Salonia Matteo's Kernel

This is the Kernel configuration I use on Gentoo Linux (sys-kernel/gentoo-sources).

For more info, see the links below:

Italiano: https://saloniamatteo.top/it/kernel.html
English: https://saloniamatteo.top/en/kernel.html

Specificity

This Kernel was configured with the ThinkPad T440p in mind, removing unnedeed features, such as NUMA, NVIDIA, AMD support, and targeting an Intel i7-4700MQ.

I recommend you change the processor used, the maximum GPUs (max. 2 set), the maximum CPU threads (max. 8 set), the target CPU architecture (Haswell set), and so on.

Note: There are two config files: the first one, config, contains the Kernel config for my T440p, while the other one, config.pc, contains the Kernel config for my PC, which has an i5-11400 (Rocket Lake).

Build.sh command-line flags

Short flag	Long flag	Explaination
`-b`	`--skip-build`	Skip building the Kernel
`-c`	`--skip-cfg`	Skip copying Kernel configuration
`-e`	`--ccache`	Use `ccache` to speed up compilation (requires `ccache`)
`-f`	`--fastmath`	Build Kernel with Fast Math [*]
`-h`	`--help`	Print help dialog and exit
`-l`	`--clearl-ps`	Enable and apply Clear Linux patches [*]
`-m`	`--menuconfig`	Run `make menuconfig` in Kernel directory and exit
`-o`	`--cpu-opts`	Build Kernel with CPU family optimisations [*]
`-p`	`--patches`	Apply user patches (recommended)
`-v`	`--v4l2`	Build v4l2loopback Kernel module

Note: all options marked with [*], when enabled, should improve the performance of the Kernel at runtime, at the cost of negligibly longer compilation time, and/or slightly higher Kernel size.

Note 2: Clear Linux patches are HIGHLY recommended for Intel CPUs. Results may vary.

Note 3: To use -e/--ccache, you first need to install ccache. On Gentoo, the package is dev-util/ccache.

Configuration

To configure your Kernel, run the following commands as root:

# The /usr/src/ directory contains various Kernels
cd /usr/src/

# Clone the repository to usr-kernel, if you don't have it already
# Make sure you have enough permissions.
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/saloniamatteo/kernel usr-kernel
cd usr-kernel

# Select the latest version
# (example: 6.3.4-gentoo for Kernel version 6.3.4)
cd 6.3.4-gentoo
 
# Make sure we can execute the script
chmod +x build.sh

# NOTE: you should modify the build.sh script to
# match your configuration.
# vim build.sh

# Normally, you would run the following to configure
# the kernel, before building it.
# -------------------------------------------
# Flags explained:
# -b: Skip building the Kernel
# -f: Build Kernel with fast math
# -l: Apply Clear Linux patches
# -m: Configure Kernel (make menuconfig)
# -o: Apply CPU family optimisations
# -p: Apply user patches
# -------------------------------------------
# You likely need to add "doas" or "sudo"
# before "./build.sh" to run it
./build.sh -b -f -l -m -o -p

# Make sure you copy the new Kernel config to the directory!
# Note: /usr/src/linux is where the Kernel is stored,
# and config.new is the name of the new config,
# saved in the current directory.
# Make sure to rename if needed!
cp /usr/src/linux/.config config.new

# Build the Kernel.
# -------------------------------------------
# Flags explained:
# -f: Build Kernel with fast math
# -l: Apply Clear Linux patches
# -o: Apply CPU family optimisations
# -p: Apply user patches
# -------------------------------------------
# You likely need to add "doas" or "sudo"
# before "./build.sh" to run it
./build.sh -f -l -o -p