kernel configuration

Hi friends,

I'm trying to rebuild Linux from scratch for FriendlyARM mini6410, and I
noticed that every time i try to build the image it keeps asking me for
configuration even with the presence of the .config  file in the right
place, the command i use to rebuild the image is : 

make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux- zImage

then instead of compiling the sources i see what seems to be the
configuration menu which appears after taping : 

make config

and then that gets me another configuration file which is not the one i'm
hoping to use. My question is : is this scenario normal? if no what am i
doing wrong or how can i avoid it ? 

Thanks in advance

Where did this .config file comes from?

If it was copied from somewhere, run "make ARCH=arm oldconfig" to make it
valid.

At the start of a compiling session I just export the PATH, ARCH and
CROSS_COMPILE vars:
export PATH=/path/to/compiler/bin:$PATH
export ARCH=arm
export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-

then just rename the .config file and put it in the arch/arm/configs
directory (something like mini6410_defconfig) then instead of copying stuff
or running oldconfig you can just do:
make mini6410_defconfig
make

and it will pick up your settings correctly from the env vars.

Thanks Reggie that worked. But i still have another question if you don't
mind of course, do you happen to know any version of kernel and rtlinux
patch that can work on mini6410, i spend a lot of time trying to find one
but i still have trouble compiling the kernel after applying the patch, i
tried the kernel 3.0 with patch for mini6410 and rt patch proposed by
timesys for that matter (here's the link
http://repository.timesys.com/buildsources/k/kernel/kernel-3.0/ ) but it
always gives me some compilation errors i guess it's because of the changes
made by the patch. So i am wondering if you have any suggestions. Thanks