CONFIG_QTRONIX_KEYBOARD Images of Qtronix keyboards are at . CONFIG_SERIAL_NONSTANDARD Say Y here if you have any non-standard serial boards -- boards which aren't supported using the standard "dumb" serial driver. This includes intelligent serial boards such as Cyclades, Digiboards, etc. These are usually used for systems that need many serial ports because they serve many terminals or dial-in connections. Note that the answer to this question won't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause the configurator to skip all the questions about non-standard serial boards. Most people can say N here. CONFIG_SERIAL_EXTENDED If you wish to use any non-standard features of the standard "dumb" driver, say Y here. This includes HUB6 support, shared serial interrupts, special multiport support, support for more than the four COM 1/2/3/4 boards, etc. Note that the answer to this question won't directly affect the kernel: saying N will just cause the configurator to skip all the questions about serial driver options. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_SERIAL_MANY_PORTS Say Y here if you have dumb serial boards other than the four standard COM 1/2/3/4 ports. This may happen if you have an AST FourPort, Accent Async, Boca (read the Boca mini-HOWTO, available from ), or other custom serial port hardware which acts similar to standard serial port hardware. If you only use the standard COM 1/2/3/4 ports, you can say N here to save some memory. You can also say Y if you have an "intelligent" multiport card such as Cyclades, Digiboards, etc. CONFIG_SERIAL_ACPI Legacy free machines may not have serial ports at the legacy COM1, COM2 etc addresses. Serial ports on such machines are described by the ACPI tables SPCR (Serial Port Console Redirection) table and DBGP (Debug Port) table. Say Y here if you want to include support for these serial ports. CONFIG_SERIAL_SHARE_IRQ Some serial boards have hardware support which allows multiple dumb serial ports on the same board to share a single IRQ. To enable support for this in the serial driver, say Y here. CONFIG_SERIAL_DETECT_IRQ Say Y here if you want the kernel to try to guess which IRQ to use for your serial port. This is considered unsafe; it is far better to configure the IRQ in a boot script using the setserial command. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_SERIAL_MULTIPORT Some multiport serial ports have special ports which are used to signal when there are any serial ports on the board which need servicing. Say Y here to enable the serial driver to take advantage of those special I/O ports. CONFIG_HUB6 Say Y here to enable support in the dumb serial driver to support the HUB6 card. CONFIG_MWAVE The ACP modem (Mwave) for Linux is a WinModem. It is composed of a kernel driver and a user level application. Together these components support direct attachment to public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) and support selected world wide countries. This version of the ACP Modem driver supports the IBM Thinkpad 600E, 600, and 770 that include on board ACP modem hardware. The modem also supports the standard communications port interface (ttySx) and is compatible with the Hayes AT Command Set. The user level application needed to use this driver can be found at the IBM Linux Technology Center (LTC) web site: . If you own one of the above IBM Thinkpads which has the Mwave chipset in it, say Y. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module will be called mwave.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. CONFIG_AGP AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) is a bus system mainly used to connect graphics cards to the rest of the system. If you have an AGP system and you say Y here, it will be possible to use the AGP features of your 3D rendering video card. This code acts as a sort of "AGP driver" for the motherboard's chipset. If you need more texture memory than you can get with the AGP GART (theoretically up to 256 MB, but in practice usually 64 or 128 MB due to kernel allocation issues), you could use PCI accesses and have up to a couple gigs of texture space. Note that this is the only means to have XFree4/GLX use write-combining with MTRR support on the AGP bus. Without it, OpenGL direct rendering will be a lot slower but still faster than PIO. You should say Y here if you use XFree86 3.3.6 or 4.x and want to use GLX or DRI. If unsure, say N. This driver is available as a module. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . The module will be called agpgart.o. CONFIG_AGP_INTEL This option gives you AGP support for the GLX component of the XFree86 4.x on Intel 440LX/BX/GX, 815, 820, 830, 840, 845, 850 and 860 chipsets. You should say Y here if you use XFree86 3.3.6 or 4.x and want to use GLX or DRI. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_AGP_I810 This option gives you AGP support for the Xserver on the Intel 810 815 and 830m chipset boards for their on-board integrated graphics. This is required to do any useful video modes with these boards. CONFIG_AGP_I460 This option gives you AGP GART support for the Intel 460GX chipset for IA64 processors. CONFIG_AGP_VIA This option gives you AGP support for the GLX component of the XFree86 4.x on VIA MPV3/Apollo Pro chipsets. You should say Y here if you use XFree86 3.3.6 or 4.x and want to use GLX or DRI. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_AGP_AMD This option gives you AGP support for the GLX component of the XFree86 4.x on AMD Irongate, 761, and 762 chipsets. You should say Y here if you use XFree86 3.3.6 or 4.x and want to use GLX or DRI. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_AGP_SIS This option gives you AGP support for the GLX component of the "soon to be released" XFree86 4.x on Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] chipsets. Note that 5591/5592 AGP chipsets are NOT supported. You should say Y here if you use XFree86 3.3.6 or 4.x and want to use GLX or DRI. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_AGP_SWORKS Say Y here to support the Serverworks AGP card. See for product descriptions and images. CONFIG_AGP_ALI This option gives you AGP support for the GLX component of the XFree86 4.x on the following ALi chipsets. The supported chipsets include M1541, M1621, M1631, M1632, M1641,M1647,and M1651. For the ALi-chipset question, ALi suggests you refer to . The M1541 chipset can do AGP 1x and 2x, but note that there is an acknowledged incompatibility with Matrox G200 cards. Due to timing issues, this chipset cannot do AGP 2x with the G200. This is a hardware limitation. AGP 1x seems to be fine, though. You should say Y here if you use XFree86 3.3.6 or 4.x and want to use GLX or DRI. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_AGP_HP_ZX1 This option gives you AGP GART support for the HP ZX1 chipset for IA64 processors. CONFIG_I810_TCO Hardware driver for the TCO timer built into the Intel i810 and i815 chipset family. The TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) timer is a watchdog timer that will reboot the machine after its second expiration. The expiration time can be configured by commandline argument "i810_margin=" where is the counter initial value. It is decremented every 0.6 secs, the default is 50 which gives a timeout of 30 seconds and one minute until reset. On some motherboards the driver may fail to reset the chipset's NO_REBOOT flag which prevents the watchdog from rebooting the machine. If this is the case you will get a kernel message like "i810tco init: failed to reset NO_REBOOT flag". If you want to compile this as a module, say M and read . The module will be called i810-tco.o. CONFIG_VT If you say Y here, you will get support for terminal devices with display and keyboard devices. These are called "virtual" because you can run several virtual terminals (also called virtual consoles) on one physical terminal. This is rather useful, for example one virtual terminal can collect system messages and warnings, another one can be used for a text-mode user session, and a third could run an X session, all in parallel. Switching between virtual terminals is done with certain key combinations, usually Alt-. The setterm command ("man setterm") can be used to change the properties (such as colors or beeping) of a virtual terminal. The man page console_codes(4) ("man console_codes") contains the special character sequences that can be used to change those properties directly. The fonts used on virtual terminals can be changed with the setfont ("man setfont") command and the key bindings are defined with the loadkeys ("man loadkeys") command. You need at least one virtual terminal device in order to make use of your keyboard and monitor. Therefore, only people configuring an embedded system would want to say N here in order to save some memory; the only way to log into such a system is then via a serial or network connection. If unsure, say Y, or else you won't be able to do much with your new shiny Linux system :-) CONFIG_VT_CONSOLE The system console is the device which receives all kernel messages and warnings and which allows logins in single user mode. If you answer Y here, a virtual terminal (the device used to interact with a physical terminal) can be used as system console. This is the most common mode of operations, so you should say Y here unless you want the kernel messages be output only to a serial port (in which case you should say Y to "Console on serial port", below). If you do say Y here, by default the currently visible virtual terminal (/dev/tty0) will be used as system console. You can change that with a kernel command line option such as "console=tty3" which would use the third virtual terminal as system console. (Try "man bootparam" or see the documentation of your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) about how to pass options to the kernel at boot time.) If unsure, say Y. CONFIG_SERIAL This selects whether you want to include the driver for the standard serial ports. The standard answer is Y. 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 and don't intend to use their machine's standard serial port for anything. (Note that the Cyclades and Stallion multi serial port drivers do not need this driver built in for them to work.) If you want to compile this driver as a module, say M here and read . The module will be called serial.o. [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 the driver is unloaded. This limitation may be lifted in the future.] BTW1: If you have a mouseman serial mouse which is not recognized by the X window system, try running gpm first. BTW2: If you intend to use a software modem (also called Winmodem) under Linux, forget it. These modems are crippled and require proprietary drivers which are only available under Windows. 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. CONFIG_SERIAL_CONSOLE If you say Y here, it will be possible to use a serial port as the system console (the system console is the device which receives all kernel messages and warnings and which allows logins in single user mode). This could be useful if some terminal or printer is connected to that serial port. Even if you say Y here, the currently visible virtual console (/dev/tty0) will still be used as the system console by default, but you can alter that using a kernel command line option such as "console=ttyS1". (Try "man bootparam" or see the documentation of your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) about how to pass options to the kernel at boot time.) If you don't have a VGA card installed and you say Y here, the kernel will automatically use the first serial line, /dev/ttyS0, as system console. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_ROCKETPORT This is a driver for the Comtrol Rocketport cards which provide multiple 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 dial-in server. If you want to compile this driver as a module, say M here and read . The module will be called rocket.o. CONFIG_DIGIEPCA This is a driver for Digi International's Xx, Xeve, and Xem series of cards which provide multiple 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 dial-in server. This driver supports the original PC (ISA) boards as well as PCI, and EISA. If you have a card like this, say Y here and read the file . NOTE: There is another, separate driver for the Digiboard PC boards: "Digiboard PC/Xx Support" below. You should (and can) only select one of the two drivers. If you want to compile this driver as a module, say M here and read . The module will be called epca.o. 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 dial-in server. If you have a card like that, say Y here and read the file . If you want to compile this driver as a module, say M here and read . The module will be called pcxx.o. CONFIG_RISCOM8 This is a driver for the SDL Communications RISCom/8 multiport card, which 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 dial-in server. If you have a card like that, say Y here and read the file . Also it's possible to say M here and compile this driver as kernel loadable module; the module will be called riscom8.o. CONFIG_COMPUTONE This driver supports the entire family of Intelliport II/Plus controllers with the exception of the MicroChannel controllers and products previous to the Intelliport II. These are multiport cards, which 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 dial-in server. If you have a card like that, say Y here and read . 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 . You will get two modules called ip2.o and ip2main.o. CONFIG_SPECIALIX This is a driver for the Specialix IO8+ multiport card (both the ISA and the PCI version) which 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 dial-in server. If you have a card like that, say Y here and read the file . Also it's possible to say M here and compile this driver as kernel loadable module which will be called specialix.o. CONFIG_SPECIALIX_RTSCTS The Specialix IO8+ card can only support either RTS or DTR. If you say N here, the driver will use the pin as "DTR" when the tty is in software handshake mode. If you say Y here or hardware handshake is on, it will always be RTS. Read the file for more information. CONFIG_RIO This is a driver for the Specialix RIO, a smart serial card which drives an outboard box that can support up to 128 ports. Product information is at . There are both ISA and PCI versions. CONFIG_RIO_OLDPCI Older RIO PCI cards need some initialization-time configuration to determine the IRQ and some control addresses. If you have a RIO and this doesn't seem to work, try setting this to Y. 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 dial-in server. For information about the Cyclades-Z card, read . As of 1.3.9x kernels, this driver's minor numbers start at 0 instead of 32. 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 . The module will be called cyclades.o. If you haven't heard about it, it's safe to say N. CONFIG_CYZ_INTR The Cyclades-Z family of multiport cards allows 2 (two) driver op modes: polling and interrupt. In polling mode, the driver will check the status of the Cyclades-Z ports every certain amount of time (which is called polling cycle and is configurable). In interrupt mode, it will use an interrupt line (IRQ) in order to check the status of the Cyclades-Z ports. The default op mode is polling. If unsure, say N. 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 dial-in server. If you say Y here, you will be asked for your specific card model in the next questions. Make sure to read in this case. If you have never heard about all this, it's safe to say N. CONFIG_STALLION If you have an EasyIO or EasyConnection 8/32 multiport Stallion card, then this is for you; say Y. Make sure to read . 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 . The module will be called stallion.o. CONFIG_ISTALLION If you have an EasyConnection 8/64, ONboard, Brumby or Stallion serial multiport card, say Y here. Make sure to read . 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 . The module will be called istallion.o. CONFIG_SERIAL_TX3912 The TX3912 is a Toshiba RISC processor based o the MIPS 3900 core; see . Say Y here to enable kernel support for the on-board serial port. CONFIG_SERIAL_TX3912_CONSOLE The TX3912 is a Toshiba RISC processor based o the MIPS 3900 core; see . Say Y here to direct console I/O to the on-board serial port. CONFIG_AU1000_SERIAL_CONSOLE If you have an Alchemy AU1000 processor (MIPS based) and you want to use a console on a serial port, say Y. Otherwise, say N. CONFIG_AU1000_UART If you have an Alchemy AU1000 processor (MIPS based) and you want to use serial ports, say Y. Otherwise, say N. CONFIG_SYNCLINK Provides support for the SyncLink ISA and PCI multiprotocol serial adapters. These adapters support asynchronous and HDLC bit synchronous communication up to 10Mbps (PCI adapter). This driver can only be built as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module will be called synclink.o. If you want to do that, say M here. CONFIG_SYNCLINKMP Enable support for the SyncLink Multiport (2 or 4 ports) serial adapter, running asynchronous and HDLC communications up to 2.048Mbps. Each ports is independently selectable for RS-232, V.35, RS-449, RS-530, and X.21 This driver may be built as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module will be called synclinkmp.o. If you want to do that, say M here. CONFIG_N_HDLC Allows synchronous HDLC communications with tty device drivers that support synchronous HDLC such as the Microgate SyncLink adapter. This driver can only be built as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module will be called n_hdlc.o. If you want to do that, say M here. CONFIG_SX This is a driver for the SX and SI multiport serial cards. Please read the file for details. This driver can only be built as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module will be called sx.o. If you want to do that, say M here. CONFIG_ESPSERIAL This is a driver which supports Hayes ESP serial ports. Both single port cards and multiport cards are supported. Make sure to read . 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 . The module will be called esp.o. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_MOXA_INTELLIO Say Y here if you have a Moxa Intellio multiport serial card. This driver can also be built as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module will be called moxa.o. If you want to do that, say M here. CONFIG_MOXA_SMARTIO Say Y here if you have a Moxa SmartIO multiport serial card. This driver can also be built as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module will be called mxser.o. If you want to do that, say M here. CONFIG_ISI This is a driver for the Multi-Tech cards which provide several serial ports. The driver is experimental and can currently only be built as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). Please read . The module will be called isicom.o. CONFIG_UNIX98_PTYS A pseudo terminal (PTY) is a software device consisting of two halves: a master and a slave. The slave device behaves identical to a physical terminal; the master device is used by a process to read data from and write data to the slave, thereby emulating a terminal. Typical programs for the master side are telnet servers and xterms. Linux has traditionally used the BSD-like names /dev/ptyxx for masters and /dev/ttyxx for slaves of pseudo terminals. This scheme has a number of problems. The GNU C library glibc 2.1 and later, however, supports the Unix98 naming standard: in order to acquire a pseudo terminal, a process opens /dev/ptmx; the number of the pseudo terminal is then made available to the process and the pseudo terminal slave can be accessed as /dev/pts/. What was traditionally /dev/ttyp2 will then be /dev/pts/2, for example. The entries in /dev/pts/ are created on the fly by a virtual file system; therefore, if you say Y here you should say Y to "/dev/pts file system for Unix98 PTYs" as well. If you want to say Y here, you need to have the C library glibc 2.1 or later (equal to libc-6.1, check with "ls -l /lib/libc.so.*"). Read the instructions in pertaining to pseudo terminals. It's safe to say N. CONFIG_UNIX98_PTY_COUNT The maximum number of Unix98 PTYs that can be used at any one time. The default is 256, and should be enough for desktop systems. Server machines which support incoming telnet/rlogin/ssh connections and/or serve several X terminals may want to increase this: every incoming connection and every xterm uses up one PTY. When not in use, each additional set of 256 PTYs occupy approximately 8 KB of kernel memory on 32-bit architectures. 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 from . It is possible to share one parallel port among several devices (e.g. printer and ZIP drive) and it is safe to compile the corresponding drivers into the kernel. If you want to compile this driver as a module however ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want), say M here and read and . The module will be called lp.o. If you have several parallel ports, you can specify which ports to use with the "lp" kernel command line option. (Try "man bootparam" or see the documentation of your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) about how to pass options to the kernel at boot time.) The syntax of the "lp" command line option can be found in . If you have more than 8 printers, you need to increase the LP_NO macro in lp.c and the PARPORT_MAX macro in parport.h. CONFIG_LP_CONSOLE If you want kernel messages to be printed out as they occur, you can have a console on the printer. This option adds support for doing that; to actually get it to happen you need to pass the option "console=lp0" to the kernel at boot time. If the printer is out of paper (or off, or unplugged, or too busy..) the kernel will stall until the printer is ready again. By defining CONSOLE_LP_STRICT to 0 (at your own risk) you can make the kernel continue when this happens, but it'll lose the kernel messages. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_PPDEV Saying Y to this adds support for /dev/parport device nodes. This is needed for programs that want portable access to the parallel port, for instance deviceid (which displays Plug-and-Play device IDs). This is the parallel port equivalent of SCSI generic support (sg). It is safe to say N to this -- it is not needed for normal printing or parallel port CD-ROM/disk support. This support is also available as a module. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . The module will be called ppdev.o. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_BUSMOUSE Say Y here if your machine has a bus 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 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. This is the generic bus mouse driver code. If you have a bus mouse, you will have to say Y here and also to the specific driver for your mouse below. This code is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module will be called busmouse.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . CONFIG_MOUSE This is for machines with a mouse which is neither a serial nor a bus mouse. Examples are PS/2 mice (such as the track balls on some laptops) and some digitizer pads. 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 from . This HOWTO contains information about all non-serial mice, not just bus mice. 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 the configurator to skip all the questions about non-serial mice. If unsure, say Y. CONFIG_LOGIBUSMOUSE 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 from . 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 . The module will be called busmouse.o. If you are unsure, say N and read the HOWTO nevertheless: it will tell you what you have. 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 from . When using a PS/2 mouse, you can get problems if you want to use the mouse both on the Linux console and under X. Using the "-R" option of the Linux mouse managing program gpm (available from ) solves this problem, or you can get the "mconv2" utility from . 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 from . CONFIG_PC110_PAD This drives the digitizer pad on the IBM PC110 palmtop. It can turn the digitizer pad into a PS/2 mouse emulation with tap gestures or into an absolute pad. 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 . The module will be called pc110pad.o. 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 from . 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. 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 . The module will be called msbusmouse.o. CONFIG_ADBMOUSE Say Y here if you have this type of bus mouse (4 pin connector) as is common on Macintoshes. You may want to read the Busmouse-HOWTO, available from . 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 . The module will be called adbmouse.o. CONFIG_ATIXL_BUSMOUSE This is a rare type of busmouse that is connected to the back of an ATI video card. Say Y if you have one of those. Note however that most mice by ATI are actually Microsoft busmice; you should say Y to "Microsoft busmouse support" above if you have one of those. Read the Busmouse-HOWTO, available from . 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 . The module will be called atixlmouse.o. If you are unsure, say N and read the HOWTO nevertheless: it will tell you what you have. CONFIG_QIC02_TAPE If you have a non-SCSI tape drive like that, say Y. Or, 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 . The module will be called tpqic02.o. 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. The program to do this is called 'qic02conf' and it is part of the tpqic02-support-X.Y.tar.gz support package. If you want to use the qic02conf program, say Y. CONFIG_FTAPE If you have a tape drive that is connected to your floppy controller, say Y here. Some tape drives (like the Seagate "Tape Store 3200" or the Iomega "Ditto 3200" or the Exabyte "Eagle TR-3") come with a "high speed" controller of their own. These drives (and their companion controllers) are also supported if you say Y here. If you have a special controller (such as the CMS FC-10, FC-20, Mountain Mach-II, or any controller that is based on the Intel 82078 FDC like the high speed controllers by Seagate and Exabyte and Iomega's "Ditto Dash") you must configure it by selecting the appropriate entries from the "Floppy tape controllers" sub-menu below and possibly modify the default values for the IRQ and DMA channel and the IO base in ftape's configuration menu. If you want to use your floppy tape drive on a PCI-bus based system, please read the file . The ftape kernel 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 . The module will be called ftape.o. Note that the Ftape-HOWTO is out of date (sorry) and documents the older version 2.08 of this software but still contains useful information. There is a web page with more recent documentation at . This page always contains the latest release of the ftape driver and useful information (backup software, ftape related patches and documentation, FAQ). Note that the file system interface has changed quite a bit compared to previous versions of ftape. Please read . CONFIG_DTLK This driver is for the DoubleTalk PC, a speech synthesizer manufactured by RC Systems (). It is also called the `internal DoubleTalk'. 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 . The module will be called dtlk.o. CONFIG_R3964 This driver allows synchronous communication with devices using the Siemens R3964 packet protocol. Unless you are dealing with special hardware like PLCs, you are unlikely to need this. 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 . The module will be called n_r3964.o. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_APPLICOM This driver provides the kernel-side support for the intelligent fieldbus cards made by Applicom International. More information about these cards can be found on the WWW at the address , or by email from David Woodhouse . 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 . The module will be called applicom.o. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_SONYPI This driver enables access to the Sony Programmable I/O Control Device which can be found in many (all ?) Sony Vaio laptops. If you have one of those laptops, read , and say Y or M here. 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 . The module will be called sonypi.o. CONFIG_INTEL_RNG This driver provides kernel-side support for the Random Number Generator hardware found on Intel i8xx-based motherboards. Both a character driver, used to read() entropy data, and a timer function which automatically adds entropy directly into the kernel pool, are exported by this driver. 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 . The module will be called i810_rng.o. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_WATCHDOG If you say Y here (and to one of the following options) 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 then 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 both 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 in the kernel source. The watchdog is usually used together with the watchdog daemon which is available from . This daemon can also monitor NFS connections and can reboot the machine when the process table is full. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT The default watchdog behaviour (which you get if you say N here) 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 say Y here, the watchdog cannot be stopped once it has been started. 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 inform the kernel about the IO port and IRQ using the "wdt=" kernel option (try "man bootparam" or see the documentation of your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) about how to pass options to the kernel at boot time). 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 . The module will be called wdt.o. CONFIG_WDTPCI If you have a PCI WDT500/501 watchdog board, say Y here, otherwise N. It is not possible to probe for this board, which means that you have to inform the kernel about the IO port and IRQ using the "wdt=" kernel option (try "man bootparam" or see the documentation of your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) about how to pass options to the kernel at boot time). 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 . The module will be called wdt_pci.o. 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. CONFIG_WDT_501_FAN Enable the Fan Tachometer on the WDT501. Only do this if you have a fan tachometer actually set up. 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 . The module will be called softdog.o. 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 reboots your computer after a certain amount of time. This driver is like the WDT501 driver but for different hardware. Please read . The PC watchdog cards can be ordered from . This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module is called pcwd.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . Most people will say N. CONFIG_ACQUIRE_WDT This is the driver for the hardware watchdog on the PSC-6x86 Single Board Computer produced by Acquire Inc (and others). This watchdog simply watches your kernel to make sure it doesn't freeze, and if it does, it reboots your computer after a certain amount of time. This driver is like the WDT501 driver but for different hardware. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module is called pscwdt.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . Most people will say N. CONFIG_ADVANTECH_WDT If you are configuring a Linux kernel for the Advantech single-board computer, say `Y' here to support its built-in watchdog timer feature. See the help for CONFIG_WATCHDOG for discussion. CONFIG_W83877F_WDT This is the driver for the hardware watchdog on the W83877F chipset as used in EMACS PC-104 motherboards (and likely others). This watchdog simply watches your kernel to make sure it doesn't freeze, and if it does, it reboots your computer after a certain amount of time. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module is called mixcomwd.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . Most people will say N. CONFIG_EUROTECH_WDT Enable support for the watchdog timer on the Eurotech CPU-1220 and CPU-1410 cards. These are PC/104 SBCs. Spec sheets and product information are at . CONFIG_IB700_WDT This is the driver for the hardware watchdog on the IB700 Single Board Computer produced by TMC Technology (www.tmc-uk.com). This watchdog simply watches your kernel to make sure it doesn't freeze, and if it does, it reboots your computer after a certain amount of time. This driver is like the WDT501 driver but for slightly different hardware. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module is called ib700wdt.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read Documentation/modules.txt. Most people will say N. CONFIG_MIXCOMWD This is a driver for the Mixcom hardware watchdog cards. This watchdog simply watches your kernel to make sure it doesn't freeze, and if it does, it reboots your computer after a certain amount of time. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module is called mixcomwd.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . Most people will say N. CONFIG_MACHZ_WDT If you are using a ZF Micro MachZ processor, say Y here, otherwise N. This is the driver for the watchdog timer builtin on that processor using ZF-Logic interface. This watchdog simply watches your kernel to make sure it doesn't freeze, and if it does, it reboots your computer after a certain amount of time. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module is called machzwd.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . CONFIG_60XX_WDT This driver can be used with the watchdog timer found on some single board computers, namely the 6010 PII based computer. It may well work with other cards. It reads port 0x443 to enable and re-set the watchdog timer, and reads port 0x45 to disable the watchdog. If you have a card that behave in similar ways, you can probably make this driver work with your card as well. You can compile this driver directly into the kernel, or use it as a module. The module will be called sbc60xxwdt.o. CONFIG_RTC If you say Y here 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 (or hardware 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/driver/rtc and its behaviour is set by various ioctls on /dev/rtc. If you run Linux on a multiprocessor machine and said Y to "Symmetric Multi Processing" above, you should say Y here to read and set the RTC in an SMP compatible fashion. If you think you have a use for such a device (such as periodic data sampling), then say Y here, and read for details. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module is called rtc.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . CONFIG_H8 The Hitachi H8/337 is a microcontroller used to deal with the power and thermal environment. If you say Y here, you will be able to communicate with it via a character special device. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_NVRAM If you say Y here and create a character special file /dev/nvram with major number 10 and minor number 144 using mknod ("man mknod"), you get read and write access to the 50 bytes of non-volatile memory in the real time clock (RTC), which is contained in every PC and most Ataris. This memory is conventionally called "CMOS RAM" on PCs and "NVRAM" on Ataris. /dev/nvram may be used to view settings there, or to change them (with some utility). It could also be used to frequently save a few bits of very important data that may not be lost over power-off and for which writing to disk is too insecure. Note however that most NVRAM space in a PC belongs to the BIOS and you should NEVER idly tamper with it. See Ralf Brown's interrupt list for a guide to the use of CMOS bytes by your BIOS. On Atari machines, /dev/nvram is always configured and does not need to be selected. This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module will be called nvram.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . CONFIG_ATOMWIDE_SERIAL If you have an Atomwide Serial card for an Acorn system, say Y to this option. The driver can handle 1, 2, or 3 port cards. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_DUALSP_SERIAL If you have the Serial Port's dual serial card for an Acorn system, say Y to this option. If unsure, say N. CONFIG_NWBUTTON If you say Y here and create a character device node /dev/nwbutton with major and minor numbers 10 and 158 ("man mknod"), then every time the orange button is pressed a number of times, the number of times the button was pressed will be written to that device. This is most useful for applications, as yet unwritten, which perform actions based on how many times the button is pressed in a row. Do not hold the button down for too long, as the driver does not alter the behaviour of the hardware reset circuitry attached to the button; it will still execute a hard reset if the button is held down for longer than approximately five seconds. 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 . The module will be called nwbutton.o. Most people will answer Y to this question and "Reboot Using Button" below to be able to initiate a system shutdown from the button. CONFIG_NWBUTTON_REBOOT If you say Y here, then you will be able to initiate a system shutdown and reboot by pressing the orange button a number of times. The number of presses to initiate the shutdown is two by default, but this can be altered by modifying the value of NUM_PRESSES_REBOOT in nwbutton.h and recompiling the driver or, if you compile the driver as a module, you can specify the number of presses at load time with "insmod button reboot_count=". CONFIG_A2232 This option supports the 2232 7-port serial card shipped with the Amiga 2000 and other Zorro-bus machines, dating from 1989. At a max of 19,200 bps, the ports are served by a 6551 ACIA UART chip each, plus a 8520 CIA, and a master 6502 CPU and buffer as well. The ports were connected with 8 pin DIN connectors on the card bracket, for which 8 pin to DB25 adapters were supplied. The card also had jumpers internally to toggle various pinning configurations. This driver can be built as a module; but then "generic_serial.o" will also be built as a module. This has to be loaded before "ser_a2232.o". If you want to do this, answer M here and read "". CONFIG_DS1620 Say Y here to include support for the thermal management hardware found in the NetWinder. This driver allows the user to control the temperature set points and to read the current temperature. It is also possible to say M here to build it as a module (ds1620.o) It is recommended to be used on a NetWinder, but it is not a necessity. CONFIG_SERIAL_21285 If you have a machine based on a 21285 (Footbridge) StrongARM(R)/ PCI bridge you can enable its onboard serial port by enabling this option. The device has major ID 4, minor 64. CONFIG_SERIAL_21285_CONSOLE If you have enabled the serial port on the 21285 footbridge you can make it the console by answering Y to this option. CONFIG_NWFLASH If you say Y here and create a character device /dev/flash with major 10 and minor 160 you can manipulate the flash ROM containing the NetWinder firmware. Be careful as accidentally overwriting the flash contents can render your computer unbootable. On no account allow random users access to this device. :-) This driver is also available as a module ( = code which can be inserted in and removed from the running kernel whenever you want). The module will be called nwflash.o. If you want to compile it as a module, say M here and read . If you're not sure, say N. CONFIG_21285_WATCHDOG The Intel Footbridge chip contains a builtin watchdog circuit. Say Y here if you wish to use this. Alternatively say M to compile the driver as a module, which will be called wdt285.o. This driver does not work on all machines. In particular, early CATS boards have hardware problems that will cause the machine to simply lock up if the watchdog fires. "If in doubt, leave it out" - say N. CONFIG_977_WATCHDOG Say Y here to include support for the WB977 watchdog included in NetWinder machines. Alternatively say M to compile the driver as a module, which will be called wdt977.o. Not sure? It's safe to say N. CONFIG_HVC_CONSOLE pSeries machines when partitioned support a hypervisor virtual console. This driver allows each pSeries partition to have a console which is accessed via the HMC.