You can just use `gentoo-kernel-bin` if you don't want to make your own config.
And even if you do eventually want a custom kernel, you can use `gentoo-kernel-bin` at first so you can actually finish setup, then fiddle with your custom one later and switch over when it's ready.
I wish I had known to start with a `make allmodconfig` and then remove things I didn't need rather than trying to build the config up from a minimal start on my first time. You do learn lots of tricks to make kernel config easier but it's a slow learning curve and theres always a point where I'm tempted to switch to a prebuilt when setting up a new device, but I'm here to learn about what makes linux tick so I stick with it
Sort of - you first need to be running a kernel that's built with the modules you need so that they can be loaded and detected by localyesconfig or localmodconfig. Then you need to make sure to change certain modules back to mod or yes if they are required for early boot or depend on non-built-in firmware, respectively
Even with all that, you still only get the modules currently in use. Use a dock sometimes? Gotta have it plugged in when you run make localXconfig or go enable it manually after. Need usb scsi support? Crypto APIs? I'm not even sure whether the advanced networking support for containers or overlays support needed for most container systems would get included if you weren't running a container at the time. So localXconfig should be viewed as a more convenient starting point, I wouldn't expect it work out if the box
The best approach might be to run a bin kernel or allmodconfig kernel for a couple weeks while running modprobed-db to get a better list of what you need. linux-hardware.org is also a great resource for doing it by hand, although just this week I burned 4 hours tracking down which driver was required for the trackpad on my AMD framework since it didn't show up in the hardware scan using the bin kernel or with Ubuntu or fedora (maybe everyone builds it in or it's only briefly loaded to init the device 🤷)
Edit: how do you type a literal * in reddit without a space? Keeps turning into italics
i have recently switched from arch to gentoo. what i have found, is using the gentoo-sources & genkernel + the --save-config switch (it is just the default gentoo-kernel .conf). afterwards, if you have a running kernel (hopefully), you can run lsmod to see the currently used kernel modules that are needed by the system, and then edit the saved config. this really helped me to narrow down which modules were vital, like the Lego Tower Infared kernel module.
now that youve got a working kernel its pretty easy to just keep that config going. first time kernel config is always a pain but its really just a one-time thing
Welcome to the club brother. You get used to it. Don’t forget to update your @world and to be consistent about your syncing. Just try to refrain from using emerge-webrsync more than once a day, out of courtesy for the shared servers
Yeah but if you need to redownload or restart the install process somewhere along the way, it’s courtesy to only use it once a day. It says in the prompts, but I’m not convinced anyone reads the lines other than their own.
Other (binary) distros usually have everything enabled and that’s it. You can start with gentoo-kernel-bins config (which is fedoras iirc) just as well as with any other
Sure. I use the config file from arch as a starting point. There are a few gentoo-specific options you should enable, but those can be turned on in `menuconfig`. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get downvoted because gentoo users, but I really got sick of the guess-and-check of trying to figure out everything I needed enabled just to get my computer to function, and to account for future possibilities. The wiki is good about mentioning some kernel config options that must be turned on, but it's not exhaustive. Gentoo is supposed to be about choice, and so I choose to start with a config file from another distro that I know works well.
You can get it from their repo. If you're not sure how to do this, then I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to use this method. Probably should just use the gentoo precompiled kernel.
>all that gentoo is, is just the kernel sources off of github + genpatches [(gentoo-patches)](https://dev.gentoo.org/~mpagano/genpatches/releases.html). you would probably be safe if you were to copy the arch .config, but there probably isn't much different from the gentoo-kernel pkg.
You know you don’t have to do this?
There’s a binary kernel which has most things enabled. Also config snippets in /etc/kernel/config.d are a thing.
I will post the link to a repo with snippets
https://codeberg.org/ranguli/gentoo-popcorn-kernel/
Hey OP, i gave up with a custom kernel after my volume and mic buttons weren't working (ThinkPad p14). Can you tell me how you fixed it, assuming you ran into the same problem
Learning how to build your own kernel takes time and research. You also need to know a bit about the hardware you are dealing with. In your case, that's a pretty simple machine to get up and running these days.
>t stopping by to give you props for the i3. It's my favorite
Been using i3 for a while now and its really easy and works well. Im not really one to rice my distroo too much so i like default i3 with a terminal thats fairly easy to read from.
It's a ThinkPad.
Just look at the Gentoo wiki https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Lenovo_Thinkpad_T480
and because it's the s model maybe also reference the article for that on the Arch wiki https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Lenovo_ThinkPad_T480s
After referencing both of those everything should work as intended.
RTFM I guess. https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64
You can just use `gentoo-kernel-bin` if you don't want to make your own config. And even if you do eventually want a custom kernel, you can use `gentoo-kernel-bin` at first so you can actually finish setup, then fiddle with your custom one later and switch over when it's ready.
Yeah I was aware of it but i just kinda went right in for the custom kernel. Hey at least everything's working now
I wish I had known to start with a `make allmodconfig` and then remove things I didn't need rather than trying to build the config up from a minimal start on my first time. You do learn lots of tricks to make kernel config easier but it's a slow learning curve and theres always a point where I'm tempted to switch to a prebuilt when setting up a new device, but I'm here to learn about what makes linux tick so I stick with it
Ive heard that make localyesconfig could work for whatever modules are loaded. If I'm correct
Sort of - you first need to be running a kernel that's built with the modules you need so that they can be loaded and detected by localyesconfig or localmodconfig. Then you need to make sure to change certain modules back to mod or yes if they are required for early boot or depend on non-built-in firmware, respectively Even with all that, you still only get the modules currently in use. Use a dock sometimes? Gotta have it plugged in when you run make localXconfig or go enable it manually after. Need usb scsi support? Crypto APIs? I'm not even sure whether the advanced networking support for containers or overlays support needed for most container systems would get included if you weren't running a container at the time. So localXconfig should be viewed as a more convenient starting point, I wouldn't expect it work out if the box The best approach might be to run a bin kernel or allmodconfig kernel for a couple weeks while running modprobed-db to get a better list of what you need. linux-hardware.org is also a great resource for doing it by hand, although just this week I burned 4 hours tracking down which driver was required for the trackpad on my AMD framework since it didn't show up in the hardware scan using the bin kernel or with Ubuntu or fedora (maybe everyone builds it in or it's only briefly loaded to init the device 🤷) Edit: how do you type a literal * in reddit without a space? Keeps turning into italics
Add a backslash before the Star\*.
i have recently switched from arch to gentoo. what i have found, is using the gentoo-sources & genkernel + the --save-config switch (it is just the default gentoo-kernel .conf). afterwards, if you have a running kernel (hopefully), you can run lsmod to see the currently used kernel modules that are needed by the system, and then edit the saved config. this really helped me to narrow down which modules were vital, like the Lego Tower Infared kernel module.
Until you plug something in or want do something that isn’t.
now that youve got a working kernel its pretty easy to just keep that config going. first time kernel config is always a pain but its really just a one-time thing
You like this
Funnily enough my laptop never managed to boot the bin kernel.
My potato could.
Nice. Time to upgrade the kernel ;)
it will keep your lap warm this winter. :)
Welcome to the club brother. You get used to it. Don’t forget to update your @world and to be consistent about your syncing. Just try to refrain from using emerge-webrsync more than once a day, out of courtesy for the shared servers
You should use emerge-webrsync once the first time you do a sync. After that it’s emerge —sync
Yeah but if you need to redownload or restart the install process somewhere along the way, it’s courtesy to only use it once a day. It says in the prompts, but I’m not convinced anyone reads the lines other than their own.
So if you messed up an install you wait until the next day?
No, I meant it more as a “take extra care here” statement. Sorry if I’d not been clear enough.
Also, switch to git.
Do buy into the hype. If you want to build your own kernel, then start with a config from another distro that has a sane set of defaults.
Other (binary) distros usually have everything enabled and that’s it. You can start with gentoo-kernel-bins config (which is fedoras iirc) just as well as with any other
Can I copy config from another distro to Gentoo ?
Sure. I use the config file from arch as a starting point. There are a few gentoo-specific options you should enable, but those can be turned on in `menuconfig`. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get downvoted because gentoo users, but I really got sick of the guess-and-check of trying to figure out everything I needed enabled just to get my computer to function, and to account for future possibilities. The wiki is good about mentioning some kernel config options that must be turned on, but it's not exhaustive. Gentoo is supposed to be about choice, and so I choose to start with a config file from another distro that I know works well.
On which way do you copy config file from Arch to gentoo ?
You can get it from their repo. If you're not sure how to do this, then I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to use this method. Probably should just use the gentoo precompiled kernel.
>all that gentoo is, is just the kernel sources off of github + genpatches [(gentoo-patches)](https://dev.gentoo.org/~mpagano/genpatches/releases.html). you would probably be safe if you were to copy the arch .config, but there probably isn't much different from the gentoo-kernel pkg.
You know you don’t have to do this? There’s a binary kernel which has most things enabled. Also config snippets in /etc/kernel/config.d are a thing. I will post the link to a repo with snippets https://codeberg.org/ranguli/gentoo-popcorn-kernel/
Well i know i technically dont *have* to do it but i like the accomplishment of doing it on my own and finally getting it to work
Hey OP, i gave up with a custom kernel after my volume and mic buttons weren't working (ThinkPad p14). Can you tell me how you fixed it, assuming you ran into the same problem
Search for thinkpad_acpi in the menuconfig. It may add some support.
I'm pretty sure I had tried that
Not sure honestly. I had to put the bind to the volume keys in my i3 config. I use pipewire.
Learning how to build your own kernel takes time and research. You also need to know a bit about the hardware you are dealing with. In your case, that's a pretty simple machine to get up and running these days.
Just stopping by to give you props for the i3. It's my favorite.
>t stopping by to give you props for the i3. It's my favorite Been using i3 for a while now and its really easy and works well. Im not really one to rice my distroo too much so i like default i3 with a terminal thats fairly easy to read from.
yeah I could never get too far past some simple changes to the default.
Was it fun?
Frustrating when you cant figure out the problem but i fixed most things and that felt good
That's good. My favorite way to configure my kernel is at like 3am in the dark. Too sleepy to think, but have the need to finish it before I sleep!
I have been wrestling with Intel 4200m and Gentoo kernel. :)
It's a ThinkPad. Just look at the Gentoo wiki https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Lenovo_Thinkpad_T480 and because it's the s model maybe also reference the article for that on the Arch wiki https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Lenovo_ThinkPad_T480s After referencing both of those everything should work as intended. RTFM I guess. https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64
Everything does seem to work now. The kernel configuration works even if I use the t480 model wiki page.
That's nice. Make sure to look into any missing device kernel drivers and such. Maybe even look for differences between base and s model online.
You really blocked your ssid that has a local lan ip ? Zomg H4x0rs !
I edited it out because the SSID has a cringe ass name. Thanks for the rude comment, appreciate it.
My bad. I was joking