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Date:      Mon, 17 Jul 2000 22:24:22 -0400 (EDT)
From:      eogren@earthlink.net
To:        FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org
Subject:   docs/19997: [PATCH] Addition of info about debug kernels to the FAQ
Message-ID:  <200007180224.e6I2OMk46774@rod.darktech.org>

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>Number:         19997
>Category:       docs
>Synopsis:       [PATCH] Addition of info about debug kernels to the FAQ
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       medium
>Responsible:    freebsd-doc
>State:          open
>Quarter:        
>Keywords:       
>Date-Required:
>Class:          doc-bug
>Submitter-Id:   current-users
>Arrival-Date:   Mon Jul 17 19:30:01 PDT 2000
>Closed-Date:
>Last-Modified:
>Originator:     Eric Ogren
>Release:        FreeBSD 4.0-STABLE i386
>Organization:
>Environment:

Doc repository supped approximately 1/2 an hour ago (7/17/2000, 22:00 EDT)

>Description:

 There have been a couple more "why is my kernel so huge??" questions on
the mailing lists recently, so I thought adding an entry to the FAQ about
debug kernels would be a good idea. I stuck in the Kernel Configuration
section; I'm not sure if it's better there or under System Administration. 
 I seem to remember this being batted around -doc a couple of days ago by
somebody else (Ben Smithurst maybe?), but I deleted all of that email, and
I can't see any other entries having to do with debug kernels in the FAQ,
so...

 >How-To-Repeat: 

n/a
>How-To-Repeat:
>Fix:

Index: book.sgml
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/local/doctree/doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml,v
retrieving revision 1.72
diff -u -r1.72 book.sgml
--- book.sgml	2000/07/16 20:39:43	1.72
+++ book.sgml	2000/07/18 02:19:05
@@ -4100,6 +4100,33 @@
 </answer></qandaentry>
 
 <qandaentry><question>
+<para>Why is my kernel so big (over 10MB)?</para></question><answer>
+
+<para>Chances are, you compiled your kernel in <emphasis>debug
+mode</emphasis>. Kernels built in debug mode contain many symbols that
+are used for debugging, thus greatly increasing the size of the
+kernel. Note that if you running a FreeBSD 3.0 or later system, there
+will be little or no performance decrease from running a debug
+kernel, and it is useful to keep one around in case of a system
+panic.</para>
+<para>However, if you are running low on disk space, or you simply
+don't want to run a debug kernel, make sure that:</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+ <listitem><para>You do not have a line in your kernel configuration file
+ that reads <emphasis>makeoptions DEBUG=-g</emphasis>,
+ and</para></listitem>
+ 
+ <listitem><para>You are not running <command>config</command> with the
+ <option>-g</option> option.</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+
+<para>Both of the above situations will cause your kernel to be built
+in debug mode. As long as you make sure you follow the steps above,
+you can build your kernel normally, and you should notice a fairly
+large size decrease; most kernels tend to be around 1.5MB to 2MB.</para>
+</answer></qandaentry>  
+
+<qandaentry><question>
 <para>Interrupt conflicts with multi-port serial code.</para></question><answer>
 
 <para><emphasis remap=bf>Q.</emphasis> When I compile a kernel with multi-port serial code, it

>Release-Note:
>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted:


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