1 Menuconfig gives the Linux kernel configuration a long needed face
2 lift. Featuring text based color menus and dialogs, it does not
3 require X Windows. With this utility you can easily select a kernel
4 option to modify without sifting through 100 other options.
5
6 Overview
7 --------
8 Some kernel features may be built directly into the kernel.
9 Some may be made into loadable runtime modules. Some features
10 may be completely removed altogether. There are also certain
11 kernel parameters which are not really features, but must be
12 entered in as decimal or hexadecimal numbers or possibly text.
13
14 Menu items beginning with [*], <M> or [ ] represent features
15 configured to be built in, modularized or removed respectively.
16 Pointed brackets <> represent module capable features.
17 more...
18
19 To change any of these features, highlight it with the cursor
20 keys and press <Y> to build it in, <M> to make it a module or
21 <N> to removed it. You may also press the <Space Bar> to cycle
22 through the available options (ie. Y->N->M->Y).
23
24 Items beginning with numbers or other text within parenthesis can
25 be changed by highlighting the item and pressing <Enter>. Then
26 enter the new parameter into the dialog box that pops up.
27
28
29 Some additional keyboard hints:
30
31 Menus
32 ----------
33 o Use the Up/Down arrow keys (cursor keys) to highlight the item
34 you wish to change or submenu wish to select and press <Enter>.
35 Submenus are designated by "--->".
36
37 Shortcut: Press the option's highlighted letter (hotkey).
38 Pressing a hotkey more than once will sequence
39 through all visible items which use that hotkey.
40
41 You may also use the <PAGE UP> and <PAGE DOWN> keys to scroll
42 unseen options into view.
43
44 o To exit a menu use the cursor keys to highlight the <Exit> button
45 and press <ENTER>.
46
47 Shortcut: Press <ESC><ESC> or <E> or <X> if there is no hotkey
48 using those letters. You may press a single <ESC>, but
49 there is a delayed response which you may find annoying.
50
51 Also, the <TAB> and cursor keys will cycle between <Select>,
52 <Exit> and <Help>
53
54 o To get help with an item, use the cursor keys to highlight <Help>
55 and Press <ENTER>.
56
57 Shortcut: Press <H> or <?>.
58
59
60 Radiolists (Choice lists)
61 -----------
62 o Use the cursor keys to select the option you wish to set and press
63 <S> or the <SPACE BAR>.
64
65 Shortcut: Press the first letter of the option you wish to set then
66 press <S> or <SPACE BAR>.
67
68 o To see available help for the item, use the cursor keys to highlight
69 <Help> and Press <ENTER>.
70
71 Shortcut: Press <H> or <?>.
72
73 Also, the <TAB> and cursor keys will cycle between <Select> and
74 <Help>
75
76
77 Data Entry
78 -----------
79 o Enter the requested information and press <ENTER>
80 If you are entering hexadecimal values, it is not necessary to
81 add the '0x' prefix to the entry.
82
83 o For help, use the <TAB> or cursor keys to highlight the help option
84 and press <ENTER>. You can try <TAB><H> as well.
85
86
87 Text Box (Help Window)
88 --------
89 o Use the cursor keys to scroll up/down/left/right. The VI editor
90 keys h,j,k,l function here as do <SPACE BAR> and <B> for those
91 who are familiar with less and lynx.
92
93 o Press <E>, <X>, <Enter> or <Esc><Esc> to exit.
94
95
96 Final Acceptance
97 ----------------
98 With the exception of the old style sound configuration,
99 YOUR CHANGES ARE NOT FINAL. You will be given a last chance to
100 confirm them prior to exiting Menuconfig.
101
102 If Menuconfig quits with an error while saving your configuration,
103 you may look in the file /usr/src/linux/.menuconfig.log for
104 information which may help you determine the cause.
105
106 Alternate Configuration Files
107 -----------------------------
108 Menuconfig supports the use of alternate configuration files for
109 those who, for various reasons, find it necessary to switch
110 between different kernel configurations.
111
112 At the end of the main menu you will find two options. One is
113 for saving the current configuration to a file of your choosing.
114 The other option is for loading a previously saved alternate
115 configuration.
116
117 Even if you don't use alternate configuration files, but you
118 find during a Menuconfig session that you have completely messed
119 up your settings, you may use the "Load Alternate..." option to
120 restore your previously saved settings from ".config" without
121 restarting Menuconfig.
122
123 Other information
124 -----------------
125 The windowing utility, lxdialog, will only be rebuilt if your kernel
126 source tree is fresh, or changes are patched into it via a kernel
127 patch or you do 'make mrproper'. If changes to lxdialog are patched
128 in, most likely the rebuild time will be short. You may force a
129 complete rebuild of lxdialog by changing to it's directory and doing
130 'make clean all'
131
132 If you use Menuconfig in an XTERM window make sure you have your
133 $TERM variable set to point to a xterm definition which supports color.
134 Otherwise, Menuconfig will look rather bad. Menuconfig will not
135 display correctly in a RXVT window because rxvt displays only one
136 intensity of color, bright.
137
138 Menuconfig will display larger menus on screens or xterms which are
139 set to display more than the standard 25 row by 80 column geometry.
140 In order for this to work, the "stty size" command must be able to
141 display the screen's current row and column geometry. I STRONGLY
142 RECOMMEND that you make sure you do NOT have the shell variables
143 LINES and COLUMNS exported into your environment. Some distributions
144 export those variables via /etc/profile. Some ncurses programs can
145 become confused when those variables (LINES & COLUMNS) don't reflect
146 the true screen size.
147
148
149 NOTICE: lxdialog requires the ncurses libraries to compile. If you
150 don't already have ncurses you really should get it.
151
152 The makefile for lxdialog attempts to find your ncurses
153 header file. Although it should find the header for older
154 versions of ncurses, it is probably a good idea to get the
155 latest ncurses anyway.
156
157 If you have upgraded your ncurses libraries, MAKE SURE you
158 remove the old ncurses header files. If you don't you
159 will most certainly get a segmentation fault.
160
161 WARNING: It is not recommended that you change any defines in
162 lxdialog's header files. If you have a grayscale display and
163 are brave, you may tinker with color.h to tune the colors to
164 your preference.
165
166 COMPATIBILITY ISSUE:
167 There have been some compatibility problems reported with
168 older versions of bash and sed. I am trying to work these
169 out but it is preferable that you upgrade those utilities.
170
171
172 ******** IMPORTANT, OPTIONAL ALTERNATE PERSONALITY AVAILABLE ********
173 ******** ********
174 If you prefer to have all of the kernel options listed in a single
175 menu, rather than the default multimenu hierarchy, you may edit the
176 Menuconfig script and change the line "single_menu_mode=" to
177 "single_menu_mode=TRUE".
178
179 This mode is not recommended unless you have a fairly fast machine.
180 *********************************************************************
181
182
183 Propaganda
184 ----------
185 The windowing support utility (lxdialog) is a VERY modified version of
186 the dialog utility by Savio Lam <lam836@cs.cuhk.hk>. Although lxdialog
187 is significantly different from dialog, I have left Savio's copyrights
188 intact. Please DO NOT contact Savio with questions about lxdialog.
189 He will not be able to assist.
190
191 William Roadcap was the original author of Menuconfig.
192 Michael Elizabeth Chastain <mec@shout.net> is the current maintainer.
193
194 <END OF FILE>
This page was automatically generated by the
LXR engine.
Visit the LXR main site for more
information.