The first project is to do another Linux setup with one of the more complicated distros: Gentoo. I had machines running earlier versions of Ubuntu (over 5 years ago) and CrunchBang (2 years ago). In what follows, I will discuss some of the challenges I ran into during the initial installation. Subsequent posts will discuss other details.
System Specs:
Acer V3-571-6447 (refurbished)
Intel Core i3-2328M
Intel HD Graphics 3000
Atheros 9k Wifi Card
I mainly followed the handbook for amd64. If you are using something else, the approach might be different.
Using Gentoo amd64 minimal installation CD (date stamped 2016-02-18).
I burned it to a DVD ROM rather than a CD. No problem.
Challenge 1: UEFI
Challenge 1: UEFI
The system was set up with native Windows 8 support so you can't boot to the UEFI menu from startup. I found out how to get there from this site.
Following these instructions, I then turned off UEFI, rebooted, hit F2 for bios, and then swapped the boot order so the disc drive was highest priority.
Easy enough.
Easy enough.
Challenge 2: Wifi Setup
Setup for Atheros 9k Card driver went well (modprobe ath9k).
My network was running WPA encryption so I had to switch to WEP-ASCII in order to get the network working properly. I intend to switch it back once I have the system up.
ifconfig gave me the network names and net-setup <wifi name> provided the initial setup with dhcpcd <wifi name> providing the means to get the network off the ground (i.e., successful ping of google.com).
Challenge 3: Wifi Hell
After I booted into the new kernel, I found that I didn't have access to iwconfig, so I had to boot back into the livecd and emerge --ask net-wireless/wireless-tools. My suggestion is that you do this before this point.
After that was fixed, I couldn't seem to get the wifi up. But ,there seems to be an extremely strict order to the setup. First you modprobe ath9k then you take down the network with ifconfig <wifi name> down. The next step is to set the ESSID and key with iwconfig as follows:
iwconfig <wifi name> essid "<name of network>"
iwconfig <wifi name> key s:"<ASCII-password>"
After that, ifconfig <wifi name> up has to be called before dhcpcd <wifi name> is called. That got the wifi up and running for me when no other combination or order could.
Challenge 4: Adding wpa_supplicant
This was surprisingly easy. Just follow the instructions here. Honestly, I would suggest emerging this to the new kernel from the livecd rather than dealing with iwconfig.
Note: you have to /etc/init.d/dhcpcd restart before trying to run anything. A fresh reboot always works, too.
(as one line)
wpa_supplicant -B -i<wifi name>
-c/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
is also a good command to get things rolling.
Challenge 5: Xorg
Turns out you can modify the kernel directly from within the kernel easily enough as shown here. I followed instructions for Xorg's kernel setup from here. I also built-in synaptic's touchpad source files as follows:
Device Drivers --->
I2C support --->
-*- I2C support
Input device support --->
Mice --->
<*> Synaptics I2C Touchpad support
<*> Synaptics USB device support
Challenge 6: systemd Nightmare
I got it up and running but I am not even confident what I did. I used these three websites (1, 2, 3).
Steps that I am confident happened:
Update USE:
nano -w /etc/portage/make.conf
add systemd dbus -consolekit to USE=
Using genkernel-next:
emerge -aC sys-kernel/genkernel
emerge -a sys-kernel/genkernel-next
To begin source set and installation (I did not use lvm or udev for initramfs though both sources were available in the kernel):
genkernel --menuconfig --install all
This source parameter was set:
Gentoo Linux --->
Support for init systems, system and service managers --->
[*] systemd
Symlink for mtab:
ln -sf /proc/self/mounts /etc/mtab
Install systemd (I tried setting the USE before installing and it failed):
emerge -av systemd
Updated the system:
emerge -avuND @world
Update grub (real_init worked in the final attempt... did not care to try if init would work):
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="real_init=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd"
And rebooted.
Challenge 7: NetworkManager
Had to recompile the source for a couple options listed here. In emerge'd dhclient first then set dhclient and networkmanager into the USE of make.conf. Then I emerge'd networkmanager.
emerge -a net-misc/dhcp
emerge -a net-misc/networkmanager
I then shut off dhcpcd with:
/etc/init.d/dhcpcd stop
Then booted up NetworkManager through systemd:
systemctl start NetworkManager
This initialized the network but it needed to be connected. I looked up dhclient and found the command line call here.
nmcli dev wifi connect <ssid> password <password>
This got me up and running. But, as a final cleanup I removed dhcpcd and enabled NetworkManager on boot.
emerge -cav dhcpcd
systemctl enable NetworkManager
Challenge 8: Gnome
I just followed the instructions for gnome-base/gnome-light, which can be found here.
ifconfig gave me the network names and net-setup <wifi name> provided the initial setup with dhcpcd <wifi name> providing the means to get the network off the ground (i.e., successful ping of google.com).
Challenge 3: Wifi Hell
After I booted into the new kernel, I found that I didn't have access to iwconfig, so I had to boot back into the livecd and emerge --ask net-wireless/wireless-tools. My suggestion is that you do this before this point.
After that was fixed, I couldn't seem to get the wifi up. But ,there seems to be an extremely strict order to the setup. First you modprobe ath9k then you take down the network with ifconfig <wifi name> down. The next step is to set the ESSID and key with iwconfig as follows:
iwconfig <wifi name> essid "<name of network>"
iwconfig <wifi name> key s:"<ASCII-password>"
After that, ifconfig <wifi name> up has to be called before dhcpcd <wifi name> is called. That got the wifi up and running for me when no other combination or order could.
Challenge 4: Adding wpa_supplicant
This was surprisingly easy. Just follow the instructions here. Honestly, I would suggest emerging this to the new kernel from the livecd rather than dealing with iwconfig.
Note: you have to /etc/init.d/dhcpcd restart before trying to run anything. A fresh reboot always works, too.
(as one line)
wpa_supplicant -B -i<wifi name>
-c/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
is also a good command to get things rolling.
Challenge 5: Xorg
Turns out you can modify the kernel directly from within the kernel easily enough as shown here. I followed instructions for Xorg's kernel setup from here. I also built-in synaptic's touchpad source files as follows:
Device Drivers --->
I2C support --->
-*- I2C support
Input device support --->
Mice --->
<*> Synaptics I2C Touchpad support
<*> Synaptics USB device support
Challenge 6: systemd Nightmare
I got it up and running but I am not even confident what I did. I used these three websites (1, 2, 3).
Steps that I am confident happened:
Update USE:
nano -w /etc/portage/make.conf
add systemd dbus -consolekit to USE=
Using genkernel-next:
emerge -aC sys-kernel/genkernel
emerge -a sys-kernel/genkernel-next
To begin source set and installation (I did not use lvm or udev for initramfs though both sources were available in the kernel):
genkernel --menuconfig --install all
This source parameter was set:
Gentoo Linux --->
Support for init systems, system and service managers --->
[*] systemd
Symlink for mtab:
ln -sf /proc/self/mounts /etc/mtab
Install systemd (I tried setting the USE before installing and it failed):
emerge -av systemd
Updated the system:
emerge -avuND @world
Update grub (real_init worked in the final attempt... did not care to try if init would work):
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="real_init=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd"
And rebooted.
Challenge 7: NetworkManager
Had to recompile the source for a couple options listed here. In emerge'd dhclient first then set dhclient and networkmanager into the USE of make.conf. Then I emerge'd networkmanager.
emerge -a net-misc/dhcp
emerge -a net-misc/networkmanager
I then shut off dhcpcd with:
/etc/init.d/dhcpcd stop
Then booted up NetworkManager through systemd:
systemctl start NetworkManager
This initialized the network but it needed to be connected. I looked up dhclient and found the command line call here.
nmcli dev wifi connect <ssid> password <password>
This got me up and running. But, as a final cleanup I removed dhcpcd and enabled NetworkManager on boot.
emerge -cav dhcpcd
systemctl enable NetworkManager
Challenge 8: Gnome
I just followed the instructions for gnome-base/gnome-light, which can be found here.
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