How to Patch, Compile and Install the Realtime Linux Kernel (4.1.5)

If you want to get serious with music production on Linux you will need a realtime kernel. This guide is a condensed reference on how to patch, compile and install the 4.1.5. kernel. This should work with other kernel versions, too.

• Download kernel and patch:
• https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/linux-4.1.5.tar.xz
• https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/projects/rt/4.1/patch-4.1.5-rt5.patch.xz
• Extract kernel archive and patch file.
• Put the patch file one directory level above the kernel source.
• Open console if not already open and change directory to the newly created kernel source directory.
• Apply the patch to the kernel.

less ../patch-4.1.5-rt5.patch | patch -p1

• Open up the kernel configuration tool:

make menuconfig

• Configure the kernel.
• General Setup
• Timers Subsystem
• High Resolution Timer Support (enable this)
• Processor Type and Features
• Preemption Model
• Fully Preemptible Kernel (RT) (select this)
• Power Management and ACPI options
• ACPI support (disable this)
• Consider disabling other power management functionality as well.
• Build and install the kernel:

make

make modules

sudo make INSTALL_MOD_STRIP=1 modules_install

sudo make install

• Update the bootloader (probably grub) if not done automatically.

Other articles that might be interesting for you:

Patching and Compiling the Nvidia Driver for the Real-Time Kernel
How to Build Ardour from Git