[gt24]

I have tried installing Linux in the past on my scratch box...

AMD K6-3 400 Mhz.
Gravis Ultrasound sound card (NEVER supported in Linux... )
Voodoo 3
an ancient 10 nic (yes, 10, not 100)
etc etc...

While linux did install (with the only issue usually being sound support), I haven't really ever learned a lot about linux, nor did I have a use for that box.

After reading a few threads around here I had a strange idea pop into my head that I implemented before thinking about it too hard... one of those things.

Gentoo stage 2 install

Now, from the jist of it, from some stuff I read, choosing stage 2 was a bad idea... either you go stage 1 or stage 3... well, anyways, on my 400 Mhz box, I'm stage 2 for now (I'm not sitting through 10 hours + whatever hours are needed for the bootstrap just to reverse and try a stage 1). I am doing ok other than some confusion about USE flags and confusing kernel options (I opted eventually to go back and recompile the kernel because my origional configuration wouldn't work, and this time I used the automatic tool...). Right now, I am stuck between chapter 10 and 6 (I had to go back to recompile the kernel, but once that is done and I complete the rest of 6, I can return to 10).

So, installation goes on... I am confused about distcc (I would LOVE to be able to configure distcc in Cigwin so that my Athlon 2400+ can assist my poor 400 mhz box) and I am trying to figure out more about it. Also, I'm waiting for the new kernel to compile (sigh...) and hoping that this box, when I get to the reboot stages, actually boots!

Eitherways, I thought to throw up a thread so that I can have some tips and insight. Any tips would be appreciated...

<edit> My experience with Linux is installing Fedora Core 3 (but not using much, especially outside the GUI). I have for a decent amount of time used a Sun Unix system through telnet, command line only. The commands are extremely similar if not exactly the same (the only difference is that pico is replaced by nano). So I do have some experience with using Linux just very little experience in knowing what linux is doing (such as where programs install to, how the kernel isn't a total mess, and alike). </edit>

[{PMS}fishy]

I guess I missed the question. What is it that you want to know?

[gt24]

The only specific questions I have so far is... distcc...

Has anybody successfully managed to make distcc run in Cygwin and thus have that "server" assist their linux box?

I have some more questions that I remembered...

Secondarily, why is stage 2 generally frowned upon? What makes it a bad choice (as in, what issues should I expect)?

Also, before I send the nice reboot command, I wonder if there is anything specific I should do after my computer restarts, other than emerge anything I can think of... The Gentoo handbook kinda ends with me at a CLI and leaves me to figure out the rest (although, I can learn more about specific features of Gentoo through future chapters in the next section). Eitherways, what should I look into doing at first?

[{PMS}fishy]

In no order. There is a desktop guide that helps you set up KDE, Xorg, and all those other goodies, but its really as simple as emerging the WM of your choice, adding it to rc.conf, and issuing startx.

No one really bothers with stage2 because if you are going to waste time building half the system you might as well build the entire thing. That, or just use stage 3 which is all ready to go. Thats what I would have done with somehting of that speed and era.

I have setup Distcc on other linux boxes, but never on a Windows machine, so Im not to sure how well that would work, or if it would at all.

[gt24]

Originally Posted by {PMS}fishy

<snip>
No one really bothers with stage2 because if you are going to waste time building half the system you might as well build the entire thing. That, or just use stage 3 which is all ready to go. Thats what I would have done with somehting of that speed and era.
</snip>

In relation to that comment, I was aware that compile would be really slow on my scratch box. So, even though "if you are going to waste time building half the system you might as well build the entire thing", I didn't want to waste ALL my time, just... well... half of it.

Irregardless, I figured the compile times would work out because most of the time I am in classes and alike and if I wasn't compiling Gentoo then that box would be off anyways. I also thought a stage 2 could be compiled and online enough within 2 weeks... a stage 1 I wasn't sure about.

Also, I made enough mistakes in a stage 2 install so far, I don't even want to know what havoc I would have accomplished in a stage 1!

Another quesiton, however I don't think I can act on this too much yet... I am making the kernel with the automatic utility, so there won't be much optimization at all. The general reason is that I configured the kernel initially without the networking support that I needed and then as I discovered I also compiled it without framebuffer support or support for my video card (). So, I decided to make a safe version just so I can get a working system... My question, finally, is... can I have more than one kernel on my system? I want the failsafe to fall back on (boot loader option?) in case my experimental options edition causes Gentoo to not boot or simply not work....

[electrorcamd]

Yes, you can use more than one kernel on your system. Make sure you copy the resulting image to the /boot partition after it is compiled, and that it has a different name than your other images in /boot partition. After you copy the kernel, you need to add it to your bootloader's menu and then you should be able to switch between them on boot. I have both a 2.6.11.3 kernel and 2.6.11.6 kernel on my setup.

[{PMS}fishy]

Yeah, you can set a defualt kernel to boot, and have many others that are selectable. I usually have 2 some times more kernels on the system at one time. Just make sure you always have one that works. It sucks to delete that one, and be stuck with none that work.

[gt24]

Originally Posted by {PMS}fishy

Yeah, you can set a defualt kernel to boot, and have many others that are selectable. I usually have 2 some times more kernels on the system at one time. Just make sure you always have one that works. It sucks to delete that one, and be stuck with none that work.

Let's assume that I am in that situation... I am not, but let us assume. Can I use my Gentoo boot CD, mount the file system, recompile the kernel from the CD, drop it into boot... blah blah blah... and fix that problem... or is it not that simple?

[{PMS}fishy]

Originally Posted by gt24

Let's assume that I am in that situation... I am not, but let us assume. Can I use my Gentoo boot CD, mount the file system, recompile the kernel from the CD, drop it into boot... blah blah blah... and fix that problem... or is it not that simple?

Ya, you could. Finding anything at my place is like looking for a needle in a haystack, so I try and avoid looking for anything.

[klingens]

To use the cygwin gcc, you will need a crosscompiler which runs on windows but produces Linux ELF binaries. The normal cygwin is not suited I think.

About the Gravis Ultrasound support:
http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc...-Gravis#matrix
Looks supported to me, tho I never owned such a card so I never tried.