kernel optimization

[No at SPAM at mgEDV.net]

> I was wondering what strategy people use to 'KNOW' which drivers and
options 
> can me commented out/deleted when configuring the kernel file. i.e. how
does 
> one "know" he does not need the 'amr' driver (I knowI don't need this one,

> but the idea relates to a number of other settings in the config).

some hints:

boot your machine with GENERIC, it won't load stuff it doesn't really need.
(yes, it may take more mem, but if you have more than 128MB RAM, ignore it
;-)
kernel compilation is usually done if you MISS something in GENERIC which is
for example a specific piece of hw, loadable modules (kldload,
loader.conf.local)
are also a good choice avoiding kernel compilation.

read your dmesg. all main drivers/systems loaded are listed here. take care
for their parents/childs (a disk is attached to a bus which resides on a
controller...)

read the man pages for the drivers (man amr shows what it was written for if
you
don't know it)

check the web for e.g.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=freebsd+man+amr
and read the doc's you can find.

br...