1Menuconfig gives the Linux kernel configuration a long needed face
2lift. Featuring text based color menus and dialogs, it does not
3require X Windows (however, you need ncurses in order to use it).
4With this utility you can easily select a kernel option to modify
5without sifting through 100 other options.
6
7Overview
8--------
9Some kernel features may be built directly into the kernel.
10Some may be made into loadable runtime modules. Some features
11may be completely removed altogether. There are also certain
12kernel parameters which are not really features, but must be
13entered in as decimal or hexadecimal numbers or possibly text.
14
15Menu items beginning with [*], <M> or [ ] represent features
16configured to be built in, modularized or removed respectively.
17Pointed brackets <> represent module capable features.
18 more...
19
20To change any of these features, highlight it with the cursor
21keys and press <Y> to build it in, <M> to make it a module or
22<N> to removed it. You may also press the <Space Bar> to cycle
23through the available options (ie. Y->N->M->Y).
24
25Items beginning with numbers or other text within parenthesis can
26be changed by highlighting the item and pressing <Enter>. Then
27enter the new parameter into the dialog box that pops up.
28
29
30Some additional keyboard hints:
31
32Menus
33----------
34o Use the Up/Down arrow keys (cursor keys) to highlight the item
35 you wish to change or submenu wish to select and press <Enter>.
36 Submenus are designated by "--->".
37
38 Shortcut: Press the option's highlighted letter (hotkey).
39 Pressing a hotkey more than once will sequence
40 through all visible items which use that hotkey.
41
42 You may also use the <PAGE UP> and <PAGE DOWN> keys to scroll
43 unseen options into view.
44
45o To exit a menu use the cursor keys to highlight the <Exit> button
46 and press <ENTER>.
47
48 Shortcut: Press <ESC><ESC> or <E> or <X> if there is no hotkey
49 using those letters. You may press a single <ESC>, but
50 there is a delayed response which you may find annoying.
51
52 Also, the <TAB> and cursor keys will cycle between <Select>,
53 <Exit> and <Help>
54
55o To get help with an item, use the cursor keys to highlight <Help>
56 and Press <ENTER>.
57
58 Shortcut: Press <H> or <?>.
59
60
61Radiolists (Choice lists)
62-----------
63o Use the cursor keys to select the option you wish to set and press
64 <S> or the <SPACE BAR>.
65
66 Shortcut: Press the first letter of the option you wish to set then
67 press <S> or <SPACE BAR>.
68
69o To see available help for the item, use the cursor keys to highlight
70 <Help> and Press <ENTER>.
71
72 Shortcut: Press <H> or <?>.
73
74 Also, the <TAB> and cursor keys will cycle between <Select> and
75 <Help>
76
77
78Data Entry
79-----------
80o Enter the requested information and press <ENTER>
81 If you are entering hexadecimal values, it is not necessary to
82 add the '0x' prefix to the entry.
83
84o For help, use the <TAB> or cursor keys to highlight the help option
85 and press <ENTER>. You can try <TAB><H> as well.
86
87
88Text Box (Help Window)
89--------
90o Use the cursor keys to scroll up/down/left/right. The VI editor
91 keys h,j,k,l function here as do <SPACE BAR> and <B> for those
92 who are familiar with less and lynx.
93
94o Press <E>, <X>, <Enter> or <Esc><Esc> to exit.
95
96
97Final Acceptance
98----------------
99With the exception of the old style sound configuration,
100YOUR CHANGES ARE NOT FINAL. You will be given a last chance to
101confirm them prior to exiting Menuconfig.
102
103If Menuconfig quits with an error while saving your configuration,
104you may look in the file /usr/src/linux/.menuconfig.log for
105information which may help you determine the cause.
106
107Alternate Configuration Files
108-----------------------------
109Menuconfig supports the use of alternate configuration files for
110those who, for various reasons, find it necessary to switch
111between different kernel configurations.
112
113At the end of the main menu you will find two options. One is
114for saving the current configuration to a file of your choosing.
115The other option is for loading a previously saved alternate
116configuration.
117
118Even if you don't use alternate configuration files, but you
119find during a Menuconfig session that you have completely messed
120up your settings, you may use the "Load Alternate..." option to
121restore your previously saved settings from ".config" without
122restarting Menuconfig.
123
124Other information
125-----------------
126The windowing utility, lxdialog, will only be rebuilt if your kernel
127source tree is fresh, or changes are patched into it via a kernel
128patch or you do 'make mrproper'. If changes to lxdialog are patched
129in, most likely the rebuild time will be short. You may force a
130complete rebuild of lxdialog by changing to its directory and doing
131'make clean all'
132
133If you use Menuconfig in an XTERM window make sure you have your
134$TERM variable set to point to a xterm definition which supports color.
135Otherwise, Menuconfig will look rather bad. Menuconfig will not
136display correctly in a RXVT window because rxvt displays only one
137intensity of color, bright.
138
139Menuconfig will display larger menus on screens or xterms which are
140set to display more than the standard 25 row by 80 column geometry.
141In order for this to work, the "stty size" command must be able to
142display the screen's current row and column geometry. I STRONGLY
143RECOMMEND that you make sure you do NOT have the shell variables
144LINES and COLUMNS exported into your environment. Some distributions
145export those variables via /etc/profile. Some ncurses programs can
146become confused when those variables (LINES & COLUMNS) don't reflect
147the true screen size.
148
149
150NOTICE: lxdialog requires the ncurses libraries to compile. If you
151 don't already have ncurses you really should get it.
152
153 The makefile for lxdialog attempts to find your ncurses
154 header file. Although it should find the header for older
155 versions of ncurses, it is probably a good idea to get the
156 latest ncurses anyway.
157
158 If you have upgraded your ncurses libraries, MAKE SURE you
159 remove the old ncurses header files. If you don't you
160 will most certainly get a segmentation fault.
161
162WARNING: It is not recommended that you change any defines in
163 lxdialog's header files. If you have a grayscale display and
164 are brave, you may tinker with color.h to tune the colors to
165 your preference.
166
167COMPATIBILITY ISSUE:
168 There have been some compatibility problems reported with
169 older versions of bash and sed. I am trying to work these
170 out but it is preferable that you upgrade those utilities.
171
172
173******** IMPORTANT, OPTIONAL ALTERNATE PERSONALITY AVAILABLE ********
174******** ********
175If you prefer to have all of the kernel options listed in a single
176menu, rather than the default multimenu hierarchy, run the menuconfig
177with MENUCONFIG_MODE environment variable set to single_menu. Example:
178
179make menuconfig MENUCONFIG_MODE=single_menu
180
181<Enter> will then unroll the appropriate category, or enfold it if it
182is already unrolled.
183
184Note that this mode can eventually be a little more CPU expensive
185(especially with a larger number of unrolled categories) than the
186default mode.
187*********************************************************************
188
189
190Propaganda
191----------
192The windowing support utility (lxdialog) is a VERY modified version of
193the dialog utility by Savio Lam <lam836@cs.cuhk.hk>. Although lxdialog
194is significantly different from dialog, I have left Savio's copyrights
195intact. Please DO NOT contact Savio with questions about lxdialog.
196He will not be able to assist.
197
198William Roadcap was the original author of Menuconfig.
199Michael Elizabeth Chastain <mec@shout.net> is the current maintainer.
200
201<END OF FILE>
202