To the Gentoo linux users..

I've had a friend burn me 2 cd's with the recent Gentoo linux on them. He burnt these cd's last week.

He asked what processor I was running before he burnt the cd's. So this must of ment something. I'm runnning a Intel PIII coppermine.

I want to do the Gentoo stage where it basically optimizes everything for me for now.

I'm just wondering if anyone can give me a run-down of how I should go about the install.

Right now I have a Dialup connection to the internet with "Shorewall firewall installed" and masqurading for two other windows machines gatewayed to this linux box that share the same ppp connection.

Again, any usefull general step by step outline of what I need to do to get Gentoo up and runnning. I then would like to get shorewall firewall reinstalled masqurading again and Gaim instant messenger client reinstalled.

Seems simple enough but I thought that I should ask because everytime I think that its simple I usually miss a step and fugg things up...Hoping this post and your knowlegable tips will help pre-empt any initial configuration frustrations. It looks like I'm going to be learning some Gentoo'isims as well..

My pc hardware all seemed to work just fine (detection wise) when installing mandrake.
I have a intell PIII 667EB coppermine cpu, Netgear 10/100 FA310TX nic card, SoundBlaster LIve Value edition, HP 5550 deskjet printer, ATI Radeon video card, Supra Express 56k Hardware modem, Microsoft Natural Keyboard and Optical Logitech Wheel Mouse. Not using any usb ports.

Excuse me if this is too much info. I always feel better giving out to much info than to little..:)

Much appreciated, :D

I think that your friend asked you the processor because there are different livecd images to be used, so i supose he burned for you the pentium3 optimized stages, this is the link where you can get the images:

Code:

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http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/gentoo/releases/x86/1.4/livecd/pentium3/

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In THIS url you have a install step-by-step guide that you just have to follow carefully. I recommend you using the stage3 install (pre-optimized stage, easy install) for the moment, and later when you know better how gentoo works don't worry because you won't have to reinstall to optimize it at maximum :)

If you have any questions during install process you can post here your doubts, and we will help you.. i don't think it's useful to write the install guide again, i think the oficial guide is good enough.

Before installing, let me advice you some importatnt points:

1) You need 3 partitions for gentoo to run, one for the /boot partition (unlike other distro's, gentoo keeps the /boot dir in a separate partition that is usually unmounted) another one for the swap (2xRAM), and the big one for /, where the rest of files well be installed. If you want to go the easy way, create the boot partition first (primary partition) about 20 or 30 megs will be enough. The you can create swap and root partition as logical partitions. Remember the name of every partition, i.e. hda1=boot, hd2=root,hd3=swap.. or whatever because you will need it later. You can always check by runing fdisk /dev/hda and pressing letter "p".

2) You should use "ext2" for boot partition, and "ext3" for the root partition. This is the most secure choice. You could also use ext2 for the root partition, but you wouldn't have journalling support. You could use reiserfs or even xfs, but they have been reported as kinda unstable sometimes, and you don't want to lose your data.

3) If you are a newbie, use genkernel to install the kernel, it will make the process easier. (when you reach that point on the install guide).

4) If you need a boot loader (gentoo linux will be co-living with another OS installed) i recommend you to use LILO.. grub is also very good, but more dificult to use.

5) The "USE"s thing is not fundamental to get gentoo running, but you will se that is a great way to optimize your system and have dependencies managed as you need them. (check a prog called 'ufed').

6) Basic use of portage:

To install a package:

Code:

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emerge -p package  <- this will tell you what is going to install
emerge package <- ok, go for it!

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To remove a package:

Code:

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emerge -Cp package <- this will tell you what is going to uninstall
emerge -C package <- ok, remove that i said!

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To search for packages:

Code:

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emerge -s package <- searches in the name of the package
emerge -S package <- searches in the description of the package
emerge -sS package <- c'mon, you know it ;&#41;

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Well, this is a very basic overview of what portage and gentoo is, you should check the official documentation HERE.

Hope this helps, good luck :)

Thanks Siddhartha,

Do I want to do stage 3+GRP or just Stage 3?

I want the easiest.


I think the scarriest thing that I see coming is the fact that I've never actually used fdisk before. So I'm not to sure how technical I will need to be in this area. If its just a matter of following the instructions and they give me the exact commands to use then I guess I should be alright. If they assume that I know how to use fdisk then they are mistaken.

I have a 20 gig maxtor UltraDMA 66 IDE drive and 128 megs of PC133 SDRAM.

Thanks,

Quote:

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Note: A complete Gentoo Linux 2-CD set contains the Gentoo Reference Platform, which is a complete pre-built Gentoo Linux system including GNOME, KDE, Mozilla and OpenOffice. The Gentoo Reference Platform ("GRP") was created to allow rapid Gentoo Linux package installations for those who need this capability. The "compile from source" functionality, which is the cornerstone of Gentoo Linux, will always be a fully-supported installation option as well. The purpose of the GRP is to make Gentoo Linux more convenient for some users, without impacting Gentoo's powerful "compile from source" installation process in any way.

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This is a note from the install guide i gave you, as you see you should use the grp stage because it's precompiled, and you will find it easier to install.

Don't worry about fdisk, it's not that hard.. just remember the points in my post when creating the partitions. I'm not sure if it is availablke during the intallation, but you can try to use cfdisk, which it's meant to be easier to use.

Follow the install guide and you are done for sure :D
Good luck

My buddy that burnt the CD's for me told me to just follow the install guide first time go around.

Do my hd setup is a little different than what you posted.

They suggested this as an example:

# mke2fs -j /dev/hda1
# mkswap /dev/hda2
# mkreiserfs /dev/hda3

So sense the boot partition was journaled and they said:
QUOTE:
Note: Journaled filesystems require extra space for their journal. Default settings require about 33 Megabytes of space. Therefore, if you are using a journaled filesystem for /boot, you should type +64M when prompted for the last cylinder.
UNQUOTE:
I set hda1 to +64
I set hda2 to +512 (this should actually only be 128*2) oh well.
I set hda3 to use the rest of what was left over by hitting enter, enter...

I can always reinstall if need be if you really think I should do it differently. You know better than me.

I'll give my opinion and say that boot partitions aren't really necessary anymore. Before BIOS couldn't support booting past the 1024th cylinder, but that's old news now. The Gentoo guide only uses that as an example, but it's a pretty good example if that's the road you're going to take. The only other thing I might recommend is making a seperate home partition, that way in the future reinstalls won't have to equal data loss. So basically a boot partition is up to you, I suppose it can be useful to protect the bzImage and such but it's up to you. Good luck with Gentoo and don't give up. It took me two weeks off and on before I finally sorted out my problems, but don't let that scare you; Gentoo rocks.

Hey SiezedPropaganda,

Thanks bunches.... :D


In Section 15:
Quote:
Your Gentoo Linux system is almost ready for use. All we need to do now is configure a few important system files and install the boot loader. The first file we need to configure is /etc/fstab. Remember that you should use the notail option for your boot partition if you chose to create a ReiserFS filesystem on it. Remember to specify ext2, ext3 or reiserfs filesystem types as appropriate.
UNQUOTE:


Assuming that I used the following I'm a little confused on what I need to do next and what boot loader to use?

# mke2fs -j /dev/hda1
# mkswap /dev/hda2
# mkreiserfs /dev/hda3

Thanks again. :)

my question is:

If i download the stages cd, is that all i need? or do I absolutely need to have an internet connections. I understand that for updates yes! But for the immidiate basic build w/gui do I need anything more than just the stages cds?

You dont need a internet connection to get gentoo up and running, on the stage cd a portage tree are deliverd that u can use until you get an internet connection. Thoose packages can be a little old therefor in the installation instruktion gentoo prupose you to execute an

emerge system

which download the newest packages and update you local portage tree. But that you can do whenver you want.

Hey,

Hijacking my thread dude... :D