The kernel configuration now takes us to the choices for network devices:
*
* Network device support
*
Network device support (CONFIG_NETDEVICES)[Y/n/?]
Dummy net driver support (CONFIG_DUMMY)[M/n/y/?]
EQL (serial line load balancing)support
(CONFIG_EQUALIZER)[N/y/m/?]
Frame relay DLCI support
(EXPERIMENTAL)(CONFIG_DLCI)[N/y/m/?]
PLIP (parallel port)support (CONFIG_PLIP)[N/y/m/?]
PPP (point-to-point)support (CONFIG_PPP)[M/n/y/?]
*
* CCP compressors for PPP are only built as modules.
*
SLIP (serial line)support (CONFIG_SLIP)[M/n/y/?]
CSLIP compressed headers (CONFIG_SLIP_COMPRESSED)[Y/n/?]
Keepalive and linefill (CONFIG_SLIP_SMART)[Y/n/?]
Six bit SLIP encapsulation (CONFIG_SLIP_MODE_SLIP6)[N/y/?]
Radio network interfaces (CONFIG_NET_RADIO)[N/y/?]
This set of options is for base network device support. For anything but specialized configurations, answer Y to network device support, PPP, and perhaps SLIP (any of which could be needed to dial an ISP). Making these modules is your choice.
The next question really means: “Do you have a network card?”
Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)(CONFIG_NET_ETHERNET)[Y/n/?]
Answer Y here for a walk-though of the choices of different network adapters. It’s a pretty lengthy list, so take your time. Most network adapters require no parameters or anything, so as long as you know what you have, you should be fine.
*
* ISDN subsystem
*
ISDN support (CONFIG_ISDN)[N/y/m/?]
ISDN support for Linux is pretty new, and not that many adapters are supported. For up-to-date information about using ISDN with Linux, have a look in the Documentation/isdn subdirectory, where you’ll find information on configuration issues and software required.
The next section of script deals with non-SCSI and non-IDE CD-ROM drives:
*
* CD-ROM drivers (not for SCSI or IDE/ATAPI drives)
*
Support non-SCSI/IDE/ATAPI CDROM drives(CONFIG_CD_NO_
IDESCSI)[N/y/?]
Answering Y here causes the configuration program to go through a list of non-SCSI and non-IDE CD-ROM drives. There are some issues with some proprietary CD controllers and some network cards in which the system may hang if the kernel has to probe for the CD controller’s IO address. Read the documentation for the CD drivers and specify an IO address at the kernel command line if this happens.
Things will now get interesting again—the next section of script allows you to configure file system support for your Linux kernel:
*
* Filesystems
*
Quota support (CONFIG_QUOTA)[Y/n/?]
Minix fs support (CONFIG_MINIX_FS)[M/n/y/?]
Extended fs support (CONFIG_EXT_FS)[M/n/y/?]
Second extended fs support (CONFIG_EXT2_FS)[Y/m/n/?]
xiafs filesystem support (CONFIG_XIA_FS)[M/n/y/?]
DOS FAT fs support (CONFIG_FAT_FS)[M/n/y/?]
MSDOS fs support (CONFIG_MSDOS_FS)[M/n/?]
VFAT (Windows-95)fs support (CONFIG_VFAT_FS)[M/n/?]
umsdos: Unix like fs on top of std MSDOS FAT fs (CONFIG_UMSDOS_FS)[N/m/?]
/proc filesystem support (CONFIG_PROC_FS)[Y/n/?]
NFS filesystem support (CONFIG_NFS_FS)[M/n/y/?]
SMB filesystem support (to mount WfW shares etc..)(CONFIG_SMB_FS)[M/n/y/?]
SMB Win95 bug work-around (CONFIG_SMB_WIN95)[Y/n/?]
NCP filesystem support (to mount NetWare volumes)(CONFIG_NCP_FS)[N/y/m/?]
ISO9660 cdrom filesystem support (CONFIG_ISO9660_FS)[M/n/y/?]
OS/2 HPFS filesystem support (read only)(CONFIG_HPFS_FS)[M/n/y/?]
System V and Coherent filesystem support (CONFIG_SYSV_FS)[M/n/y/?]
Amiga FFS filesystem support
(EXPERIMENTAL)(CONFIG_AFFS_FS)[N/y/m/?]
UFS filesystem support (read only)(CONFIG_UFS_FS)[M/n/y/?]
BSD disklabel (FreeBSD partition tables)support
(CONFIG_BSD_DISKLABEL)[N/y/?]
SMD disklabel (Sun partition tables)support
(CONFIG_SMD_DISKLABEL)[N/y/?] Kernel automounter support
(experimental)(CONFIG_AUTOFS_FS)[M/n/y/?]
A great number of filesystems are supported by Linux. Other filesystem drivers are available for download as well. Quota support provides a means of limiting the disk space that a certain user can use. This support must be enabled by using some programs in the init scripts for the system, but it seems that Red Hat Linux ships with the necessary programs to implement Quota support if you want to.
Personally, I never set ext2fs to be a module—it’s just too much of a hassle. Trust me here. Every other file system you want can be set to be a module. I tend to not bother with Minix or the old ext filesystems; instead, I simply compile the MS-DOS fat and vfat file systems, hpfs, and iso9660 as modules. kerneld is usually smart enough to pick the right file system and load the driver for you when you try to mount one.
Automounting has something to do with the system automatically mounting NFS (network file system) drives. Unless you’re on a network with lots of UNIX and Linux machines, the time spent making this work is probably better spent doing other things.
On to configuring character-base devices, such as modems, and so on:
*
* Character devices
*
Standard/generic serial support (CONFIG_SERIAL)[Y/m/n/?]
Digiboard PC/Xx Support (CONFIG_DIGI)[N/y/?]
Cyclades async mux support (CONFIG_CYCLADES)[N/y/m/?]
Stallion multiport serial support (CONFIG_STALDRV)[N/y/?]
SDL RISCom/8 card support (CONFIG_RISCOM8)[N/y/m/?]
Parallel printer support (CONFIG_PRINTER)[M/n/y/?]
Specialix IO8+ card support (CONFIG_SPECIALIX)[N/y/m/?]
Mouse Support (not serial mice)(CONFIG_MOUSE)[Y/n/?]
ATIXL busmouse support (CONFIG_ATIXL_BUSMOUSE)[N/y/m/?]
Logitech busmouse support (CONFIG_BUSMOUSE)[N/y/m/?]
Microsoft busmouse support (CONFIG_MS_BUSMOUSE)[N/y/m/?]
PS/2 mouse (aka “auxiliary device”)support
(CONFIG_PSMOUSE)[Y/m/n/?]
C&T 82C710 mouse port support (as on TI Travelmate)(CON-
FIG_82C710_MOUSE)[Y/n/?]
Support for user misc device modules (CONFIG_UMISC)[N/y/?]
QIC-02 tape support (CONFIG_QIC02_TAPE)[N/y/?]
Ftape (QIC-80/Travan)support (CONFIG_FTAPE)[M/n/y/?]
*
* Set IObase/IRQ/DMA for ftape in
./drivers/char/ftape/Makefile
*