Translations:Kernel/Gentoo Kernel Configuration Guide/22/en

The situation is somewhat confused by varying degrees of standardisation in the hardware world. Unless you really deviate from the defaults, your IDE hard disks will "just work", as will your PS/2 or USB keyboard and mouse. You'll get basic VGA display support. However, some devices such as ethernet adapters are barely standardised at all, so you'll have to identify the ethernet chipset and select the appropriate hardware support for your specific card to get any network access at all.