Note that Ubuntu kernels build with debugging information on, which makes the resulting kernel modules (*.ko files) much larger than they would otherwise be (linux-image*.deb will be 200-300 MB instead of 20-30 MB). To turn this off, go into “Kernel hacking”; then, under “Kernel debugging”, turn off “Compile the kernel with debug info”.
It’s outdated maybe. When building kernel 2.6.24.x in Hardy, It WAS 200-300MB. But in Lucid, it is always 20-30MB. When you turn off the option, the build process took 80min instead of 100min, and 800MB instead of 5G storage. The option is configured by “CONFIG_DEBUG_KERNEL” in .config file.
After all, two files were generated. It contains 2772 modules. You may find the usage of “–append-to-version” and “–revision” options here:
*) linux-headers-2.6.33.4-custom_2.6.33.4-1_i386.deb
*) linux-image-2.6.33.4-custom_2.6.33.4-1_i386.deb
The last 2 lines are NOT mentioned in the wiki. They are used to generate the initrd image in Lucid. The build also do not generate abi and vmcoreinfo files in /boot.
Add option “skipmodule=true” to the last command line. If you got:
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get_debug_info: Can't create a handle for a new debug session.
makedumpfile Failed.
Add option “no_dumpfile=true” to the last command line. And there will be no vmcoreinfo-2.6.32-22-core2 file.
5. Done:
I found that Lucid has 2675 driver modules while Hardy has only 1921. It seems the kernel was greatly enhanced between the two releases.
My T60 has a Duo Core 1.83G CPU. It took about 90 minutes to finish. The kernel also consumed about 4G storage T.T. After all, two *.deb files were generated:
*) linux-headers-2.6.32-22-core2_2.6.32-22.33_i386.deb
*) linux-image-2.6.32-22-core2_2.6.32-22.33_i386.deb
6. Others:
Since the build process used so much storage, I was monitor my available disk space from time to time using “df” utility. I found the “free space” is about 500M larger than “available space”. What happened? Then I found the answer here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=328786&page=3 . We can use “tune2fs” utility to set the size of reserved space:
Set the percentage of the filesystem which may only be allocated by privileged processes. Reserving some number of filesystem blocks for use by privileged processes is done to avoid filesystem fragmentation, and to allow system daemons, such as syslogd(8), to continue to function correctly after non-privileged processes are prevented from writing to the filesystem. Normally, the default percentage of reserved blocks is 5%.
Today, I finally reverted to use pidgin instead of emphathy.
There’s a plugin call “musictracker” which displays the “now playing” info.
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# sudo apt-get install pidgin-musictracker
It seems that nickname cannot be changed when using MSN protocol.
I did set the friendly name, but Others cannot see.
And the personal message is called status in pidgin, so set it there.
For QQ protocol, using pidgin may cause activation problem.
An error shows to tell you to activate your account via jihuo.qq.com.
Open the account settings, uncheck the “Connect by TCP” may solve the issue.
I google a lot to find a plugin for rhythmbox to show lyrics automatically.
Though rhythmbox does have a lyrics plugin, it cannot find most Chinese lyrics.
Then I find LrcShow-X. It works well.
The iBus IME issue seems to be fixed in this version.
But the “Home” and “End” key do not work correctly. This is a resolved bug.
So, change the key type to “linux” may workaround.
3. emphathy
Pidgin is replaced with emphathy.
Emphathy is not as powerful as pidgin.
But it integrates better with Gnome’s notification area.
4. totem/rhythmbox
These are video/audio players.
Please install essential codecs.
Otherwise, almost nothing could be played and seek function is not available.
Now, almost all media formats can be played.
Also, media plugins in firefox works.
5. fglrx
This is the graphics driver for ATI cards.
You may experience better performance and effects.
But after I installed it, I could not play Warcraft III using wine.
So I reverted to the original default graphics driver, and it works.
To play other 3D games, make sure your have turned off compiz firstly.
Then the volume button works.
The play/pause/stop/prev/next buttons also work in rhythmbox.
8. fstab
I want to mount all windows partitions when boot.
So /etc/fstab file should be edited automatically using pysdm:
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# sudo apt-get install pysdm
For ntfs partitions, default option is OK.
For fat32 partitins, add the “utf8=1” string.
Or you may want to edit fstab manually.
You can copy from /etc/mtab file and do some little modification.
For me, the added modified lines are:
This will install some other useful packages.
The open-source java packages are included but not necessary.
Unmark them and install sun’s packages instead.
10. modify reserved space
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# sudo tune2fs -m 3 /dev/sda2
11. ctrl+alt+backspace
See here:
Since Ubuntu 9.04, the Ctrl-Alt-Backspace key combination to force a restart of X is now disabled by default, to eliminate the problem of accidentally triggering the key combination. In addition, the Ctrl-Alt-Backspace option is now configured as an X keymap (XKB) option, replacing the X server “DontZap” option and allowing per-user configuration of this setting.
As a result, enabling or disabling the Ctrl+Alt+Backspace shortcut can now be done easily from the desktop.
– Enabling Ctrl-Alt-Backspace for Ubuntu 10.04
** Select “System” -> “Preferences” -> “Keyboard”.
** Select the “Layouts” tab and click on the “Layout Options” button.
** Select “Key sequence to kill the X server” and enable “Control + Alt + Backspace”.
– Enabling Ctrl-Alt-Backspace for Kubuntu 10.04
** Click on the Application launcher and select “System Settings”.
** Click on “Regional & Language”.
** Select “Keyboard Layout”.
** Click on “Enable keyboard layouts” (in the Layout tab).
** Select the “Advanced” tab. Then select “Key sequence to kill the X server” and enable “Control + Alt + Backspace”.
