I give up

dunderbeugen · n00b Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 8

After 8 months of trying to install Gen-who , I give up.

I have tried a few distros and Red Hat always comes out on top.

Gentoo is certainly for gurus and not the novice or amature users. It was how ever a learning experience . If only Gentoo were as easy to install as Red Hat maybe I wouldn't be writing this .

I doubt the alleged speed enhancment that Gentoo offers is any different than a properly configured Red Hat installation .

So if the portage is the only real thing that Gentoo has to offer then why a whole distro ?

Why not just use portage on other distros ?

pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20485

If you'd asked for help a while ago, we might have been able to get you going. Good luck with Red Hat.
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pilla · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 1:34 am Post subject:

Moving to Gentoo Chat.

My experience is that a well tuned box with Red Hat won't be so fast as my Gentoo installation. Anyway, the best thing with Gentoo is not performance, but the people here in the forums IMHO.
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sgaap · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 1:50 am Post subject:

easy of install and bleeding edge software...those are the reasons I use gentoo (and not redhat)

ebrostig · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 3:07 am Post subject: Re: I give up

NicholasDWolfwood · Apprentice Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 235

Haha, somebody went back to Redhat over Gentoo. Redhat, for god's sakes!

I'm 11, didn't know how to use Linux before a few weeks ago (Which at that point I had installed Redhat). I uninstalled Redhat, and then installed Gentoo (twice, actually. The first time Cinelerra didn't work and Fluxbox was on my nerves, and the second which is this time is running fine) and I got through it. If you're too dumb to "mkdir /mnt/gentoo/boot" or "./scripts/bootstrap.sh" then you obviously shouldn't be running Gentoo, or any other form of Linux.

fghellar · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 4:01 am Post subject:

pilla · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 4:36 am Post subject:

Just to remember that this kind of behaviour is discussed in the forum guidelines, and it is not welcome.

S_aIN_t · Guru Joined: 11 May 2002 Posts: 488 Location: Ottawa

well.. he is 11 after all ..

my roommate kept trying to install Gentoo. With a little help from me and some dedication he finally did it. Only to go back to windows the next day. Linux or Gentoo is not for everyone. You can and should use whatever you feel works the best for you.

Having said that, some operating systems are better in some aspects than others. Gentoo has all the latest software, the the USE variables, and of course portage (you could argue that USE is part of Portage)

RedHat is easier to install. It has a varied reputation among many people. RH has all the rpm files by using apt-rpm you can achieve funtinality similar if not to Portage then to the Debian apt-get.

Anyway, dont discard Gentoo completely. I would recommed to try it after you have spent some time using RH.
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dunderbeugen · n00b Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 8

Thanks for the responce. Don't worry about little nicky I've had more venomous text spit at me by better. You all have convinced me to keep trying. However, I still question building a distro around an app. This was the case with Bastille linux. Bastille started out as a secure distro but the task was too much. Instead they made the software to harden an existing distro. The main sell with Gentoo appears not to be the speed enhancement but the portage system. Wouldn't it be better to just attach the app to an already functional distro? I think I saw something on how to do that in one of the posts.
Just an opinion.
Maybe my problem is hardware related.
Dell Precision Workstation 530:
1st processor Intel Xeon 2.20 Ghz , 512 cache
2nd processor Intel Xeon 2.20Ghz , 512 cache
memory 1GB PC800 ECC RDRAM (2RIMMS)
hard drive 73GB Ultra 160/M SCSI, 1 inch (10,000rpm) for PERC 3
graphics card Quadro2Pro,64MB,VGA/DVI
I followed every thing to the letter... or so I thaught.
The installation bombs mid install or at the end during the grub config.
I'll have to wait till Saturday before I have another go.
Thanx.

darktux · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 3:06 pm Post subject:

If you run into some kind of trouble during your installation, and need quick answears, use irssi (an irc client which comes on the LiveCD) and log into #gentoo@irc.freenode.net and I'm sure you'll have your problems solved ASAP.
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rac · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 4:58 pm Post subject:

fghellar · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 5:27 pm Post subject:

TheCoop · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 5:39 pm Post subject:

It is possible to gentooify existing distros:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=28559

You could have the existing rh distro, but have portage install all the programs and manage all the dependancies.

One problem would be the strange places rh puts files (two copies of the same file), and the init system
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Matje · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 6:34 pm Post subject:

If you let portage manage your whole system... Then what is left of Red Hat?
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mxskweeb · n00b Joined: 19 Oct 2002 Posts: 28 Location: phoenix

grafty · n00b Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 33

scrllock · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 14 Oct 2002 Posts: 102

well, couldnt you do a VERY minimal rh install and then add portage? (need to get around to trying this)

grafty · n00b Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 33

dunderbeugen · n00b Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 8

Ok ... I am really getting annoyed! I had to dance around the instructions to get anything to write to the disk. I have scsi perc3 but gentoo did not like /dev/sda. It may be due to the PERC3 config. As a result , I had to use the fully quallified name and the drive kicked in. I continued with the install again altering things to force feed gentoo to my system and when I get done and reboot grub spits out ... Kernel must be loaded first. Like an idiot I did not make a boot disk and rembered that it was needed if raid was used. when I originally bought the system I set it up for raid but raid was too expensive even for me so I canned the idea but the config must still be resident. I am re-installing again and things are going from bad to worse. 50% if the time the install bombs and the other 50% grub fails. Damned if I do and damned if I don't. I can have Red Hat installed , tweaked and hardened 9 ways to Sunday before I burp up my breakfast. But this! ... 8 months!... and counting!

puregenius · n00b Joined: 24 Sep 2002 Posts: 56

This may be a slightly circular and obvious point but the red-hat system is based around rpms. That is: Redhat-Packet-Management-System files.
The distro's original feature is the rpm system.
Gentoo's is portage.

Why bother trying to merge them?

Linux is about individuality and getting what you want. Don't feel obliged to use any system. Use what you want. Just make sure you try the other options too. You tryed gentoo, well done. Thats better than a lot of people. Going back to red-hat is your prerogative.

Gentoo is not noob distro. I don't think its impossible, but that is heavily dependent on your situation. If you have a setup that works with the install guide, then great. Otherwise you might have problems. If you can get over them, well done. Don't get upset if you can't.

I would agree that the forums are one of the best aspects of the gentoo distro. They are actually helpful. It shouldn't, but that surprised me at first, now i love it. So, ask a question in the relevant place and see if you can get an install going.

Noone said gentoo was going to be quick, especially from stages 1 or 2, but you do it for the result. And as with most things unix its a learning experience.

So go away, ask some questions, and do some learning. :lol:

And get that gentoo feeling of love and warmth. :wink:

alex
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dunderbeugen · n00b Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 8

Why bother trying to merge them?

I agree. I tried and it and blew my Red Hat to hell . So ... as long as my distro was blown to hell I figured I would try again as I have for 8 long annoying months. I still think the instructions need to be tweeked for my system.

example : my system likes /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part1 over /dev/sda1

my system has the following:

Dell Precision Workstation 530:
1st processor Intel Xeon 2.20 Ghz , 512 cache
2nd processor Intel Xeon 2.20Ghz , 512 cache
memory 1GB PC800 ECC RDRAM (2RIMMS)
hard drive 73GB Ultra 160/M SCSI, 1 inch (10,000rpm) for PERC 3
graphics card Quadro2Pro,64MB,VGA/DVI

It was a custom job that should have run me a hell of a lot more than the mere $7,000 I paid for it (thanx to my brother and his work discount)

I still think this is a hardware issue. Maybe every one else is having it easy because they have standard systems. The above mentioned is only a taste of what's in this thing... the items I think are causing me grief.

...Any way I will keep at it but I am really getting ticked to put it mildly.

dholowiski · n00b Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 22

Hi dunderbeugen. I apologize if I'm telling you something you already know, but this was the nice thing I found with the Gentoo install: If you get most of the way through the install, but grub bombs, or you messed up compiling or configuring your kernel, or you missed some vary important step in the install... just boot up with your install CD, mount your drives and "enter the chroot environment" (both described in the documentation). At that point it's like your in the install again. You can re-compile your kernel, edit your grub configuration file (or reinstall it), make a bood disk, whatever.

I used this when I compiled my kernel with the wrong options & my computer just rebooted at the grub prompt. I used it when I was trying to get my networking set up. The install disk makes a great general purpose boot disk, which I plan on keeping handy.

Sorry I can't help you on your specific problem, i'm much too much of a noob for that, but the above at least might save you from having to start over every time it doesn't work.

jief · Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2003 9:20 pm Post subject:

mlynx · n00b Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 27