Jump to content

Configure the Kernel


jdion81
 Share

Recommended Posts

There are different types/ways of configuring the kernel. I've usually seen people use the phrase "configure the kernel" to mean selecting kernel compilation options during using one of several configuration tools (such as xconfig) during the kernel build processes. But there are other types of configuration as well. You can configure a running kernel by loading specific modules, with or without module configuration parameters. There are also kernel options that can be tuned as the kernel runs, using tools such as sysctl (see /etc/sysctl.conf) or writing values to files in the /proc directory.

 

In your case, it sounds like you want control the loading of the agpgart module so you're not likely to need to rebuild your kernel. I can't give you any specifics without knowing more about what you want to do, but if you need to force the loading of certain modules, take a look at the documentation for /etc/modules.conf.

 

Post some detail then perhaps I or others can be of more help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I knew i didnt want to recompile the kernel, just didnt know how to word the question. What I am needing to do is get agpgart working so that I can get DRI working (for 3d acceleration). I also need to load drivers for my chipset (which I dont know which drivers they are, need help with this too).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hum... Do you have X running at all, or are you working from the command line? If X is up, but your just having problems with 3D acceleration, then the problem will be at the X level. You can review/change your basic graphic card hardware setup in MCC->Hardware->Hardware, then select your graphics card from the list and run the configuration tool.

 

If you've gone further than this and you need to set specific options for the apgart driver, check the /etc/modules.conf, /etc/modprobe.preload files.

 

I haven't had many problems in this area, so I haven't had to probe too deeply into the driver chain. Perhaps others will have more insight.

 

Hope this helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have X running fine but I am getting 60-120 fps out of the the machine, I am trying to get hardware rendering support. The driver that comes with mdk gives me about 60 fps. others with the same card have reported as high as 400 fps. I have installed the specific drivers for the video card (s3 savage twisterK) but to get a better framerate I need to get dri running properly which involves initializing agpgart and loading the chipset drivers. The main reason for this is for me to get winxp off the machine. (currently on it only for dvd videos, linux is dropping frames)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The agpgart module is loaded early and automatically by the kernel during the boot process and the chip-set specifc driver is also loaded soon after. I have a VIA K600 board and the drak configuration tools added an entry in the /etc/modprobe.preload file for via-agp. As far as I can see, there are no module specific parameters for the agp drivers (I took a quick look at the kernel source files and documentation). If there are, they would have to be specified in the /etc/modules.conf file.

 

If you search through the kernel boot messages

dmesg | fgrep agp

you should see the agpgart module configuring your system. Further initialization is done directly by the graphics card driver when X is started. You can look in /var/log/XFree86.0.log for messages. I have an Nvidia card: all I see is an "AGP 8X successfully initialized" message.

 

The 3D performance of your card is very dependent on the OpenGL drivers supplied by the gpu card vendors. The default MESA library doesn't perform well. With Nvidia's implementation installed, I get about 800FPS on glxgears (5200 card). Without, I get not much better than what you're reporting.

 

I don't have any experience with you cards, so I hope others who do will pick up this thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, modules are loaded by /etc/modprobe.preload. It's simple really, just put a line for each module, like this:

 

evdev

acpi

whatever

 

And that's it! by the way, modules.conf is not being used at all on my machine, and any changes I make to it are ignored. Totally useless. It's been deprecated, I'm using Mandrake 10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And that's it! by the way, modules.conf is not being used at all on my machine, and any changes I make to it are ignored. Totally useless. It's been deprecated, I'm using Mandrake 10.

:o depreciated? :unsure:

Why do I have stuff in there?

That I can change/add module parameters?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is not used in the 2.6 kernel, however im pretty sure it still is in 2.4

I wasn't asking....I know it's used in 2.6. EVERYONES sound still uses it and needs it and so much more!

ML-10-CE

[root@localhost bvc]# cat /etc/modules.conf

 

probeall scsi_hostadapter imm ppa

options i810fb xres=800 hsync1=32 hsync2=48 vsync1=50 vsync2=70 vram=2 bpp=16 accel=1 mtrr=1

probeall usb-interface usb-uhci

alias eth0 tulip

alias sound-slot-0 cs4281

[root@localhost bvc]# cat /etc/mandrake-release

Mandrake Linux release 10.0 (Community) for i586

[root@localhost bvc]#

Edited by bvc
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I'm not MacGyver, and I am married. The Avatar is of Colonel Jack O'neill of SG-1

:woops: thx! :woops: I removed the questions because it just didn't seem fitting...I'm just now seeing that you saw the questions and replied :woops: My mother in-law would be disappointed :lol:

 

anyway, concerning the modules.conf thing..... I'm not going to google and haven't and maybe ya'll are right that it's not used in 2.6. I forgot about modprobe.conf which has entries for the same mods that are in modules.conf. So I guess this is what's used? Why is the old there? I guess because some apps are still only going to look in modules.conf. Makes sense I guess. Sorry for any confusiion I may have caused! :woops:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...