I used 3.18.25 from kernel.org, applied this patch: patch-3.18.25-rt23.patch.gz.The only option is changed from the default was "Fully Preemptible Kernel (RT)”.
After that I had to edit kernel/locking/locktorture.c. an comment out the line
#include <linux/rwlock.h>
or it wouldn’t compile. (this part took me a while to figure out).
This reason I choose this kernel was to stay close the the kernel version already installed on my system (3.19.x). I have to admit, i know very little about different kernel versions…
If I would do it again, i would probably start out with the low-latency config rather than the default, but i’m not sure it it would make a difference.
One caveat though, I haven’t tested this kernel very thoroughly, so i’m not even sure it won’t blow up in my face if I were to try and send an email or something :-)
And also, I don’t seem to get hardware video acceleration (I have a intel builtin gpu). I don’t case for this too much as i plan to run this project in console only…
I’m not sure how much there is to be gained by turning off all kinds of features in the kernel, but i know that trying this out takes a lot of time, especially if you don’t really know what you’re doing :-)
cheers.
Fokke