[CentOS] build custom kernel

Hi guys!
i followed tutorial for building custom kernel for centos5
http://howtoforge.com/kernel_compilation_centos with lastest kernel
downloaded from kernel.org .
in menuconfig i used /boot/config-(mycurrentcentoskernel) as a
configuration. then i compiled with make rpm.
Result was ok, but my kernel was about 400MB of size! :(
Next problem was that alltought i we had ip_nat as a module selected in
menuconfig, i did not had it, and i was not able to modprobe ip_nat , so my
iptables were not working.

I am looking for some help and experiences. Probably in thinks like :
howto make new kernel for centos to be the most compatible (using
/boot/config... probably).

The reason why i need this is :

- problem with pptpd on x64 centos 5.1 (causes freezing --- found that it is
a kernel bug .. still not fixed in rhel - centos :( )
- problem with ath_pci (atheros module) which causes masine freezing after
hours of use without any footprints in logs , tested that on fedora 8 this
works stable :(

Thanks in advance!

David
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/attachments/20080320/ab9565e3/attachment.html>