On 08/01/2011 12:00 PM, kashani wrote: > On 7/31/2011 7:06 PM, Pandu Poluan wrote: >> Let's say I have a .config from an older kernel version (for example, >> 2.6.38), and now I want to install a newer kernel (let's say, 3.0). >> >> Is it necessary to first do `make oldconfig`, or is it safe to go >> directly to `make menuconfig`? > > Necessary to run make old config? No. > > Easier and simpler most of the time? Yes. >
Use oldconfig. Running 'oldconfig' will prompt you for any new sections/drivers that have appeared since your last kernel. Running 'menuconfig' will silently accept all of the defaults for these new options. Why is it safer if only the new stuff gets defaulted? Because on more than one occasion, there has been a group of drivers, e.g. wireless chipsets, that got a new "enable anything" option. So while you may have had your Atheros chipset enabled in the old kernel, the new kernel has a "enable wireless networking" option that defaults to "no" despite the fact that your old kernel had one or more wireless chipsets enabled. This also happened with the entire SATA subsystem, resulting in at least one extra trip to the office for me. I'm not bitter, though.
