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[brag + followup] configured and compiled a kernel for the first time ever 🛠️ (piefed.blahaj.zone)
submitted 3 days ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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Following the Arch wiki, I built a custom kernel for the first time ever. It was easier that I thought it'd be, probably because the Arch wiki is so thorough and because I didn't make that many changes... I just enabled a few FireWire related options as per this guide in order to work on this project (or this).

Results/takeaways

  • The OS ran fine with the new kernel 💃
  • I learned how to manually create GRUB entries 🔧
  • I learned that I don't even have to create new GRUB entries, since I can simply point to the new kernel image and initramfs from the bootloader menu 🪛
  • I learned that my 5800X3D runs well (compiles the new kernel blazingly fast) with all cores set to negative 30 in the UEFI
  • FireWire is dead 💀

Tiny followup on that project
That old GPU did something to the UEFI (possibly CMOS?), because even after removing all potentially incompatible hardware and reinstalling my modern GPU, I still got that same error message, saying that the system was forces to boot in CSM mode. Only by resetting the UEFI settings was I able to restore the system to a working state. I admit, I panicked.

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[–] 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I compiled my own kernel for a few years when I first started using Linux in the late 90s. "So much faster by removing things I don't need," I claimed. I cringe at that now.

I've been using stock kernels for years now. Any speed improvements from a custom kernel are more than offset by the time it takes to configure and compile it. Making one mistake could wipe out years of theoretical speed improvements as you recover, reconfigure, and recompile. Plus, if you have a problem with a piece of hardware down the road, how do you know the issue isn't your custom kernel?

I'd say, do it once or twice for the experience, or if there's some specific reason you need it (bleeding edge hardware, for example).

Some years back, I realized I'd rather be using my computers instead of administering them.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago

    “So much faster by removing things I don’t need,” I claimed

    I never really got to use FreeBSD but I thought that I would, late ‘90s. Found out how to modify and build the kernel. And like you, optimised it by removing stuff i didn’t need, like parallel port drivers. And then let the system compile for hours. So green back then and so used to Windows.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago

    Hmm, yeah in my case the goal would be to actually speed up compile time of the kernel itself rather than speed improvements at runtime, but it does seem like a pain in the ass and your description makes it sound even worse lol. Nonguix substitution servers are working fine now though, and with my server being set up soon enough, if i the substitution servers are ever down again i can just let it compile everything once and then my other devices can just request it from my own server, so it doesn't feel worth it to mess around with it anymore. But if i do ever feel like learning more about the kernel i might try it just for the hell of it.

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