Why can't it find KDE? Then when I emerged xdm, I get a different login screen.
I have a feeling if I could login that it won't go to KDE!
I'm SOO reformatting! I screwed up!
Make sure the relavent part of /etc/conf.d/xdm looks like so, namely DISPLAYMANAGER should be kdm. This should startup kde by default. I personally prefer to use the xdm/kdm/gdm that is appropriate for the desktop in use.
# What display manager do you use ? [ xdm | gdm | kdm | kdm-4.3 | gpe | entran$
# NOTE: If this is set in /etc/rc.conf, that setting will override this one.
#
# KDE-specific note:
# - If you are using kdeprefix go with "kdm-4.Y", e.g. "kdm-4.3".
# You can find possible versions by looking at the directories in /usr/kde/.
# - Else, if you are using KDE 3 enter "kdm-3.5"
# - Else, if you are using KDE 4 enter "kdm" without a version
DISPLAYMANAGER="kdm"
just out of curiosity, which profile did you go with? if you went with the desktop profile, it will include USE flags that are more useful with a desktop. that can be found in this section of the handbook:
it has been a while since i have set up X on gentoo but it might actually have the specific video card flag for that. you might post your 'emerge --info'. if you used genkernel to compile the kernel, then you probably have the kernel modules for your video card already set up. i am not sure if it is still true, but the default gentoo kernel used to not include sound support. that may have changed though as it has been a while since i have used it as a primary OS.
if compiling seems slow, you might also want to make sure you have 'MAKEOPTS' set in your make.conf to 'MAKEOPTS="-j3"'. like you said, the documentation is pretty straight forward but it can be easy to skip over some steps if you aren't totally sure what they mean.
keep in mind that -j3 is ONLY if you have a dual core. The number is (cores+1), so that being said, with a quad core it'd be -j5 or -j9 depending on hyper threading. Also, another thing worth noting is limiting this number may speed up userland when building packages. So if you set it to -j5 on a hyper threaded quad core, you should have more usable userland while compiling.
The X Server Configuration HOWTO
Gentoo KDE Guide
Personally, I detest meta packages, so instead of kde-meta or kdebase-meta I use "kdebase-startkde kdm kdesktop dolphin"
I tend to build my own removing packages I don't like. Meta packages are easy to make.
The base install was successful. After reading probably the most straightfoward documentation I saw in a long time!
But, now, how should I go with installing XOrg and the Intel driver support for my other rig. It uses i915.
I get confusing options of how to get the proper drivers and modules!
But, compiling the kernel was a piece of cake! Zero problems with the kernel.
And emerging KDE is taking a lllloooongggg time! Feels like I'm on a 486 SX 25 Mhz!
But, I may have the wrong options, so X could be still kicking me.
KDE is C++, and C++ believe it or not is very hard to compile. A C program comparatively compiles much faster.
Here's something I want to point out, this will make your life easier:
Add the following to /etc/make.conf
VIDEO_CARDS="intel"
If there already is a VIDEO_CARDS= field, replace it with the above. This will activate any intel relavent use flags and make sure everything is built to suit an intel based system.
