> For some reason known only to who modified the config, when selecting the
> architecture for ix86 chips, you have the following options:
>
> Processor family (386, 486/Cx486, Pentium/K5/5x86/6x86, PPro/K6/6x86MX)
> [Pentium/K5/5x86/6x86]
>
> I don't use make menuconfig or xconfig, I don't have a mouse, and I don't
> feel that anyone should be forced to type "PPro/K6/6x86MX" to use i686
> optimization.
I tried some of these options, and noticed that I got the help text if I
typed any of "Cx486", "K5", "6x86", or "K6" but "make oldconfig" continued
if I typed in "Pentium" or "PPro". I assume the first choice in each
group will work, but the others will just cause the help to be displayed.
> I don't know if it was a PC thing or what, but come on, this is the only
> option throughout the linux kernel where it takes more than 3 characters to
> set the option.
If you had an ARM CPU (and you fixed the makefile--patch coming soon),
you'd be asked:
ARM system type (Archimedes, A5000, RiscPC, EBSA-110, NexusPCI) [RiscPC]
Be thankful you don't have to type "Archimedes." :)
I'm appending a patch which changes the dialogue to:
*
* Processor type and features
*
Processor family (3=386, 4=486/DX4/Am5x86, 5=Pentium/K5/Cx5x86/6x86,
6=PPro/K6/6x86MX) [5=Pentium/K5/Cx5x86/6x86] 5
defined CONFIG_M586
which I think is an improvement. I'm making an educated guess about the
AMD versus Cyrix 5x86 chips, and the DX4s. This patch is against 2.1.88
with some other patches applied; you will probably get some harmless fuzz
when applying it to a fresh 2.1.88.
> Now, if you really want to be consistant, you can change the arch/i386
> directory to arch/ix86 or arch/ia32.
Maybe "x86" would be more accurate, because it reflects the fact that
there's a small amount of support for the non-Intel CPUs. It also has
more currency than "ia32" (you're only the second person I've seen using
that term). There are 433 lines containing "i386" in the kernel source.
___
Trevor Johnson
--- linux/arch/i386/config.in~ Sat Feb 21 21:49:03 1998
+++ linux/arch/i386/config.in Mon Feb 23 23:04:03 1998
@@ -12,10 +12,10 @@
mainmenu_option next_comment
comment 'Processor type and features'
choice 'Processor family' \
- "386 CONFIG_M386 \
- 486/Cx486 CONFIG_M486 \
- Pentium/K5/5x86/6x86 CONFIG_M586 \
- PPro/K6/6x86MX CONFIG_M686" Pentium
+ "3=386 CONFIG_M386 \
+ 4=486/DX4/Am5x86 CONFIG_M486 \
+ 5=Pentium/K5/Cx5x86/6x86 CONFIG_M586 \
+ 6=PPro/K6/6x86MX CONFIG_M686" 5
bool 'Math emulation' CONFIG_MATH_EMULATION
bool 'Symmetric multi-processing support' CONFIG_SMP
endmenu
--- linux/Documentation/Configure.help~ Sat Feb 21 21:49:02 1998
+++ linux/Documentation/Configure.help Mon Feb 23 23:24:41 1998
@@ -1148,14 +1148,12 @@
Processor family
CONFIG_M386
This is the processor type of your CPU. This information is used for
- optimizing purposes. In order to compile a kernel that can run on
- all x86 CPU types (albeit not optimally fast), you can specify
- "386" here. If you specify one of "486" or "Pentium" or "PPro",
- then the kernel will run on all of these CPUs: 486 and Pentium
- (=586) and Pentium Pro (=686). In rare cases, it can make sense to
- specify "Pentium" even if running on a 486: the kernel will be
- smaller but slower.
- If you don't know what to do, say "386".
+ optimization. In order to compile a kernel that can run on all x86 CPU
+ types (albeit not optimally fast), you can specify "3" here. If you
+ specify "4", "5" or "6" then the kernel will run on all of these CPUs:
+ 486, DX4, Pentium, Pentium Pro, 5x86, and 6x86. It can sometimes make
+ sense to specify "5" even if running on a 486: the kernel will be
+ smaller but slower. If you don't know what to do, say "3".
Video mode selection support
CONFIG_VIDEO_SELECT
-
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