General Boot Question

[youngun]

ok, I have a dumb question in regards to FreeBSD boot up.
This is what I understand (and I think it's wrong):
When FreeBSD boots, the kernel loads all the possible drivers, and then read rc.conf to figure out which driver is actually used. This is why recompiling the kernel is useful because you can tell the kernel EXACTLY what your system has and GET RID OFF all the other junks (drivers) once for all. This helps reducing the size and increases the speed.

Is this correct? If yes, then I don't think I need to recompile my kernel since I am a newbie and I don't see the difference it will make on my Athlon 1 Ghz computer.

 

[gheist]

nope - freebsd kernel boots with all compilled-in drivers,

boot -c option can be used to disable problem drivers

you can check "dmesg" command output to see which drivers you currently use

/etc/rc invokes multiuser mode and starts other bootup scripts after kernel has loaded completely (like rc.net configures ip addresees etc)

recompile is used to make kernel faster - ie omit support for i386, i486 , i586 and take advantage of Athlon command set and enable memory coloring to get best effect from your system cache and fine-tune some very old or very new devices

a kernel with fewer drivers boots faster - and does not work slower (nor noticeably faster)

you can build a custom kernel but copy it to new name and try booting it - if you start continuously succeeding - you are ready to make your custom highspeed kernel

 

[gheist]

.. and enable devices you need but dont have in GENERIC