Frequently Asked Questions

Kernel FAQs (shamelessly taken from the issues)

The kernel does not (fully) boot.

First of all: Do not panic. The kernel builds itself are tested and should run fine. In most cases this might be the linux-firmware package being too old.

You can solve this by updating your firmware by either picking the files you need from https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git or if you prefer to do so, you can just replace it with a git clone by doing:

apt install git
cd /lib
mv firmware firmware.old
git clone  git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git firmware

How to revert to an older kernel

The bootloader (usually GRUB) got you covered. Just select the older kernel when booting and remove my packages

Will the kernel boot on (insert hardware or hypervisor here)

As I am using the Debian kernel config, the ‘vanilla’ or ‘bare metal’ kernels should boot anywhere the default debian kernel did run as I did not change drivers. For the ‘vm’ kernels, they have most of their drivers pulled to reduce their size. If it does not boot, take the ‘vanilla’ or ‘bare metal’ kernels, try again and report back please.

Does this kernel work on Ubuntu?

Yes, they do. Just keep in mind to grab the vanilla or gentoo-bm if you plan to run it on a physical machine

What is the difference between ‘vm’ and the other flavors?

The ‘vm’ kernels are stripped down versions of the kernel. Drivers for many devices are removed to make it smaller whereas ‘vanilla’ and ‘bm’ drivers indicate that they include all drivers intended to run on physical machines (bare metal) but also include common VM drivers.

Why ‘buster’ in the repo names?

The project started with debian 10 and I didn’t think that I would want to continue much further. Life prooved me otherwise.

Project FAQs

How to request inclusion of drivers or config change

If you have some shiny piece of hardware that is not yet supported by the kernel itself, you’re out of luck as I do not write custom kernel modules.

But if your hardware is supported by upstream, file an issue stating the CONFIG_ option and I will see what I can do.

Architecture is only amd64

I do not have the resources to build any other kernels on a foreign architecture or cross-compile for some other architecture other than amd64 for now.

Use at your own risk

This should be obvious, but you are responsible for your machine. Seriously. I assume no liability for the accuracy, correctness, completeness, or usefulness of any information or package provided by this site nor for any sort of damages using these may cause.

Where do I find sources?

https://kernel.org provides the sources of the Linux Kernel I build here. Genpatches live at https://dev.gentoo.org/~mpagano/genpatches/

Any config I used to build the packages are in this directory and open to you to take a peek or use them for yourself.

The kernel does not work for me

I do not know what you are trying to use the kernel for. If you want me to look at it, get in touch with me by opening an issue and I will see what I can do - but no promises.

Custom Kernels

I do not have the resources to build custom kernels for you only. In case you absolutely want me to do it, feel free to hire me or fund this project.