This document attempts to explain how to compile kernels for the NetBSD/mac68k Operating System. It describes how to obtain the kernel sources, the steps necessary to compile a working kernel, and how to install the new kernel. Also included is a partial listing of kernel options.
There are several reasons for compiling your own kernel rather than relying on the distribution kernel or on kernels provided by various members of the MacBSD development community.
For example, you might merely want to create a slimmer kernel that does not include many options which are either unnecessary or unusable on your system. You will probably want to tie down your SCSI devices to their respective partitions (such as root and swap). You might also want to remove support for any CPU's which you do not have in your machine. Doing so will probably give you a much smaller kernel (which will take up less memory), and it might improve performance as well.
Also, you may wish to enable some options which are not included in the GENERIC configuration. Perhaps you would like to make your machine an NFS server or add support for types of networking other than TCP/IP.
On the other hand, you might be interested in modifying the NetBSD kernel to support new devices or perhaps improve upon older code. Better yet, you may wish to attempt getting a new machine to work with NetBSD (like the Quadra, perhaps).
In any case, you will need to know how to compile your own kernel before doing so.
This document covers most aspects of building a kernel for the mac68k port of NetBSD. This includes how to obtain the kernel sources, how to create your own custom kernel configuration, how to compile the kernel, and how to install the new kernel. Also included is a partial list of options for kernel configuration.
This document only covers this process for NetBSD/mac68k releases 1.1 and 1.2 (including -current). Future releases may change this process.
The Kernel-Building HOWTO is available as follows:
ftp://puma.mac68k.org/pub/NetBSD/cray-ymp/docs/Build-HOWTO
http://www.mac68k.org/macbsd/howto/kernel.html
This HOWTO is based almost entirely on the Kernel-Building HOWTO written by Allen Briggs (briggs@ninthwonder.com). A few sections have been added and it has been reformatted to work with the linuxdoc-sgml formatting system.
Although I try to verify that the information contained within this HOWTO is correct, I accept no responsibility for loss or damage caused by the use of the information contained within this HOWTO.
This HOWTO is (c) 1994,1995 by Allen Briggs, (c) 1996 by Colin Wood.
Please send all additions, suggestions, and corrections to Colin Wood (ender@rice.edu) or Allen Briggs (briggs@ninthwonder.com). If making a correction, please do not send a copy of the entire HOWTO. Just send the relevant text from the HOWTO plus the corrected text.
The following people have contributed to the Kernel-Building HOWTO:
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