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|
CONFIG_SMP
This enables support for systems with more than one CPU. If you have
a system with only one CPU, like most personal computers, say N. If
you have a system with more than one CPU, say Y.
If you say N here, the kernel will run on single and multiprocessor
machines, but will use only one CPU of a multiprocessor machine. If
you say Y here, the kernel will run on many, but not all,
singleprocessor machines. On a singleprocessor machine, the kernel
will run faster if you say N here.
Note that if you say Y here and choose architecture "586" or
"Pentium" under "Processor family", the kernel will not work on 486
architectures. Similarly, multiprocessor kernels for the "PPro"
architecture may not work on all Pentium based boards.
People using multiprocessor machines who say Y here should also say
Y to "Enhanced Real Time Clock Support", below. The "Advanced Power
Management" code will be disabled if you say Y here.
See also the <file:Documentation/smp.tex>,
<file:Documentation/smp.txt>, <file:Documentation/i386/IO-APIC.txt>,
<file:Documentation/nmi_watchdog.txt> and the SMP-HOWTO available at
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>.
If you don't know what to do here, say N.
CONFIG_ALPHA
The Alpha is a 64-bit general-purpose processor designed and
marketed by the Digital Equipment Corporation of blessed memory, now
Compaq. Alpha Linux dates from 1995-1996 and was the first non-x86
port. The Alpha Linux project has a home page at
<http://www.alphalinux.org/>.
CONFIG_MATHEMU
This option is required for IEEE compliant floating point arithmetic
on the Alpha. The only time you would ever not say Y is to say M in
order to debug the code. Say Y unless you know what you are doing.
CONFIG_IDE
If you say Y here, your kernel will be able to manage low cost mass
storage units such as ATA/(E)IDE and ATAPI units. The most common
cases are IDE hard drives and ATAPI CD-ROM drives.
If your system is pure SCSI and doesn't use these interfaces, you
can say N here.
Integrated Disk Electronics (IDE aka ATA-1) is a connecting standard
for mass storage units such as hard disks. It was designed by
Western Digital and Compaq Computer in 1984. It was then named
ST506. Quite a number of disks use the IDE interface.
AT Attachment (ATA) is the superset of the IDE specifications.
ST506 was also called ATA-1.
Fast-IDE is ATA-2 (also named Fast ATA), Enhanced IDE (EIDE) is
ATA-3. It provides support for larger disks (up to 8.4GB by means of
the LBA standard), more disks (4 instead of 2) and for other mass
storage units such as tapes and cdrom. UDMA/33 (aka UltraDMA/33) is
ATA-4 and provides faster (and more CPU friendly) transfer modes
than previous PIO (Programmed processor Input/Output) from previous
ATA/IDE standards by means of fast DMA controllers.
ATA Packet Interface (ATAPI) is a protocol used by EIDE tape and
CD-ROM drives, similar in many respects to the SCSI protocol.
SMART IDE (Self Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) was
designed in order to prevent data corruption and disk crash by
detecting pre hardware failure conditions (heat, access time, and
the like...). Disks built since June 1995 may follow this standard.
The kernel itself don't manage this; however there are quite a
number of user programs such as smart that can query the status of
SMART parameters disk.
If you want to compile this driver as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called ide.o.
For further information, please read <file:Documentation/ide.txt>.
If unsure, say Y.
CONFIG_DISCONTIGMEM
Say Y to upport efficient handling of discontiguous physical memory,
for architectures which are either NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access)
or have huge holes in the physical address space for other reasons.
See <file:Documentation/vm/numa> for more.
CONFIG_NUMA
Say Y to compile the kernel to support NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory
Access). This option is for configuring high-end multiprocessor
server machines. If in doubt, say N.
CONFIG_ALPHA_GENERIC
This is the system type of your hardware. A "generic" kernel will
run on any supported Alpha system. However, if you configure a
kernel for your specific system, it will be faster and smaller.
To find out what type of Alpha system you have, you may want to
check out the Linux/Alpha FAQ, accessible on the WWW from
<http://www.alphalinux.org/>. In summary:
Alcor/Alpha-XLT AS 600
Alpha-XL XL-233, XL-266
AlphaBook1 Alpha laptop
Avanti AS 200, AS 205, AS 250, AS 255, AS 300, AS 400
Cabriolet AlphaPC64, AlphaPCI64
DP264 DP264
EB164 EB164 21164 evaluation board
EB64+ EB64+ 21064 evaluation board
EB66 EB66 21066 evaluation board
EB66+ EB66+ 21066 evaluation board
Jensen DECpc 150, DEC 2000 model 300,
DEC 2000 model 500
LX164 AlphaPC164-LX
Miata Personal Workstation 433a, 433au, 500a,
500au, 600a, or 600au
Mikasa AS 1000
Noname AXPpci33, UDB (Multia)
Noritake AS 1000A, AS 600A, AS 800
PC164 AlphaPC164
Rawhide AS 1200, AS 4000, AS 4100
Ruffian RPX164-2, AlphaPC164-UX, AlphaPC164-BX
SX164 AlphaPC164-SX
Sable AS 2000, AS 2100
Shark DS 20L
Takara Takara
Titan Privateer
Wildfire AlphaServer GS 40/80/160/320
If you don't know what to do, choose "generic".
CONFIG_ALPHA_ALCOR
For systems using the Digital ALCOR chipset: 5 chips (4, 64-bit data
slices (Data Switch, DSW) - 208-pin PQFP and 1 control (Control, I/O
Address, CIA) - a 383 pin plastic PGA). It provides a DRAM
controller (256-bit memory bus) and a PCI interface. It also does
all the work required to support an external Bcache and to maintain
memory coherence when a PCI device DMAs into (or out of) memory.
CONFIG_ALPHA_XL
XL-233 and XL-266-based Alpha systems.
CONFIG_ALPHA_BOOK1
Dec AlphaBook1/Burns Alpha-based laptops.
CONFIG_ALPHA_AVANTI
Avanti AS 200, AS 205, AS 250, AS 255, AS 300, and AS 400-based
Alphas. Info at
<http://www.unix-ag.org/Linux-Alpha/Architectures/Avanti.html>.
CONFIG_ALPHA_CABRIOLET
Cabriolet AlphaPC64, AlphaPCI64 systems. Derived from EB64+ but now
baby-AT with Flash boot ROM, no on-board SCSI or Ethernet. 3 ISA
slots, 4 PCI slots (one pair are on a shared slot), uses plug-in
Bcache SIMMs. Requires power supply with 3.3V output.
CONFIG_ALPHA_DP264
Various 21264 systems with the tsunami core logic chipset.
API Networks: 264DP, UP2000(+), CS20;
Compaq: DS10(E,L), XP900, XP1000, DS20(E), ES40.
CONFIG_ALPHA_EB164
EB164 21164 evaluation board from DEC. Uses 21164 and ALCOR. Has
ISA and PCI expansion (3 ISA slots, 2 64-bit PCI slots (one is
shared with an ISA slot) and 2 32-bit PCI slots. Uses plus-in
Bcache SIMMs. I/O sub-system provides SuperI/O (2S, 1P, FD), KBD,
MOUSE (PS2 style), RTC/NVRAM. Boot ROM is Flash. PC-AT-sized
motherboard. Requires power supply with 3.3V output.
CONFIG_ALPHA_EB64P
Uses 21064 or 21064A and APECs. Has ISA and PCI expansion (3 ISA,
2 PCI, one pair are on a shared slot). Supports 36-bit DRAM SIMs.
ISA bus generated by Intel SaturnI/O PCI-ISA bridge. On-board SCSI
(NCR 810 on PCI) Ethernet (Digital 21040), KBD, MOUSE (PS2 style),
SuperI/O (2S, 1P, FD), RTC/NVRAM. Boot ROM is EPROM. PC-AT size.
Runs from standard PC power supply.
CONFIG_ALPHA_EB66
A Digital DS group board. Uses 21066 or 21066A. I/O sub-system is
identical to EB64+. Baby PC-AT size. Runs from standard PC power
supply. The EB66 schematic was published as a marketing poster
advertising the 21066 as "the first microprocessor in the world with
embedded PCI".
CONFIG_ALPHA_EB66P
Later variant of the EB66 board.
CONFIG_ALPHA_EIGER
Apparently an obscure OEM single-board computer based on the
Typhoon/Tsunami chipset family. Information on it is scanty.
CONFIG_ALPHA_JENSEN
DEC PC 150 AXP (aka Jensen): This is a very old Digital system - one
of the first-generation Alpha systems. A number of these systems
seem to be available on the second- hand market. The Jensen is a
floor-standing tower system which originally used a 150MHz 21064 It
used programmable logic to interface a 486 EISA I/O bridge to the
CPU.
CONFIG_ALPHA_LX164
A technical overview of this board is available at
<http://www.unix-ag.org/Linux-Alpha/Architectures/LX164.html>.
CONFIG_ALPHA_MIATA
The Digital PersonalWorkStation (PWS 433a, 433au, 500a, 500au, 600a,
or 600au). There is an Installation HOWTO for this hardware at
<http://members.brabant.chello.nl/~s.vandereijk/miata.html>.
CONFIG_ALPHA_MIKASA
AlphaServer 1000-based Alpha systems.
CONFIG_ALPHA_NAUTILUS
Alpha systems based on the AMD 751 & ALI 1543C chipsets.
CONFIG_ALPHA_NONAME
The AXPpci33 (aka NoName), is based on the EB66 (includes the Multia
UDB). This design was produced by Digital's Technical OEM (TOEM)
group. It uses the 21066 processor running at 166MHz or 233MHz. It
is a baby-AT size, and runs from a standard PC power supply. It has
5 ISA slots and 3 PCI slots (one pair are a shared slot). There are
2 versions, with either PS/2 or large DIN connectors for the
keyboard.
CONFIG_ALPHA_NORITAKE
AlphaServer 1000A, AlphaServer 600A, and AlphaServer 800-based
systems.
CONFIG_ALPHA_RAWHIDE
AlphaServer 1200, AlphaServer 4000 and AlphaServer 4100 machines.
See HOWTO at
<http://www.alphalinux.org/docs/rawhide/4100_install.shtml>.
CONFIG_ALPHA_RUFFIAN
Samsung APC164UX. There is a page on known problems and workarounds
at <http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/FAQ-11.html>.
CONFIG_ALPHA_SABLE
Digital AlphaServer 2000 and 2100-based systems.
CONFIG_ALPHA_TAKARA
Alpha 11164-based OEM single-board computer.
CONFIG_ALPHA_WILDFIRE
AlphaServer GS 40/80/160/320 SMP based on the EV67 core.
CONFIG_ALPHA_PRIMO
Say Y if you have an AS 1000 5/xxx or an AS 1000A 5/xxx.
CONFIG_ALPHA_GAMMA
Say Y if you have an AS 2000 5/xxx or an AS 2100 5/xxx.
CONFIG_ALPHA_SRM
There are two different types of booting firmware on Alphas: SRM,
which is command line driven, and ARC, which uses menus and arrow
keys. Details about the Linux/Alpha booting process are contained in
the Linux/Alpha FAQ, accessible on the WWW from
<http://www.alphalinux.org/>.
The usual way to load Linux on an Alpha machine is to use MILO
(a bootloader that lets you pass command line parameters to the
kernel just like lilo does for the x86 architecture) which can be
loaded either from ARC or can be installed directly as a permanent
firmware replacement from floppy (which requires changing a certain
jumper on the motherboard). If you want to do either of these, say N
here. If MILO doesn't work on your system (true for Jensen
motherboards), you can bypass it altogether and boot Linux directly
from an SRM console; say Y here in order to do that. Note that you
won't be able to boot from an IDE disk using SRM.
If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_ALPHA_LEGACY_START_ADDRESS
The 2.4 kernel changed the kernel start address from 0x310000
to 0x810000 to make room for the Wildfire's larger SRM console.
If you're using aboot 0.7 or later, the bootloader will examine the
ELF headers to determine where to transfer control. Unfortunately,
most older bootloaders -- APB or MILO -- hardcoded the kernel start
address rather than examining the ELF headers, and the result is a
hard lockup.
Say Y if you have a broken bootloader. Say N if you do not, or if
you wish to run on Wildfire.
CONFIG_ALPHA_LARGE_VMALLOC
Process creation and other aspects of virtual memory management can
be streamlined if we restrict the kernel to one PGD for all vmalloc
allocations. This equates to about 8GB.
Under normal circumstances, this is so far and above what is needed
as to be laughable. However, there are certain applications (such
as benchmark-grade in-kernel web serving) that can make use of as
much vmalloc space as is available.
Say N unless you know you need gobs and gobs of vmalloc space.
CONFIG_ISA
Find out whether you have ISA slots on your motherboard. ISA is the
name of a bus system, i.e. the way the CPU talks to the other stuff
inside your box. Other bus systems are PCI, EISA, MicroChannel
(MCA) or VESA. ISA is an older system, now being displaced by PCI;
newer boards don't support it. If you have ISA, say Y, otherwise N.
CONFIG_PCI
Find out whether you have a PCI motherboard. PCI is the name of a
bus system, i.e. the way the CPU talks to the other stuff inside
your box. Other bus systems are ISA, EISA, MicroChannel (MCA) or
VESA. If you have PCI, say Y, otherwise N.
The PCI-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>, contains valuable
information about which PCI hardware does work under Linux and which
doesn't.
CONFIG_MCA
MicroChannel Architecture is found in some IBM PS/2 machines and
laptops. It is a bus system similar to PCI or ISA. See
<file:Documentation/mca.txt> (and especially the web page given
there) before attempting to build an MCA bus kernel.
CONFIG_EISA
The Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus was
developed as an open alternative to the IBM MicroChannel bus.
The EISA bus provided some of the features of the IBM MicroChannel
bus while maintaining backward compatibility with cards made for
the older ISA bus. The EISA bus saw limited use between 1988 and
1995 when it was made obsolete by the PCI bus.
Say Y here if you are building a kernel for an EISA-based machine.
Otherwise, say N.
CONFIG_HOTPLUG
Say Y here if you want to plug devices into your computer while
the system is running, and be able to use them quickly. In many
cases, the devices can likewise be unplugged at any time too.
One well known example of this is PCMCIA- or PC-cards, credit-card
size devices such as network cards, modems or hard drives which are
plugged into slots found on all modern laptop computers. Another
example, used on modern desktops as well as laptops, is USB.
Enable HOTPLUG and KMOD, and build a modular kernel. Get agent
software (at <http://linux-hotplug.sourceforge.net/>) and install it.
Then your kernel will automatically call out to a user mode "policy
agent" (/sbin/hotplug) to load modules and set up software needed
to use devices as you hotplug them.
CONFIG_PCMCIA
Say Y here if you want to attach PCMCIA- or PC-cards to your Linux
computer. These are credit-card size devices such as network cards,
modems or hard drives often used with laptops computers. There are
actually two varieties of these cards: the older 16 bit PCMCIA cards
and the newer 32 bit CardBus cards. If you want to use CardBus
cards, you need to say Y here and also to "CardBus support" below.
To use your PC-cards, you will need supporting software from David
Hinds' pcmcia-cs package (see the file <file:Documentation/Changes>
for location). Please also read the PCMCIA-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>.
This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want).
When compiled this way, there will be modules called pcmcia_core.o
and ds.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and
read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>.
CONFIG_KCORE_ELF
If you enabled support for /proc file system then the file
/proc/kcore will contain the kernel core image. This can be used
in gdb:
$ cd /usr/src/linux ; gdb vmlinux /proc/kcore
You have two choices here: ELF and A.OUT. Selecting ELF will make
/proc/kcore appear in ELF core format as defined by the Executable
and Linking Format specification. Selecting A.OUT will choose the
old "a.out" format which may be necessary for some old versions
of binutils or on some architectures.
This is especially useful if you have compiled the kernel with the
"-g" option to preserve debugging information. It is mainly used
for examining kernel data structures on the live kernel so if you
don't understand what this means or are not a kernel hacker, just
leave it at its default value ELF.
CONFIG_KCORE_AOUT
Not necessary unless you're using a very out-of-date binutils
version. You probably want KCORE_ELF.
CONFIG_BINFMT_ELF
ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) is a format for libraries and
executables used across different architectures and operating
systems. Saying Y here will enable your kernel to run ELF binaries
and enlarge it by about 13 KB. ELF support under Linux has now all
but replaced the traditional Linux a.out formats (QMAGIC and ZMAGIC)
because it is portable (this does *not* mean that you will be able
to run executables from different architectures or operating systems
however) and makes building run-time libraries very easy. Many new
executables are distributed solely in ELF format. You definitely
want to say Y here.
Information about ELF is contained in the ELF HOWTO available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>.
If you find that after upgrading from Linux kernel 1.2 and saying Y
here, you still can't run any ELF binaries (they just crash), then
you'll have to install the newest ELF runtime libraries, including
ld.so (check the file <file:Documentation/Changes> for location and
latest version).
If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want),
say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The module
will be called binfmt_elf.o. Saying M or N here is dangerous because
some crucial programs on your system might be in ELF format.
CONFIG_BINFMT_AOUT
A.out (Assembler.OUTput) is a set of formats for libraries and
executables used in the earliest versions of UNIX. Linux used the
a.out formats QMAGIC and ZMAGIC until they were replaced with the
ELF format.
As more and more programs are converted to ELF, the use for a.out
will gradually diminish. If you disable this option it will reduce
your kernel by one page. This is not much and by itself does not
warrant removing support. However its removal is a good idea if you
wish to ensure that absolutely none of your programs will use this
older executable format. If you don't know what to answer at this
point then answer Y. If someone told you "You need a kernel with
QMAGIC support" then you'll have to say Y here. You may answer M to
compile a.out support as a module and later load the module when you
want to use a program or library in a.out format. The module will be
called binfmt_aout.o. Saying M or N here is dangerous though,
because some crucial programs on your system might still be in A.OUT
format.
CONFIG_BINFMT_EM86
Say Y here if you want to be able to execute Linux/Intel ELF
binaries just like native Alpha binaries on your Alpha machine. For
this to work, you need to have the emulator /usr/bin/em86 in place.
You can get the same functionality by saying N here and saying Y to
"Kernel support for MISC binaries".
You may answer M to compile the emulation support as a module and
later load the module when you want to use a Linux/Intel binary. The
module will be called binfmt_em86.o. If unsure, say Y.
CONFIG_BINFMT_MISC
If you say Y here, it will be possible to plug wrapper-driven binary
formats into the kernel. You will like this especially when you use
programs that need an interpreter to run like Java, Python or
Emacs-Lisp. It's also useful if you often run DOS executables under
the Linux DOS emulator DOSEMU (read the DOSEMU-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>). Once you have
registered such a binary class with the kernel, you can start one of
those programs simply by typing in its name at a shell prompt; Linux
will automatically feed it to the correct interpreter.
You can do other nice things, too. Read the file
<file:Documentation/binfmt_misc.txt> to learn how to use this
feature, and <file:Documentation/java.txt> for information about how
to include Java support.
You must say Y to "/proc file system support" (CONFIG_PROC_FS) to
use this part of the kernel.
You may say M here for module support and later load the module when
you have use for it; the module is called binfmt_misc.o. If you
don't know what to answer at this point, say Y.
CONFIG_VGA_CONSOLE
Saying Y here will allow you to use Linux in text mode through a
display that complies with the generic VGA standard. Virtually
everyone wants that.
The program SVGATextMode can be used to utilize SVGA video cards to
their full potential in text mode. Download it from
<ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/utils/console/>.
Say Y.
CONFIG_SCSI
If you want to use a SCSI hard disk, SCSI tape drive, SCSI CD-ROM or
any other SCSI device under Linux, say Y and make sure that you know
the name of your SCSI host adapter (the card inside your computer
that "speaks" the SCSI protocol, also called SCSI controller),
because you will be asked for it.
You also need to say Y here if you want support for the parallel
port version of the 100 MB IOMEGA ZIP drive.
This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want).
The module will be called scsi_mod.o. If you want to compile it as
a module, say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt> and
<file:Documentation/scsi.txt>. However, do not compile this as a
module if your root file system (the one containing the directory /)
is located on a SCSI device.
CONFIG_NETDEVICES
You can say N here if you don't intend to connect your Linux box to
any other computer at all or if all your connections will be over a
telephone line with a modem either via UUCP (UUCP is a protocol to
forward mail and news between unix hosts over telephone lines; read
the UUCP-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>) or dialing up a shell
account or a BBS, even using term (term is a program which gives you
almost full Internet connectivity if you have a regular dial up
shell account on some Internet connected Unix computer. Read
<http://www.bart.nl/~patrickr/term-howto/Term-HOWTO.html>).
You'll have to say Y if your computer contains a network card that
you want to use under Linux (make sure you know its name because you
will be asked for it and read the Ethernet-HOWTO (especially if you
plan to use more than one network card under Linux)) or if you want
to use SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol is the protocol used to
send Internet traffic over telephone lines or null modem cables) or
CSLIP (compressed SLIP) or PPP (Point to Point Protocol, a better
and newer replacement for SLIP) or PLIP (Parallel Line Internet
Protocol is mainly used to create a mini network by connecting the
parallel ports of two local machines) or AX.25/KISS (protocol for
sending Internet traffic over amateur radio links).
Make sure to read the NET-3-HOWTO. Eventually, you will have to read
Olaf Kirch's excellent and free book "Network Administrator's
Guide", to be found in <http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#guide>. If
unsure, say Y.
CONFIG_CD_NO_IDESCSI
If you have a CD-ROM drive that is neither SCSI nor IDE/ATAPI, say Y
here, otherwise N. Read the CD-ROM-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>.
Note that the answer to this question doesn't directly affect the
kernel: saying N will just cause the configurator to skip all
the questions about these CD-ROM drives. If you are unsure what you
have, say Y and find out whether you have one of the following
drives.
For each of these drivers, a file Documentation/cdrom/{driver_name}
exists. Especially in cases where you do not know exactly which kind
of drive you have you should read there. Most of these drivers use a
file drivers/cdrom/{driver_name}.h where you can define your
interface parameters and switch some internal goodies.
All these CD-ROM drivers are also usable as a module ( = code which
can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you
want). If you want to compile them as module, say M instead of Y and
read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>.
If you want to use any of these CD-ROM drivers, you also have to
answer Y or M to "ISO 9660 CD-ROM file system support" below (this
answer will get "defaulted" for you if you enable any of the Linux
CD-ROM drivers).
CONFIG_SOUND
If you have a sound card in your computer, i.e. if it can say more
than an occasional beep, say Y. Be sure to have all the information
about your sound card and its configuration down (I/O port,
interrupt and DMA channel), because you will be asked for it.
You want to read the Sound-HOWTO, available from
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>. General information about
the modular sound system is contained in the files
<file:Documentation/sound/Introduction>. The file
<file:Documentation/sound/README.OSS> contains some slightly
outdated but still useful information as well.
If you have a PnP sound card and you want to configure it at boot
time using the ISA PnP tools (read
<http://www.roestock.demon.co.uk/isapnptools/>), then you need to
compile the sound card support as a module ( = code which can be
inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want)
and load that module after the PnP configuration is finished. To do
this, say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt> as well
as <file:Documentation/sound/README.modules>; the module will be
called soundcore.o.
I'm told that even without a sound card, you can make your computer
say more than an occasional beep, by programming the PC speaker.
Kernel patches and supporting utilities to do that are in the pcsp
package, available at <ftp://ftp.infradead.org/pub/pcsp/>.
CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ
If you say Y here, you will have some control over the system even
if the system crashes for example during kernel debugging (e.g., you
will be able to flush the buffer cache to disk, reboot the system
immediately or dump some status information). This is accomplished
by pressing various keys while holding SysRq (Alt+PrintScreen). It
also works on a serial console (on PC hardware at least), if you
send a BREAK and then within 5 seconds a command keypress. The
keys are documented in <file:Documentation/sysrq.txt>. Don't say Y
unless you really know what this hack does.
CONFIG_ISDN
ISDN ("Integrated Services Digital Networks", called RNIS in France)
is a special type of fully digital telephone service; it's mostly
used to connect to your Internet service provider (with SLIP or
PPP). The main advantage is that the speed is higher than ordinary
modem/telephone connections, and that you can have voice
conversations while downloading stuff. It only works if your
computer is equipped with an ISDN card and both you and your service
provider purchased an ISDN line from the phone company. For
details, read <http://alumni.caltech.edu/~dank/isdn/> on the WWW.
This driver allows you to use an ISDN-card for networking
connections and as dialin/out device. The isdn-tty's have a built
in AT-compatible modem emulator. Network devices support autodial,
channel-bundling, callback and caller-authentication without having
a daemon running. A reduced T.70 protocol is supported with tty's
suitable for German BTX. On D-Channel, the protocols EDSS1
(Euro-ISDN) and 1TR6 (German style) are supported. See
<file:Documentation/isdn/README> for more information.
If you want to compile the ISDN code as a module ( = code which can
be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you
want), say M here and read <file:Documentation/modules.txt>. The
module will be called isdn.o. If unsure, say N.
CONFIG_SRM_ENV
If you enable this option, a subdirectory called srm_environment
will give you access to the most important SRM environment
variables. If you've got an Alpha style system supporting
SRC, then it is a good idea to say Yes or Module to this driver.
This driver is also available as a module and will be called
srm_env.o if you build it as a module.
CONFIG_DEBUG_KERNEL
Say Y here if you are developing drivers or trying to debug and
identify kernel problems.
CONFIG_DEBUG_SLAB
Say Y here to have the kernel do limited verification on memory
allocation as well as poisoning memory on free to catch use of freed
memory.
CONFIG_DEBUG_SPINLOCK
Say Y here and build SMP to catch missing spinlock initialization
and certain other kinds of spinlock errors commonly made. This is
best used in conjunction with the NMI watchdog so that spinlock
deadlocks are also debuggable.
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