Why Compile a Kernel?

Compiling a kernel means that you have exactly the features required for your machine, and nothing that you do not want. What I will attempt to do here is to step you through creating a kernel that is good for the Acer machine. It will have everything that is essential compiled into the kernel itself. There will be lots of modules created for those with other bits of hardware to bolt on. Note: I do not know everything about the machine, I think that people will be able to improve on what I suggest. If so, then please email me.

Note: If you want to use X Window, then you will almost certainly need to compile a Kernel, the 2.4 kernel does not, by default, support the SIS650 chipset. We will need to do a little bit extra to get this to work.

Note: If the idea of compiling the kernel scares you, I have created some Debian packages that you can use to get the Kernel described below without getting your hands too dirty.

Obtaining Kernel Sources

The Debian kernel sources were (unsurpisingly because they're on CD) out of date. You can use these as a starting point, and apply patches. However, I chose to just download all of the source for 2.4.20 from www.kernel.org. This will probably give you a linux-2.4.20.tar.gz file.

I placed my source code in /root/kernel/2.4.20. The Debian package we create will place them in /usr/src once we install it - but that's some way off yet.

You probably want to read the README file now!

How do I get the Kernel Sources to the Linux partition?

There isn't that much to do in order to get Windows download ready. So, use this to download the sources if you do not have another means. Save them to the D: partition. When you reboot into Linux, and assuming that you have altered the /etc/fstab file correctly, then you should find that you can read files from the /shared directory.

Updating the Frame Buffer

The frame buffer is a device that allows access to the video hardware. The video controller in the 273 is not directly supported by 2.4 kernels, you need to download some extra files and overwrite existing files in the source tree.

To get these files, you need to go to http://www.winischhofer.net/ The guy here is the god of SIS video chips and Linux. Read the information if you feel like it, otherwise just follow the instructions here. Initially we will only set up the framebuffer, the full X work will happen later, and we will need more stuff from Thomas's website.

Go to the download section and download the sisfb source. At the time of writing, I downloaded source that had last been updated 25th Nov 2002. If you download more recent source, then the instructions given here might not match exactly. Please check with the README file.

Updating ACPI

I have spent quite some time trying to get everything working. One of the things that I wanted to work was a battery meter. It appears that APM is not supported by the BIOS on the Acer. This isn't a problem for Windows, becuase it use ACPI. However, 2.4.20 did not provide the battery information. To rectify this, I downloaded the ACPI patch for 2.4.20 (acpi20021212-2.4.20.diff.gz). I patched the kernel with this file. Hence, in the configuration options listed below, you will find that they are not exaclty the same as the plain 2.4.20 configuration options.

By the way, although I can read the battery state, I haven't got a working power meter!

Configuring the kernel

Before doing any kind of configuration, a quick make mrproper gets rid of any unwanted files. This should be done in the directory containing the unpacked source files. With a clean set of source files, this is unlikely to be necessary but a good step to do anyway. Note that this will purge your config file, so save it if you have done previous configuration work. The configuration is held in a file called .config

There are a number of ways of configuring the kernel. I stick to the old make config because it will present all options (I have had some problems with the menu one). If you do want to use the menu one (make menuconfig), then you will need to install the libncurses5-dev package.

The following table presents one possible set of configuration options. I have chosen to set things up on my machine this way to provide support for everything I definitely need in the kernel, and nearly everything else (even quite obscure stuff) as modules. This means that it is a good, general purpose configuration for this machine. I think that I have covered all devices but I am not 100% sure. For people new to Linux, it is educational (if dull) to go through the make config process. For those that would rather avoid this tedium, then the config file created from the following table can be downloaded here. Remember to rename it to .config

The table below describes the kernel options that are relevant to an Acer 273XC. The changes to the default options are marked like this:

Option	Value	Notes
CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL	Y
CONFIG_MODULES	Y
CONFIG_MODVERSIONS	Y
CONFIG_KMOD	Y
Processor	Pentium-4
CONFIG_X86_MCE	Y	Although it says that you need to specify a boot option to enable MCE, it is enabled by default; no boot option is required.
CONFIG_TOSHIBA	N
CONFIG_I8K	N
CONFIG_MICROCODE	N
CONFIG_X86_MSR	N
CONFIG_X86_CPUID	N
High Memory Support	Off
CONFIG_MATH_EMULATION	N
CONFIG_MTRR	Y
CONFIG_SMP	N
CONFIG_X86_UP_APIC	N
CONFIG_X86_TSC_DISABLE	N
CONFIG_NET	Y
CONFIG_PCI	Y
PCI Access Mode	Any
CONFIG_ISA	N	I said no here because they only thing that I think might use the ISA bus are the hardware sensors which I couldn't get to work.
CONFIG_PCI_NAMES	Y
CONFIG_EISA	N	I don't think that the machine has an EISA bus
CONFIG_MCA	N	I don't think that the machine has an MCA bus
CONFIG_HOTPLUG	Y
CONFIG_PCMCIA	Y
CONFIG_CARDBUS	Y
CONFIG_TCIC	N
CONFIG_I82092	N
CONFIG_T82365	N
CONFIG_HOTPLUG_PCI	N
CONFIG_SYSVIPC	Y
CONFIG_BSD_PROCESS_ACCT	N
CONFIG_SYSCTL	Y
Kernel Core	ELF
CONFIG_BINFMT_AOUT	m
CONFIG_BINFMT_ELF	Y
CONFIG_BINFMT_MISC	m
CONFIG_PM	Y
CONFIG_APM	N	I have tried to compile a kernel with APM support but I get a message about APM not being found in the BIOS at boot time.
CONFIG_ACPI	y	The options you see below will not match plain 2.4.20 source, these are for the ACPI patch
CONFIG_ACPI_AC	y
CONFIG_ACPI_BATTERY	y
CONFIG_ACPI_BUTTON	N
CONFIG_ACPI_FAN	N
CONFIG_ACPI_PROCESSOR	y
CONFIG_ACPI_THERMAL	Y
CONFIG_ACPI_TOSHIBA	N
CONFIG_ACPI_DEBUG	N
CONFIG_MTD	N
CONFIG_PARPORT	m
CONFIG_PARPORT_PC	m
CONFIG_PARPORT_SERIAL	m
CONFIG_PARPORT_PC_FIFO	N
CONFIG_PARPORT_PC_SUPERIO	N
CONFIG_PARPORT_PC_PCMCIA	N
CONFIG_PARPORT_OTHER	N
CONFIG_PARPORT_1284	N
CONFIG_PNP	N	No ISA bus so surely no ISA PNP?
CONFIG_ISAPNP	N	No ISA bus so surely no ISA PNP?
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_FD	Y
CONFIG_PARIDE	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_PD	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_PCD	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_PF	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_PT	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_PG	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_ATEN	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_BPCK	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_BPCK6	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_COMM	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_DSTR	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_FIT2	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_FIT3	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_EPAT	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_EPATC8	y
CONFIG_PARIDE_PPIA	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_FRIQ	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_FRPW	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_KBIC	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_KTTI	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_ON20	m
CONFIG_PARIDE_ON26	m
CONFIG_BLK_CPQ_DA	N
CONFIG_BLK_CISS_DA	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_DAC960	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_UMEM	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_LOOP	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_NBD	N
CONFIG_BLK_STATS	N
CONFIG_MD	N
CONFIG_PACKET	Y
CONFIG_PACKET_MMAP	N
CONFIG_NETLINK_DEV	N
CONFIG_NETFILTER	Y	Personally, I want to selectively reject traffic. Including that initiating from my machine.
CONFIG_NETFILTER_DEBUG	N
CONFIG_FILTER	N
CONFIG_UNIX	Y
CONFIG_INET	Y
CONFIG_IP_MULTICAST	N
CONFIG_IP_ADVANCED_ROUTER	N
CONFIG_IP_PNP	N
CONFIG_NET_IPIP	N
CONFIG_NET_IPGRE	N
CONFIG_ARPD	N
CONFIG_INET_ECN	N
CONFIG_SYN_COOKIES	N
CONFIG_IP_NF_CONNTRACK	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_FTP	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_IRC	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_QUEUE	N
CONFIG_IP_NF_IPTABLES	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_LIMIT	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_MAC	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_PKTTYPE	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_MARK	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_MULTIPORT	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_TOS	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_ECN	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_DSCP	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_AH_ESP	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_LENGTH	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_TTL	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_TCPMSS	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_HELPER	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_STATE	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_CONNTRACK	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_UNCLEAN	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_OWNER	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_FILTER	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_REJECT	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_MIRROR	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_NAT	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_MASQUERADE	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_REDIRECT	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_REJECT	n
CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT_SNMP_BASIC	n
CONFIG_IP_NF_MANGLE	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_TOS	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_ECN	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_DSCP	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_MARK	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_LOG	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_ULOG	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_TCPMSS	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_ARPTABLES	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_ARPFILTER	m
CONFIG_IP_NF_COMPAT_IPCHAINS	N
CONFIG_IP_NF_COMPAT_IPFWADM	N
CONFIG_IPV6	N
CONFIG_KHTTPD	N
CONFIG_ATM	N
CONFIG_VLAN_8021Q	N
CONFIG_IPX	N
CONFIG_ATALK	N
CONFIG_DECNET	N
CONFIG_BRIDGE	N
CONFIG_X25	N
CONFIG_LAPB	N
CONFIG_LLC	N
CONFIG_NET_DIVERT	N
CONFIG_ECONET	N
CONFIG_IP_WAN_ROUTER	N
CONFIG_NET_FASTROUTE	N
CONFIG_NET_HW_FLOWCONTROL	N
CONFIG_IP_NF_COMPAT_IPCHAINS	N
CONFIG_NET_SCHED	N
CONFIG_NET_PKTGEN	N
CONFIG_PHONE	N
CONFIG_IDE	Y
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDE	Y
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HD_IDE	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDISK	Y
CONFIG_IDEDISK_MULTI_MODE	Y
CONFIG_IDEDISK_STROKE	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDECS	m
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDECD	Y
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDETAPE	m
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEFLOPPY	m
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDESCSI	m
CONFIG_IDE_TASK_IOCTL	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CMD640	n
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RZ1000	n
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEPCI	Y
CONFIG_IDEPCI_SHARE_IRQ	Y
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDMA_PCI	Y
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_OFFBOARD	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDMA_FORCED	N
CONFIG_IDEDMA_PCI_AUTO	Y
CONFIG_IDEDMA_ONLYDISK	N
CONFIG_IDEDMA_PCI_WIP	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_AEC62XX	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_ALI15X3	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_AMD74XX	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CMD64X	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CY82C693	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CS5530	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HPT34X	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HPT366	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PIIX	n	This is taken as the default, but we don't have one.
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_NS87415	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_OPTI621	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PDC202XX	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SVWKS	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SIS5513	y	We definitely have one of these though!
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SLC90E66	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_TRM290	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_VIA82CXXX	N
CONFIG_IDEDMA_IVB	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_ATARAID	N
CONFIG_SCSI	m
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SD	M
CONFIG_SD_EXTRA_DEVS	40
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_ATARAID	m
CONFIG_CHR_DEV_OSST	N
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SR	m
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SR_VENDOR	N
CONFIG_SR_EXTRA_DEVS	2
CONFIG_CHR_DEV_SG	m
CONFIG_SCSI_DEBUG_QUEUES	Y
CONFIG_SCSI_MULTI_LUN	Y
CONFIG_SCSI_CONSTANTS	Y
CONFIG_SCSI_LOGGING	Y
CONFIG_BLK_DEV_3W_XXXX_RAID	N
CONFIG_SCSI_7000FASST	N
CONFIG_SCSI_ACARD	N
CONFIG_SCSI_AHA152X	N
CONFIG_SCSI_AHA1542	N
CONFIG_SCSI_AHA1740	N
CONFIG_SCSI_AACRAID	N
CONFIG_SCSI_AIC7XXX	N
CONFIG_SCSI_AIC7XXX_OLD	N
CONFIG_SCSI_DPT_I2O	N
CONFIG_SCSI_ADVANSYS	N
CONFIG_SCSI_IN2000	N
CONFIG_SCSI_AM53C974	N
CONFIG_SCSI_MEGARAID	N
CONFIG_SCSI_BUSLOGIC	N
CONFIG_SCSI_CPQFCTS	N
CONFIG_SCSI_DMX3191D	N
CONFIG_SCSI_DTC3280	N
CONFIG_SCSI_EATA	N
CONFIG_SCSI_EATA_DMA	N
CONFIG_SCSI_EATA_PIO	N
CONFIG_SCSI_FUTURE_DOMAIN	N
CONFIG_SCSI_GDTH	N
CONFIG_SCSI_GENERIC_NCR5380	N
CONFIG_SCSI_IPS	N
CONFIG_SCSI_INITIO	N
CONFIG_SCSI_INIA100	N
CONFIG_SCSI_PPA	m
CONFIG_SCSI_IMM	m
CONFIG_SCSI_IZIP_EPP16	N
CONFIG_SCSI_IZIP_SLOW_CTR	N
CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C406A	N
CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C7xx	N
CONFIG_SCSI_SYM53C8XX_2	N
CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX	N
CONFIG_SCSI_SYM53C8XX	n
CONFIG_SCSI_PAS16	N
CONFIG_SCSI_PCI2000	N
CONFIG_SCSI_PCI2220I	N
CONFIG_SCSI_PSI240I	N
CONFIG_SCSI_QLOGIC_FAS	N
CONFIG_SCSI_QLOGIC_ISP	N
CONFIG_SCSI_QLOGIC_FC	N
CONFIG_SCSI_SEAGATE	N
CONFIG_SCSI_SIM710	N
CONFIG_SCSI_SYM53C416	N
CONFIG_SCSI_DC390T	N
CONFIG_SCSI_T128	N
CONFIG_SCSI_U14_34F	N
CONFIG_SCSI_ULTRASTOR	N
CONFIG_SCSI_DEBUG	N
CONFIG_SCSI_PCMCIA	Y
CONFIG_PCMCIA_AHA152X	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_FDOMAIN	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_NINJA_SCSI	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_QLOGIC	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_AHA152X	m
CONFIG_FUSION	N
CONFIG_IEEE1394	m
CONFIG_IEEE1394_OHCI1394	m
CONFIG_IEEE1394_VIDEO1394	m
CONFIG_IEEE1394_SBP2	m
CONFIG_IEEE1394_SBP2_PHYS_DMA	N
CONFIG_IEEE1394_ETH1394	m
CONFIG_IEEE1394_DVI1394	m
CONFIG_IEEE1394_RAWIO	m
CONFIG_IEEE1394_CMP	m
CONFIG_IEEE1394_AMDTP	m
CONFIG_IEEE1394_VERBOSEDEBUG	N
CONFIG_I2O	N
CONFIG_NETDEVICES	Y
CONFIG_ARCNET	N
CONFIG_DUMMY	M
CONFIG_BONDING	m
CONFIG_EQUALIZER	m
CONFIG_TUN	N
CONFIG_ETHERTAP	N
CONFIG_NET_ETHERNET	Y
CONFIG_HAPPYMEAL	N
CONFIG_SUNGEM	N
CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_3COM	N
CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_SMC	N
CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_RACAL	N
CONFIG_HP100	N
CONFIG_NET_PCI	Y
CONFIG_PCNET32	N
CONFIG_ADAPTEC_STARFIRE	N
CONFIG_TULIP	N
CONFIG_DE4X5	N
CONFIG_DGRS	N
CONFIG_PCNET32	N
CONFIG_DM9102	N
CONFIG_EEPRO100	n
CONFIG_E100	N
CONFIG_FEALNX	N
CONFIG_NATSEMI	N
CONFIG_NE2K_PCI	N
CONFIG_8139CP	N
CONFIG_8139TOO	y	This is the network chip in the Acer.
CONFIG_8139TOO_PIO	N
CONFIG_8139TOO_TUNE_TWISTER	N
CONFIG_8139TOO_8129	N
CONFIG_8139_OLD_RX_RESET	N
CONFIG_SIS900	N
CONFIG_EPIC100	N
CONFIG_SUNDANCE	N
CONFIG_TLAN	N
CONFIG_TC35815	N
CONFIG_PCNET32	N
CONFIG_VIA_RHINE	N
CONFIG_WINBOND_840	N
CONFIG_NET_POCKET	y
CONFIG_ACENIC	N
CONFIG_DL2K	N
CONFIG_E1000	N
CONFIG_NS83820	N
CONFIG_HAMACHI	N
CONFIG_YELLOWFIN	N
CONFIG_SK98LIN	N
CONFIG_TIGON3	N
CONFIG_PCNET32	N
CONFIG_FDDI	N
CONFIG_HIPPI	N
CONFIG_PLIP	m
CONFIG_PPP	m
CONFIG_PPP_MULTILINK	N
CONFIG_PPP_ASYNC	m
CONFIG_PPP_SYNC_TTY	N
CONFIG_PPP_DEFLATE	m
CONFIG_PPP_BSDCOMP	N
CONFIG_PPPOE	N
CONFIG_SLIP	N
CONFIG_NET_RADIO	N
CONFIG_TR	N
CONFIG_NET_FC	N
CONFIG_RCPCI	N
CONFIG_SHAPER	N
CONFIG_WAN	N
CONFIG_NET_PCMCIA	Y
CONFIG_PCMCIA_3C589	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_3C574	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_FMVJ18X	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_PCNET	Y
CONFIG_PCMCIA_AXNET	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_NMCLAN	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_SMC91C92	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_XIRC2PS	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_XIRCOM	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_XIRTULIP	m
CONFIG_NET_PCMCIA_RADIO	Y
CONFIG_PCMCIA_RAYCS	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_NETWAVE	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_WAVELAN	m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_AIRONET4500_CS	m
CONFIG_HAMRADIO	N
CONFIG_IRDA	N
CONFIG_ISDN	N
CONFIG_INPUT	m
CONFIG_INPUT_KEYBDEV	m
CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV	m
CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV_SCREEN_X	1024
CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV_SCREEN_Y	768
CONFIG_INPUT_JOYDEV	m
CONFIG_INPUT_EVDEV	m
CONFIG_VT	Y
CONFIG_VT_CONSOLE	Y
CONFIG_SERIAL	Y
CONFIG_SERIAL_CONSOLE	N
CONFIG_SERIAL_EXTENDED	N
CONFIG_SERIAL_NONSTANDARD	N
CONFIG_UNIX98_PTYS	Y
CONFIG_UNIX98_PTY_COUNT	256
CONFIG_PRINTER	m
CONFIG_LP_CONSOLE	N
CONFIG_PPDEV	N
CONFIG_I2C	N	I spent a long time getting the Kernel compiled for sensors. However, they did not seem to be able to read any useful information.
CONFIG_BUSMOUSE	N
CONFIG_MOUSE	Y
CONFIG_PSMOUSE	Y
CONFIG_82C710_MOUSE	N
CONFIG_PC110_PAD	N
CONFIG_MK712_MOUSE	N
CONFIG_INPUT_GAMEPORT	N
CONFIG_INPUT_SERIO	N
CONFIG_INPUT_IFORCE_USB	m
CONFIG_INPUT_DB9	N
CONFIG_INPUT_GAMECON	N
CONFIG_INPUT_TURBOGRAFX	N
CONFIG_QIC02_TAPE	N
CONFIG_WATCHDOG	N
CONFIG_AMD_RNG	N
CONFIG_INTEL_RNG	N
CONFIG_AMD_PM768	N
CONFIG_NVRAM	N
CONFIG_RTC	M	Character Device 10-135 has already been created. If we don't support it, then there will be some horrible messages at boot.
CONFIG_DTLK	N
CONFIG_R3964	N
CONFIG_APPLICOM	N
CONFIG_CONFIG_SONYPCI	N
CONFIG_FTAPE	N
CONFIG_AGP	Y
CONFIG_AGP_INTEL	n
CONFIG_AGP_I810	n
CONFIG_AGP_VIA	n
CONFIG_AGP_AMD	n
CONFIG_AGP_AMD_8151	N
CONFIG_AGP_SIS	Y
CONFIG_AGP_ALI	n
CONFIG_AGP_SWORKS	N
CONFIG_AGP_SIS	Y
CONFIG_DRM	Y
CONFIG_DRM_OLD	N
CONFIG_DRM_TDFX	n
CONFIG_DRM_R128	N
CONFIG_DRM_RADEON	n
CONFIG_DRM_I810	n
CONFIG_DRM_I830	N
CONFIG_DRM_MGA	N
CONFIG_DRM_SIS	y
CONFIG_PCMCIA_SERIAL_CS	m
CONFIG_SYNCLINK_CS	N
CONFIG_MWAVE	N
CONFIG_VIDEO_DEV	m
CONFIG_VIDEO_PROC_FS	y
CONFIG_I2C_PARPORT	N
CONFIG_VIDEO_BT848	N
CONFIG_VIDEO_PMS	N
CONFIG_VIDEO_BWQCAM	N
CONFIG_VIDEO_CQCAM	N
CONFIG_VIDEO_CPIA	m
CONFIG_VIDEO_CPIA_USB	m
CONFIG_VIDEO_SAA5249	N
CONFIG_TUNER_3036	N
CONFIG_VIDEO_STRADIS	N
CONFIG_VIDEO_ZORAN	N
CONFIG_VIDEO_ZR36120	N
CONFIG_RADIO_GEMTEK_PCI	N
CONFIG_RADIO_MAXIRADIO	N
CONFIG_RADIO_MAESTRO	N
CONFIG_RADIO_MIROPCM20	N
CONFIG_QUOTA	N
CONFIG_AUTOFS_FS	N
CONFIG_AUTOFS4_FS	n
CONFIG_REISERFS_FS	N
CONFIG_ADFS_FS	N
CONFIG_AFFS_FS	N
CONFIG_HFS_FS	N
CONFIG_BEFS_FS	N
CONFIG_BFS_FS	N
CONFIG_EXT3_FS	y
CONFIG_JBD_DEBUG	N
CONFIG_FAT_FS	y
CONFIG_MSDOS_FS	y
CONFIG_UMSDOS_FS	N
CONFIG_VFAT_FS	y
CONFIG_EFS_FS	N
CONFIG_CRAMFS	N
CONFIG_EFS_FS	N
CONFIG_TMPFS	Y
CONFIG_ISO9660_FS	Y
CONFIG_JOLIET	y
CONFIG_ZISOFS	N
CONFIG_JFS_FS	N
CONFIG_MINIX_FS	N
CONFIG_VXFS_FS	N
CONFIG_NTFS_FS	y
CONFIG_NTFS_RW	N
CONFIG_HPFS_FS	N
CONFIG_PROC_FS	Y
CONFIG_DEVFS_FS	N
CONFIG_DEVPTS_FS	Y
CONFIG_QNX4FS_FS	N
CONFIG_ROMFS_FS	N
CONFIG_EXT2_FS	Y
CONFIG_SYSV_FS	N
CONFIG_UDF_FS	N
CONFIG_UFS_FS	N
CONFIG_CODA_FS	N
CONFIG_INTERMEZZO_FS	N
CONFIG_NFS_FS	m
CONFIG_NFS_V3	y
CONFIG_NFSD	m
CONFIG_NFSD_V3	y
CONFIG_NFSD_TCP	N
CONFIG_SMB_FS	m
CONFIG_SMB_NLS_DEFAULT	N
CONFIG_NCP_FS	N
CONFIG_PARTITION_ADVANCED	N
CONFIG_NLS_DEFAULT	iso8859-1
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_437	y
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_737	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_775	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_850	y
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_852	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_855	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_857	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_860	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_861	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_862	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_863	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_864	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_865	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_866	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_869	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_936	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_950	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_932	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_949	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_874	N
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_8	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_1250	N
CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_1251	N
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_1	y
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_2	N
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_3	N
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_4	N
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_5	N
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_6	N
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_9	N
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_13	N
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_14	N
CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_15	y
CONFIG_NLS_KO18_R	N
CONFIG_NLS_KO18_U	N
CONFIG_NLS_UTF8	y
CONFIG_VGA_CONSOLE	Y
CONFIG_VIDEO_SELECT	y
CONFIG_MDA_CONSOLE	N
CONFIG_FB	y
CONFIG_FB_RIVA	N
CONFIG_FB_CLGEN	N
CONFIG_FB_PM2	N
CONFIG_FB_PM3	N
CONFIG_FB_CYBER2000	N
CONFIG_FB_VESA	N
CONFIG_FB_HGA	N
CONFIG_FB_MATROX	N
CONFIG_FB_ATY	N
CONFIG_FB_RADEON	N
CONFIG_FB_ATY128	N
CONFIG_FB_SIS	y
CONFIG_FB_SIS_300	y
CONFIG_FB_SIS_315	y
CONFIG_FB_NEOMAGIC	N
CONFIG_FB_3DFX	N
CONFIG_FB_VOODOO1	N
CONFIG_FB_TRIDENT	N
CONFIG_FB_VIRTUAL	N
CONFIG_FBCON_ADVANCED	N
CONFIG_FBCON_FONTWIDTH8_ONLY	N
CONFIG_FBCON_FONTS	N
CONFIG_SOUND	Y
CONFIG_SOUND_ALI5455	N
CONFIG_SOUND_BT878	N
CONFIG_SOUND_CMPCI	N
CONFIG_SOUND_EMU10K1	N
CONFIG_SOUND_FUSION	N
CONFIG_SOUND_CS4281	N
CONFIG_SOUND_ES1370	N
CONFIG_SOUND_ES1371	n
CONFIG_SOUND_ESSSOLO1	N
CONFIG_SOUND_MAESTRO	N
CONFIG_SOUND_MAESTRO3	N
CONFIG_SOUND_FORTE	N
CONFIG_SOUND_ICH	y
CONFIG_SOUND_RME96XX	N
CONFIG_SOUND_SONICVIBES	N
CONFIG_SOUND_TRIDENT	N
CONFIG_SOUND_MSNDCLAS	N
CONFIG_SOUND_MSNDPIN	N
CONFIG_SOUND_VIA82CXXX	N
CONFIG_SOUND_OSS	N
CONFIG_SOUND_TVMIXER	N
CONFIG_USB	Y
CONFIG_USB_DEBUG	N
CONFIG_USB_DEVICEFS	y
CONFIG_USB_BANDWIDTH	N
CONFIG_USB_LONG_TIMEOUT	N
CONFIG_USB_EHCI_HCD	N
CONFIG_USB_UHCI_ALT	n
CONFIG_USB_OHCI	y
CONFIG_USB_AUDIO	m
CONFIG_USB_EMI26	m
CONFIG_USB_BLUETOOTH	m
CONFIG_USB_MIDI	m
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE	M
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_DEBUG	N
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_DATAFAB	N
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_FREECOM	y
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_ISD200	y
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_DPCM	y
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_HP8200e	y
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_SDDR09	y
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_SDDR55	y
CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_JUMPSHOT	y
CONFIG_USB_ACM	m
CONFIG_USB_PRINTER	m
CONFIG_USB_HID	m
CONFIG_USB_HIDINPUT	y
CONFIG_USB_HIDDEV	y
CONFIG_USB_KBD	N
CONFIG_USB_MOUSE	N
CONFIG_USB_AIPTEK	m
CONFIG_USB_WACOM	m
CONFIG_USB_DC2XX	m
CONFIG_USB_MDC800	N
CONFIG_USB_SCANNER	m
CONFIG_USB_MICROTEK	m
CONFIG_USB_HPUSBSCSI	N
CONFIG_USB_IBMCAM	m
CONFIG_USB_OV511	m
CONFIG_USB_PWC	m
CONFIG_USB_SE401	m
CONFIG_USB_STV680	m
CONFIG_USB_VICAM	N
CONFIG_USB_DSBR	N
CONFIG_USB_DABUSB	m
CONFIG_USB_PEGASUS	m
CONFIG_USB_RTL8150	m
CONFIG_USB_KAWETH	m
CONFIG_USB_CATC	m
CONFIG_USB_CDCETHER	m
CONFIG_USB_USBNET	m
CONFIG_USB_USS720	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_GENERIC	y
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_BELKIN	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_WHITEHEAT	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_DIGI_ACELEPORT	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_EMPEG	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_FTDI_SIO	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_VISOR	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_IPAQ	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_IR	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_EDGEPORT	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_EDGEPORT_TI	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_PDA	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA28	N
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA28X	N
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA28XA	N
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA28XB	N
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA19	N
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA18X	N
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA19W	N
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA19QW	N
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA49W	N
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_MCT_U232	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KLSI	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_PL2303	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_CYBERJACK	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_XIRCOM	m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_OMNINET	m
CONFIG_USB_RIO500	m
CONFIG_USB_AVERSWALD	m
CONFIG_USB_TIGL	m
CONFIG_USB_BRLVGER	m
CONFIG_USB_LCD	m
CONFIG_BLUEZ	N
CONFIG_DEBUG_KERNEL	N

Compiling the Kernel and Modules

Once you have completed configuring the kernel, it is time to compile the Kernel. You could do this completely yourself, and not let Debian know about the new Kernel. If so, then follow the instructions provided by the README.

I want to do things the Debian way, so I created a kernel package. For this to work, you must have installed the kernel-package package.

You need to issue the following command:
make-kpkg buildpackage --append-to-version acer273
This will take a long time to execute. Once it has finished, there will be four packages in the /root/kernel directory. These are:


 kernel-doc-2.4.20acer273_10.00.Custom_all.deb
 kernel-headers-2.4.20acer273_10.00.Custom_i386.deb
 kernel-image-2.4.20acer273_10.00.Custom_i386.deb
 kernel-source-2.4.20acer273_10.00.Custom_all.deb

Note that these packages were built using the changes for the SIS video chip.

Installing the new Kernel and Modules

To install the new kernel code, we must install the new packages. This can be done by running the following commands:


 dpkg -i kernel-doc-2.4.20acer273_10.00.Custom_all.deb
 dpkg -i kernel-headers-2.4.20acer273_10.00.Custom_i386.deb
 dpkg -i kernel-image-2.4.20acer273_10.00.Custom_i386.deb
 dpkg -i kernel-source-2.4.20acer273_10.00.Custom_all.deb

The dselect program is a front-end for dpkg. We knew exactly where the files are, and so could use dpkg directly. I don't know if we could have used dselect here.

If you are asked about LILO but you use GRUB (like me), then do not let it set up any LILO file, boot records, etc.

Downloading the Kernel Packages

If you don't fancy building the kernel packages yourself, then you can download them here: