(I didn't see a Gentoo specific seciton so I figured this was the best place to start. If this is wrong please let me know or move this post to where it needs to be. Thanks )

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,

Moving to the General distributions section This section is specifically for questions regarding www.linuxfromscratch.org

Cool

Gentoo Install Doc

Save a lot of download time with the Gentoo Essentials (3 CD Set) available at Gentoo CDs

Apparently you want a stage 1 install. After extractin the tarball, here is what I suggest:

mount -t proc proc /mnt/gentoo/proc
chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
env-update
source /etc/profile
cd /usr/portage
scripts/bootstrap.sh
emerge rsync
emerge system
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Eastern /etc/localtime
emerge -u ppp wvdial gaming-sources gentoo sysklogd dcron reiserfsprogs mc links fluxbox
rc-update add sysklogd default
crontab /etc/crontab
rc-update add dcron default
rc-update add gpm default
cd /usr/src/linux
make menuconfig
Compile the kernel, edit the needed config files, reboot and you have a working system with a gui. This takes about 2 days on my Duron 950 w 512 mb ram

# Cheap CDs
AlmostFreeLinux
Discount Linux CDs
Linux Central
Cheapbytes
TuxCDs
ComputerHelperGuy
CheapISO
Os Heaven

Hey Fancypiper,

If I want gentoo to optimize everything for me wouldn't this be opting for a Stage 3 install?

Stage one looks like that is for very advanced users.

Why would this take 2 days. Your system is faster than mine with more memeory ta boot. Plus I'm on a frigging dialup connection. Your scaring the crap out of me man.

Please confirm..

As I stated, the Gentoo Essentials CDs will save you lots of download time and it also has a recent portage tree which will allow you to skip the emerge rsync the first time. I am on dialup and they didn't have that stuff when I installed. I used a Knoppix Live CD and a stage 1 tarball to start and I had to download everything. I think it was around a week. I repartitioned my drive and rebuilt it over the weekend. It took 42 hours from start to reboot. The computer was doing all the work as I was cooking stuff for a family get together and running around doing other stuff.

From the install link I provided (well worth reading, BTW):

If you're not doing a GRP install, should you start from a stage1, stage2, or stage3 tarball? Here is some information that should help you make this decision.

Starting from a stage1 allows you to have total control over the optimization settings and optional build-time functionality that is initially enabled on your system. This makes stage1 installs good for power users who know what they are doing. It is also a great installation method for those who would like to know more about the inner workings of Gentoo Linux.

Stage2 installs allow you to skip the bootstrap process and doing this is fine if you are happy with the optimization settings that we chose for your particular stage2 tarball.

And choosing to go with a stage3 allows for the fastest install of Gentoo Linux, but also means that your base system will have the optimization settings that we chose for you (which to be honest, are good settings and were carefully chosen to enhance performance while maintaining stability). Since major releases of Gentoo Linux have stage3's specifically optimized for various popular processors, starting from a stage3 can offer the best of all worlds -- a fast install and a system that is well-optimized.

If you're installing Gentoo Linux for the first time, consider using a stage3 tarball for installation, or a stage3 with GRP.

Pick your choice, fast install with an off-the-hanger suit GRP or stage 3, or you can tailor your suit to fit your box exactly with stage one.

Why be scared of Linux?????????????

Well - to compile from scratch to kde takes about two days on a 900 mhz Duron Processor.
To optimise everything the way you want it you start with stage 1.
It doesn't really matter if you use Stage1 or 3 as far as it being more or less difficult - you'll have to compile your kernel any way you cut it.
Dialup - gentoo - no idea if that works for installing it.

Hmmm.

Ok..thanks.

The gentoo site has excellent - really - instructions on installing. Step by step and complete.

Yup,

I've been going through it no most of the day. Joined up to thier list as well. Coo...coo... stuff.

Thanks for the reply Vbenares.

The problem with the Gentoo Essentials (and stages 2 and 3 to a point) is that the Portage tree changes on a daily basis so whatever you download today is most likely highly out of date so you're still best advised to do the emerge sync step during the installation as this way you won't get any nasty surprises when you emerge sync && emerge -uDp world at the end.

Hey LSD,

Im doing the install right now. I burned the cd's on friday last week. I was told to do a stage3 GRP install. I don't understand the difference really between the advantage of a stage3 GRP and just a stage3 install?

And I didn't really understand what you meant in your last post?
I thought that if I did a stage3 GRP install that I would grab what was most recent as of Friday and then after I got my internet connection (dohp dial-up ppp connection) up and running that I would just rsync the portage tree.

I have a faint idea of what I'm talking about, so excuse me if this sounds real noobish..

Thanks man,

As I understand it, every major thing in a stage 3 GRP install is precompiled allowing you to get up and running much quicker than even a Stage 3 install allows as even stuff like XFree86 is already compiled.

What I tried to get across in my last post was that Gentoo isn't a "static" distribution like Red Hat or Mandrake who make new releases once, maybe twice a year but one that's evolving on a daily basis. When a versions of packages are released, new ebuilds for them are usually also released into Portage within a day or two (at the very most). What this means is that if you start from a reference point like Stage 2, 3 or the Gentoo Essentials, especially if it's fairly old, you're copy of the Portage tree is likely to be highly out of date and require a fair bit of updating to make it current.

Now, from what I can tell, the LiveCDs and Stage tarballs haven't been updated since early August when Gentoo 1.4 (although version numbers are pretty meaningless in Gentoo for the above reason) went final. In other words, just because you downloaded it on Friday doesn't mean it's been updated to reflect was was in Portage on Friday. The best thing to do in this situation is when you get to the "Starting from Stage 3" section of the install guide follow their directions to update the system but do an "emerge sync" before export CONFIG_PROTECT="-*" emerge -u system (although you're best advised to add --deep or -D to that command to really get it up to date) before you start installing stuff like XFree86, GNOME or KDE.

To late now.

What effect is this going to have now?


Thanks,

If you haven't done an emerge sync at all then it means you're more than likely using packages that are at least 3-4 weeks old. The best way out of this is to do an emerge sync followed by an emerge -uD world which'll bring everything right up to date. You might also want to prepend FEATURES="-sandbox" and do the export CONFIG_PROTECT="-*" to the latter as it'll allow Portage to overwrite what it considers to be critical system files (don't worry, the procedure should be quite safe if you haven't modified the files) without chucking a fit (and believe me, when you encounter a sandbox, does Portage throw a fit!). You might also want to add ARCH="~x86" to your make.conf (theres an example line already in there, just find it, edit it and uncomment it) as that'll unlock the really updated packages. The downside to this is that you'll most likely need a fair few packages updated and if it has to go out to the internet for them (in some cases you may be lucky and get an incremental -r* release which means that Gentoo have added a patch or something to correct a bug but the original tarball for the program'll be used, it won't redownload it) you'll be doing a fair bit of downloading.

This is why I insist that distros like Gentoo and Debian unstable are best installed entirely from the Internet as that way you'll stand a better chance of getting the latest packages. The downside is of course that installing this way does take the longest (my last Gentoo build took a week from start to finish) but it's well worth it in the end, particularly for Gentoo.