# Maintained by Axel Boldt (boldt@math.ucsb.edu) # # This version of the Linux kernel configuration help texts # corresponds to the kernel versions 2.0.x. # # International versions of this file available on the WWW: # - http://jf.gee.kyoto-u.ac.jp/JF/JF-ftp/euc/Configure.help.euc # is a Japanese translation, maintained by Tetsuyasu YAMADA # (tetsu@cauchy.nslab.ntt.jp). # - http://nevod.perm.su/service/linux/doc/kernel/Configure.help # is a Russian translation, maintained by kaf@linux.nevod.perm.su. # # Information about what a kernel is, what it does, how to patch and # compile it and much more is contained in the Kernel-HOWTO, available # via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu in the directory # /pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. # # Format of this file: descriptionvariablehelptext. # If the question being documented is of type "choice", we list # only the first occurring config variable. The help texts # must not contain empty lines. No variable should occur twice; if it # does, only the first occurrence will be used by Configure. The lines # in a help text should be indented two positions. Lines starting with # `#' are ignored. To be nice to menuconfig, limit your lines to 70 # characters. Use emacs' kfill.el to edit this file or you lose. # # If you add a help text to this file, please try to be as gentle as # possible. Don't use unexplained acronyms and generally write for the # hypothetical user who has just bought a PC, removed Windows, # installed Linux and is now recompiling the kernel for the first # time. Tell them what to do if they're unsure. Technical information # should go in a README in the Documentation directory. Mention all # the relevant READMEs and HOWTOs in the help text. # # All this was shamelessly stolen from several different sources. Many # thanks to all the contributors. Feel free to use these help texts # in your own kernel configuration tools. The texts are copyrighted # (c) 1995,1996 by Axel Boldt and governed by the GNU Public License. Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL Some of the various things that Linux supports (such as network drivers, filesystems, network protocols, etc.) can be in a state of development where the functionality, stability, or the level of testing is not yet high enough for general use. This is usually known as the "alpha-test" phase amongst developers. If a feature is currently in alpha-test, then the developers usually discourage uninformed widespread use of this feature by the general public to avoid "Why doesn't this work?" type mail messages. However, active testing and use of these systems is welcomed. Just be aware that it may not meet the normal level of reliability or it may fail to work in some special cases. Detailed bug reports from people familiar with the kernel internals are usually welcomed by the developers. Unless you intend to help test and develop a feature or driver that falls into this category, or you have a situation that requires using these features you should probably say N here, which will cause this configure script to present you with fewer choices. If you say Y here, you will be offered the choice of using features or drivers that are currently considered to be in the alpha-test phase. Kernel math emulation CONFIG_MATH_EMULATION Linux can emulate a math coprocessor (used for floating point operations) if you don't have one. 486DX and Pentium processors have a math coprocessor built in, 486SX and 386 do not, unless you added a 487DX or 387, respectively. (The messages during boot time can give you some hints here ["man dmesg"]) Everyone needs either a coprocessor or this emulation. If you enable this emulation even though you have a coprocessor, the coprocessor will be used nevertheless. (This behavior can be changed with the kernel command line option "no387", which comes handy if your coprocessor is broken. See the documentation of your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) about how to pass options to the kernel at boot time. The lilo procedure is also explained in the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO.) This means that it is a good idea to say Y here if you intend to use this kernel on different machines. More information about the internals of Linux math coprocessor emulation can be found in arch/i386/math-emu/README. If you are not sure, say Y; apart from resulting in a 45kB bigger kernel, it won't hurt. Normal floppy disk support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_FD If you want to use your floppy disk drive(s) under Linux, say Y. Information about this driver, especially important for IBM Thinkpad users, is contained in drivers/block/README.fd. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. RAM disk support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM Enabling this option will allow you to use a portion of your RAM memory as a block device, so that you can make filesystems on it, read and write to it and do all the other things that normal block devices (such as harddrives) can do. It is usually used to load and store a copy of a minimal root file system off of a floppy into RAM during the initial install of Linux. Note that the kernel command line option "ramdisk=XX" is now obsolete. For details, read Documentation/ramdisk.txt. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M and read Documentation/modules.txt. Most normal users won't need the RAM disk functionality, and can thus say N here. Initial RAM disk (initrd) support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD The initial RAM disk is a RAM disk that is loaded by the boot loader (LOADLIN or LILO) and that is mounted as root before the normal boot procedure. It is typically used to load modules needed to mount the "real" root file system, etc. See Documentation/initrd.txt for details. Loop device support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_LOOP Enabling this option will allow you to mount a file as a file system. This is useful if you want to check an ISO9660 file system before burning the CD, or want to use floppy images without first writing them to floppy. This option also allows one to mount a filesystem with encryption. To use these features, you need a recent version of mount (check the file Documentation/Changes for location and latest version). Note that this loop device has nothing to do with the loopback device used for network connections from the machine to itself. Most users will answer N here. Enhanced IDE/MFM/RLL disk/cdrom/tape support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDE This will use the full-featured IDE driver to control up to four IDE interfaces, for a combination of up to eight IDE disk/cdrom/tape drives. Useful information about large (>540MB) IDE disks, soundcard IDE ports, and other topics, is all contained in Documentation/ide.txt. If you have one or more IDE drives, say Y here. If your system has no IDE drives, or if memory requirements are really tight, you could say N here, and select the Old harddisk driver instead to save about 13kB of memory in the kernel. To fine-tune IDE drive/interface parameters for improved performance, look for the hdparm package at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/kernel/patches/diskdrives/ Old harddisk (MFM/RLL/IDE) driver CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HD_ONLY There are two drivers for MFM/RLL/IDE disks. Most people use the newer enhanced driver, but the old one is still around for two reasons. Some older systems have strange timing problems and seem to work only with the old driver (which itself does not work with some newer systems). The other reason is that the old driver is smaller, since it lacks the enhanced functionality of the new one. This makes it a good choice for systems with very tight memory restrictions, or for systems with only older MFM/RLL/ESDI drives. Choosing the old driver can save 13kB or so of kernel memory. If you are unsure, then just choose the Enhanced IDE/MFM/RLL driver instead of this one. Use old disk-only driver on primary interface CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HD_IDE There are two drivers for MFM/RLL/IDE disks. Most people use just the new enhanced driver by itself. This option installs the old harddisk driver to control the primary IDE/disk interface in the system, leaving the new enhanced IDE driver take care of only the 2nd/3rd/4th IDE interfaces. Doing this will prevent you from having an IDE/ATAPI CDROM or tape drive connected to the primary IDE interface. Choosing this option may be useful for older systems which have MFM/RLL/ESDI controller+drives at the primary port address (0x1f0), along with IDE drives at the secondary/3rd/4th port addresses. Normally, just say N here; you will then use the new driver for all 4 interfaces. Include IDE/ATAPI CDROM support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDECD If you have a CDROM drive using the ATAPI protocol, say Y. ATAPI is a new protocol used by IDE CDROM and TAPE drives, similar to the SCSI protocol. Most new CDROM drives use ATAPI, including the NEC-260, Mitsumi FX400, Sony 55E, and just about all non-SCSI double(2X), quad(4X), and six(6X) speed drives. At boot time, the TAPE drive will be identified along with other IDE devices, as "hdb" or "hdc", or something similar. If this is your only CDROM drive, you can say N to all other CDROM options, but be sure to say Y to the ISO9660 filesystem. Read the CDROM-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO and the file Documentation/cdrom/ide-cd. Note that older versions of lilo (the linux boot loader) cannot properly deal with IDE/ATAPI CDROMs, so install lilo-16 or higher, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/Linux-boot/lilo. Include IDE/ATAPI TAPE support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDETAPE If you have an IDE tape drive using the ATAPI protocol, say Y. ATAPI is a new protocol used by IDE TAPE and ATAPI drives, similar to the SCSI protocol. At boot time, the TAPE drive will be identified along with other IDE devices, as "hdb" or "hdc", or something similar. Be sure to consult the drivers/block/ide-tape.c and Documentation/ide.txt files for usage information. Support removable IDE interfaces (PCMCIA) CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDE_PCMCIA This option adds code to the IDE driver to handle hot insertion and removal of IDE interfaces and drives, under direction of an external utility (?). Normally, just say N here. CMD640 chipset bugfix/support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CMD640 The CMD-Technologies CMD640 chip is used on many common 486 and Pentium motherboards, usually in combination with a "Neptune" or "SiS" chipset. Unfortunately, it has a number of rather nasty design flaws that can cause severe data corruption under many common conditions. Say Y here to include code which tries to automatically detect and correct the problems under Linux. This option also enables access to the secondary IDE ports in some CMD640 based systems. This driver will work automatically in PCI based systems (most new systems have PCI slots). But if your system uses VESA local bus (VLB) instead of PCI, you must also supply a kernel boot parameter to enable the CMD640 bugfix/support: "ide0=cmd640_vlb" The CMD640 chip is also used on add-in cards by Acculogic, and on the "CSA-6400E PCI to IDE controller" that some people have. For details, read Documentation/ide.txt. If unsure, say Y. CMD640 enhanced support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CMD640_ENHANCED This option includes support for setting/autotuning PIO modes and prefetch on CMD640 IDE interfaces. For details, read Documentation/ide.txt. If you have a CMD640 IDE interface and your BIOS does not already do this for you, then say Y here. Otherwise say N. RZ1000 chipset bugfix/support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RZ1000 The PC-Technologies RZ1000 chip is used on many common 486 and Pentium motherboards, usually along with the "Neptune" chipset. Unfortunately, it has a rather nasty design flaw that can cause severe data corruption under many conditions. Say Y here to include code which automatically detects and corrects the problem under Linux. This may slow disk throughput by a few percent, but at least things will operate 100% reliably. If unsure, say Y. Other IDE chipset support CONFIG_IDE_CHIPSETS Say Y here if you want to include enhanced support for various IDE interface chipsets used on motherboards and add-on cards. This enhanced support may be necessary for linux to be able to access the 3rd/4th drives in some systems. It may also enable setting of higher speed I/O rates to improve system performance with these chipsets. Most of these also require special kernel boot parameters to actually turn on the support at runtime. DTC-2278 support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_DTC2278 This driver is enabled at runtime using the "ide0=dtc2278" kernel boot parameter. It enables support for the secondary IDE interface of the DTC-2278 card, and permits faster I/O speeds to be set as well. See the Documentation/ide.txt and dtc2278.c files for more info. Holtek HT6560B support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HT6560B This driver is enabled at runtime using the "ide0=ht6560b" kernel boot parameter. It enables support for the secondary IDE interface of the Holtek card, and permits faster I/O speeds to be set as well. See the Documentation/ide.txt and ht6560b.c files for more info. QDI QD6580 support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_QD6580 This driver is enabled at runtime using the "ide0=qd6580" kernel boot parameter. It permits faster I/O speeds to be set. See the Documentation/ide.txt and qd6580.c files for more info. UMC 8672 support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_UMC8672 This driver is enabled at runtime using the "ide0=umc8672" kernel boot parameter. It enables support for the secondary IDE interface of the UMC-8672, and permits faster I/O speeds to be set as well. See the Documentation/ide.txt and umc8672.c files for more info. ALI M14xx support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_ALI14XX This driver is enabled at runtime using the "ide0=ali14xx" kernel boot parameter. It enables support for the secondary IDE interface of the ALI M1439/1443/1445/1487/1489 chipsets, and permits faster I/O speeds to be set as well. See the Documentation/ide.txt and ali14xx.c files for more info. PROMISE DC4030 support (EXPERIMENTAL) CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PROMISE This driver is enabled at runtime using the "ide0=dc4030" kernel boot parameter. It enables support for the secondary IDE interface of the chipset, and takes advantage of the caching features of the card. This driver is known to incur timeouts/retries during heavy I/O to drives attached to the secondary interface. CDROM and TAPE devices are not supported yet. See the Documentation/ide.txt and promise.c files for more info. PS/2 ESDI harddisk support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PS2 This is the type of drive used in many of the IBM PS/2 machines, as well as some Thinkpad 700 and 720 laptops. CONFIG_MCA must be enabled for this to work. In some cases, you may be required to provide the drive geometry through the eda= and edb= kernel boot parameter. Thinkpad users will need the tp720 kernel boot flag. XT harddisk support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_XD Very old 8 bit hard disk controllers used in the IBM XT computer. To include a driver for these, say Y. If you want to compile the driver as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. It's pretty unlikely that you have one of these: say N. Multiple devices driver support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_MD This driver lets you combine several harddisk partitions into one logical block device. Information about how and why to use it and the necessary tools are available over ftp (user: anonymous) from sweet-smoke.ufr-info-p7.ibp.fr/pub/public/Linux in the md package and the md-FAQ. Please read drivers/block/README.md. If unsure, say N. Linear (append) mode CONFIG_MD_LINEAR If you enable this, then your multiple devices driver will be able to use the so-called linear mode, i.e. it will combine the harddisk partitions by simply appending one to the other. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If unsure, say Y. RAID-0 (striping) mode CONFIG_MD_STRIPED If you enable this, then your multiple devices driver will be able to use the so-called raid0 mode, i.e. it will combine the harddisk partitions into one logical device in such a fashion as to fill them up evenly, one chunk here and one chunk there. This will increase the throughput rate if the partitions reside on distinct disks. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If unsure, say Y. Support for Deskstation RPC44 CONFIG_DESKSTATION_RPC44 This is a machine with a R4400 100 MHz CPU. To compile a Linux kernel that runs on these, say Y here. For details about Linux on the MIPS architecture, check out the Linux/MIPS FAQ on the WWW at http://lena.fnet.fr/ (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). Support for Mips Magnum 3000 CONFIG_MIPS_MAGNUM_3000 To compile a Linux kernel that runs on these, say Y here. For details about Linux on the MIPS architecture, check out the Linux/MIPS FAQ on the WWW at http://lena.fnet.fr/ (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). Support for Mips Magnum 4000 CONFIG_MIPS_MAGNUM_4000 This is a machine with a R4000 100 MHz CPU. To compile a Linux kernel that runs on these, say Y here. For details about Linux on the MIPS architecture, check out the Linux/MIPS FAQ on the WWW at http://lena.fnet.fr/ (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). Support for Olivetti M700 CONFIG_OLIVETTI_M700 This is a machine with a R4000 100 MHz CPU. To compile a Linux kernel that runs on these, say Y here. For details about Linux on the MIPS architecture, check out the Linux/MIPS FAQ on the WWW at http://lena.fnet.fr/ (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). Support for Deskstation Tyne CONFIG_DESKSTATION_TYNE This is a machine with a R4600 134 MHz CPU. The Linux port for this system is idle right now because of hardware or documentation problems. For details about Linux on the MIPS architecture, check out the Linux/MIPS FAQ on the WWW at http://lena.fnet.fr/ (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). Support for Acer PICA 1 chipset CONFIG_ACER_PICA_61 This is a machine with a R4400 134/150 MHz CPU. To compile a Linux kernel that runs on these, say Y here. For details about Linux on the MIPS architecture, check out the Linux/MIPS FAQ on the WWW at http://lena.fnet.fr/ (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). Support for DECstation CONFIG_DECSTATION The DECStation 3100 (with a MIPS R2000 series CPU) and DECStation 5000/xxx (MIPS R3000 series CPU) are also sometimes labeled PMAX. They often run the Ultrix operating system. To compile a Linux kernel that runs on these, say Y here. For details about Linux on the MIPS architecture, check out the Linux/MIPS FAQ on the WWW at http://lena.fnet.fr/ (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). CPU type CONFIG_CPU_R3000 Give the type of your machine's MIPS CPU. For this question, it suffices to give a unique prefix of the option you want to choose. Networking support CONFIG_NET Unless you really know what you are doing, you should say Y here. The reason is that some programs need it even if you configure a stand-alone machine that won't be connected to any other computer. from an older kernel, you should consider updating your networking tools too; read net/README for details. Network aliasing CONFIG_NET_ALIAS This is for setting multiple IP addresses on the same low-level network device driver. Typically used for services that act differently based on the address they listen on (e.g. "multihosting" on Apache httpd) or for connecting to different logical networks through the same physical interface. This is the generic part, later when configuring network protocol options you will be asked for protocol-specific aliasing support. See Documentation/networking/alias.txt for more info. If you need this feature (for any protocol, like IP) say Y; if unsure, say N. Network firewalls CONFIG_FIREWALL A firewall is a computer which protects a local network from the rest of the World: all traffic to and from computers on the local net is inspected by the firewall first. If you want to configure your Linux box as a firewall for a local network, say Y here. If your local network is TCP/IP based, you will have to say Y to "IP: firewalling", below. You also need to say Y here and enable "IP firewalling" below in order to be able to use IP masquerading (i.e. local computers can chat with an outside host, but that outside host is made to think that it is talking to the firewall box. Makes the local network completely invisible and avoids the need to allocate valid IP host addresses for the machines on the local net) or to use the ip packet accounting to see what is using all your network bandwidth. Chances are that you should use this on any machine being run as a router and not on a host. If unsure, say N. Sun floppy controller support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SUNFD This is support for floppy drives on Sun Sparc workstations. Say Y if you have a floppy drive, otherwise N. Easy. Alpha system type CONFIG_ALPHA_AVANTI Find out what type of Alpha motherboard you have. You will probably want to read the Linux/Alpha homepage on the WWW at http://www.azstarnet.com/~axplinux/ (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). For this question, it suffices to give a unique prefix of the option you want to choose. The choices: ** Avanti: This is for Mustang (AS200), M3 (AS250), Avanti (AS400) and XL (a.k.a. "Windows NT Dream Machine" :-) AlphaStations. These usually come with a TGA graphics adaptor, so you'll want to say Y to "TGA Console support", below, if you have one of these. ** Jensen: a.k.a. DEC 2000 a.k.a. DECpc AXP 150, the oldest Alpha PC; it sports an EISA bus. The boot process on Jensen machines is difficult (no booting from floppies, MILO doesn't work). You need to have access to a second Linux workstation. The Linux/Alpha FAQ, accessible from the above mentioned WWW page, has details. ** Noname: a.k.a. AXPpci33, a PCI-bus based board using the 21066 Alpha CPU, running at either 166 or 233 MHz. You also want to choose this option if you have a UDB (Universal Desktop Box a.k.a. Multia) machine. ** Cabriolet: also called AlphaPC64, a PCI-bus based board using the 21064 Alpha CPU typically running at 275 or 300 MHz. ** EB66: "Evaluation Board" ** EB66+: "Evaluation Board" ### ### Add info about Platform2000, EB164 ### Is it really a true XL CONFIG_ALPHA_XL If your Avanti Machine is of type XL (a.k.a. "Windows NT Dream Machine") (as opposed to Mustang (AS200), M3 (AS250) or Avanti (AS400)), say Y, otherwise N. Limit memory to low 16MB CONFIG_MAX_16M This is for some buggy motherboards which cannot properly deal with the memory above 16MB. If you have more than 16MB of RAM and experience weird problems, you might want to try Y, everyone else says N. Note for machines with more that 64MB of RAM: in order for the kernel to be able to use the memory above 64MB, pass the command line option "mem=XXXM" (where XXX is the memory size in megabytes) to your kernel during boot time. See the documentation of your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) about how to pass options to the kernel. The lilo procedure is also explained in the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. You also need at least 512kB of RAM cache if you have more than 64MB of RAM. Some other things to try when experiencing seemingly random, "weird" problems: 1) passing the "no-hlt" option to the kernel 2) passing the "no-387" option to the kernel 3) passing the "mem=4M" option to the kernel (thereby disabling all but the first 4M of RAM) 4) disabling the cache from your BIOS settings 5) exchanging RAM chips 6) exchanging the motherboard. Using SRM as bootloader CONFIG_ALPHA_SRM There are two different types of booting firmware on Alphas: SRM, which is command line driven, and ARC, which uses menus and arrow keys. The usual way to load Linux on an Alpha machine is to use MILO (a bootloader that lets you pass command line parameters to the kernel just like LILO does) which can be loaded either from ARC or can be installed directly as a permanent firmware replacement from floppy (which requires changing a certain jumper on the motherboard). If you want to do either of these, say N here. If MILO doesn't work on your system (true for Jensen motherboards), you can bypass it altogether and boot Linux directly from an SRM console; say Y here in order to do that. Note that you won't be able to boot from an IDE disk using SRM. If unsure, say N. Details about the Linux/Alpha booting process are contained in the Linux/Alpha FAQ, accessible on the WWW from http://www.azstarnet.com/~axplinux/ (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). Echo console messages on /dev/ttyS1 CONFIG_SERIAL_ECHO If you enable this option, all kernel messages that would usually go to the console will also be sent to the device /dev/ttyS1 which corresponds to a serial port; this could be useful if you attached a terminal or printer to that port. TGA Console Support CONFIG_TGA_CONSOLE Many Alpha systems (e.g the Multia) are shipped with a graphics card that implements the TGA interface (much like the VGA standard, but older TGA adaptors are *not* VGA compatible). On such systems, this option needs to be enabled so that the TGA driver rather than the standard VGA driver is used. Note that, at this time, there is no X server for these systems. If unsure, try N. PCI bios support CONFIG_PCI Find out whether you have a PCI motherboard. PCI is the name of a bus system, i.e. the way the CPU talks to the other stuff inside your box. Other bus systems are ISA, EISA, Microchannel (MCA) or VESA. If you have PCI, say Y, otherwise N. Note1: MCA systems (notably some IBM PS/2's) are not supported by the standard kernels, but patches exist at http://www.undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca/~cpbeaure/mca-linux.html on the WWW. Note2: some old PCI motherboards have BIOS bugs and may crash if "PCI bios support" is enabled (but they run fine without this option). The PCI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO, contains valuable information about which PCI hardware does work under Linux and which doesn't. If some of your PCI devices don't work and you get a warning during boot time ("man dmesg"), please follow the instructions at the top of include/linux/pci.h. MCA bus support CONFIG_MCA Micro Channel (MCA) is the bus used on the IBM PS/2 line and a small number of machines from other vendors. Say Y if you have a MCA bus. For more information on MCA, see Documentation/mca.txt or the MCA Linux web page at "http://glycerine.itsmm.uni.edu/mca/" PCI bridge optimization (experimental) CONFIG_PCI_OPTIMIZE This can improve access times for some hardware devices under certain BIOSes if your computer uses a PCI bus system. This is recommended; say Y. Intel 82371 PIIX (Triton I/II) DMA support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_TRITON If your PCI system uses an IDE harddrive (as opposed to SCSI, say) and includes the Intel 430FX PCI Triton chipset, you will want to enable this option to allow use of bus-mastering DMA data transfers. Read the comments at the beginning of drivers/block/triton.c. Check the file Documentation/Changes for location and latest version of the hdparm utility. It is safe to say Y to this question. System V IPC CONFIG_SYSVIPC Inter Process Communication is a suite of library functions and system calls which let processes (= running programs) synchronize and exchange information. It is generally considered to be a good thing, and some programs won't run unless you enable this. In particular, if you want to run the DOS emulator dosemu under Linux (read the DOSEMU-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO), you'll need to say Y here. You can find documentation about IPC in ipc.info, which is contained in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/man/info.tar.gz (extract with "tar xzvf filename"). These docs are in the info format which is used to document GNU software and can be read from within emacs ("Ctrl-h i") or with the program info ("man info"). Enabling this option enlarges your kernel by about 7kB. Just say Y. Kernel support for ELF binaries CONFIG_BINFMT_ELF ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) is a format for libraries and executables used across different architectures and operating systems. This option will enable your kernel to run ELF binaries and enlarge it by about 2kB. ELF support under Linux is quickly replacing the traditional Linux a.out formats (QMAGIC and ZMAGIC) because it is portable (this does *not* mean that you will be able to run executables from different architectures or operating systems!) and makes building run-time libraries very easy. Many new executables are distributed solely in ELF format. You definitely want to say Y here. Information about ELF is on the WWW at http://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/users/barlow/elf-howto.html (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). If you find that after upgrading to Linux kernel 1.3 and saying Y here, you still can't run any ELF binaries (they just crash), then you'll have to install the newest ELF runtime libraries, including ld.so (check the file Documentation/Changes for location and latest version). If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Saying M or N here is dangerous because some crucial programs on your system might be in ELF format. Compile kernel as ELF - if your GCC is ELF-GCC CONFIG_KERNEL_ELF The gcc version 2.7.0 and newer produces the new ELF binary format as default. If you have such a compiler (try "gcc -v"), say Y here, otherwise N. It is possible, albeit almost pointless, to compile the kernel in a.out (i.e. QMAGIC) format even if your compiler produces ELF as default. For that, you would have to say N here and change the variables LD and CC in the toplevel Makefile. Similarly, if your compiler produces a.out by default but is able to produce ELF, you can compile the kernel in ELF by saying Y here and editing the variables CC and LD in the toplevel Makefile. Kernel support for A.OUT binaries CONFIG_BINFMT_AOUT A.out (Assembler.OUTput) is a set of formats for libraries and executables used in the earliest versions of UNIX. Linux used the a.out formats QMAGIC and ZMAGIC until they were replaced with the ELF format. As more and more programs are converted to ELF, the use for a.out will gradually diminish. If you disable this option it will reduce your kernel by one page. This is not much and by itself does not warrant removing support. However its removal is a good idea if you wish to ensure that absolutely none of your programs will use this older executable format. If you don't know what to answer at this point then answer Y. If someone told you "You need a kernel with QMAGIC support" then you'll have to say Y here. You may answer M to compile a.out support as a module and later load the module when you want to use a program or library in a.out format. Saying M or N here is dangerous though, because some crucial programs on your system might still be in A.OUT format. Kernel support for JAVA binaries CONFIG_BINFMT_JAVA JAVA is an object oriented programming language developed by SUN; JAVA programs are compiled into "JAVA bytecode" which can then be interpreted by run time systems on many different operating systems. These JAVA binaries are becoming a universal executable format. This option allows you to run a Java binary just like any other Linux program: by typing in its name. As more and more Java programs become available, the use for this will gradually increase. You can even execute HTML files containing JAVA applets (= JAVA binaries) if those files start with the string "". If you want to use this, read Documentation/java.txt and the Java on Linux HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. You will then need to install the run time system contained in the Java Developers Kit (JDK) as described in the HOWTO. If you disable this option it will reduce your kernel by about 4kB. This is not much and by itself does not warrant removing support. However its removal is a good idea if you do not have the JDK installed. If you don't know what to answer at this point then answer Y. You may answer M for module support and later load the module when you install the JDK or find an interesting Java program that you can't live without. Processor type CONFIG_M386 This is the processor type of your CPU. It is used for optimizing purposes. In order to compile a kernel that can run on all CPU types (albeit not optimally fast), you can specify "386" here. If you specify "486" or "Pentium" or "PPro", then the kernel will run on 486 and Pentium (=586) and Pentium Pro (=686) CPUs. In rare cases, it can make sense to specify "Pentium" even if running a 486: the kernel will be smaller but slower. On the other hand, if you use a compiler before gcc 2.7 (say "gcc -v" to find out), then you have to say "386" or "486" here even if running on a Pentium or PPro machine. If you don't know what to do, say "386". Compile the kernel into the ELF object format CONFIG_ELF_KERNEL ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) is a format for libraries and executables used across different architectures and operating systems. This option will cause the resulting kernel to be in ELF format, which is generally desirable, so say Y. However, it only works if your compiler and linker can produce ELF code. Is your ELF compiler an extra compiler CONFIG_EXTRA_ELF_COMPILER If you have a linuxelf-gcc as opposed to linux-gcc, say Y, otherwise N. Generate little endian code CONFIG_CPU_LITTLE_ENDIAN If your compiler is mipsel-linux-gcc or mipsel-linuxelf-gcc (as opposed to mips-linux-gcc or mips-linuxelf-gcc), say Y here, otherwise N. Most MIPS machines use little-endian code, but it might be necessary to run older Mips systems, such as the Sony News and MIPS RC3xxx, in big endian mode. Enable loadable module support CONFIG_MODULES Kernel modules are small pieces of compiled code which can be inserted in or removed from the running kernel, using the programs insmod and rmmod. This is described in the file Documentation/modules.txt. Modules can be device drivers, file systems, binary executable formats, and so on. If you think that you may want to make use of modules with this kernel in the future, then say Y here. If unsure, say Y. Set version information on all symbols for modules CONFIG_MODVERSIONS Usually, modules have to be recompiled whenever you switch to a new kernel. Enabling this option makes it possible, and safe, to use the same modules even after compiling a new kernel; this requires the program modprobe. All the software needed for module support is in the modules package (check the file Documentation/Changes for location and latest version). NOTE: if you say Y here but don't have the program genksyms (which is also contained in the above mentioned modules package), then the building of your kernel will fail. If you are going to use modules that are generated from non-kernel sources, you would benefit from this option. Otherwise it's not that important. So, N ought to be a safe bet. Kernel daemon support CONFIG_KERNELD Normally when you have selected some drivers and/or filesystems to be created as loadable modules, you also have the responsibility to load the corresponding module (via insmod/modprobe) before you can use it. If you select Y here, the kernel will take care of this all by itself, together with the user level daemon "kerneld". Note that "kerneld" will also automatically unload all unused modules, so you don't have to use "rmmod" either. kerneld will also provide support for different user-level beeper and screen blanker programs later on. The "kerneld" daemon is included in the package "modules-1.2.8" and later. You will probably want to read the kerneld mini-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. If unsure, say Y. ARP daemon support (EXPERIMENTAL) CONFIG_ARPD Normally, the kernel maintains an internal cache which maps IP addresses to hardware addresses on the local network, so that Ethernet/Token Ring/ etc. frames are sent to the proper address on the physical networking layer. For small networks having a few hundred directly connected hosts or less, keeping this address resolution (ARP) cache inside the kernel works well. However, maintaining an internal ARP cache does not work well for very large switched networks, and will use a lot of kernel memory if TCP/IP connections are made to many machines on the network. By enabling this option, the kernel's internal ARP cache will never grow to more than 256 entries (the oldest entries are expired in a LIFO manner) and communication will be attempted with an external ARP daemon, arpd. This code is still experimental. If you do enable arpd support, you should obtain a copy of arpd from http://www.loran.com/~layes/arpd/index.html. If unsure, say N. TCP/IP networking CONFIG_INET These are the protocols used on the Internet and on most local Ethernets. The safest is to say Y here (which will enlarge your kernel by about 35 kB), since some programs (e.g. the X window system) use TCP/IP even if your machine is not connected to any other computer. You will get the so-called loopback device which allows you to ping yourself (great fun, that!). This option is also necessary if you want to use the full power of term (term is a program which gives you almost full Internet connectivity if you have a regular dial up shell account on some Internet connected Unix computer. Read the Term-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) on sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO). Short answer: say Y. IP: forwarding/gatewaying CONFIG_IP_FORWARD People who want to use their Linux box as the router for a local network (i.e. the computer responsible for distributing Internet traffic to and from the machines in the local network and the subnetworks) should say Y here (thereby enlarging their kernel by about 5 kB). Note that in this case, you possibly have two ethernet devices in your computer: one for the "outside world" and one for your local net. The kernel is not able to recognize both at boot time without help; for details read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. If your box is connected to two networks, it may still make sense to say N here, namely if you want to turn your box into a firewall protecting a local network from the internet. The Firewall-HOWTO tells you how to do this. If your setup is more complex, say you are connected to three networks and you want to act as a firewall between two of them and route traffic for the others, you need to say Y here and enable IP firewalling below. If you intend to use IP masquerading (i.e. IP traffic from one of the local computers and destined for an outside host is changed by your box so that it appears to come from you), you'll have to say Y here and also to IP firewalling and IP masquerading below. You should also say Y here if you want to configure your box as a SLIP (the protocol for sending internet traffic over telephone lines) or PPP (a better SLIP) server for other people to dial into and your box is connected to a local network at the same time. You would then most likely use proxy-ARP (Address Resolution Protocol), explained in the Proxy-Arp mini howto on sunsite in /pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. You also need to say Y here if you want to run mrouted in order to do multicast routing as used on the MBONE (a high bandwidth network on top of the internet which carries audio and video broadcasts) for example. In this case, say Y to "IP: multicasting" and "IP: multicast routing" as well. If unsure, say N. IP: multicasting CONFIG_IP_MULTICAST This is code for addressing several networked computers at once, enlarging your kernel by about 2 kB. If you are using gated, the daemon that updates your computer's routing tables, you will need to have this option compiled in. You also need multicasting if you intend to participate in the MBONE, a high bandwidth network on top of the internet which carries audio and video broadcasts. More information about the MBONE is on the WWW at http://www.best.com/~prince/techinfo/mbone.html (to browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). Information about the multicast capabilities of the various network cards is contained in drivers/net/README.multicast. For most people, it's safe to say N. IP: optimize as router not host CONFIG_IP_ROUTER Some Linux network drivers use a technique called copy and checksum to optimize host performance. For a machine which is forwarding most packets to another host this is however a loss. This parameter turns off copy and checksum from devices. It may make other changes in the future. IP: firewalling CONFIG_IP_FIREWALL If you want to configure your Linux box as a firewall for a local TCP/IP based network, say Y here. This will enlarge your kernel by about 2kB. You may need to read the FIREWALL-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Also, you will need the ipfwadm tool (check the file Documentation/Changes for location and latest version) to allow selective blocking of internet traffic based on type, origin and destination. You need to enable IP firewalling in order to be able to use IP masquerading (i.e. local computers can chat with an outside host, but that outside host is made to think that it is talking to the firewall box. Makes the local network completely invisible and avoids the need to allocate valid IP host addresses for the machines on the local net) or to use the IP packet accounting to see what is using all your network bandwidth. This option is also needed when you want to enable the transparent proxying support (makes the computers on the local network think they're talking to a remote computer, while in reality the traffic is redirected by your Linux firewall to a local proxy server). IP: accounting CONFIG_IP_ACCT This keeps track of your IP network traffic and produces some statistics. Usually, you only want to say Y here if your box will be a router or a firewall for some local network, in which case you naturally should have said Y to IP forwarding/gatewaying resp. IP firewalling. The data is accessible with "cat /proc/net/ip_acct", so you want to say Y to the /proc filesystem below, if you say Y here. To specify what exactly should be recorded, you need the tool ipfwadm (check the file Documentation/Changes for location and latest version). IP: tunneling CONFIG_NET_IPIP Tunneling means encapsulating data of one protocol type within another protocol and sending it over a channel that understands the encapsulating protocol. This particular tunneling driver implements encapsulation of IP within IP, which sounds kind of pointless, but can be useful if you want to make your (or some other) machine appear on a different network than it physically is, or to use mobile-IP facilities (allowing laptops to seamlessly move between networks without changing their IP addresses; check out http://anchor.cs.binghamton.edu/~mobileip/LJ/index.html). Enabling this option will produce two modules ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), one encapsulator and one decapsulator. You can read details in drivers/net/README.tunnel. Most people can say N. IP: firewall packet logging CONFIG_IP_FIREWALL_VERBOSE This gives you information about what your firewall did with packets it received. The information is handled by the klogd demon which is responsible for kernel messages ("man klogd"). IP: transparent proxying (EXPERIMENTAL) CONFIG_IP_TRANSPARENT_PROXY This enables your Linux firewall to transparently redirect any network traffic originating from the local network and destined for a remote host to a local server, called a "transparent proxy server". This makes the local computers think they are talking to the remote end, while in fact they are connected to the local proxy. Redirection is activated by defining special input firewall rules (using the ipfwadm utility) and/or by doing an appropriate bind() system call. IP: masquerading (EXPERIMENTAL) CONFIG_IP_MASQUERADE If one of the computers on your local network for which your Linux box acts as a firewall wants to send something to the outside, your box can "masquerade" as that host, i.e. it forwards the traffic to the intended destination, but makes it look like it came from the firewall box itself. It works both ways: if the outside host answers, the firewall will silently forward the traffic to the corresponding local computer. This way, the computers on your local net are completely invisible to the outside world, even though they can reach the outside and can be reached. This makes it possible to have the computers on the local network participate on the internet even if they don't have officially registered IP addresses. (This last problem can also be solved by connecting the Linux box to the Internet using SLiRP [SLiRP is a SLIP/PPP emulator that works if you have a regular dial up shell account on some UNIX computer; get it from ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Network/serial/].) Details on how to set things up are contained in the IP Masquerading FAQ, available at http://www.indyramp.com/masq/ This is EXPERIMENTAL code, which means that it need not be completely stable. If you want this, say Y. IP: always defragment CONFIG_IP_ALWAYS_DEFRAG This option means that all incoming fragments (= parts of IP packets that arose when some host between origin and destination decided that the IP packets were too large and cut them in pieces) will be reassembled (defragmented) before being processed, even if they are about to be forwarded. This option is highly recommended if you have enabled the masquerading support (CONFIG_IP_MASQUERADE), because this facility requires that second and further fragments can be related to TCP or UDP port numbers, which are only stored in the first fragment. When using IP firewall support (CONFIG_IP_FIREWALL), you might also want to enable this option, to have a more reliable firewall (otherwise second and further fragments will always be accepted by the firewall). When using transparent proxying (CONFIG_IP_TRANSPARENT_PROXY), this option is implicit, although it is safe to say Y here. Do not say Y to this option except when running either a firewall that is the sole link to your network or a transparent proxy. Never ever say Y to this for a normal router or host. IP: aliasing support CONFIG_IP_ALIAS Sometimes it is useful to give several addresses to a single network interface (= serial port or ethernet card). The most common case is that you want to serve different WWW documents to the outside according to which of your host names they used to connect to you. This is explained in detail on the WWW at http://www.thesphere.com/~dlp/TwoServers/ (to browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). Another scenario would be that there are two logical networks living on your local ethernet and you want to access them both with the same ethernet card. The configuration of these alias addresses is done with a special name syntax explained in Documentation/networking/alias.txt. If you want this, say Y. Most people don't need it and say N. IP: multicast routing (EXPERIMENTAL) CONFIG_IP_MROUTE This is used if you want your machine to act as a router for IP packets that have several destination addresses. It is needed on the MBONE, a high bandwidth network on top of the internet which carries audio and video broadcasts. In order to do that, you would most likely run the program mrouted. Information about the multicast capabilities of the various network cards is contained in drivers/net/README.multicast. If you haven't heard about it, you don't need it. PC/TCP compatibility mode CONFIG_INET_PCTCP If you have been having difficulties telneting to your Linux machine from a DOS system that uses (broken) PC/TCP networking software (all versions up to OnNet 2.0) over your local ethernet try enabling this option. Everyone else says N. People having problems with NCSA telnet should see the file linux/Documentation/networking/ncsa-telnet. Reverse ARP CONFIG_INET_RARP Since you asked: if there are (usually diskless or portable) machines on your local network that know their hardware ethernet addresses but don't know their IP addresses upon startup, they can send out a Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP) request to find out their own IP addresses. Diskless Sun 3 machines use this procedure at boot time. If you want your Linux box to be able to *answer* such requests, say Y here; you'd have to run the program rarp ("man rarp") on your box. If you actually want to use a diskless Sun 3 machine as an Xterminal to Linux, say Y here and fetch Linux-Xkernel from ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Network/boot.net/. Superior solutions to the problem of booting and configuring machines over a net connection are given by the protocol BOOTP and its successor DHCP. See the DHCP FAQ http://web.syr.edu/~jmwobus/comfaqs/dhcp.faq.html for details. If you want to compile RARP support as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you don't understand a word of the above, say N and rest in peace. Assume subnets are local CONFIG_INET_SNARL Say Y if you are on a subnetted network with all machines connected by Ethernet segments only, as this option optimizes network access for this special case. If there are other connections, e.g. SLIP links, between machines of your IP network, say N. If in doubt, say N. The PATH mtu discovery facility will cover most cases anyway. Disable Path MTU Discovery (normally enabled) CONFIG_NO_PATH_MTU_DISCOVERY MTU (maximal transfer unit) is the size of the chunks we send out over the net. "Path MTU Discovery" means that, instead of always sending very small chunks, we start out sending big ones and if we then discover that some host along the way likes its chunks smaller, we adjust to a smaller size. This is good, so most people say N. However, some versions of DOS NCSA telnet (and other software) are broken and can only connect to your Linux machine if you say Y here. See also Documentation/networking/ncsa-telnet for the location of fixed NCSA telnet clients. Disable NAGLE algorithm (normally enabled) CONFIG_TCP_NAGLE_OFF The NAGLE algorithm works by requiring an acknowledgment before sending small IP frames (= packets). This keeps tiny telnet and rlogin packets from congesting Wide Area Networks. Most people strongly recommend to say N here, thereby leaving NAGLE enabled. Those programs that would benefit from disabling this facility can do it on a per connection basis themselves. IP: Drop source routed frames CONFIG_IP_NOSR Usually, the originator of an IP frame (= packet) specifies only the destination, and the hosts along the way do the routing, i.e. they decide how to forward the frame. However, there is a feature of the IP protocol that allows to specify the full route for a given frame already at its origin. A frame with such a fully specified route is called "source routed". The question now is whether we should honour these route requests when such frames arrive, or if we should drop all those frames instead. Honouring them can introduce security problems (and is rarely a useful feature), and hence it is recommended that you say Y here unless you really know what you're doing. IP: Allow large windows (not recommend if <16Mb of memory) CONFIG_SKB_LARGE On high speed, long distance networks the performance limit on networking becomes the amount of data a machine can buffer until the other end confirms its reception. (At 45Mbit/second there are a lot of bits between New York and London ..). This option allows larger amounts of data to be "in flight" at a given time. It also means a user process can require a lot more memory for network buffers and thus this option is best only used on machines with 16Mb of memory or higher. Unless you are using long links with end to end speeds of over 2Mbit a second or satellite links this option will make no difference to performance. The IPX protocol CONFIG_IPX This is support for the Novell networking protocol, IPX, commonly used for local networks of Windows machines. You need it if you want to access Novell Netware file or print servers using the Linux Novell client ncpfs (available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/Filesystems/) or from within the Linux DOS emulator dosemu (read the DOSEMU-HOWTO, available in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO). In order to do the former, you'll also have to say Y to "NCP filesystem support", below. To turn your Linux box into a fully featured Netware file server and IPX router, say Y here and fetch either lwared from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/Network/daemons/ or mars_nwe from ftp.gwdg.de:/pub/linux/misc/ncpfs. For more information, read the IPX-HOWTO in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/howto. The IPX driver would enlarge your kernel by about 5 kB. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Unless you want to integrate your Linux box with a local Novell network, say N. Full internal IPX network CONFIG_IPX_INTERN The full internal IPX network enables you to allocate sockets on different virtual nodes of the internal network. This is done by evaluating the field sipx_node of the socket address given to the bind call. So applications should always initialize the node field to 0 when binding a socket on the primary network. In this case the socket is assigned the default node that has been given to the kernel when the internal network was created. By enabling the full internal IPX network the cross-forwarding of packets targeted at 'special' sockets to sockets listening on the primary network is disabled. This might break existing applications, especially RIP/SAP daemons. A RIP/SAP daemon that works well with the full internal net can be found on ftp.gwdg.de:/pub/linux/misc/ncpfs. If you don't know what you are doing, say N. Appletalk DDP CONFIG_ATALK Appletalk is the way Apple computers speak to each other on a network. EtherTalk is the name used for appletalk over ethernet and Localtalk is appletalk over the apple serial links. If your linux box is connected to such a network and you want to join the conversation, say Y. You will need to use the netatalk package so that your Linux box can act as a print and file server for macs as well as access appletalk printers. Check out http://artoo.hitchcock.org/~flowerpt/projects/linux-netatalk/ on the WWW for details (to browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). The NET-2-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO contains valuable information as well. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. I hear that the GNU boycott of Apple is over, so even politically correct people are allowed to say Y here. At the time the kernel is released the localtalk drivers are not yet ready to ship. The kernel however supports localtalk and when such drivers become available all you will need to do is download and install the localtalk driver. Amateur Radio AX.25 Level 2 CONFIG_AX25 This is the protocol used for computer communication over amateur radio. It is either used by itself for point-to-point links, or to carry other protocols such as tcp/ip. To use it, you need a device that connects your Linux box to your amateur radio. You can either use a low speed TNC (a Terminal Node Controller acts as a kind of modem connecting your computer's serial port to your radio's microphone input and speaker output) supporting the KISS protocol or the various SCC cards that are supported by the Ottawa PI, the Gracilis Packetwin and the generic Z8530 driver. Another option are the Baycom modem serial and parallel port hacks (supported by their own driver) and the other baycom cards (SCC) (supported by the Z8530 driver). Information about where to get supporting software for Linux amateur radio as well as information about how to configure an AX.25 port is contained in the HAM-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. You might also want to check out the file Documentation/networking/ax25.txt in the kernel source. More information about digital amateur radio in general is on the WWW at http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/radio/ham-radio/digital-faq/faq.html (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). Amateur Radio NET/ROM CONFIG_NETROM NET/ROM is a network layer protocol on top of AX.25 useful for routing. A comprehensive listing of all the software for Linux amateur radio users as well as information about how to configure an AX.25 port is contained in the HAM-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. You also might also want to check out the file Documentation/networking/ax25.txt. More information about digital amateur radio in general is on the WWW at http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/radio/ham-radio/digital-faq/faq.html (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). AX.25 over Ethernet CONFIG_BPQETHER AX.25 is the protocol used for computer communication over amateur radio. If you say Y here, you will be able to send and receive AX.25 traffic over ethernet (also called "BPQ AX.25"), which could be useful if some other computer on your local network has a direct amateur radio connection. Bridging (EXPERIMENTAL) CONFIG_BRIDGE If you say Y here, then your Linux box will be able to act as an ethernet bridge, which means that the different ethernet segments it is connected to will appear as one ethernet to the participants. Several such bridges can work together to create even larger networks of ethernets using the IEEE802.1 spanning tree algorithm. As this is a standard, Linux bridges will interwork properly with other third party bridge products. In order to use this, you'll need the bridge configuration tools available via ftp (user: anonymous) from shadow.cabi.net. Note that if your box acts as a bridge, it probably contains several ethernet devices, but the kernel is not able to recognize more than one at boot time without help; for details read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. The Bridging code is still in test. If unsure, say N. Kernel/User network link driver (EXPERIMENTAL) CONFIG_NETLINK This driver allows for two-way communication between certain parts of the kernel or modules and user processes; the user processes are able to read from and write to character special files in the /dev directory having major mode 36. So far, the kernel uses it to publish some network related information if you enable "Routing messages", below. Say Y if you want to experiment with it; this is EXPERIMENTAL code, which means that it need not be completely stable. You need to include this if you want to use arpd, a daemon that helps keep the internal ARP cache (a mapping between IP addresses and hardware addresses on the local network) small. If unsure, say N. Routing messages CONFIG_RTNETLINK If you enable this and create a character special file /dev/route with major number 36 and minor number 0 using mknod ("man mknod"), you can read some network related routing information from that file. Everything you write to that file will be discarded. SCSI support? CONFIG_SCSI If you want to use a SCSI harddisk, SCSI tapedrive, SCSI CDROM or any other SCSI device under Linux, say Y and make sure that you know the name of your SCSI host adaptor (the card inside your computer that "speaks" the SCSI protocol), because you will be asked for it. You also need to say Y here if you want support for the parallel port version of the 100MB IOMEGA ZIP drive. Please read the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt and Documentation/scsi.txt. SCSI disk support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SD If you want to use a SCSI harddisk or the SCSI or parallel port version of the IOMEGA ZIP drive under Linux, say Y and read the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This is NOT for SCSI CDROMs. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt and Documentation/scsi.txt. SCSI tape support CONFIG_CHR_DEV_ST If you want to use a SCSI tapedrive under Linux, say Y and read the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO and drivers/scsi/README.st in the kernel source. This is NOT for SCSI CDROMs. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt and Documentation/scsi.txt . SCSI CDROM support CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SR If you want to use a SCSI CDROM under Linux, say Y and read the SCSI-HOWTO and the CDROM-HOWTO from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Also make sure to enable the ISO9660 filesystem later. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt and Documentation/scsi.txt . SCSI generic support CONFIG_CHR_DEV_SG If you want to use SCSI scanners, synthesizers or CD-writers or just about anything having "SCSI" in its name other than harddisks, CDROMs or tapes, say Y here. Those won't be supported by the kernel directly, so you need some additional software which knows how to talk to these devices using the SCSI protocol. For CD-writers, you would need the program cdwrite, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/utils/disk-management; for other devices, it's possible that you'll have to write the driver software yourself, so have a look at the SCSI-HOWTO and at the SCSI-Programming-HOWTO, both available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt and Documentation/scsi.txt. Probe all LUNs on each SCSI device CONFIG_SCSI_MULTI_LUN If you have a SCSI device that supports more than one LUN (Logical Unit Number), e.g. a CD jukebox, you should say Y here so that all will be found by the SCSI driver. An SCSI device with multiple LUNs acts logically like multiple SCSI devices. The vast majority of SCSI devices have only one LUN, and so most people can say N here and should in fact do so, because it is safer. Verbose SCSI error reporting (kernel size +=12K) CONFIG_SCSI_CONSTANTS The error messages regarding your SCSI hardware will be easier to understand if you enable this; it will enlarge your kernel by about 12KB. If in doubt, say Y. AdvanSys SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_ADVANSYS This is a driver for all SCSI host adaptors manufactured by AdvanSys. It is documented in the kernel source in drivers/scsi/advansys.c. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Adaptec AHA152X/2825 support CONFIG_SCSI_AHA152X This is support for the AHA-1510, AHA-1520, AHA-1522, and AHA-2825 SCSI host adaptors. It is explained in section 3.3 of the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. You might also want to read the comments at the top of drivers/scsi/aha152x.c. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Adaptec AHA1542 support CONFIG_SCSI_AHA1542 This is support for a SCSI host adaptor. It is explained in section 3.4 of the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Note that Trantor was recently purchased by Adaptec, and some former Trantor products are being sold under the Adaptec name. If it doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change some settings in drivers/scsi/aha1542.h. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Adaptec AHA1740 support CONFIG_SCSI_AHA1740 This is support for a SCSI host adaptor. It is explained in section 3.5 of the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If it doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change some settings in drivers/scsi/aha1740.h. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Adaptec AHA274X/284X/294X support CONFIG_SCSI_AIC7XXX Information about this SCSI host adaptor is contained in drivers/scsi/README.aic7xxx and in the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If it doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change some settings in drivers/scsi/aic7xxx.h. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. BusLogic SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_BUSLOGIC This is support for BusLogic MultiMaster SCSI Host Adaptors. Consult the SCSI-HOWTO, available via anonymous ftp from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO and the file drivers/scsi/README.BusLogic for more information. BusLogic FlashPoint SCSI Host Adapters are not supported by this driver, but BusLogic has initiated an upgrade program which allows you to get a better adaptor for few $$. Read about it in drivers/scsi/README.FlashPoint. If this driver does not work correctly without modification, please contact the author. You can build this driver also as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), but only a single instance may be loaded. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. DTC3180/3280 SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_DTC3280 This is support for DTC 3180/3280 SCSI Host Adaptors. Please read the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO and the file drivers/scsi/README.dtc3x80. This driver is also available as a module (= code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. EATA-DMA (DPT, NEC, AT&T, SNI, AST, Olivetti, Alphatronix) support CONFIG_SCSI_EATA_DMA This is support for the EATA-DMA protocol compliant SCSI Host Adaptors like the SmartCache III/IV, SmartRAID controller families and the DPT PM2011B and PM2012B controllers. Please read the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module (= code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. EATA-PIO (old DPT PM2001, PM2012A) support CONFIG_SCSI_EATA_PIO This driver supports all EATA-PIO protocol compliant SCSI Host Adaptors like the DPT PM2001 and the PM2012A. EATA-DMA compliant host adaptors could also use this driver but are discouraged from doing so, since this driver only supports harddisks and lacks numerous features. You might want to have a look at the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. UltraStor 14F/34F support CONFIG_SCSI_U14_34F This is support for the UltraStor 14F and 34F SCSI-2 host adapters. The source at drivers/scsi/u14-34f.c contains some information about this hardware. If the driver doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change some settings in drivers/scsi/u14-34f.c. Read the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Note that there is also another driver for the same hardware: "UltraStor SCSI support", below. You should enable both only if you want 24F support as well. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Future Domain 16xx SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_FUTURE_DOMAIN This is support for Future Domain's 16-bit SCSI host adaptors (TMC-1660/1680, TMC-1650/1670, TMC-3260, TMC-1610M/MER/MEX) and other adaptors based on the Future Domain chipsets (Quantum ISA-200S, ISA-250MG; Adaptec AHA-2920; and at least one IBM board). It is explained in section 3.7 of the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Generic NCR5380/53c400 SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_GENERIC_NCR5380 This is the generic NCR family of SCSI controllers, not to be confused with the NCR 53c7 or 8xx controllers. It is explained in section 3.8 of the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If it doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change some settings in drivers/scsi/g_NCR5380.h. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Enable NCR53c400 extensions CONFIG_SCSI_GENERIC_NCR53C400 This enables certain optimizations for the NCR53c400 scsi cards. You might as well try it out. Note that this driver will only probe for the Trantor T130B in its default configuration; you might have to pass a command line option to the kernel at boot time if it doesn't detect your card. See the file drivers/scsi/README.g_NCR5380 for details. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. NCR5380/53c400 mapping method (use Port for T130B) CONFIG_SCSI_G_NCR5380_PORT The NCR5380 and NCR53c400 SCSI controllers come in two varieties: port or memory mapped. You should know what you have. The most common card, Trantor T130B, uses port mapped mode. NCR53c7,8xx SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C7xx This is the 53c7 and 8xx NCR family of SCSI controllers, not to be confused with the NCR 5380 controllers. It is explained in section 3.8 of the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If it doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change some settings in drivers/scsi/53c7,8xx.h. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. always negotiate synchronous transfers CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C7xx_sync In general, this is good; however, it is a bit dangerous since there are some broken SCSI devices out there. Take your chances. Safe bet is N. allow FAST-SCSI [10MHz] CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C7xx_FAST This will enable 10MHz FAST-SCSI transfers with your host adaptor. Some systems have problems with that speed, so it's safest to say N here. allow DISCONNECT CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C7xx_DISCONNECT This enables the disconnect/reconnect feature of the NCR SCSI controller. When this is enabled, a slow SCSI device will not lock the SCSI bus while processing a request, allowing simultaneous use of e.g. a SCSI hard disk and SCSI tape or CD-ROM drive, and providing much better performance when using slow and fast SCSI devices at the same time. Some devices, however, do not operate properly with this option enabled, and will cause your SCSI system to hang, which might cause a system crash. The safe answer therefore is to say N. NCR53C8XX SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX This is the BSD ncr driver adapted to linux for the NCR53C8XX family of PCI-SCSI controllers. This driver supports parity checking, tagged command queuing, fast scsi II transfer up to 10 MB/s with narrow scsi devices and 20 MB/s with wide scsi devices. This driver has been tested OK with linux/i386 and is currently untested under linux/Alpha. If you intend to use this driver under linux/Alpha, just try it first with read-only or mounted read-only devices. Memory mapped io is currently not supported under linux/Alpha. Please read drivers/scsi/README.ncr53c8xx for more information. force normal IO CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_IOMAPPED Under linux/Alpha only normal io is currently supported. Under linux/i386, this option allows you to force the driver to use normal IO. Memory mapped IO has less latency than normal IO. During the initialization phase, the driver first tries to use memory mapped io. If nothing seems wrong, it will use memory mapped io. If a flaw is detected, it will use normal io. However, it's possible that memory mapped does not work properly for you and the driver has not detected the problem; then you would want to say Y here. The normal answer therefore is N. not allow targets to disconnect CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_NO_DISCONNECT This option is only provided for safety if you suspect some scsi device of yours to not support properly the target-disconnect feature. In that case, you would say Y here. In general however, to not allow targets to disconnect is not reasonable if there is more than 1 device on a scsi bus. The normal answer therefore is N. enable tagged command queuing CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_TAGGED_QUEUE This option allows you to enable tagged command queuing support at linux start-up. Some scsi devices do not properly support this feature. The suggested method is to say N here and to use the "settags" control command after boot-up to enable this feature: echo "settags 2 4" >/proc/scsi/ncr53c8xx/0 asks the driver to use up to 4 concurrent tagged commands for target 2 of controller 0. See the file drivers/scsi/README.ncr53c8xx for more information. WARNING! If you say Y here, then you have to say N to "not allow targets to disconnect", above. The safe answer therefore is N. The normal answer therefore is Y. force asynchronous transfer mode CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_FORCE_ASYNCHRONOUS This option allows you to force asynchronous transfer mode for all devices at linux startup. You can enable synchronous negotiation with the "setsync" control command after boot-up, for example: echo "setsync 2 25" >/proc/scsi/ncr53c8xx/0 asks the driver to set the period to 25 ns (10MB/sec) for target 2 of controller 0 (please read drivers/scsi/README.ncr53c8xx for more information). The safe answer therefore is Y. The normal answer therefore is N. force synchronous negotiation CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_FORCE_SYNC_NEGO Some scsi-2 devices support synchronous negotiations but do not report this feature in byte 7 of inquiry data. Answer Y only if you suspect some device to be so humble. The normal answer therefore is N. disable master parity checking CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_DISABLE_MPARITY_CHECK Some hardware may have problems with parity during master cycles on PCI bus. Only seen once. Answer Y if you suspect such problem. The normal answer therefore is N. disable scsi parity checking CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C8XX_DISABLE_PARITY_CHECK Parity on scsi bus is a system option. If one device checks parity, then all devices on the scsi bus must generate parity. However, the parity can be ignored by the scsi devices. Answer Y only if you know what you are doing. The normal answer therefore is N. Always IN2000 SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_IN2000 This is support for an ISA bus SCSI host adaptor. You'll find more information in drivers/scsi/in2000.readme. If it doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change the jumpers for IRQ or address selection. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. PAS16 SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_PAS16 This is support for a SCSI host adaptor. It is explained in section 3.10 of the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If it doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change some settings in drivers/scsi/pas16.h. Qlogic FAS SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_QLOGIC_FAS This driver works only with the ISA, VLB, and PCMCIA versions of the Qlogic FastSCSI! cards as well as any other card based on the FASXX chip (including the Control Concepts SCSI/IDE/SIO/PIO/FDC cards); it does NOT support the PCI version. The PCI versions are supported by the Qlogic ISP driver though. Information about this driver is contained in drivers/scsi/README.qlogicfas. You should also read the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Qlogic ISP SCSI support (EXPERIMENTAL) CONFIG_SCSI_QLOGIC_ISP This driver works for all QLogic PCI SCSI host adaptors (IQ-PCI, IQ-PCI-10, IQ_PCI-D) except for the PCI-basic card. (This latter card is supported by the "AM53/79C974 PCI SCSI" driver). If you say Y here, make sure to say Y to "PCI BIOS support" as well. More information is contained in the file drivers/scsi/README.qlogicisp. You should also read the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Seagate ST-02 and Future Domain TMC-8xx SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_SEAGATE These are 8-bit SCSI controllers; the ST-01 is also supported by this driver. It is explained in section 3.9 of the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If it doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change some settings in drivers/scsi/seagate.h. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Trantor T128/T128F/T228 SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_T128 This is support for a SCSI host adaptor. It is explained in section 3.11 of the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If it doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change some settings in drivers/scsi/t128.h. Note that Trantor was recently purchased by Adaptec, and some former Trantor products are being sold under the Adaptec name. UltraStor SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_ULTRASTOR This is support for the UltraStor 14F, 24F and 34F SCSI-2 host adaptor family. This driver is explained in section 3.12 of the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If it doesn't work out of the box, you may have to change some settings in drivers/scsi/ultrastor.h. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Note that there is also another driver for UltraStor hardware: "UltraStor 14F/34F support", above. 7000FASST SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_7000FASST This driver supports the Western Digital 7000 SCSI host adaptor. Some information is in the source: drivers/scsi/wd7000.c. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. EATA ISA/EISA/PCI (DPT and generic EATA/DMA-compliant boards) support CONFIG_SCSI_EATA This driver supports all the EATA/DMA-compliant SCSI host adapters and does not need any BIOS32 service. DPT ISA and all EISA i/o addresses are probed looking for the "EATA" signature. If "PCI bios support" is enabled, the addresses of all the PCI SCSI controllers reported by BIOS32 are probed as well. Note that there is also another driver for the same hardware: "EATA-DMA support". You should enable only one of them. You want to read the start of drivers/scsi/eata.c and the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. NCR53c406a SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_NCR53C406A This is support for the NCR53c406a SCSI host adapter. For user configurable parameters, check out drivers/scsi/NCR53c406.c in the kernel source. Also read the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this driver as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. AM53/79C974 PCI SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_AM53C974 This is support for the AM53/79C974 SCSI host adapters. Please read drivers/scsi/README.AM53C974 for details. Also, the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO, is for you. IBMMCA SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_IBMMCA This is support for the IBM SCSI adapter found in many of the PS/2 series. CONFIG_MCA must be set for this to work. If the adapter isn't found during boot (a common problem for models 56, 57, 76, and 77) you'll need to use the ibmmcascsi=pun, where pun is the id of the SCSI subsystem (usually 7, but if that doesn't work check your reference diskette). Note that this driver doesn't yet support tape devices. Standard SCSI-order IBMMCA_SCSI_ORDER_STANDARD In the PC-world and in most modern SCSI-BIOS-setups, SCSI-harddisks are assigned to the driveletters, starting with the lowest SCSI-id (physical number - pun) to be drive C:, as seen from DOS and similar operating systems. When looking into papers, describing the ANSI-SCSI-standard, this assignment of drives appears to be wrong. The SCSI-standard follows a hardware-hierarchy which says, that id 7 has the highest priority and id 0 the lowest. Therefore, the hostadapters are still today everywhere placed as SCSI-id 7 by default. In the SCSI-standard, the driveletters express the priority of the disk. C: should be the harddisk or a partition on it, with the highest priority. This must therefore be the disk with the highest SCSI-id (e.g. 6) and not the one with the lowest! IBM-BIOS kept the original definition of the SCSI-standard as also industrial- and process-control-machines, like VME-CPUs running under realtime-OSs (e.g. LynxOS, OS9) do. If you like to run Linux on your MCA-machine with the same assignment, of harddisks, as seen from e.g. DOS or OS/2 on your machine, which is in addition conform to the SCSI-standard, you must say 'y' here. This is also necessary for MCA-Linux-users who want to keep downward- compatibility to older releases of the IBM-MCA-SCSI-driver. If you like to have the lowest SCSI-id assigned as drive C:, as modern SCSI-BIOS do, which is not conform to the standard, but widely spread and common in the PC-world of today, you must say 'n' here. Reset SCSI-devices at boottime IBMMCA_SCSI_DEV_RESET By default, SCSI-devices are reset, when the machine is powered on. However, some devices exist, like special-control-devices, SCSI-CNC-machines, SCSI-printer or scanners of older type, that do not reset, when switched on. If you say 'y' here, each device along your SCSI-bus will get a reset-command after it has been probed, while the kernel is booting. Say always 'n' here, if you have no such strange SCSI-devices on your bus. If you say 'y' and some more modern devices, like harddisks, do not like too much resets, your system will hang when booting. IOMEGA Parallel Port ZIP drive SCSI support CONFIG_SCSI_PPA This driver supports the parallel port version of IOMEGA's ZIP drive (a 100Mb removable media device). For more information about this driver and how to use it you should read the file drivers/scsi/README.ppa. You should also read the SCSI-HOWTO, which is available via anonymous ftp from sunsite.unc.edu in the directory /pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want. If you want to use any two of a parallel port ZIP drive, a parallel printer or PLIP on the same parallel port, you should compile the drivers as modules and only insert them as needed. To compile this driver as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Note that you can say N here if you have the SCSI version of the ZIP drive: it will be supported automatically if you enabled the generic "SCSI disk support", above. Network device support? CONFIG_NETDEVICES You can say N here in case you don't intend to connect to any other computer at all or all your connections will be either via UUCP (UUCP is a protocol to forward mail and news between unix hosts over telephone lines; read the UUCP-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO) or dialing up a shell account or a BBS, even using term (term is a program which gives you almost full Internet connectivity if you have a regular dial up shell account on some Internet connected Unix computer. Read the Term-HOWTO). You'll have to say Y if your computer contains a network card that you want to use under linux (make sure you know its name because you will be asked for it and read the Ethernet-HOWTO; also, if you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini) or if you want to use SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol is the protocol used to send Internet traffic over telephone lines or nullmodem cables) or CSLIP (compressed SLIP) or PPP (better and newer variant of SLIP) or PLIP (Parallel Line Internet Protocol is mainly used to create a mini network by connecting the parallel ports of two local machines) or AX.25/KISS (protocol for sending internet traffic over radio links). Make sure to read the NET-2-HOWTO. Eventually, you will have to read Olaf Kirch's excellent book "Network Administrator's Guide", to be found in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/LDP. If unsure, say Y. CONFIG_NET_ETHERNET Ethernet is the most common protocol used on Local Area Networks (LANs) in universities or companies. 10-base-2 and 10-base-T and 100-base- are common types of ethernet. If your Linux machine will be connected to an Ethernet and you have an ethernet network card installed in your computer, say Y here and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Note that the answer to this question won't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause this configure script to skip all the questions about Ethernet network cards. If unsure, say N. Dummy net driver support CONFIG_DUMMY This is essentially a bit-bucket device (i.e. traffic you send to this device is consigned into oblivion) with a configurable IP address. It is most commonly used in order to make your currently inactive SLIP address seem like a real address for local programs. If you use SLIP or PPP, you might want to enable it. Read about it in the Network Administrator's Guide, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/LDP. Since this thing comes often handy, the default is Y. It won't enlarge your kernel either. What a deal. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you want to use more than one dummy device at a time, you need to compile it as a module. Instead of 'dummy', it will they will then be called 'dummy0', 'dummy1' etc. SLIP (serial line) support CONFIG_SLIP Say Y if you intend to use SLIP or CSLIP (compressed SLIP) to connect to your Internet service provider or to connect to some other local Unix box or if you want to configure your Linux box as a Slip/CSlip server for other people to dial in. SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) is the protocol used to send Internet traffic over telephone lines or serial cables (also known as nullmodems). Normally, your access provider has to support SLIP in order for you to be able to use it, but there is now a SLIP emulator called SLiRP around (available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/Network/serial/) which allows you to use SLIP over a regular dial up shell connection. If you plan to use SLiRP, make sure to say Y to CSLIP, below. The NET-2-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO, explains how to configure SLIP. Note that you don't need this option if you just want to run term (term is a program which gives you almost full Internet connectivity if you have a regular dial up shell account on some Internet connected Unix computer. Read the Term-HOWTO). SLIP support will enlarge your kernel by about 4kB. If unsure, say N. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. CSLIP compressed headers CONFIG_SLIP_COMPRESSED This protocol is faster than SLIP because it uses compression on the TCP/IP headers (not on the data itself), but it has to be supported on both ends. Ask your access provider if you are not sure and say Y, just in case. You will still be able to use plain SLIP. If you plan to use SLiRP, the SLIP emulator (available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/Network/serial/) which allows you to use SLIP over a regular dial up shell connection, you definitely want to say Y here. The NET-2-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO, explains how to configure CSLIP. This won't enlarge your kernel. Keepalive and linefill CONFIG_SLIP_SMART Adds additional capabilities to the SLIP driver to support the RELCOM line fill and keepalive monitoring. Ideal on poor quality analogue lines. Six bit SLIP encapsulation CONFIG_SLIP_MODE_SLIP6 Just occasionally you may need to run IP over hostile serial networks that don't pass all control characters or are only seven bit. Saying Y here adds an extra mode you can use with SLIP: "slip6". In this mode, SLIP will only send normal ascii symbols over the serial device. Naturally, this has to be supported at the other end of the link as well. It's good enough, for example, to run IP over the async ports of a Camtec JNT Pad. If unsure, say N. Radio network interfaces CONFIG_NET_RADIO Radio based interfaces for Linux. This includes amateur radio (AX.25), support for wireless ethernet and other systems. Note that the answer to this question won't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause this configure script to skip all the questions about radio interfaces. Some user-level drivers for scarab devices which don't require special kernel support are available via ftp (user: anonymous) from shadow.cabi.net. If unsure, say N. PPP (point-to-point) support CONFIG_PPP PPP (Point to Point Protocol) is a newer and better SLIP. It serves the same purpose: sending Internet traffic over telephone (and other serial) lines. Ask your access provider if they support it, because otherwise you can't use it (not quite true any more: the free program SLiRP can emulate a PPP line if you just have a regular dial up shell account on some UNIX computer; get it via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/Network/serial/). To use PPP, you need an additional program called pppd as described in Documentation/networking/ppp.txt and in the PPP-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Note that you don't need this option if you just want to run term (term is a program which gives you almost full Internet connectivity if you have a regular dial up shell account on some Internet connected UNIX computer. Read the Term-HOWTO). The PPP option enlarges your kernel by about 16kB. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you said Y to "Version information on all symbols" above, then you cannot compile the PPP driver into the kernel; you can only compile it as a module. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. Note that, no matter what you do, the BSD compression code (used to compress the IP packets sent over the serial line; has to be supported at the other end as well) can only be compiled as a module; it is called bsd_comp.o and will show up in the directory modules once you have said "make modules". If unsure, say N. 16 channels instead of 4 CONFIG_PPP_LOTS Saying Y here will allow you to have up to 16 PPP connections running in parallel. This is mainly useful if you intend your linux box to act as a dial-in PPP server. Most people can say N. STRIP (Starmode Radio IP) support CONFIG_STRIP Say Y if you have a Metricom radio and intend to use Starmode Radio IP. STRIP is a radio protocol developed for the MosquitoNet project (http://mosquitonet.stanford.edu/) to send Internet traffic using Metricom radios. Metricom radios are small, battery powered, 100kbit/sec packet radio transceivers, about the size and weight of a cellular telephone. (You may also have heard them called "Metricom modems" but we avoid the term "modem" because it misleads many people into thinking that you can plug a Metricom modem into a phone line and use it as a modem.) You can use STRIP on any Linux machine with a serial port, although it is obviously most useful for people with laptop computers. If you think you might get a Metricom radio in the future, there is no harm in saying yes to STRIP now, except that it makes the kernel a bit bigger. WIC (Radio IP bridge) CONFIG_WIC Support for the WIC parallel port radio bridge. You'll probably want to say N. If you want to compile this driver as a module though ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Z8530 SCC kiss emulation driver for AX.25 CONFIG_SCC These cards are used to connect your Linux box to an amateur radio in order to communicate with other computers. If you want to use this, read Documentation/networking/z8530drv.txt and the HAM-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. BAYCOM ser12 and par96 kiss emulation driver for AX.25 CONFIG_BAYCOM This is an experimental driver for Baycom style simple amateur radio modems that connect to either a serial interface or a parallel interface. The driver supports the ser12 and par96 designs. To configure the driver, use the setbaycom utility available from http://www.ife.ee.ethz.ch/~sailer/ham/ham.html#lnxbay. For information on the modems, see http://www.baycom.de and drivers/char/README.baycom. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. This is recommended. PLIP (parallel port) support CONFIG_PLIP PLIP (Parallel Line Internet Protocol) is used to create a mini network consisting of two (or, rarely, more) local machines. The parallel ports (the connectors at the computers with 25 holes) are connected using "null printer" or "Turbo Laplink" cables which can transmit 4 bits at a time or using special PLIP cables, to be used on bidirectional parallel ports only, which can transmit 8 bits at a time (you can find the wiring of these cables in drivers/net/README?.plip). The cables can be up to 15m long. This works also if one of the machines runs DOS/Windows and has some PLIP software installed, e.g. the Crynwr PLIP packet driver (http://sunsite.cnam.fr/packages/Telnet/PC/msdos/misc/pktdrvr.txt) and winsock or NCSA's telnet. If you want to use this, say Y and read the PLIP mini-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini as well as the NET-2-HOWTO in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Note that the PLIP protocol was changed and this PLIP driver won't work together with the PLIP support in Linux versions 1.0.x. This option enlarges your kernel by about 8kB. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you want to use both a parallel printer and PLIP, there are two cases: 1) If the printer and the PLIP cable are to use the same parallel port (presumably because you have just one), it is best to compile both drivers as modules and load and unload them as needed. 2) To use different parallel ports for the printer and the PLIP cable, you can say Y to the printer driver, specify the base address of the parallel port(s) to use for the printer(s) with the "lp" kernel command line option. (See the documentation of your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) about how to pass options to the kernel at boot time. The lilo procedure is also explained in the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO.) The standard base addresses as well as the syntax of the "lp" command line option can be found in drivers/char/lp.c. You can then say Y to this PLIP driver or, preferably, M in which case Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt tells you how to specify the port and IRQ to be used by PLIP at module load time. It's safe to say N here. EQL (serial line load balancing) support CONFIG_EQUALIZER If you have two serial connections to some other computer (this usually requires two modems and two telephone lines) and you use SLIP (= the protocol for sending internet traffic over telephone lines) or PPP (= a better SLIP) on them, you can make them behave like one double speed connection using this driver. Naturally, this has to be supported at the other end as well, either with a similar EQL Linux driver or with a Livingston Portmaster 2e. Say Y if you want this and read drivers/net/README.eql. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Frame Relay (DLCI) support CONFIG_DLCI This is support for the frame relay protocol; frame relay is a fast low-cost way to connect to a remote internet access provider or to form a private wide area network. The one physical line from your box to the local "switch" (i.e. the entry point to the frame relay network, usually at the phone company) can carry several logical point-to-point connections to other computers connected to the frame relay network. For a general explanation of the protocol, check out http://frame-relay.indiana.edu/4000/4000index.html on the WWW. (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic.) To use frame relay, you need supporting hardware (FRAD) and certain programs from the net-tools package as explained in Documentation/networking/framerelay.txt. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Max open DLCI CONFIG_DLCI_COUNT This is the maximal number of logical point-to-point frame relay connections (the identifiers of which are called DCLIs) that the driver can handle. The default is probably fine. Max DLCI per device CONFIG_DLCI_MAX You can specify here how many logical point-to-point frame relay connections (the identifiers of which are called DCLIs) should be handled by each of your hardware frame relay access devices. Go with the default. Sangoma S502A FRAD support CONFIG_SDLA Say Y here if you need a driver for the Sangoma S502A, S502E, and S508 Frame Relay Access Devices. These are multi-protocol cards, but only frame relay is supported by the driver at this time. Please read Documentation/framerelay.txt. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Sun LANCE Ethernet support CONFIG_SUN_LANCE This is support for lance ethernet cards on Sun workstations such as the Sparcstation IPC (any Sparc with a network interface 'le0' under SunOS basically). Sun Intel Ethernet support CONFIG_SUN_INTEL This is support for the intel ethernet cards on some Sun workstations (all those with a network interface 'ie0' under SunOS). Western Digital/SMC cards CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_SMC If you have a network (ethernet) card belonging to this class, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. Note that the answer to this question doesn't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause this configure script to skip all the questions about Western Digital cards. If you say Y, you will be asked for your specific card in the following questions. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. WD80*3 support CONFIG_WD80x3 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. SMC Ultra support CONFIG_ULTRA If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. Important: There have been many reports that, with some motherboards mixing an SMC Ultra and an Adaptec AHA1542 SCSI card causes corruption problems with many operating systems. SMC Ultra MCA support CONFIG_ULTRA_MCA This is the Micro Channel variant of the SMC Ultra (actually, it says for the Elite series). It probably won't work as a module. SMC 9194 Support CONFIG_SMC9194 This is support for the SMC9xxx based Ethernet cards. Choose this option if you have a DELL laptop with the docking station, or another SMC9192/9194 based chipset. Say Y if you want it compiled into the kernel, and read the the file drivers/net/README.smc9 and the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. AMD LANCE and PCnet (AT1500 and NE2100) support CONFIG_LANCE If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. 3COM cards CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_3COM If you have a network (ethernet) card belonging to this class, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Note that the answer to this question doesn't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause this configure script to skip all the questions about 3COM cards. If you say Y, you will be asked for your specific card in the following questions. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. 3c501 support CONFIG_EL1 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Also, consider buying a new card, since the 3c501 is slow and obsolete. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini - and don't use 3c501s. 3c503 support CONFIG_EL2 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. 3c505 support CONFIG_ELPLUS Information about this network (ethernet) card can be found in Documentation/networking/3c505.txt. If you have a card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. 3c507 support CONFIG_EL16 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. 3c523 support CONFIG_ELMC This is a Micro Channel ethernet adapter. You need to set CONFIG_MCA to use this driver. It's also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. Note that this driver hasn't been tested with multiple ethernet cards. 3c509/3c529/3c579 support CONFIG_EL3 If you have a network (ethernet) card belonging to the 3Com EtherLinkIII series, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. If your card is not working you may need to use the DOS setup disk to disable Plug & Play mode, and to select the default media type. 3c590 series (592/595/597) "Vortex" support CONFIG_VORTEX If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. More specific information is in Documentation/networking/vortex.txt and in the comments at the beginning of drivers/net/3c59x.c. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini Other ISA cards CONFIG_NET_ISA If your network (ethernet) card hasn't been mentioned yet and its bus system (that's the way the components of the card talk to each other) is ISA (as opposed to EISA, VLB or PCI), say Y. Make sure you know the name of your card. Read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If unsure, say Y. Note that the answer to this question doesn't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause this configure script to skip all the remaining ISA network card questions. If you say Y, you will be asked for your specific card in the following questions. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. ARCnet support CONFIG_ARCNET If you have a network card of this type, say Y and check out the (arguably) beautiful poetry in Documentation/networking/arcnet.txt. You might also want to have a look at the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO (even though ARCnet is not really ethernet). This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. Enable arc0e (ARCnet "ether-encap" packet format) CONFIG_ARCNET_ETH This allows you to use "ethernet encapsulation" with your ARCnet card via the virtual arc0e device. You only need arc0e if you want to talk to nonstandard ARCnet software, specifically, DOS/Windows-style "NDIS" drivers. You do not need to enable this option to communicate with industry-standard RFC1201 implementations, like the arcether.com packet driver or most DOS/Windows ODI drivers. RFC1201 is included automatically as the arc0 device. Please read the ARCnet documentation in Documentation/networking/arcnet.txt for more information about using arc0e and arc0s. Enable arc0s (ARCnet RFC1051 packet format) CONFIG_ARCNET_1051 This allows you to use RFC1051 with your ARCnet card via the virtual arc0s device. You only need arc0s if you want to talk to ARCnet software complying with the "old" standard, specifically, the DOS arcnet.com packet driver, Amigas running AmiTCP, and some variants of NetBSD. You do not need to enable this option to communicate with industry-standard RFC1201 implementations, like the arcether.com packet driver or most DOS/Windows ODI drivers. RFC1201 is included automatically as the arc0 device. Please read the ARCnet documentation in Documentation/networking/arcnet.txt for more information about using arc0e and arc0s. Cabletron E21xx support CONFIG_E2100 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. DEPCA support CONFIG_DEPCA If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO as well as drivers/net/depca.c. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. EtherWorks 3 support CONFIG_EWRK3 This driver supports the DE203, DE204 and DE205 network (ethernet) cards. If this is for you, say Y and read drivers/net/README.ewrk3 in the kernel source as well as the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. SEEQ8005 support CONFIG_SEEQ8005 This is a driver for the SEEQ 8005 network (ethernet) card. If this is for you, read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. AT1700 support CONFIG_AT1700 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. FMV-181/182/183/184 support CONFIG_FMV18X If you have a Fujitsu FMV-181/182/183/184 network (ethernet) card, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. If you use FMV-183 or FMV-184 and it is not working, you may need to disable Plug & Play mode of the card. EtherExpressPro support CONFIG_EEXPRESS_PRO If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. EtherExpress support CONFIG_EEXPRESS If you have an EtherExpress16 network (ethernet) card, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Note that the Intel EtherExpress16 card used to be regarded as a very poor choice because the driver was very unreliable. We now have a new driver that should do better. If you want to compile this driver as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. NI5210 support CONFIG_NI52 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. NI6510 support CONFIG_NI65 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. Ottawa PI and PI/2 support CONFIG_PI This is a driver for the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club PI and PI2 cards, which are commonly used to send internet traffic over amateur radio. More information about these cards is on the WWW at http://hydra.carleton.ca/info/pi2.html (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). If you have one of these cards, you can say Y here and should read the HAM-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Also, you should have said Y to "AX.25 support" above, because AX.25 is the protocol used for digital traffic over radio links. Gracilis PackeTwin support CONFIG_PT This card is similar to the PI card (mentioned above). It is used mainly by amateur radio operators for packet radio. You should have already said Y to "AX.25 support" as this card uses that protocol. More information about this driver can be found in the file drivers/net/README.pt. NOTE: The card is capable of DMA and full duplex but neither of these have been coded in the driver as yet. WaveLAN support CONFIG_WAVELAN These are cards for wireless ethernet-like networking. Supported are AT&T GIS and NCR WaveLAN cards. If you want to use a card of this type under Linux, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Some more specific information is contained in drivers/net/README.wavelan. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. HP PCLAN+ (27247B and 27252A) support CONFIG_HPLAN_PLUS If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. HP PCLAN (27245 and other 27xxx series) support CONFIG_HPLAN If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. HP 10/100VG PCLAN (ISA, EISA, PCI) support CONFIG_HP100 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. NE2000/NE1000 support CONFIG_NE2000 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. SK_G16 support CONFIG_SK_G16 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. EISA, VLB, PCI and on board controllers CONFIG_NET_EISA This is another class of network cards which attach directly to the bus. If you have one of those, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO; if you are unsure, say Y. Note that the answer to this question doesn't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause this configure script to skip all the questions about this class of network cards. If you say Y, you will be asked for your specific card in the following questions. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. Ansel Communications EISA 3200 support CONFIG_AC3200 If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. Apricot Xen-II on board ethernet CONFIG_APRICOT If you have a network (ethernet) controller of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. DE425, DE434, DE435 support CONFIG_DE4X5 This is support for the DIGITAL series of PCI/EISA ethernet cards. These include the DE425, DE434, DE435, DE450 and DE500 models. If you have a network card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. More specific information is contained in drivers/net/README.de4x5. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. DECchip Tulip (dc21x4x) PCI support CONFIG_DEC_ELCP This driver is developed for the SMC EtherPower series ethernet cards and also works with cards based on the DECchip 21040/21041/21140 (Tulip series) chips. (If your card is NOT SMC EtherPower 10/100 PCI (smc9332dst), you can also try the driver from "DE425, DE434, DE435 support", above.) However, most people with a network card of this type will say Y here. Do read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. More specific information is contained in Documentation/networking/tulip.txt. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. Digi Intl. RightSwitch support CONFIG_DGRS This is support for the Digi International RightSwitch series of PCI/EISA ethernet switch cards. These include the SE-4 and the SE-6 models. If you have a network card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. More specific information is contained in drivers/net/README.dgrs. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. ICL EtherTeam 16i/32 support CONFIG_ETH16I If you have a network (ethernet) card of this type, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt as well as Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. Zenith Z-Note support CONFIG_ZNET The Zenith Z-Note notebook computer has a built-in network (ethernet) card, and this is the Linux driver for it. Note that the IBM Thinkpad 300 is compatible with the Z-Note and is also supported by this driver. Read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Pocket and portable adaptors CONFIG_NET_POCKET Cute little network (ethernet) devices which attach to the parallel port ("pocket adaptors"), commonly used with laptops. If you have one of those, say Y and read the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to plug a network card into the PCMCIA slot of your laptop instead (PCMCIA is the standard for credit card size extension cards used by all modern laptops), look in cb-iris.stanford.edu:/pub/pcmcia and say N here. Note that the answer to this question doesn't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause this configure script to skip all the questions about this class of network devices. If you say Y, you will be asked for your specific device in the following questions. If you plan to use more than one network device under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. If you intend to use an adaptor attaching to the parallel port as well as a parallel printer, you should compile both drivers as modules (if possible). AT-LAN-TEC/RealTek pocket adaptor support CONFIG_ATP This is a network (ethernet) device which attaches to your parallel port. Read drivers/net/atp.c as well as the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO if you want to use this. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. If you intend to use this driver, you should have said N to the Parallel Printer support, because the two drivers don't like each other. D-Link DE600 pocket adaptor support CONFIG_DE600 This is a network (ethernet) device which attaches to your parallel port. Read drivers/net/README.DLINK as well as the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO if you want to use this. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you intend to use this pocket adaptor as well as a parallel printer, you should compile both drivers as modules. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. D-Link DE620 pocket adaptor support CONFIG_DE620 This is a network (ethernet) device which attaches to your parallel port. Read drivers/net/README.DLINK as well as the Ethernet-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO if you want to use this. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you intend to use this pocket adaptor as well as a parallel printer, you should compile both drivers as modules. If you plan to use more than one network card under linux, read the Multiple-Ethernet-mini-HOWTO, available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini. Token Ring driver support CONFIG_TR Token Ring is IBM's way of communication on a local network; the rest of the world uses ethernet. If you are connected to a token ring network and want to use your Token Ring card under Linux, say Y. Most people can say N here. IBM Tropic chipset based adaptor support CONFIG_IBMTR This is support for all IBM Token Ring cards that don't use DMA. If you have such a beast, say Y, otherwise N. Warning: this driver will almost definitely fail if more than one active Token Ring card is present. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Support non-SCSI/IDE/ATAPI drives CONFIG_CD_NO_IDESCSI If you have a CDROM drive that is neither SCSI nor IDE/ATAPI, say Y here, otherwise N. Read the CDROM-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Note that the answer to this question doesn't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause this configure script to skip all the questions about these CDROM drives. If you are unsure what you have, say Y and find out whether you have one of the following drives. For each of these drivers, a file Documentation/cdrom/ exists. Especially in cases where you do not know exactly which kind of drive you have you should read there. Most of these drivers use a file include/linux/.h where you can define your interface parameters and switch some internal goodies. All these CDROM drivers are also usable as a module (= code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile them as module, say M instead of Y and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you want to use any of these CDROM drivers, you also have to say Y to "ISO9660 cdrom filesystem support" below (this answer will get "defaulted" for you if you enable any of the Linux CDROM drivers). Sony CDU31A/CDU33A CDROM support CONFIG_CDU31A These CDROM drives have a spring-pop-out caddyless drawer, and a rectangular green LED centered beneath it. NOTE: these CDROM drives will not be auto detected by the kernel at boot time; you have to provide the interface address as an option to the kernel at boot time as described in Documentation/cdrom/cdu31a or fill in your parameters into linux/drivers/cdrom/cdu31a.c. See the documentation of your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) about how to pass options to the kernel. The lilo procedure is also explained in the SCSI-HOWTO. Standard Mitsumi [no XA/Multisession] CDROM support CONFIG_MCD This is the older of the two drivers for the older Mitsumi models LU-005, FX-001 and FX-001D. This is not the right driver for the FX-001DE and the triple or quad speed models (all these are IDE/ATAPI models). With the old LU-005 model, the whole drive chassis slides out for cd insertion. The FX-xxx models use a motorized tray type mechanism. Note that this driver does not support XA or MultiSession CDs (PhotoCDs). There is a new driver (next question) which can do this. If you want that one, say N here. If the driver doesn't work out of the box, you might want to have a look at linux/include/linux/mcd.h. Mitsumi [XA/MultiSession] support CONFIG_MCDX Use this driver if you want to be able to read XA or MultiSession CDs (PhotoCDs) as well as ordinary CDs with your Mitsumi LU-005, FX-001 or FX-001D CDROM drive. In addition, this driver uses much less kernel memory than the old one, if that is a concern. This driver is able to support more than one drive, but each drive needs a separate interface card. Check out Documentation/cdrom/mcdx. Matsushita/Panasonic/Creative, Longshine, TEAC CDROM support CONFIG_SBPCD This driver supports most of the drives which use the Panasonic or SoundBlaster interface. The Matsushita CR-521, CR-522, CR-523, CR-562, CR-563 drives (sometimes labeled "Creative"), the CreativeLabs CD200, the Longshine LCS-7260, the "IBM External ISA CDROM" (in fact a CR-56x model), the TEAC CD-55A fall under this category. Some other "electrically compatible" drives (Vertos, Genoa, some Funai models) are currently not supported; for the Sanyo H94A drive currently a separate driver (asked later) is responsible. Most drives have a uniquely shaped faceplate, with a caddyless motorized drawer, but without external brand markings. The older CR-52x drives have a caddy and manual loading/eject, but still no external markings. The driver is able to do an extended auto-probing for interface addresses and drive types; this can help to find facts in cases you are not sure, but can consume some time during the boot process if none of the supported drives gets found. Once your drive got found, you should enter the reported parameters into linux/include/linux/sbpcd.h and set "DISTRIBUTION 0" there. This driver can support up to four CDROM interface cards, and each card can support up to four CDROM drives; if you say Y here, you will be asked how many controllers you have. If compiled as a module, only one interface card (but with up to four drives) is usable. Matsushita/Panasonic, ... second CDROM controller support CONFIG_SBPCD2 Say Y here only if you have two CDROM controller boards of this type (usually only if you have more than four drives). You should enter the parameters for the second, third and fourth interface card into linux/include/linux/sbpcd.h before compiling the new kernel. Aztech/Orchid/Okano/Wearnes/TXC/CyDROM CDROM support CONFIG_AZTCD This is your driver if you have an Aztech CDA268-01A, Orchid CD-3110, Okano or Wearnes CDD110, Conrad TXC, or CyCDROM CR520 or CR540 CDROM drive. This driver - just like all these CDROM drivers - is NOT for CDROM drives with IDE/ATAPI interface, such as Aztech CDA269-031SE. Sony CDU535 CDROM support CONFIG_CDU535 This is the driver for the older Sony CDU-535 and CDU-531 CDROM drives. Goldstar R420 CDROM support CONFIG_GSCD If this is your CDROM drive, say Y here. As described in linux/Documentation/cdrom/gscd, you might have to change a setting in the file include/linux/gscd.h before compiling the kernel. Philips/LMS CM206 CDROM support CONFIG_CM206 If you have a Philips/LMS CDROM drive cm206 in combination with a cm260 host adapter card, say Y here. Optics Storage DOLPHIN 8000AT CDROM support CONFIG_OPTCD This is the driver for the 'DOLPHIN' drive with a 34-pin Sony compatible interface. It also works with the Lasermate CR328A. If you have one of those, say Y. This driver does not work for the Optics Storage 8001 drive; use the IDE-ATAPI CDROM driver for that one. Sanyo CDR-H94A CDROM support CONFIG_SJCD If this is your CDROM drive, say Y here. Command line option (or 'append=' option in /etc/lilo.conf) is: sjcd= Here 'port' is the base i/o address used by the drive. It defaults to port=0x340. Soft configurable cdrom interface card support CONFIG_CDI_INIT If you want to include boot-time initialization of any cdrom interface card that is software configurable, say Y here. Currently only the ISP16/MAD16/Mozart cards are supported. ISP16/MAD16/Mozart soft configurable cdrom interface support CONFIG_ISP16_CDI If you want any of these cdrom interface cards based on the OPTi 82C928 or 82C929 chips get detected and possibly configured at boot time, please say Y. Boot time command line options (or 'append=' options in /etc/lilo.conf) are: isp16=,,, Here 'port','irq' and 'dma' are the base i/o address, irq number and dma line assumed to be used by the attached cdrom drive. 'drive_type' is the type of cdrom drive or its emulation mode. Valid values for drive_type include: Sanyo, Panasonic (same as Sanyo), Sony and Mitsumi. Default values are: port=0x340, irq=0, dma=0, drive_type=Sanyo. The command line isp16=noisp16 will skip detection and configuration after all. N.B. options are case sensitive. Read Documentation/cdrom/isp16 for details. Quota support CONFIG_QUOTA If you say Y here, you will be able to set per user limits for disk usage (also called diskquotas). Currently, it works only for the ext2 filesystem. You need additional software in order to use quota support; check the file Documentation/Changes for that. Probably the quota support is only useful for multi user systems. If unsure, say N. Mandatory lock support CONFIG_LOCK_MANDATORY File locking is a system designed to prevent that several processes write to the same file at the same time, causing data corruption. Mandatory file locking is more secure than the usual algorithm and is used by some Unix System 5 style database applications. For details, read Documentation/mandatory.txt. To use this option safely you must have newer NFS daemons, new samba, new netatalk, new mars-nwe and other file servers. At the time of writing none of these are available. So it's safest to say N here unless you really know that you need this feature. Minix fs support CONFIG_MINIX_FS Minix is a simple operating system used in many classes about OS's. The minix filesystem (= method to organize files on a harddisk partition or a floppy disk) was the original filesystem for Linux, has been superseded by the second extended filesystem ext2fs but is still used for root/boot and other floppies or ram disks since it is leaner. You don't want to use it on your harddisk because of certain built-in restrictions. This option will enlarge your kernel by about 25 kB. Everyone should say Y or M so that they are able to read this common floppy format. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Note that the filesystem of your root partition cannot be compiled as a module. Extended fs support CONFIG_EXT_FS This is the old Linux filesystem (= method to organize files on a harddisk partition or a floppy disk) and not in use anymore. It enlarges your kernel by about 25 kB. Let's all kill this beast. Say N. Second extended fs support CONFIG_EXT2_FS This is the de facto standard Linux filesystem (= method to organize files on a storage device) for harddisks. You want to say Y, unless you intend to use Linux exclusively from inside a DOS partition using the umsdos filesystem. The advantage of the latter is that you can get away without repartitioning your hard drive (which often implies backing everything up and restoring afterwards); the disadvantage is that Linux becomes susceptible to DOS viruses and that umsdos is somewhat slower than ext2fs. Even if you want to run Linux in this fashion, it might be a good idea to have ext2fs around: it enables you to read more floppy disks and facilitates the transition to a *real* Linux partition later. Another (rare) case which doesn't require ext2fs is a diskless Linux box which mounts all files over the network using NFS (in this case it's sufficient to enable NFS filesystem support below; if you are planning to do this, have a look at the netboot package in /pub/Linux/system/Linux-boot/, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu, extract with "tar xzvf filename"). There is a short ext2fs-FAQ, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/faqs. This option will enlarge your kernel by about 41 kB. Default is Y. xiafs filesystem support CONFIG_XIA_FS This is an old filesystem (= method to organize files on a harddisk partition or a floppy disk) and not in use anymore. This option would enlarge your kernel by about 28 kB. Let's all kill this beast: say N. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Note that the filesystem of your root partition cannot be compiled as a module. fat fs support CONFIG_FAT_FS If you want to use one of the FAT-based filesystems (the MS-DOS, VFAT (Windows'95) and UMSDOS filesystems), then you must include FAT support. This is not a filesystem in itself, but it provides the foundation for the other filesystems. This option will enlarge your kernel about 24 kB. If unsure, say Y. If you want to compile this as a module however ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Note that if you compile the FAT support as a module, you cannot compile any of the FAT-based file- systems into the kernel - they will have to be modules as well. The filesystem of your root partition cannot be a module. msdos fs support CONFIG_MSDOS_FS This allows you to mount MSDOS partitions of your harddrive (unless they are compressed; to access compressed MSDOS partitions under Linux, you can either use the DOS emulator DOSEMU, described in the DOSEMU-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO, or try dmsdosfs in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/Filesystems/dosfs. If you intend to use dosemu with a non-compressed MSDOS partition, say Y here) and MSDOS floppies. This means that file access becomes transparent, i.e. the MSDOS files look and behave just like all other Unix files. Another way to read and write MSDOS floppies from within Linux (but not transparently) is with the mtools ("man mtools") program suite, which doesn't require the msdos filesystem support. If you want to use umsdos, the Unix-like filesystem on top of DOS, which allows you to run Linux from within a DOS partition without repartitioning, you'll have to say Y or M here. If your have Windows'95 or Windows NT installed on your MSDOS partitions, you should use the VFAT filesystem instead, or you will not be able to see the long filenames generated by Windows'95 / Windows NT. This option will enlarge your kernel by about 7 kB. If unsure, say Y. This will only work if you said Y to "fat fs support" as well. If you want to compile this as a module however ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Note that the filesystem of your root partition cannot be a module. vfat fs support CONFIG_VFAT_FS This allows you to mount MSDOS partitions of your harddrive. It will let you use filenames in a way compatible with the long filenames used by Windows'95 and Windows NT fat-based (not NTFS) partitions. It does not support Windows'95 compressed filesystems. You cannot use the VFAT filesystem for your root partition; use UMSDOS instead. This option enlarges your kernel by about 10 kB and it only works if you enabled the "fat fs support" above. Please read the file Documentation/filesystems/vfat.txt for details. If unsure, say N. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. umsdos: Unix like fs on top of std MSDOS fs CONFIG_UMSDOS_FS Say Y here if you want to run Linux from within an existing DOS partition of your harddrive. The advantage of this is that you can get away without repartitioning your hard drive (which often implies backing everything up and restoring afterwards) and hence you're able to quickly try out Linux or show it to your friends; the disadvantage is that Linux becomes susceptible to DOS viruses and that UMSDOS is somewhat slower than ext2fs. Another use of umsdos is to write files with long unix filenames to MSDOS floppies; it also allows unix style softlinks and owner/permissions of files on MSDOS floppies. You will need a program called umssync in order to make use of umsdos. Read Documentation/filesystems/umsdos.txt. This option enlarges your kernel by about 25 kB and it only works if you enabled both "fat fs support" and "msdos fs support" above. If unsure, say N. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Note that the filesystem of your root partition cannot be a module. /proc filesystem support CONFIG_PROC_FS This is a virtual filesystem providing information about the status of the system. "Virtual" means that it doesn't take up any space on your harddisk: the files are created on the fly when you access them. Also, you cannot read the files with less: you need to use more or cat. The filesystem is explained in the Kernel Hacker's Guide, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/LDP and also on the proc(8) manpage ("man 8 proc"). This option will enlarge your kernel by about 18 kB. It's totally cool; for example, "cat /proc/interrupts" gives information about what the different IRQs are used for at the moment (there is a small number of Interrupt ReQuest lines in your computer that are used by the periphery to gain the CPU's attention - often a source of trouble if two devices are mistakenly configured to use the same IRQ). Several programs depend on this, so everyone should say Y here. NFS filesystem support CONFIG_NFS_FS If you are connected to some other (usually local) Unix computer (using SLIP, PLIP, PPP or ethernet) and want to mount files residing on that computer (the NFS server) using the Network File Sharing protocol, say Y. "Mounting files" means that the client can access the files with usual UNIX commands as if they were sitting on the client's harddisk. For this to work, the server must run the programs nfsd and mountd (but does not need to have NFS filesystem support enabled). NFS is explained in the Network Administrator's Guide, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/LDP, and on its man page: "man nfs". There is also a NFS-FAQ in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/faqs which presumes that you know the basics of NFS already. If you say Y here, you should have said Y to TCP/IP networking also. This option would enlarge your kernel by about 27 kB. This filesystem is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you configure a diskless machine which will mount its root filesystem over nfs, you cannot compile this driver as a module. If you don't know what all this is about, say N. Root file system on NFS CONFIG_ROOT_NFS If you want your Linux box to mount its whole root filesystem from some other computer over the net via NFS (presumably because your box doesn't have a harddisk), say Y. Read Documentation/nfsroot.txt for details. Most people say N here. BOOTP support CONFIG_RNFS_BOOTP If you want your Linux box to mount its whole root filesystem from some other computer over the net via NFS and you want the IP address of your computer to be discovered automatically at boot time using the BOOTP protocol (a special protocol designed for doing this job), say Y here. In case the boot ROM of your network card was designed for booting Linux and does BOOTP itself, providing all necessary information on the kernel command line, you can say N here. If unsure, say Y. Note that in case you want to use BOOTP, a BOOTP server must be operating on your network. Read Documentation/nfsroot.txt for details. RARP support CONFIG_RNFS_RARP If you want your Linux box to mount its whole root filesystem from some other computer over the net via NFS and you want the IP address of your computer to be discovered automatically at boot time using the RARP protocol (an older protocol which is being obsoleted by BOOTP), say Y here. Note that in case you want to use RARP, a RARP server must be operating on your network. Read Documentation/nfsroot.txt for details. ISO9660 cdrom filesystem support CONFIG_ISO9660_FS This is the standard filesystem used on CDROMs. It was previously known as "High Sierra Filesystem" and is called "hsfs" on other Unix systems. The so-called Rock-Ridge extensions which allow for long Unix filenames are also supported by this driver. If you have a CDROM drive and want to do more with it than just listen to audio CDs and watch its LEDs, say Y (and read the CDROM-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO), thereby enlarging your kernel by about 27 kB; otherwise say N. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. OS/2 HPFS filesystem support (read only) CONFIG_HPFS_FS OS/2 is IBM's operating system for PC's, the same as Warp, and HPFS is the filesystem used for organizing files on OS/2 harddisk partitions. Say Y if you want to be able to read files from an OS/2 HPFS partition of your harddrive. OS/2 floppies however are in regular MSDOS format, so you don't need this option in order to be able to read them. Read Documentation/filesystems/hpfs.txt. This filesystem is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If unsure, say N. System V and Coherent filesystem support CONFIG_SYSV_FS SCO, Xenix and Coherent are commercial Unix systems for intel machines. Enabling this option would allow you to read and write to and from their floppies and harddisk partitions. If you have a floppy or harddisk partition like that, it is probable that they contain binaries from those other Unix systems; in order to run these binaries, you will want to install iBCS2 (iBCS2 [Intel Binary Compatibility Standard] is a kernel module which lets you run SCO, Xenix, Wyse, Unix Ware, Dell Unix and System V programs under Linux and is often needed to run commercial software, most prominently WordPerfect. It's in tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/BETA). If you only intend to mount files from some other Unix over the network using NFS, you don't need the System V filesystem support (but you need nfs filesystem support obviously). Note that this option is generally not needed for floppies, since a good portable way to transport files and directories between unixes (and even other operating systems) is given by the tar program ("man tar"). Note also that this option has nothing whatsoever to do with the option "System V IPC". Read about the System V filesystem in Documentation/filesystems/sysv-fs.txt. This option will enlarge your kernel by about 34 kB. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you haven't heard about all of this before, it's safe to say N. BSD UFS filesystem support (read only) CONFIG_UFS_FS BSD and derivate versions of Unix (such as SunOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD and NeXTstep) use a filesystem called UFS. Some System V Unixes can create and mount partitions and diskettes using this filesystem as well. Enabling this option allows you to mount these partitions and diskettes read-only. If you only intend to mount files from some other Unix over the network using NFS, you don't need the UFS filesystem support (but you need nfs filesystem support obviously). Note that this option is generally not needed for floppies, since a good portable way to transport files and directories between unixes (and even other operating systems) is given by the tar program ("man tar"). When accessing NeXTstep files, you may need to convert them from the NeXT character set to the Latin1 character set; use GNU recode for this purpose. Say Y to build UFS support into your kernel. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you haven't heard about all of this before, it's safe to say N. BSD disklabel (FreeBSD partition tables) support CONFIG_BSD_DISKLABEL FreeBSD uses its own partition scheme on your PC. It requires only one entry in the primary partition table of your disk and manages it similarly to DOS extended partitions, putting in its first sector a new partition table in disklabel format. Enabling this option allows you to read these disklabels and further mount FreeBSD partitions on your Linux box if you also have configured BSD ufs filesystem support. If you don't know what all this is about, say N. SMD disklabel (Sun partition tables) support CONFIG_SMD_DISKLABEL Like most systems, SunOS uses its own partition table format, incompatible with all others. Enabling this option allows you to read these partition tables and further mount SunOS disks on your Linux box if you also have configured BSD ufs filesystem support. This is mainly used to carry data from a Sparc under SunOS to your Linux box via a removable medium like magneto-optical or ZIP drives. If you don't know what all this is about, say N. SMB filesystem support (to mount WfW shares etc..) CONFIG_SMB_FS SMB (Server Message Buffer) is the protocol Windows for Workgroups (WfW), Windows NT and Lan Manager use to talk to each other over an ethernet. Enabling this allows you to mount their filesystems and access them just like any other unix directory. For details, read Documentation/filesystems/smbfs.txt. Note: if you just want your box to act as an SMB *server* and make files and printing services available to Windows clients (which need to have a TCP/IP stack), you don't need to enable this filesystem support; you can use the program samba (available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/Network/samba) for that. General information about how to connect Linux, Windows machines and Macs is on the WWW at http://eats.com/linux_mac_win.html (to browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic). If you want to compile the SMB support as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Most people say N, however. SMB Win95 bug work-around CONFIG_SMB_WIN95 If you want to connect to a share exported by Windows 95, you should say Y here. The Windows 95 server contains a bug that makes listing directories unreliable. This option slows down the listing of directories. This makes the Windows 95 server a bit more stable. NCP filesystem support (to mount NetWare volumes) CONFIG_NCP_FS NCP (NetWare Core Protocol) is a protocol that runs over IPX and is used by Novel NetWare clients to talk to file servers. It is to IPX what nfs is to tcp/ip, if that helps. Enabling this option allows you to mount NetWare file server volumes and to access them just like any other Unix directory. For details, please read the file Documentation/filesystems/ncpfs.txt in the kernel source and the IPX-HOWTO on sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/howto. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Amiga FFS filesystem support (EXPERIMENTAL) CONFIG_AFFS_FS The Fast File System (FFS) is the common filesystem used on harddisks by Amiga (tm) Systems since AmigaOS Version 1.3 (34.20). It's also possible to mount diskfiles used by the Un*X Amiga Emulator by Bernd Schmidt (http://www-users.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/~crux/uae.html) If you want to do the latter, you will also need the loop device support. Say Y if you want to be able to read and write files from and to an Amiga FFS partition of your harddrive. Amiga floppies however cannot be read with this driver due to an incompatibility of the floppy controller used in an Amiga and the standard floppy controller in PCs and workstations. Read Documentation/filesystems/affs.txt. This filesystem is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If unsure, say N. Standard/generic serial support CONFIG_SERIAL This selects whether you want to include the driver for the standard serial ports. People who might say N here are those that are setting up dedicated ethernet WWW/ftp servers, or users that have one of the various bus mice instead of a serial mouse. (Note that the Cyclades and Stallion multi serial port drivers do not need this driver built in for them to work. They are completely independent of each other.) If you want to compile this driver as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. [WARNING: Do not compile this driver as a module if you are using non-standard serial ports, since the configuration information will be lost when kerneld automatically unloads the driver. This limitation may be lifted in the future.] Most people will say Y or M here, so that they can use serial mice, modems and similar devices connecting to the standard serial ports. Digiboard PC/Xx Support CONFIG_DIGI This is a driver for the Digiboard PC/Xe, PC/Xi, and PC/Xeve cards that give you many serial ports. You would need something like this to connect more than two modems to your linux box, for instance in order to become a BBS. If you have a card like that, say Y here and read the file Documentation/digiboard.txt. SDL RISCom/8 card support CONFIG_RISCOM8 This is a driver for the SDL Communications RISCom/8 multiport card, that give you many serial ports. You would need something like this to connect more than two modems to your linux box, for instance in order to become a BBS. If you have a card like that, say Y here and read the file Documentation/riscom8.txt. Also it's possible to say M here and compile this driver as kernel loadable module. Cyclades async mux support CONFIG_CYCLADES This is a driver for a card that gives you many serial ports. You would need something like this to connect more than two modems to your linux box, for instance in order to become a BBS. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you haven't heard about it, it's safe to say N. (As of 1.3.9x kernels, this driver's minor numbers start at 0 instead of 32.) Stallion multiport serial support CONFIG_STALDRV Stallion cards give you many serial ports. You would need something like this to connect more than two modems to your linux box, for instance in order to become a BBS. If you say Y here, you will be asked for your specific card model in the next questions. Make sure to read drivers/char/README.stallion in this case. If you have never heard about all this, it's safe to say N. Stallion EasyIO or EC8/32 support CONFIG_STALLION n If you have an EasyIO or EasyConnection 8/32 multiport Stallion card, then this is for you; say Y. Make sure to read drivers/char/README.stallion. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Stallion EC8/64, ONboard, Brumby support CONFIG_ISTALLION If you have an EasyConnection 8/64, ONboard, Brumby or Stallion serial multiport card, say Y here. Make sure to read drivers/char/README.stallion. To compile it as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Parallel printer support CONFIG_PRINTER If you intend to attach a printer to the parallel port of your Linux box (as opposed to using a serial printer; if the connector at the printer has 9 or 25 holes ["female"], then it's serial), say Y. Also read the Printing-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you want to use both a parallel printer and PLIP, there are two cases: 1) If the printer and the PLIP cable are to use the same parallel port (presumably because you have just one), it is best to compile both drivers as modules and load and unload them as needed. 2) To use different parallel ports for the printer and the PLIP cable, you can say Y to this printer driver, specify the base address of the parallel port(s) to use for the printer(s) with the "lp" kernel command line option. (See the documentation of your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) about how to pass options to the kernel at boot time. The lilo procedure is also explained in the SCSI-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO.) The standard base addresses as well as the syntax of the "lp" command line option can be found in drivers/char/lp.c. You can then say Y to the PLIP driver or, preferably, M in which case Documentation/networking/net-modules.txt tells you how to specify the port and IRQ to be used by PLIP at module load time. Mouse Support (not serial mice) CONFIG_MOUSE This is for machines with a bus mouse or a PS/2 mouse as opposed to a serial mouse. Most people have a regular serial MouseSystem or Microsoft mouse (made by Logitech) that plugs into a COM port (rectangular with 9 or 25 pins). These people say N here. If you have something else, read the Busmouse-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO and say Y here. If you have a laptop, you either have to check the documentation or experiment a bit to find out whether the trackball is a serial mouse or not; it's best to say Y here for you. Note that the answer to this question won't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause this configure script to skip all the questions about non-serial mice. If unsure, say Y. Logitech busmouse support CONFIG_BUSMOUSE Logitech mouse connected to a proprietary interface card. It's generally a round connector with 9 pins. Note that the newer mice made by Logitech don't use the Logitech protocol anymore; for those, you don't need this option. You want to read the Busmouse-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you are unsure, say N and read the HOWTO nevertheless: it will tell you what you have. PS/2 mouse (aka "auxiliary device") support CONFIG_PSMOUSE The PS/2 mouse connects to a special mouse port that looks much like the keyboard port (small circular connector with 6 pins). This way, the mouse does not use any serial ports. This port can also be used for other input devices like light pens, tablets, keypads. Compaq, AST and IBM all use this as their mouse port on currently shipping machines. The trackballs of some laptops are PS/2 mice also. In particular, the C&T 82C710 mouse on TI Travelmates is a PS/2 mouse. Although PS/2 mice are not technically bus mice, they are explained in detail in the Busmouse-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you are unsure, say N and read the HOWTO nevertheless: it will tell you what you have. C&T 82C710 mouse port support (as on TI Travelmate) CONFIG_82C710_MOUSE This is a certain kind of PS/2 mouse used on the TI Travelmate. If you are unsure, try first to say N here and come back if the mouse doesn't work. Read the Busmouse-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. Microsoft busmouse support CONFIG_MS_BUSMOUSE These animals (also called Inport mice) are connected to an expansion board using a round connector with 9 pins. If this is what you have, say Y and read the Busmouse-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you are unsure, say N and read the HOWTO nevertheless: it will tell you what you have. Also be aware that several vendors talk about 'Microsoft busmouse' and actually mean PS/2 busmouse - so count the pins on the connector. ATIXL busmouse support CONFIG_ATIXL_BUSMOUSE This is a rare type of busmouse that is connected to the back of an ATI video card. Note that most ATI mice are actually Microsoft busmice. Read the Busmouse-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) in sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. If you are unsure, say N and read the HOWTO nevertheless: it will tell you what you have. Support for user miscellaneous modules CONFIG_UMISC This option forces generic miscellaneous minor device support in the kernel, and allows later loading of user miscellaneous device modules, such as drivers for optic pens and touchscreens. Unless you need such specific modules, or are willing to write/test one, just say N. QIC-02 tape support CONFIG_QIC02_TAPE If you have a non-SCSI tape drive like that, say Y. Do you want runtime configuration for QIC-02 CONFIG_QIC02_DYNCONF You can either configure this driver once and for all by editing a header file, in which case you should say N, or you can fetch a program via anonymous ftp which is able to configure this driver during runtime. If you want this, say Y. Ftape (QIC-80/Travan) support CONFIG_FTAPE If you have a tape drive that is connected to your floppy controller, say Y here. Some tape drives (like the Iomega Ditto 3200) come with a high speed controller of its own. These drives (and their companion controller) is also supported. If you have a special controller (such as the CMS FC-10, FC-20, Iomega Mach-II, or Ditto Dash), you must configure it by editing the file drivers/char/ftape/Makefile. If you want to use such a tape drive on a PCI-bus based system, please read the file drivers/char/ftape/README.PCI. This driver is also available as a runtime loadable module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Zilog serial support CONFIG_SUN_ZS This driver does not exist at this point, so you might as well say N. Advanced Power Management CONFIG_APM APM is a BIOS specification for saving power using several different techniques. This is mostly useful for battery powered laptops with APM compliant BIOSes. Specifically, the time will be reset after a USER RESUME operation, the /proc/apm device will provide battery status information, and user-space programs will receive notification of APM "events" (e.g., battery status change). This driver does not spin down disk drives (see hdparm(8) for that); and it doesn't turn off VESA-compliant "green" monitors. This driver does not support the TI 4000M TravelMate and the ACER 486/DX4/75 because they don't have compliant BIOSes. Many "green" desktop machines also don't have compliant BIOSes, and this driver will cause those machines to panic during the boot phase (typically, these machines are using a data segment of 0040, which is reserved for the Linux kernel). If you get random kernel OOPSes that don't seem to be related to anything and you have a motherboard with APM support, try disabling/enabling this option. Generally, if you don't have a battery in your machine, there isn't much point in using this driver. Ignore USER SUSPEND CONFIG_APM_IGNORE_USER_SUSPEND This option will ignore USER SUSPEND requests. On machines with a compliant APM BIOS, you want to say N. However, on the NEC Versa M series notebooks, it is necessary to say Y because of a BIOS bug. Enable APM at boot time CONFIG_APM_DO_ENABLE Enable APM features at boot time. From page 36 of the APM BIOS specification: "When disabled, the APM BIOS does not automatically power manage devices, enter the Standby State, enter the Suspend State, or take power saving steps in response to CPU Idle calls." This driver will make CPU Idle calls when Linux is idle (unless this feature is turned off -- see below). This should always save battery power, but more complicated APM features will be dependent on your BIOS implementation. You may need to turn this option off if your computer hangs at boot time when using APM support, or if it beeps continuously instead of suspending. Turn this off if you have a NEC UltraLite Versa 33/C or a Toshiba T400CDT. This is off by default since most machines do fine without this feature. Do CPU IDLE calls CONFIG_APM_CPU_IDLE Enable calls to APM CPU Idle/CPU Busy inside the kernel's idle loop. On some machines, this can activate improved power savings, such as a slowed CPU clock rate, when the machine is idle. These idle calls are made after the idle loop has run for some length of time (e.g., 333 mS). On some machines, this will cause a hang at boot time or whenever the CPU becomes idle. (On machines with more than one CPU, this option does nothing.) Enable console blanking using APM CONFIG_APM_DISPLAY_BLANK Enable console blanking using the APM. Some laptops can use this to turn off the LCD backlight when the VC screen blanker blanks the screen. Note that this is only used by the VC screen blanker, and won't turn off the backlight when using X11 (this also doesn't have anything to do with your VESA-compliant power-saving monitor). Further, this option doesn't work for all laptops -- it might not turn off your backlight at all, or it might print a lot of errors to the console, especially if you are using gpm. Power off on shutdown CONFIG_APM_POWER_OFF This option will power off the computer after the Linux kernel is halted (e.g., with the halt(8) command). As with the other APM options, this option may not work reliably with some APM BIOS implementations. Watchdog Timer Support CONFIG_WATCHDOG If you enable this option and create a character special file /dev/watchdog with major number 10 and minor number 130 using mknod ("man mknod"), you will get a watchdog, i.e.: subsequently opening the file and failing to write to it for longer than 1 minute will result in rebooting the machine. This could be useful for a networked machine that needs to come back online as fast as possible after a lock-up. There's a watchdog implementation entirely in software (which can sometimes fail to reboot the machine) and a driver for hardware watchdog boards, which are more robust and can also keep track of the temperature inside your computer. For details, read Documentation/watchdog.txt in the kernel source. If unsure, say N. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Disable watchdog shutdown on close CONFIG_WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT The default watchdog behaviour is to stop the timer if the process managing it closes the file /dev/watchdog. It's always remotely possible that this process might get killed. If you enable this option, the watchdog cannot be stopped once it has been started. WDT Watchdog timer CONFIG_WDT If you have a WDT500P or WDT501P watchdog board, say Y here, otherwise N. It is not possible to probe for this board, which means that you have to set the IO port and IRQ it uses in the kernel source at the top of drivers/char/wdt.c. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. WDT501 features CONFIG_WDT_501 Saying Y here and creating a character special file /dev/temperature with major number 10 and minor number 131 ("man mknod") will give you a thermometer inside your computer: reading from /dev/temperature yields one byte, the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. This works only if you have a WDT501P watchdog board installed. Fan Tachometer CONFIG_WDT_501_FAN Enable the Fan Tachometer on the WDT501. Only do this if you have a fan tachometer actually set up. Software Watchdog CONFIG_SOFT_WATCHDOG A software monitoring watchdog. This will fail to reboot your system from some situations that the hardware watchdog will recover from. Equally it's a lot cheaper to install. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Berkshire Products PC Watchdog card CONFIG_PCWATCHDOG This is the driver for the Berkshire Products PC Watchdog card. This card simply watches your kernel to make sure it doesn't freeze, and if it does, it resets your computer after a certain amount of time. This driver is like the WDT501 driver but for different hardware. The PC watchdog cards can be ordered from http://www.berkprod.com. Some example rc.local files are available from ftp.bitgate.com. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Most people will say N. Enhanced Real Time Clock Support CONFIG_RTC If you enable this option and create a character special file /dev/rtc with major number 10 and minor number 135 using mknod ("man mknod"), you will get access to the real time clock built into your computer. Every PC has such a clock built in. It can be used to generate signals from as low as 1Hz up to 8192Hz, and can also be used as a 24 hour alarm. It reports status information via the file /proc/rtc and its behaviour is set by various ioctls on /dev/rtc. People running SMP (= multiprocessor) versions of Linux should enable this option to read and set the RTC clock in a SMP compatible fashion. If you think you have a use for such a device (such as periodic data sampling), then say Y here, and go read the file Documentation/rtc.txt for details. Sound card support CONFIG_SOUND If you have a Sound Card in your Computer, i.e. if it can say more than an occasional beep, say Y. Be sure to have all the information about your sound card and its configuration down (I/O port, interrupt and DMA channel), because you will be asked for it. You want to read the Sound-HOWTO, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. There is also some information in various README files in drivers/sound. If you want to compile this as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. I'm told that even without a sound card, you can make your computer say more than an occasional beep, by programming the PC speaker. Kernel patches and programs to do that are at sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/kernel/patches/console/pcsndrv-X.X.tar.gz, to be extracted with "tar xzvf filename". ProAudioSpectrum 16 support CONFIG_PAS Answer Y only if you have a Pro Audio Spectrum 16, ProAudio Studio 16 or Logitech SoundMan 16. Don't answer 'y' if you have some other card made by Media Vision or Logitech since they are not PAS16 compatible. SoundBlaster (SB, SBPro, SB16, clones) support CONFIG_SB Answer "y" if you have an original SoundBlaster card made by Creative Labs or a 100% hardware compatible clone (like the Thunderboard or SM Games). If your card was in the list of supported cards look at the card specific instructions in the drivers/sound/Readme.cards file before answering this question. For an unknown card you may answer Y if the card claims to be SoundBlaster compatible. Generic OPL2/OPL3 FM synthesizer support CONFIG_ADLIB Answer Y if your card has a FM chip made by Yamaha (OPL2/OPL3/OPL4). Answering Y is usually a safe and recommended choice, however some cards may have software (TSR) FM emulation. Enabling FM support with these cards may cause trouble (I don't currently know of any such cards, however). Gravis Ultrasound support CONFIG_GUS Enable this option for any type of Gravis Ultrasound card, including the GUS or GUS MAX. MPU-401 support (NOT for SB16) CONFIG_MPU401 Be careful with this question. The MPU401 interface is supported by all soundcards. However, some natively supported cards have their own driver for MPU401. Enabling the MPU401 option with these cards will cause a conflict. Also, enabling MPU401 on a system that doesn't really have a MPU401 could cause some trouble. If your card was in the list of supported cards, look at the card specific instructions in the drivers/sound/Readme.cards file. It's safe to answer Y if you have a true MPU401 MIDI interface card. 6850 UART Midi support CONFIG_UART6850 This option enables support for MIDI interfaces based on the 6850 UART chip. This interface is rarely found on sound cards. It's safe to answer N to this question. PSS (ECHO-ADI2111) support CONFIG_PSS Answer Y only if you have Orchid SW32, Cardinal DSP16 or some other card based on the PSS chipset (AD1848 codec + ADSP-2115 DSP chip + Echo ESC614 ASIC CHIP). 16 bit sampling option of GUS (_NOT_ GUS MAX) CONFIG_GUS16 Answer Y if you have installed the 16 bit sampling daughtercard on your GUS. Answer N if you have a GUS MAX, since enabling this option disables GUS MAX support. GUS MAX support CONFIG_GUSMAX Answer Y only if you have a Gravis Ultrasound MAX. Microsoft Sound System support CONFIG_MSS Again think carefully before answering Y to this question. It's safe to answer Y if you have the original Windows Sound System card made by Microsoft or Aztech SG 16 Pro (or NX16 Pro). Also you may answer Y in case your card is NOT among these: ATI Stereo F/X, AdLib, Audio Excell DSP16, Cardinal DSP16, Ensoniq SoundScape (and compatibles made by Reveal and Spea), Gravis Ultrasound, Gravis Ultrasound ACE, Gravis Ultrasound Max, Gravis Ultrasound with 16 bit option, Logitech Sound Man 16, Logitech SoundMan Games, Logitech SoundMan Wave, MAD16 Pro (OPTi 82C929), Media Vision Jazz16, MediaTriX AudioTriX Pro, Microsoft Windows Sound System (MSS/WSS), Mozart (OAK OTI-601), Orchid SW32, Personal Sound System (PSS), Pro Audio Spectrum 16, Pro Audio Studio 16, Pro Sonic 16, Roland MPU-401 MIDI interface, Sound Blaster 1.0, Sound Blaster 16, Sound Blaster 16ASP, Sound Blaster 2.0, Sound Blaster AWE32, Sound Blaster Pro, TI TM4000M notebook, ThunderBoard, Turtle Beach Tropez, Yamaha FM synthesizers (OPL2, OPL3 and OPL4), 6850 UART MIDI Interface. For cards having native support in VoxWare, consult the card specific instructions in drivers/sound/Readme.cards. Some drivers have their own MSS support and enabling this option will cause a conflict. Ensoniq Soundscape support CONFIG_SSCAPE Answer Y if you have a soundcard based on the Ensoniq SoundScape chipset. Such cards are being manufactured at least by Ensoniq, Spea and Reveal (Reveal makes also other cards). MediaTriX AudioTriX Pro support CONFIG_TRIX Answer Y if you have the AudioTriX Pro sound card manufactured by MediaTrix. Support for MAD16 and/or Mozart based cards CONFIG_MAD16 Answer Y if your card has a Mozart (OAK OTI-601) or MAD16 (OPTi 82C928 or 82C929) audio interface chip. These chips are currently quite common so it's possible that many no-name cards have one of them. In addition the MAD16 chip is used in some cards made by known manufacturers such as Turtle Beach (Tropez), Reveal (some models) and Diamond (latest ones). Support for Crystal CS4232 based (PnP) cards CONFIG_CS4232 Enable this if you have a card based on the Crystal CS4232 chip set. Support for Turtle Beach Wave Front (Maui, Tropez) synthesizers CONFIG_MAUI Enable this option if you have a Turtle Beach Wave Front, Maui, or Tropez sound card. Support for Crystal CS4232 based (PnP) cards CONFIG_CS4232 Use this option to enable experimental support for cards that use the Plug and Play protocol. /dev/dsp and /dev/audio support CONFIG_AUDIO Answering N disables /dev/dsp and /dev/audio, the A/D and D/A converter devices. Answer N only if you know you will not need the option. They are usually required. Answer Y. MIDI interface support CONFIG_MIDI Answering N disables /dev/midixx devices and access to any MIDI ports using /dev/sequencer and /dev/music. This option also affects any MPU401 and/or General MIDI compatible devices. Answer Y. FM synthesizer (YM3812/OPL-3) support CONFIG_YM3812 Answer Y here, unless you know you will not need the option. Sun Audio support CONFIG_SUN_AUDIO This is support for the soundcards on Sun workstations. The code does not exist yet, so you might as well say N here. Kernel profiling support CONFIG_PROFILE This is for kernel hackers who want to know how much time the kernel spends in the various procedures. The information is stored in /proc/profile (enable the /proc filesystem!) and in order to read it, you need the readprofile package from sunsite.unc.edu. Its manpage gives information regarding the format of profiling data. To become a kernel hacker, you can start with the Kernel Hacker's Guide, available via ftp (user: anonymous) from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/LDP. Mere mortals say N. Profile shift count CONFIG_PROFILE_SHIFT This is used to adjust the granularity with which the addresses of executed instructions get recorded in /proc/profile. But since you enabled "Kernel profiling support", you must be a kernel hacker and hence you know what this is about :-) ISDN subsystem CONFIG_ISDN ISDN ("Integrated Services Digital Networks", called RNIS in France) is a special type of fully digital telephone line; it's mostly used to connect to your Internet service provider (with SLIP or PPP). The main advantage is that the speed is higher than ordinary modem/telephone connections. It only works if your computer is equipped with an ISDN card and both you and your service provider purchased an ISDN line from your phone company. For details, read http://alumni.caltech.edu/~dank/isdn/ on the WWW. (To browse the WWW, you need to have access to a machine on the Internet that has one of the programs lynx, netscape or Mosaic.) This driver allows you to use an ISDN-card for networking connections and as dialin/out device. The isdn-tty's have a built in AT-compatible modem emulator. Network devices support autodial, channel-bundling, callback and caller-authentication without having a daemon running. A reduced T.70 protocol is supported with tty's suitable for German BTX. On D-Channel, the protocols EDSS1 and 1TR6 are supported. See Documentation/isdn/README for more information. Support synchronous PPP CONFIG_ISDN_PPP This enables synchronous PPP via ISDN. This protocol is used by Cisco or Sun for example. So you want say Y here if the other end of your ISDN connection supports it. You will need a special version of pppd (called ipppd) for using this feature. See Documentation/isdn/README.syncppp and Documentation/isdn/syncPPP.FAQ for more information. Support generic MP (RFC 1717) CONFIG_ISDN_MPP With synchronous PPP enabled, it is possible to increase throughput by bundling several ISDN-connections, using this protocol. See Documentation/isdn/README.syncppp for more information. Use VJ-compression with synchronous PPP CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_VJ This enables Van Jacobson header compression for synchronous PPP. Support audio via ISDN CONFIG_ISDN_AUDIO With this option enabled, the modem-emulator supports a subset of the EIA Class 8 Voice commands. Using a getty with voice-support (mgetty+sendfax by gert@greenie.muc.de with an extension, available with the ISDN utility package for example), you will be able to use your Linux box as an ISDN-answering machine. Of course, this must be supported by the lowlevel driver also. Currently, the Teles driver is the only voice-supporting one. See Documentation/isdn/README.audio for more information. ICN 2B and 4B support CONFIG_ISDN_DRV_ICN This enables support for two kinds of ISDN-cards made by a German company called ICN. 2B is the standard version for a single ISDN line with two B-channels, 4B supports two ISDN lines. For running this card, additional firmware is necessary, which has to be downloaded into the card using a utility which is distributed separately. See Documentation/isdn/README and README.icn for more information. Teles, NICCY1016PC, Creatix support CONFIG_ISDN_DRV_TELES This enables support for the Teles ISDN-cards S0-16.0, S0-16.3, S0-8 and many compatibles. By default, the driver is configured to support a 16.0-type using EDSS1-protocol. See Documentation/isdn/README on how to configure it using 16.3, a different D-channel protocol, or non-standard irq/port/shmem settings. PCBIT-D support CONFIG_ISDN_DRV_PCBIT This enables support for the PCBIT ISDN-cards. This card is manufactured in Portugal by Octal. For running this card, additional firmware is necessary, which has to be downloaded into the card using a utility which is distributed separately. See Documentation/isdn/README and Documentation/isdn/README.pcbit for more information. Support for AP1000 multicomputer CONFIG_AP1000 This enables support for a sparc based parallel multi-computer called an AP1000+. For details on our efforts to port Linux to this machine see http://cap.anu.edu.au/cap/projects/linux or mail to hackers@cafe.anu.edu.au # need an empty line after last entry, for sed script in Configure. # # This is used by ispell.el: # # LocalWords: CONFIG coprocessor DX Pentium SX lilo loadlin HOWTO ftp sunsite # LocalWords: unc edu docs emu README kB BLK DEV FD Thinkpad fd MFM RLL IDE gz # LocalWords: cdrom harddisk diskless netboot nfs xzvf ATAPI MB harddrives ide # LocalWords: HD harddisks CDROMs IDECD NEC MITSUMI filesystem XT XD PCI bios # LocalWords: ISA EISA Microchannel VESA BIOSes IPC SYSVIPC ipc Ctrl dmesg hlt # LocalWords: BINFMT Linkable http ac uk jo html GCC Sparc AVANTI CABRIOLET EB # LocalWords: netscape gcc LD CC toplevel MODVERSIONS insmod rmmod modprobe IP # LocalWords: genksyms INET loopback gatewaying ethernet internet PPP ARP Arp # LocalWords: howto multicasting MULTICAST MBONE firewalling ipfw ACCT resp ip # LocalWords: proc acct IPIP encapsulator decapsulator klogd PCTCP RARP EXT PS # 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