Finally doing it,,Gentoo stage2

[jajmon]

I now have more time and patience and a better pc to put this on. Right now I am running emerge system. It has been running for about 45min. I'm running this on a P3-800 w/256mb, what are my expectations for completing 'emerge system' as far as time goes?

[theMonster]

Good luck, I don't yet have the time or patience for such an undertaking, especially since I've been majorly frustrated with Mandrake which is supposed to be "simple".

[fiji]

itll take an hour or two.. maybe more who knows.. anyway you can monitor the proccesses in a different terminal (either sshed in, or ctrl+alt+f2 , etc) with the top/ps commands

[jajmon]

Looks like it took about an hour, just came back down here, and now I am emerging sources. So far so good as I can tell.


update - things gone south.
after emerging the gentoo-sources, I opted to do emerge genkernel, that looked like it went well, then did a genkernel all, and it says there is no kernel. I then figured I could go and try a manual config, make menuconfig and it reports an error 'No rule to make target 'menuconfig'. So my question, am I totally hosed, or can I back up to a certain point and try again, and if so how far back would I go?

[MRD]

Just emerge the the kernel sources you want and do a make menuconfig. Don't use genkernel. It's really not worth it. With the menu driven kernel configuration, it's really much easier.

Make sure you are in the directory /usr/src/linux and that you have linked this directory to the linux sources you have downloaded. /usr/src/linux is usually a softlink to the sources you want to use.

Also make sure you are root.

Once you've got the kernel configured and built, move it to the boot partition and set it up with grub or lilo.

The actual commands are in the gentoo readme thingy, they vary from 2.4 to 2.6.

[SickBoy]

genkernel is a great tool. If you run it like this:

genkernel all --menuconfig

it's the same as running make menuconfig, but will automatically compile and install your kernel. A lot easier if you ask me. They don't tell you in the install guide that it's possible, though.

[{PMS}fishy]

genkernel is a great tool. If you run it like this:

genkernel all --menuconfig

it's the same as running make menuconfig, but will automatically compile and install your kernel. A lot easier if you ask me. They don't tell you in the install guide that it's possible, though.

I thought that genkernel auto detected hardware on boot up, similar to a live CD. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[jajmon]

thanks for the info - all. I tried to go back and try a few things, but I was causing myself more greef. I rebooted with the livecd, deleted my root (hda3) partition and basically started from there. The only thing different, which I think is really cool, I started the ssh server and am doing the install ssh'd from my wireless laptop upstairs in the family room. It's more comforatable - hehe. Right now I am running emerge system. Updates to follow.

[{PMS}fishy]

thanks for the info - all. I tried to go back and try a few things, but I was causing myself more greef. I rebooted with the livecd, deleted my root (hda3) partition and basically started from there. The only thing different, which I think is really cool, I started the ssh server and am doing the install ssh'd from my wireless laptop upstairs in the family room. It's more comforatable - hehe. Right now I am running emerge system. Updates to follow.

That is typically the route I go. I need to be able to do other stuff too. It kills me to be sitting infront of a computer, with just a CLI, and no OS.

[heezer7]

KNOPPIX :-D I found the other day when I was about to reinstall gentoo that you can boot fom knoppix and do the gentoo install from there. I even emerged all of Xorg and KDE before ever rebooting so I could also surf the web between compiles and stuff. Just a tip for future installs. You don't have to do anything different than a normal gentto install from the live cd if you are doing a complete web install like most people do.

[David]

That is typically the route I go. I need to be able to do other stuff too. It kills me to be sitting infront of a computer, with just a CLI, and no OS.

Gentoo livecd has irssi, an IRC client so its not totally devoid of entertainment :)


KNOPPIX :-D I found the other day when I was about to reinstall gentoo that you can boot fom knoppix and do the gentoo install from there. I even emerged all of Xorg and KDE before ever rebooting so I could also surf the web between compiles and stuff. Just a tip for future installs. You don't have to do anything different than a normal gentto install from the live cd if you are doing a complete web install like most people do.


I used the Knoppix bootcd when installing Linux on my duallie :)

[SickBoy]

I thought that genkernel auto detected hardware on boot up, similar to a live CD. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Genkernel builds a kernel, nothing else. If you just run "genkernel all" without --menuconfig, it'll pretty much build a kernel where everything is compiled as a module (so you pretty much get a generic kernel that supports alot of hardware). If you run it with --menuconfig, it runs mrproper, then menuconfig (where you can change any of the options as normal), and then copies the bzImage into /boot and renames it for you automagically.

It really does not have anything to do with autodetecting hardware.

[{PMS}fishy]

Genkernel builds a kernel, nothing else. If you just run "genkernel all" without --menuconfig, it'll pretty much build a kernel where everything is compiled as a module (so you pretty much get a generic kernel that supports alot of hardware). If you run it with --menuconfig, it runs mrproper, then menuconfig (where you can change any of the options as normal), and then copies the bzImage into /boot and renames it for you automagically.

It really does not have anything to do with autodetecting hardware.

Thanks for clearning that up. I have never used genkernel, and didn't know much about it.

I guess you really do learn something new every day.

[jajmon]

update- after a couple of failed attempts at emerge system, I'm finally compiling my kernel. Previous emerge system would fail on automake xxx not being installed. I tried to emerge automake, but that didn't go. I went to the gentoo forums and found that someone else had the same prob. The fix,,,emerge automake 'before' emerge system. I started this whole project on Sat, 5 days later, it looks much better.

[jajmon]

another update - kernel and other compiles went ok. My problem now is w/grub and it's config, no workie. So I need to backtrack on that. If I ever get this to boot, that would be cool. If it boots and I can startx and it works - wohoo. So close,,,,,,

[heezer7]

well, after you get that you still have to emerge xorg and kde or what ever wm unless you did already... :-( if you didn't

[{PMS}fishy]

another update - kernel and other compiles went ok. My problem now is w/grub and it's config, no workie. So I need to backtrack on that. If I ever get this to boot, that would be cool. If it boots and I can startx and it works - wohoo. So close,,,,,,


Your GRUB.conf should look something like this.

timeout 5
default 0
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo Linux 2004.2 (linux 2.6.8 Sound)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /kernel-2.6.8-sound root=/dev/hda3

title=Gentoo Linux 2004.2 (linux 2.6.8)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /kernel-2.6.8-gentoo root=/dev/hda3

title=Gentoo Linux 2004.2 (linux2.6.8-nolan)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /kernel-2.6.8-gentoo-lan-old root=/dev/hda3

title=Gentoo Linux 2004.2 (Try this f*****)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /kernel-2.6.8-nousb-8k root=/dev/hda3

What is the exact error that you are getting?

[jajmon]

I have that box off line right now, I'll post my grub.conf in soon.

[jajmon]

I made my grub.conf look similar to PMSFishy. I had some ramdisk thing trying to load. So I have it boot up now, however my screen doesn't look right for basic text mode. Almost like a non-english charachter set and vertical lines running thru the screen. It almost reminds me of a bad x-config. Where do I go now? tia


*edit - I figured out I need a vga= in my grub.conf