From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon May 26 17:25:41 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 649F11065681 for ; Mon, 26 May 2008 17:25:41 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from parish@magichamster.com) Received: from jedburgh.just4dns.com (jedburgh.just4dns.com [78.129.134.130]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D03548FC1F for ; Mon, 26 May 2008 17:25:40 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from parish@magichamster.com) Received: from [86.153.243.228] (helo=movens.plus.com) by jedburgh.just4dns.com with esmtp (Exim 4.68) (envelope-from ) id 1K0gRq-0000Xr-Fo for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Mon, 26 May 2008 18:25:26 +0100 Received: from [10.10.1.4] (redshift [10.10.1.4]) by postbag.localdomain (Postfix) with ESMTP id 878111CC32 for ; Mon, 26 May 2008 18:25:37 +0100 (BST) Message-ID: <483AF28F.1080102@magichamster.com> Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 18:25:35 +0100 From: Mark Ovens User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.14 (X11/20080524) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <483ADEA1.40206@webrz.net> <483AE57B.2000106@magichamster.com> <483AEB21.4070100@webrz.net> In-Reply-To: <483AEB21.4070100@webrz.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Fuzioned-MailScanner-Information: Please contact the ISP for more information X-MailScanner-ID: 1K0gRq-0000Xr-Fo X-Fuzioned-MailScanner: Not scanned: please contact your Internet E-Mail Service Provider for details X-Fuzioned-MailScanner-SpamCheck: X-Fuzioned-MailScanner-From: parish@magichamster.com X-Spam-Status: No X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - jedburgh.just4dns.com X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - freebsd.org X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [47 12] / [47 12] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - magichamster.com X-Source: X-Source-Args: X-Source-Dir: Subject: Re: Kernel for Dual Core X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 17:25:41 -0000 Jos Chrispijn wrote: > Mark Ovens wrote: >> What version of FreeBSD? IIRC, in 7.0 GENERIC is SMP-enabled by default? > Yep, it is... >> As for your kernel config file you should remove/comment out anything >> you don't have, e.g. wireless LAN, EISA, USB NICs, RAID, SCSI etc. - >> although be aware that USB Mass Storage devices are handled as SCSI so >> if you use any of those I'd leave everything in the SCSI Peripherals >> section and just remove the SCSI Controllers. > What I don't understand: if you do a cdrom install of FreeBSD, the > Kernel is based on GENERIC. > If I look in GENERIC, most items are not hashed out and there are parts > of them that my hardware does not use. And still it works. > Why then not use the 7.0 GENERIC for my dual core system? > You can use the GENERIC kernel. I've just checked and GENERIC in 7.0 does indeed have SMP enabled by default. The reason that nothing is #'d out and just about everything is in GENERIC is because it is exactly that, a *generic* kernel, and soo needs to be able to boot on any hardware it's installed on. The advantage of building a custom kernel is that you remove anything your system doesn't have which saves time when booting as the kernel won't be probing for devices that it will never find - for example. mine is an all-SCSI system so my kernel doesn't have any IDE or floppy devices in it - and it makes the kernel smaller (although that isn't really an issue these days). An alternative is to go into the configuration editor from the main boot menu and disable those compiled-in devices that you don't have. To confirm that your running kernel has detected and started both CPUs: /home/mark{8}% grep -i cpu /var/log/messages May 26 12:10:30 redshift kernel: CPU: AMD Athlon(TM) MP 2800+ (2133.42-MHz 686-class CPU) May 26 12:10:30 redshift kernel: FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 2 CPUs May 26 12:10:30 redshift kernel: cpu0 (BSP): APIC ID: 0 May 26 12:10:30 redshift kernel: cpu1 (AP): APIC ID: 1 May 26 12:10:30 redshift kernel: cpu0: on acpi0 May 26 12:10:30 redshift kernel: cpu1: on acpi0 May 26 12:10:30 redshift kernel: SMP: AP CPU #1 Launched! /home/mark{9}% Regards, Mark