I have tried to enable the GPIO pins for my system through the Kernel but I am not able to get them to work.  When I try this:echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/exportThe terminal window just closes.  When using a different number such as 30, the terminal just hangs and I cannot ctrl-C it.  According to everything I read, if GPIO is enabled through the kernel correctly, you should be able to export a GPIO port in sysfs and then you will see each GPIO port in /sys/class/gpio.  Example /sys/class/gpio/gpio0 and then you should be able to send it values.  I am using Debian 3.11.4.
Enabling GPIO in kernel not working
linux kernel;drivers;gpio