along with answers (non-interactive answers, that is), use 'yes', like:

Quoted 3 lines

yes '' | make oldconfig

I think that this will fix what you described...

No, it will not. The problem is somewhere in my randomizer. During build preparation it oldconfig-style asks eg for SMP which is enabled in the template. It should not ask. Now I observe that it functions randomly. Sometimes build procedes as expected, sometimes not. I must carefully think it through, possibly rewrite.

Quoted 1 line

Quoted 1 line

        echo '# CONFIG_'$1' is not set'

Quoted 1 line

Quoted 1 line

        echo '# '$1' is not set'

But it seems that it works, but I do not understand why. Needs rewrite, better config template line parsing.

Quoted 2 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

But it seems that it works, but I do not understand why. Needs rewrite, better config template line parsing.

I made it with Python, the scripts follow:

--- main try-build.sh

#!/bin/bash

RCPT=phz@localhost

function tidy(){
rm ../results/.config 2>/dev/null
rm ../results/build.log 2>/dev/null
rm ../BUILDING-NOW 2>/dev/null
}

cd ~/kernel/linux
if test -f ../BUILDING-NOW ; then
exit 0
else
touch ../BUILDING-NOW
make mrproper
cat ../config.all | ../randomize-conf.py > ./.config make prepare
cp .config ../results/
make -j 10 2>&1 > ../results/build.log

if test $? -ne 0 ; then

    (cat ../results/.config && cat ../results/build.log) | mail -s
'Build failed at kernel phase' $RCPT
    mv ../results/.config ../results/.config.kf.$(date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S)
    tidy
    exit 0
  fi
  make -j 10 modules 2>&1 >> ../results/build.log
  if test $? -ne 0 ; then
    (cat ../results/.config && cat ../results/build.log) | mail -s
'Build failed at modules phase' $RCPT
    mv ../results/.config ../results/.config.mf.$(date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S)
    tidy
    exit 0

fi
echo OK | mail -s 'ok' $RCPT
tidy
fi

--- the randomizer:

#!/usr/bin/python

import sys
import re
import random

netenabled = 0
token = ""

def yesno():

    if random.random()>0.5:
        return 1
    else:
        return 0

def enable_or_not(atoken):

    if yesno():
        if atoken=="CONFIG_NET":
            netenabled = 1
            print atoken+"=y"
        else:
            if atoken=="CONFIG_INET":
                if yesno():
                    print atoken+"=y"
                else:
                    print "# "+atoken+" is not set" ;
            else:
                print atoken+"=y"
    else:
        print "# "+atoken+" is not set" ;

switch = {
    "CONFIG_SMP": enable_or_not("CONFIG_SMP"),
    "CONFIG_SYSFS": enable_or_not("CONFIG_SYSFS"),
    "CONFIG_PROC_FS": enable_or_not("CONFIG_PROC_FS"),
    "CONFIG_PM": enable_or_not("CONFIG_PM"),
    "CONFIG_PCI": enable_or_not("CONFIG_PCI"),
    "CONFIG_BLOCK": enable_or_not("CONFIG_BLOCK"),
    "CONFIG_NET": enable_or_not("CONFIG_NET"),
    "CONFIG_INET": enable_or_not("CONFIG_INET"),
    "CONFIG_HOTPLUG": enable_or_not("CONFIG_HOTPLUG")
    }

for line in sys.stdin:

    mo = re.match("(\w+)=(.*)", line)
    if mo:
        token = mo.group(1)
    else:
        mo = re.match("# (\w+) is not set", line)
        if mo:
            token = mo.group(1)
    if token!="CONFIG_MODULES":
        switch.get(token, enable_or_not(token))
    else:
        sys.stdout.write("CONFIG_MODULES=y\n")

Quoted 5 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 2 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

But it seems that it works, but I do not understand why. Needs rewrite, better config template line parsing.

I made it with Python, the scripts follow:

Thanks for sharing them.

Quoted 12 lines

--- main try-build.sh

#!/bin/bash

RCPT=phz@localhost

function tidy(){
rm ../results/.config 2>/dev/null
rm ../results/build.log 2>/dev/null
rm ../BUILDING-NOW 2>/dev/null
}

Quoted 10 lines

cd ~/kernel/linux
if test -f ../BUILDING-NOW ; then
exit 0
else
touch ../BUILDING-NOW
make mrproper
cat ../config.all | ../randomize-conf.py > ./.config make prepare
cp .config ../results/
make -j 10 2>&1 > ../results/build.log

'make' with no target also builds modules, so the 'make modules' below isn't needed (it's extra work).

Quoted 20 lines · On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:24:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 14 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated - linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

Quoted 1 line

Thanks in advance for your remarks.

Many linux-next builds are done daily: see
http://kisskb.ellerman.id.au/kisskb/branch/9/

Quoted 7 lines

and then I do 25 x86_32 randconfigs and 25 x64_64 randconfigs daily and fix most build errors that I find in them. (I am also using a quad-core PC with a cron job that finds the next day's linux-next, downloads it, and does 50 builds.)

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time, just various/random combinations of them.

Quoted 29 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 26 lines · On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:24:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 14 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated - linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

Quoted 1 line

Thanks in advance for your remarks.

Many linux-next builds are done daily: see
http://kisskb.ellerman.id.au/kisskb/branch/9/

and then I do 25 x86_32 randconfigs and 25 x64_64 randconfigs daily and fix most build errors that I find in them. (I am also using a quad-core PC with a cron job that finds the next day's linux-next, downloads it, and does 50 builds.)

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

Quoted 6 lines

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time, just various/random combinations of them.

and CONFIG_SYSRQ=n (just found some errors due to this one)

Quoted 40 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 38 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 21 lines · On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:24:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 16 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated -
linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root
device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

Quoted 1 line

Thanks in advance for your remarks.

Many linux-next builds are done daily: see
http://kisskb.ellerman.id.au/kisskb/branch/9/

Quoted 7 lines

and then I do 25 x86_32 randconfigs and 25 x64_64 randconfigs daily and fix most build errors that I find in them. (I am also using a quad-core PC with a cron job that finds the next day's linux-next, downloads it, and does 50 builds.)

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time,
just various/random combinations of them.

Quoted 1 line

and CONFIG_SYSRQ=n (just found some errors due to this one)

You mean CONFIG_SYSRQ=n exactly and mandatory in every config or this was just an example?

Quoted 39 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 38 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 37 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 21 lines · On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:24:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 16 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated -
linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root
device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

Quoted 1 line

Thanks in advance for your remarks.

Many linux-next builds are done daily: see
http://kisskb.ellerman.id.au/kisskb/branch/9/

Quoted 7 lines

and then I do 25 x86_32 randconfigs and 25 x64_64 randconfigs daily and fix most build errors that I find in them. (I am also using a quad-core PC with a cron job that finds the next day's linux-next, downloads it, and does 50 builds.)

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time,
just various/random combinations of them.

Quoted 3 lines

Quoted 1 line

and CONFIG_SYSRQ=n (just found some errors due to this one)

You mean CONFIG_SYSRQ=n exactly and mandatory in every config or this was just an example?

Sorry about that. Just make it random (sometimes disabled).

Quoted 45 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 44 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 43 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 42 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 26 lines · On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:24:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 21 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my
kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of
some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated -
linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the
options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I
tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was
built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root
device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

Quoted 1 line

Thanks in advance for your remarks.

Many linux-next builds are done daily: see
http://kisskb.ellerman.id.au/kisskb/branch/9/

Quoted 7 lines

and then I do 25 x86_32 randconfigs and 25 x64_64 randconfigs daily and fix most build errors that I find in them. (I am also using a quad-core PC with a cron job that finds the next day's linux-next, downloads it, and does 50 builds.)

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time,
just various/random combinations of them.

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and CONFIG_SYSRQ=n (just found some errors due to this one)

You mean CONFIG_SYSRQ=n exactly and mandatory in every config or this was just an example?

Sorry about that. Just make it random (sometimes disabled).

Ok.

The problem I face and want to overcome now is that not all options can be random, some options require to be not y or no a tall, but a string or a number. So my plan is that first thing to be done is to do make defconfig and put it as a template to be used by my scripts. Then only the options that you enumerated earlier will be randomized. Is this correct?

Quoted 50 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 45 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 44 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 43 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 42 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 26 lines · On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:24:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 21 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my
kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of
some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated -
linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the
options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I
tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was
built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root
device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

Quoted 1 line

Thanks in advance for your remarks.

Many linux-next builds are done daily: see
http://kisskb.ellerman.id.au/kisskb/branch/9/

Quoted 7 lines

and then I do 25 x86_32 randconfigs and 25 x64_64 randconfigs daily and fix most build errors that I find in them. (I am also using a quad-core PC with a cron job that finds the next day's linux-next, downloads it, and does 50 builds.)

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time,
just various/random combinations of them.

Quoted 4 lines

Quoted 3 lines

Quoted 1 line

and CONFIG_SYSRQ=n (just found some errors due to this one)

You mean CONFIG_SYSRQ=n exactly and mandatory in every config or this was just an example?

Sorry about that. Just make it random (sometimes disabled).

Quoted 8 lines

Ok.

The problem I face and want to overcome now is that not all options can be random, some options require to be not y or no a tall, but a string or a number. So my plan is that first thing to be done is to do make defconfig and put it as a template to be used by my scripts. Then only the options that you enumerated earlier will be randomized. Is this correct?

Yes, that's one way to approach it.

Another way (similar) would be to use a combination of "make randconfig" with KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG. See Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.txt for info on KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG. Basically it allows you to tell kconfig values for a subset of config symbols to be used.

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One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled),
such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter
with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time,
just various/random combinations of them.

Quoted 4 lines

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and CONFIG_SYSRQ=n (just found some errors due to this one)

You mean CONFIG_SYSRQ=n exactly and mandatory in every config or this was just an example?

Sorry about that. Just make it random (sometimes disabled).

Ok, but at present is not working properly, as expected. The scripts now are like this, I returned to randomizing with bash:

--- try-build.sh

#!/bin/bash

RCPT=phz@localhost
CPUCNT=$(cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep ^processor | wc -l)

function tidy(){
rm ../results/.config 2>/dev/null
rm ../results/build.log 2>/dev/null
rm ../BUILDING-NOW 2>/dev/null
}

cd ~/kernel/linux
if test -f ../BUILDING-NOW ; then
exit 0
else
touch ../BUILDING-NOW
make mrproper
cat ../config.all | ../randomize-conf2.sh > ./.config make oldconfig

cp .config ../results/
DT=$(date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S)
make -j $CPUCNT vmlinux 2>&1 | tee ../results/build.log if test $? -ne 0 ; then

    (cat ../results/.config && cat ../results/build.log) | mail -s

'Build failed at kernel phase' $RCPT
mv ../results/.config ../results/.config.kf.$DT mv ../results/build.log ../results/build.log.$DT tidy
exit 0
fi
make -j $CPUCNT modules 2>&1 | tee -a ../results/build.log if test $? -ne 0 ; then

    (cat ../results/.config && cat ../results/build.log) | mail -s

'Build failed at modules phase' $RCPT
mv ../results/.config ../results/.config.mf.$DT mv ../results/build.log ../results/build.log.$DT tidy
exit 0
fi
cp ../results/build.log ./
rm BUILDING-NOW
echo OK | mail -s 'ok' $RCPT
tidy

fi

--- randomize-conf2.sh:

#!/bin/bash

NETENABLED=0
function enable_or_not(){
if test $RANDOM -lt 16383 ; then

    if test $1=CONFIG_NET ; then
      NETENABLED=1
      echo $1=y
      return
    fi
    if test $1=CONFIG_INET && test $NETENABLED -eq 1 ; then
      if test $RANDOM -lt 16383 ; then
        echo $1=y
      else
        echo '# '$1' is not set'
      fi
      return
    fi
  else
    echo '# '$1' is not set'

fi
}

cat ../config.all | grep -v CONFIG_SMP | grep -v CONFIG_SYSFS | grep -v CONFIG_PROC_FS | grep -v CONFIG_PM | grep -v CONFIG_PCI | grep -v CONFIG_BLOCK | grep -v CONFIG_NET | grep -v CONFIG_INET | grep -v CONFIG_HOTPLUG > ./cfg.tmp

(
enable_or_not CONFIG_SMP
enable_or_not CONFIG_SYSFS
enable_or_not CONFIG_PROC_FS
enable_or_not CONFIG_PM
enable_or_not CONFIG_PCI
enable_or_not CONFIG_BLOCK
enable_or_not CONFIG_NET
enable_or_not CONFIG_INET
enable_or_not CONFIG_HOTPLUG
)
cat ./cfg.tmp

I launch try-build.sh, but it still asks me about unspecified options, my config.all is produced by make defconfig or make oldconfig, dosen't matter still.

Do you see what the problem is?

Quoted 1 line

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Sorry about that. Just make it random (sometimes disabled).

The config symbol above should be CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ.

Quoted 16 lines

Ok, but at present is not working properly, as expected. The scripts now are like this, I returned to randomizing with bash:

--- try-build.sh

#!/bin/bash

RCPT=phz@localhost
CPUCNT=$(cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep ^processor | wc -l)

function tidy(){
rm ../results/.config 2>/dev/null
rm ../results/build.log 2>/dev/null
rm ../BUILDING-NOW 2>/dev/null
}

Quoted 8 lines

cd ~/kernel/linux
if test -f ../BUILDING-NOW ; then
exit 0
else
touch ../BUILDING-NOW
make mrproper
cat ../config.all | ../randomize-conf2.sh > ./.config make oldconfig

I am using:
yes '' | make oldconfig

Quoted 53 lines

cp .config ../results/
DT=$(date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S)
make -j $CPUCNT vmlinux 2>&1 | tee ../results/build.log if test $? -ne 0 ; then

    (cat ../results/.config && cat ../results/build.log) | mail -s

'Build failed at kernel phase' $RCPT
mv ../results/.config ../results/.config.kf.$DT mv ../results/build.log ../results/build.log.$DT tidy
exit 0
fi
make -j $CPUCNT modules 2>&1 | tee -a ../results/build.log if test $? -ne 0 ; then

    (cat ../results/.config && cat ../results/build.log) | mail -s

'Build failed at modules phase' $RCPT
mv ../results/.config ../results/.config.mf.$DT mv ../results/build.log ../results/build.log.$DT tidy
exit 0
fi
cp ../results/build.log ./
rm BUILDING-NOW
echo OK | mail -s 'ok' $RCPT
tidy

fi

--- randomize-conf2.sh:

#!/bin/bash

NETENABLED=0
function enable_or_not(){
if test $RANDOM -lt 16383 ; then

    if test $1=CONFIG_NET ; then
      NETENABLED=1
      echo $1=y
      return
    fi
    if test $1=CONFIG_INET && test $NETENABLED -eq 1 ; then
      if test $RANDOM -lt 16383 ; then
        echo $1=y
      else
        echo '# '$1' is not set'
      fi
      return
    fi
  else
    echo '# '$1' is not set'

fi
}

Quoted 4 lines

cat ../config.all | grep -v CONFIG_SMP | grep -v CONFIG_SYSFS | grep -v CONFIG_PROC_FS | grep -v CONFIG_PM | grep -v CONFIG_PCI | grep -v CONFIG_BLOCK | grep -v CONFIG_NET | grep -v CONFIG_INET | grep -v CONFIG_HOTPLUG > ./cfg.tmp

Note that these grep -v's drop any config that contains CONFIG_whatever, such as CONFIG_PCI_QUIRKS. If you just want to drop those config symbols and no others, I guess you would add "-w" to the grep command.

Quoted 13 lines

(
enable_or_not CONFIG_SMP
enable_or_not CONFIG_SYSFS
enable_or_not CONFIG_PROC_FS
enable_or_not CONFIG_PM
enable_or_not CONFIG_PCI
enable_or_not CONFIG_BLOCK
enable_or_not CONFIG_NET
enable_or_not CONFIG_INET
enable_or_not CONFIG_HOTPLUG
)
cat ./cfg.tmp

Quoted 5 lines

I launch try-build.sh, but it still asks me about unspecified options, my config.all is produced by make defconfig or make oldconfig, dosen't matter still.

Do you see what the problem is?

It's working for me just be using
yes '' | make oldconfig

Quoted 2 lines

It's working for me just be using
yes '' | make oldconfig

Ok, it seems to be working now, but I do not understand why my version doesn't.

Quoted 4 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 2 lines

It's working for me just be using
yes '' | make oldconfig

Ok, it seems to be working now, but I do not understand why my version doesn't.

I became so desperate with the fact that I do not understand why my version does not work as expected and with the fact that I am not a Python nor perl nor bash hacker I begun to write the randomizer in plain old php5-cli. Wow, .. how lame you'd say. ;-) It's possible that I will write all thing in it.

Quoted 8 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 4 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 2 lines

It's working for me just be using
yes '' | make oldconfig

Ok, it seems to be working now, but I do not understand why my version doesn't.

I became so desperate with the fact that I do not understand why my version does not work as expected and with the fact that I am not a Python nor perl nor bash hacker I begun to write the randomizer in plain old php5-cli. Wow, .. how lame you'd say. ;-) It's possible that I will write all thing in it.

Ok. That's all, I give up. I do not understand how this fscking thing works. I do make mrproper inside, then either gzip -cd /proc/config.gz > ./.config followed by make oldconfig or make defconfig and then I execute the following script:

#!/usr/bin/php
<?

function yesno(){
    $x = rand();
    if ($x<getrandmax()/2){ return true; }else{ return false; }
}

function enable_or_not($atoken){
    if (yesno()){
        switch ($atoken){
            case "CONFIG_NET":
                $netenabled = true;
                print("CONFIG_NET=y\n");
                break;
            case "CONFIG_INET":
                if (yesno() and $netenabled){
                    print("CONFIG_INET=y\n");
                }else print("# CONFIG_INET is not set\n");
                break;
            default:
                print($atoken."=y\n");
        }
    }else{
        print("# ".$atoken." is not set\n");
    }
}

$stdin = fopen("php://stdin", "r");

while ($inline = fgets($stdin)){
    $m = preg_match("/^(CONFIG_\w+)=([y|n])$/", $inline, $matches);
    if ($m){
        $option = $matches[1];
    }else{
        $m = preg_match("/^# (CONFIG_\w+) is not set$/", $inline, 
$matches);
        if ($m) { $option = $matches[1]; }else{ $option = false; };
    };
    switch ($option){
        case "CONFIG_MODULES":
            print "CONFIG_MODULES=y";
            break;
        case "CONFIG_NET":
            enable_or_not("CONFIG_NET");
            break;
        case "CONFIG_INET":
            enable_or_not("CONFIG_INET");
            break;
        case "CONFIG_SMP":
            enable_or_not("CONFIG_SMP");
            break;
        case "CONFIG_SYSFS":
            enable_or_not("CONFIG_SYSFS");
            break;
        case "CONFIG_PROC_FS":
            enable_or_not("CONFIG_PROC_FS");
            break;
        case "CONFIG_PM":

            enable_or_not("CONFIG_PM");
            break;
        case "CONFIG_PCI":
            enable_or_not("CONFIG_PCI");
        case "CONFIG_BLOCK":
            enable_or_not("CONFIG_BLOCK");
        case "CONFIG_HOTPLUG":
            enable_or_not("CONFIG_HOTPLUG");

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

aapi205:/usr/src/linux# cat /proc/cmdline
vga=791 root=/dev/sda2 ro quiet

CONFIG_CMDLINE_BOOL=y
CONFIG_CMDLINE="vga=791"
# CONFIG_CMDLINE_OVERRIDE is not set

Is the order important for kernel parameters?

Signature · 1 line

NB: 2.6.34-rc2-next-20100329+

Quoted 3 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

Quoted 4 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 2 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Quoted 5 lines

Quoted 2 lines

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

I expected higher resolution console, smaller font etc

Quoted 8 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:41:48 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 7 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 3 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

Quoted 1 line

I expected higher resolution console, smaller font etc

Boy was I confused. I thought that your question was about the root= kernel boot parameter.

Well, there are several questions to be asked. and one more comment.

1. what video (framebuffer) driver are you using?

2. is it builtin the kernel image or is it a loadable module?

3. have you read Documentation/svga.txt and Documentation/fb/{fbcon,vesafb}.txt ?

And my comment is that your question (about video) would be better on the [email protected] mailing list. It's not about kbuild/kconfig, unless kconfig is not saving the build parameters correctly...

Jeden z powodów, dla których KRK nie był skłonny do oddawania Biblii w ręce pospólstwa. Po rozmowie z Jehowitami często można zrozumieć, dlaczego.

Quoted 16 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 10 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:41:48 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 8 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 4 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

I expected higher resolution console, smaller font etc

Boy was I confused. I thought that your question was about the root= kernel boot parameter.

Quoted 3 lines

Well, there are several questions to be asked. and one more comment.

1. what video (framebuffer) driver are you using?

Ashamed to say, but I do not know. vga=791 works perfectly when I specifiy it via GRUB modification, either during pre-booting phase or in menu.lst. I thought that it would work if I enable it by the oprions I provided in the previous message.

Quoted 1 line

2. is it builtin the kernel image or is it a loadable module?

Loadable mofule I suppose, I can see nvidia.ko in /lib/modules/... - I install Nbvidia driver with Nvidia tool each time after kernel change. Each time the module has to be compiled anew.

Quoted 1 line

3. have you read Documentation/svga.txt and Documentation/fb/{fbcon,vesafb}.txt ?

No, I havent, yet.

Quoted 3 lines

And my comment is that your question (about video) would be better on the [email protected] mailing list. It's not about kbuild/kconfig, unless kconfig is not saving the build parameters correctly...

But I don't know if it is a fb problem, I quoted kernel config parameters I used, may be there is a problem with them?

Quoted 18 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:32:42 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 17 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 9 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:41:48 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 7 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 3 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

I expected higher resolution console, smaller font etc

Boy was I confused. I thought that your question was about the root= kernel boot parameter.

Well, there are several questions to be asked. and one more comment.

1. what video (framebuffer) driver are you using?

Quoted 1 line

Ashamed to say, but I do not know. vga=791 works perfectly when I specifiy it via GRUB modification, either during pre-booting phase or in menu.lst. I thought that it would work if I enable it by the oprions I provided in the previous message.

That does sound, hm, suspicious.

Quoted 2 lines

Quoted 1 line

2. is it builtin the kernel image or is it a loadable module?

Loadable mofule I suppose, I can see nvidia.ko in /lib/modules/... - I install Nbvidia driver with Nvidia tool each time after kernel change. Each time the module has to be compiled anew.

So this nvidia driver supports "vga=<value>" ?

Quoted 2 lines

Quoted 1 line

3. have you read Documentation/svga.txt and Documentation/fb/{fbcon,vesafb}.txt ?

No, I havent, yet.

Quoted 4 lines

Quoted 3 lines

And my comment is that your question (about video) would be better on the [email protected] mailing list. It's not about kbuild/kconfig, unless kconfig is not saving the build parameters correctly...

But I don't know if it is a fb problem, I quoted kernel config parameters I used, may be there is a problem with them?

Well, to me, all of the questions are about video/framebuffer usage. That's why I recommended that mailing list.

Although if you are using the binary-only nvidia driver, it will probably be difficult to help you.

Quoted 20 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 18 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:32:42 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 17 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 10 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:41:48 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 8 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 4 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

I expected higher resolution console, smaller font etc

Boy was I confused. I thought that your question was about the root= kernel boot parameter.

Well, there are several questions to be asked. and one more comment.

Quoted 7 lines

Quoted 5 lines

Quoted 1 line

1. what video (framebuffer) driver are you using?

Ashamed to say, but I do not know. vga=791 works perfectly when I specifiy it via GRUB modification, either during pre-booting phase or in menu.lst. I thought that it would work if I enable it by the oprions I provided in the previous message.

That does sound, hm, suspicious.

Quoted 6 lines

Quoted 4 lines

Quoted 1 line

2. is it builtin the kernel image or is it a loadable module?

Loadable mofule I suppose, I can see nvidia.ko in /lib/modules/... - I install Nbvidia driver with Nvidia tool each time after kernel change. Each time the module has to be compiled anew.

So this nvidia driver supports "vga=<value>" ?

I suppose it does because it works perfectly when I put it in menu.lst file in GRUB config or specify it in GRUB before the kernel boots.

Quoted 7 lines

Quoted 7 lines

Quoted 1 line

3. have you read Documentation/svga.txt and Documentation/fb/{fbcon,vesafb}.txt ?

No, I havent, yet.

Quoted 3 lines

And my comment is that your question (about video) would be better on the [email protected] mailing list. It's not about kbuild/kconfig, unless kconfig is not saving the build parameters correctly...

Quoted 6 lines

Quoted 2 lines

But I don't know if it is a fb problem, I quoted kernel config parameters I used, may be there is a problem with them?

Well, to me, all of the questions are about video/framebuffer usage. That's why I recommended that mailing list.

But I read a bit and this is not a case of framebuffer, pkain svga mode.

Quoted 2 lines

Although if you are using the binary-only nvidia driver, it will probably be difficult to help you.

It is not binary-only, I have to rebuild the driver in every kernel change.

Quoted 20 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:44:28 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 19 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 17 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:32:42 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 16 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 9 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:41:48 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 7 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 3 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

I expected higher resolution console, smaller font etc

Boy was I confused. I thought that your question was about the root= kernel boot parameter.

Well, there are several questions to be asked. and one more comment.

Quoted 3 lines

Quoted 3 lines

Quoted 2 lines

Quoted 1 line

1. what video (framebuffer) driver are you using?

Ashamed to say, but I do not know. vga=791 works perfectly when I specifiy it via GRUB modification, either during pre-booting phase or in menu.lst. I thought that it would work if I enable it by the oprions I provided in the previous message.

That does sound, hm, suspicious.

OK, the above is the main problem, right?
If so, I'll try to find time to test it.

Quoted 15 lines

Quoted 3 lines

Quoted 2 lines

Quoted 1 line

2. is it builtin the kernel image or is it a loadable module?

Loadable mofule I suppose, I can see nvidia.ko in /lib/modules/... - I install Nbvidia driver with Nvidia tool each time after kernel change. Each time the module has to be compiled anew.

So this nvidia driver supports "vga=<value>" ?

I suppose it does because it works perfectly when I put it in menu.lst file in GRUB config or specify it in GRUB before the kernel boots.

Quoted 10 lines

Quoted 7 lines

Quoted 1 line

3. have you read Documentation/svga.txt and Documentation/fb/{fbcon,vesafb}.txt ?

No, I havent, yet.

Quoted 3 lines

And my comment is that your question (about video) would be better on the [email protected] mailing list. It's not about kbuild/kconfig, unless kconfig is not saving the build parameters correctly...

But I don't know if it is a fb problem, I quoted kernel config parameters I used, may be there is a problem with them?

Well, to me, all of the questions are about video/framebuffer usage. That's why I recommended that mailing list.

Quoted 5 lines

But I read a bit and this is not a case of framebuffer, pkain svga mode.

Quoted 2 lines

Although if you are using the binary-only nvidia driver, it will probably be difficult to help you.

It is not binary-only, I have to rebuild the driver in every kernel change.

Where can I download the driver to look at it, please?

Quoted 28 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 26 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:44:28 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 25 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 23 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:32:42 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 11 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 9 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:41:48 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 8 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 4 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

Quoted 7 lines

Quoted 1 line

I expected higher resolution console, smaller font etc

Boy was I confused. I thought that your question was about the root= kernel boot parameter.

Well, there are several questions to be asked. and one more comment.

1. what video (framebuffer) driver are you using?

Ashamed to say, but I do not know. vga=791 works perfectly when I specifiy it via GRUB modification, either during pre-booting phase or in menu.lst. I thought that it would work if I enable it by the oprions I provided in the previous message.

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That does sound, hm, suspicious.

OK, the above is the main problem, right?
If so, I'll try to find time to test it.

Thanks in advance.

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2. is it builtin the kernel image or is it a loadable module?

Loadable mofule I suppose, I can see nvidia.ko in /lib/modules/... - I install Nbvidia driver with Nvidia tool each time after kernel change. Each time the module has to be compiled anew.

So this nvidia driver supports "vga=<value>" ?

I suppose it does because it works perfectly when I put it in menu.lst file in GRUB config or specify it in GRUB before the kernel boots.

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3. have you read Documentation/svga.txt and Documentation/fb/{fbcon,vesafb}.txt ?

No, I havent, yet.

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And my comment is that your question (about video) would be better on the [email protected] mailing list. It's not about kbuild/kconfig, unless kconfig is not saving the build parameters correctly...

But I don't know if it is a fb problem, I quoted kernel config parameters I used, may be there is a problem with them?

Well, to me, all of the questions are about video/framebuffer usage. That's why I recommended that mailing list.

But I read a bit and this is not a case of framebuffer, pkain svga mode.

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Although if you are using the binary-only nvidia driver, it will probably be difficult to help you.

It is not binary-only, I have to rebuild the driver in every kernel change.

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Where can I download the driver to look at it, please?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_amd64_195.36.15.html

You download the driver and ru it :

bash downloaded_file.run

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You download the driver and ru it :

bash downloaded_file.run

but a large part of that file appears to be a pre-compiled binary.

Quoted 20 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:44:28 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 19 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 17 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:32:42 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 16 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 9 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:41:48 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 7 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 3 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

I expected higher resolution console, smaller font etc

Boy was I confused. I thought that your question was about the root= kernel boot parameter.

Well, there are several questions to be asked. and one more comment.

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1. what video (framebuffer) driver are you using?

Ashamed to say, but I do not know. vga=791 works perfectly when I specifiy it via GRUB modification, either during pre-booting phase or in menu.lst. I thought that it would work if I enable it by the oprions I provided in the previous message.

That does sound, hm, suspicious.

OK, the above is the main problem, right?
If so, I'll try to find time to test it.

Quoted 22 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 20 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:44:28 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 19 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 17 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:32:42 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 16 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 9 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:41:48 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 7 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 3 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

I expected higher resolution console, smaller font etc

Boy was I confused. I thought that your question was about the root= kernel boot parameter.

Well, there are several questions to be asked. and one more comment.

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1. what video (framebuffer) driver are you using?

Ashamed to say, but I do not know. vga=791 works perfectly when I specifiy it via GRUB modification, either during pre-booting phase or in menu.lst. I thought that it would work if I enable it by the oprions I provided in the previous message.

That does sound, hm, suspicious.

OK, the above is the main problem, right?
If so, I'll try to find time to test it.

aapi205:/usr/src/linux# gzip -cd /proc/config.gz | grep -A 1 vga=791
CONFIG_CMDLINE="root=/dev/sda2 ro quiet vga=791"
CONFIG_CMDLINE_OVERRIDE=y
aapi205:/usr/src/linux# cat /proc/cmdline
root=/dev/sda2 ro quiet vga=791

First if all I tried to test whether the overriding code works at all, and it seems it works, I am now booted having edited root=/dev/nonexistent at GRUB prompt, and it seems that the values set at build time have overriden values set at GRUB prompt. But the vga=791 parameter does not work at all, I have the usual console, with big characters.

Quoted 37 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Quoted 22 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 20 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:44:28 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 19 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 17 lines · On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:32:42 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 16 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 9 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:41:48 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Quoted 7 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 3 lines · On Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:16:29 +0200 Piotr Hosowicz wrote:

Hello,

Today I had built a new next kernel with these parameters. I did not get what I expected

I don't think I understand your question.
What did you expect?

I expected higher resolution console, smaller font etc

Boy was I confused. I thought that your question was about the root= kernel boot parameter.

Well, there are several questions to be asked. and one more comment.

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1. what video (framebuffer) driver are you using?

Ashamed to say, but I do not know. vga=791 works perfectly when I specifiy it via GRUB modification, either during pre-booting phase or in menu.lst. I thought that it would work if I enable it by the oprions I provided in the previous message.

That does sound, hm, suspicious.

OK, the above is the main problem, right?
If so, I'll try to find time to test it.

aapi205:/usr/src/linux# gzip -cd /proc/config.gz | grep -A 1 vga=791
CONFIG_CMDLINE="root=/dev/sda2 ro quiet vga=791"
CONFIG_CMDLINE_OVERRIDE=y
aapi205:/usr/src/linux# cat /proc/cmdline
root=/dev/sda2 ro quiet vga=791

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First if all I tried to test whether the overriding code works at all, and it seems it works, I am now booted having edited root=/dev/nonexistent at GRUB prompt, and it seems that the values set at build time have overriden values set at GRUB prompt. But the vga=791 parameter does not work at all, I have the usual console, with big characters.

This is on 2.6.34-rc2-git4, sorry, I forgot to say.

Same results with 2.6.34-rc3, I've just tested.

Quoted 31 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 27 lines · On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:24:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 14 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated - linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

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Thanks in advance for your remarks.

Many linux-next builds are done daily: see
http://kisskb.ellerman.id.au/kisskb/branch/9/

and then I do 25 x86_32 randconfigs and 25 x64_64 randconfigs daily and fix most build errors that I find in them. (I am also using a quad-core PC with a cron job that finds the next day's linux-next, downloads it, and does 50 builds.)

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

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One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time, just various/random combinations of them.

and CONFIG_SYSRQ=n (just found some errors due to this one)

Quoted 36 lines · On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:29:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 35 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 19 lines · On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:24:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 14 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated - linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

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Thanks in advance for your remarks.

Many linux-next builds are done daily: see
http://kisskb.ellerman.id.au/kisskb/branch/9/

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and then I do 25 x86_32 randconfigs and 25 x64_64 randconfigs daily and fix most build errors that I find in them. (I am also using a quad-core PC with a cron job that finds the next day's linux-next, downloads it, and does 50 builds.)

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time, just various/random combinations of them.

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and CONFIG_SYSRQ=n (just found some errors due to this one)

and CONFIG_INPUT randomly enabled/disabled

Basically any major subsystem that can be enabled/disabled should be tested.

Quoted 38 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 36 lines · On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:29:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 35 lines · Randy Dunlap

Quoted 19 lines · On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:24:35 -0700 Randy Dunlap wrote:

Quoted 14 lines · Piotr Hosowicz

Hello,

I own quite strong PC, 4 core Pentium. I recently started to build my kernel frequently, whenever I see a new patch on kernel.org I build again. Bothers me that I do it only for doing it. Maybe it could be of some help to the community? And if so, what would be more appreciated - linux-next patched kernel or gitN patched kernel? And how should I configure the kernel for this purpose? I am afraid of putting all the options on, yesterday I tried to put everything on as a module plus I tinkered with some other options that seemed innocent. The kernel was built but could not boot, saying that there was a problem with the root device, it could not recoginze /dev/sda2, which is my correct root device. I did not investigate much and reverted to working kernel.

Quoted 1 line

Thanks in advance for your remarks.

Many linux-next builds are done daily: see
http://kisskb.ellerman.id.au/kisskb/branch/9/

Quoted 7 lines

and then I do 25 x86_32 randconfigs and 25 x64_64 randconfigs daily and fix most build errors that I find in them. (I am also using a quad-core PC with a cron job that finds the next day's linux-next, downloads it, and does 50 builds.)

You are welcome to do the same or test mainline (with daily builds) and/or Andrew Morton's mmotm patchset.

One thing that you could do that no one focuses on is building with some kconfig symbols disabled (ones that are typically enabled), such as CONFIG_SMP=n, CONFIG_SYSFS=n, CONFIG_PROC_FS=n, CONFIG_PM=n, CONFIG_PCI=n, CONFIG_BLOCK=n, CONFIG_NET=n, CONFIG_INET=n (but latter with CONFIG_NET=y), CONFIG_HOTPLUG=n. Not all of these at the same time, just various/random combinations of them.

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and CONFIG_SYSRQ=n (just found some errors due to this one)

and CONFIG_INPUT randomly enabled/disabled

Basically any major subsystem that can be enabled/disabled should be tested.

Randy, but as for now (please find my messages) I do not know how to randomly generate .config, I do not understand how make oldconfig works. So I am stopped.