| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
 Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 7:35 am Post subject: |
 |
|
| Okay the gcc etc happened over night so must have taken less than seven hours! Next up is emerge the system, hold onto your hats! |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
stonent
Veteran
Joined: 07 Aug 2003
Posts: 1139
Location: Texas
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 7:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
What kind of laptop is it? As long as the boot loader for the OS is in the first 8gb, it doesn't really matter of the BIOS sees the whole drive. The OS will take care of that.
_________________
Inspiron 4100 & Sun UltraAXe
Portage on Solaris|Dell Laptop Hacks
The way you feel about organized religion is the same way I feel about organized socialism. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Bob P
Advocate
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
Posts: 3355
Location: Jackass! Development Labs
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 3:34 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| stonent wrote: | | What kind of laptop is it? As long as the boot loader for the OS is in the first 8gb, it doesn't really matter of the BIOS sees the whole drive. The OS will take care of that. |
yes, that is indeed the way it is supposed to work. unfortunately there's a bunch of old hardware out there whose BIOS will inappropriately choke in this situation. when i was recently working with a bunch of antiquated hardware from a similar era, i ran into some problems where the bootloader failed miserably, even though the boot partition was a small partition located at the front of the drive.
although i haven't tried this with laptops, which could be more finicky than your typical desktop box, i have tried using modern 120-200 GB drives with old pentium-era desktop and server boxes running gentoo. (these boxes have included things like old Compaq Proliant P60 servers, P133 and PPro desktops, K6-266 boxes, etc. that would be used for low performance roles on networks -- redundant backup server, etc.) surprisingly, some of these machines with older BIOS fail miserably if you try to place a small boot partition at the front of a big HD, boot from it, and rely on the kernel for recognizing the rest of the drive. for reasons that i have never been able to ascertain, some of the boxes have just refused to recognize an EIDE drive as being present -- forcing appropriate CHS settings, LBA addressing, etc. in the BIOS didn't even help -- and the machines refused to boot.
the solution to this problem was clipping the drives. for those of you who may not be familiar with it, clipping involves using those extra jumper settings on the hard disk that are typically undocumented and unused. (with the current WD drives, for example, the documentation that comes with the drives does not mention what to do with the extra jumper that is supplied in the kit, and the documentation makes absolutely no reference to how to use the other jumper settings on the drive. to get the documentation, you have to go to the WD web site.)
clipping allows you to change the way that the drive introduces itself to the BIOS in order to fool the BIOS into thinking that it is an older, smaller, and recognizable drive. this allows the BIOS to recognize the drive and boot off of the small boot partition that is located withing the first 8 GB of the drive space and load the kernel. then, once the kernel has been loaded, the kernel ignores the BIOS settings for the drive and is capable of recognizing the full storage area of the drive.
so if you've put a large drive in your PC and it still won't boot, clipping could be the answer for you.
fwiw, kernel recognition is the way that linux works with drive recognition. its also the way that current windows releases handle drive recognition. it explains why XP will recognize an IDE drive after bootup that hasn't been turned on by the BIOS.
i hope that this hasn't strayed too far off topic.
hth.
btw stonent -- nice to see you're a veteran. 
_________________
.
Stage 1/3 | Jackass! | Rockhopper! | Thanks | Google Sucks |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ikke
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 225
Location: Belgium
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 3:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
FWIW: I did a stage1 on a P1 166Mhz, 40Mb RAM, 1.2Gb HD last year, including a basic desktop using Openbox, it did run fairly well (gaim, a terminal,...) Firefox was a hell, dillo did work.
_________________
Working day and night to enhance your Linux Desktop experience 
Blog |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stonent
Veteran
Joined: 07 Aug 2003
Posts: 1139
Location: Texas
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Bobp
I have seen a few instances that what you have mentioned has occurred. I tried to put a 2.7GB maxtor drive in a Packard Bell P-133 (back when a P-133 was still fairly decent) and the computer would completely freeze during post. There was a "limitation jumper" on it that made the drive appear to be a 2.1gb drive and then I used Ontrack disk manager or something similar to make it see the whole drive.
But that's packard bell and they've pretty much always sucked.
_________________
Inspiron 4100 & Sun UltraAXe
Portage on Solaris|Dell Laptop Hacks
The way you feel about organized religion is the same way I feel about organized socialism. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks for all the posts about harddrives, I'll think I just get one and give it ago, even 8mb would be better than 2!
I am having errors doing the emerge -e system
The first three (out of 90) worked fine, then the next failed, then another failed.
I don't know how to make a screenshot but here is the end of the output (so apologies in advance for any typos):
| Code: |
cc1plus: error: invalid option 'tune=pentium-mmx'
cc1plus: error: unrecognized option '-fvisibility-inlines-hidden'
cc1plus: error: invalid option 'tune=pentium-mmx'
cc1plus: error: unrecognized option '-fvisibility-inlines-hidden'
make [1]: *** [../obj_s/cursesf.o] Error 1
make [1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
make [1]: *** [../obj_s/cursesf.o] Error 1
make [1]: leaving directory '/var/tmp/portage/ncurses-5.4-r5/work/ncurses-5.4/c++'
make : *** [all] Error 2
!!! Error: sys-libs/ncurses-5.4-r5 failed.
!!! Function src_compile, Line 74, Exitcode 2"
!!! Make failed
If you need support, post the topmost build error, NOT this status message
livecd / #
|
Do I need to change my make.conf ? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 10:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I dropped the -mtune value back to pentium (rather than pentium-mmx) and I'll see what happens when I resume the emerge -e system... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 10:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
No biscuits here  . Instead I get a similar message:
| Code: |
cc1plus: error: invalid option 'tune=pentium'
cc1plus: error: unrecognized option '-fvisibility-inlines-hidden'
make [1]: *** [../obj_s/cursesf.o] Error 1
make [1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
cc1plus: error: invalid option 'tune=pentium'
cc1plus: error: unrecognized option '-fvisibility-inlines-hidden'
make [1]: *** [../obj_s/cursesf.o] Error 1
make [1]: leaving directory '/var/tmp/portage/ncurses-5.4-r5/work/ncurses-5.4/c++'
make : *** [all] Error 2
!!! Error: sys-libs/ncurses-5.4-r5 failed.
!!! Function src_compile, Line 74, Exitcode 2"
!!! Make failed
If you need support, post the topmost build error, NOT this status message
livecd / #
|
Any hints?
I have been googling but I have not yet been able to find yet any kind of manual for the compile error codes - so 'Error 2' still means very little to me at this point.
I suppose I could just skip all problematic packages and see how many I lose. Mop up the others using a lower level of optimisation or with the GCC 3.3.4 ? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 11:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
Well gettext compiled fine  , so I will try to keep a list of what fails. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kimchi_sg
Advocate
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 2969
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 12:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| marcion wrote: |
| Code: |
cc1plus: error: invalid option 'tune=pentium'
cc1plus: error: unrecognized option '-fvisibility-inlines-hidden'
|
Any hints? |
You are using options invalid for your compiler. Remove them.
-mtune and -fvisibility-inlines-hidden are only for gcc 3.4.x, not the older 3.3.x. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 6:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| kimchi_sg wrote: |
-mtune and -fvisibility-inlines-hidden are only for gcc 3.4.x, not the older 3.3.x. |
I am using 3.4, right?
Anyhow about 30 or so have compiled, four have failed and with about 60 left to do.
glibc takes over 24 hours on its own so its not going to be quick! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Bob P
Advocate
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
Posts: 3355
Location: Jackass! Development Labs
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
i have had similar problems in the past few days with the ncurses ebuild borking with correct cflags during the "emerge -e system" phase of a Stage 1/3 install on K-6. for reasons that are totally unclear, the ebuild mutilates a valid "-mtune=whatever" flag and changes it to "-tune=whatever", which causes a compiler fault. this is not a configuration error on his part, its a problem with the ebuild.
i have tried using "-mtune=k6" and "-mtune=pentium" and the compiler continues to segfault on that ebuild no matter what i use for an -mtune setting. i had originally thought that i had set the cflags incorrectly and i had foolishly made multiple attempts to compile until i realized that it looked like the ebuild continually stripped the leading "m" off of the "mtune" specfiication. it looks like the ebuild is mutilating the cflag.
try an emerge --sync to see if the ebuild has been fixed, and then try again. your only hope may be to stay with "-march=whatever" and remove "-mtune=whatever" from your make.conf. that is the approach that i was forced to take.
_________________
.
Stage 1/3 | Jackass! | Rockhopper! | Thanks | Google Sucks |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Bob P wrote: | | i have had similar problems in the past few days with the ncurses ebuild borking with correct cflags during the "emerge -e system" phase of a Stage 1/3 install on K-6. for reasons that are totally unclear, the ebuild mutilates a valid "-mtune=whatever" flag and changes it to "-tune=whatever", which causes a compiler fault. this is not a configuration error on his part, its a problem with the ebuild. |
I could always true to do --mmtune !! But that is a bit crazy! Thanks for your post, Bob P, it is nice to know that I am not the only one to see this error. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Bob P
Advocate
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
Posts: 3355
Location: Jackass! Development Labs
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| marcion wrote: | | I could always true to do --mmtune !! But that is a bit crazy! Thanks for your post, Bob P, it is nice to know that I am not the only one to see this error. |
no, you couldn't. then none of the other ebuilds would work.
_________________
.
Stage 1/3 | Jackass! | Rockhopper! | Thanks | Google Sucks |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 1:51 pm Post subject: PCMCIA problem |
|
|
Over the last day and a bit I made five posts. To stop this thread becoming a blog I have summarised them here instead.
My first set of problems were basically caused by the kernel configuration. I.e. my ignorance about what the options mean at menuconfig. Is there a ready-reference anywhere describing what every options means and the consquences of choosing/not-choosing various options? If there is not then maybe we should write one using the forum to compile everyone's bits and bobs into a how-to.
I had very strange text that started off fine and degraded into unreadable text, this was fixed by changing the menuconfig options. Next there was a disk problem, this was fixed by removing some carriage returns in my fstab. The third problem was that the startup gave an 'opps error' over the PCI, ticking extra boxes in the kernel fixed that.
I was then able to login, yay!
My last problem is still unresolved. I do not have PCMCIA support for my network card. Any suggestions? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:36 pm Post subject: PCMCIA woes |
|
|
I have been recompiling the kernel several times but I am not sure that is the cause of the problem anymore. I added the 'yenta' driver thing and I have a light now so the device is found by the system, that hopefully is a step in the right direction.
Here is the problem at the start up script:
| Quote: | Bringing eth0 up via DHCP... [!!]
* ERROR: Problem starting needed services
* "net-mount" was not started
* ERROR: Problem starting needed services
* "ntp-client" was not started
* ERROR: Problem starting needed services
* "sshd" was not started
|
Doing ifconfig eth0 results in
| Quote: | | eth0: error fetching interface information: Device not found |
Last edited by marcion on Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
masonm
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 17 Mar 2005
Posts: 78
Location: Plant City, FL
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Which NIC are you using in your pcmcia slot?
_________________
MasonM
Linux: because a PC is a terrible thing to waste.
Registered Linux User # 382617 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
D-Link DFE-690TXD
It works under the liveCD but not under my own efforts so far |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
masonm
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 17 Mar 2005
Posts: 78
Location: Plant City, FL
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:46 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Did you compile the driver for your card into the kernel or as a module? If it's a module do a lsmod to see if it's loaded. If not, modprobe <module>
_________________
MasonM
Linux: because a PC is a terrible thing to waste.
Registered Linux User # 382617 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| masonm wrote: | | Did you compile the driver for your card into the kernel or as a module? If it's a module do a lsmod to see if it's loaded. If not, modprobe <module> |
I just compiled it into the kernel? Am I better off doing it as a module? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
masonm
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 17 Mar 2005
Posts: 78
Location: Plant City, FL
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
No that's fine. Mine is also on the kernel.
What does the output of dmesg give you ?
Did you emerge pcmcia-cs? dhcpcd? hotplug?
do rc-update show
See if net.eth0 and pcmcia are listed as loading default. They should both be in the same runlevel.
_________________
MasonM
Linux: because a PC is a terrible thing to waste.
Registered Linux User # 382617 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 3:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| masonm wrote: | No that's fine. Mine is also on the kernel.
What does the output of dmesg give you ?
Did you emerge pcmcia-cs? dhcpcd? hotplug?
do rc-update show
See if net.eth0 and pcmcia are listed as loading default. They should both be in the same runlevel. |
I had hotplug and I am emerging the other two now! Thanks for the speedy replies. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
masonm
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 17 Mar 2005
Posts: 78
Location: Plant City, FL
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 3:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
You're welcome. Hope that solves your problem.
_________________
MasonM
Linux: because a PC is a terrible thing to waste.
Registered Linux User # 382617 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
marcion
Apprentice
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 158
Location: England
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 4:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| masonm wrote: |
What does the output of dmesg give you ?
|
A lot of stuff, is there anything in particular I am looking for?
| Quote: |
Did you emerge pcmcia-cs? dhcpcd? hotplug?
See if net.eth0 and pcmcia are listed as loading default. They should both be in the same runlevel. |
Ok now net.eth0 and pcmcia are both listed as default. However I still have the same startup errors that I listed above (the three things not being able to start). Anything else I can do next? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
masonm
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 17 Mar 2005
Posts: 78
Location: Plant City, FL
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 4:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Look at the end few lines of dmesg for references to your NIC.
What does "ifconfig eth0" tell you?
Sounds like your card isn't being recognized. Sure you compiled the driver for it?
Try doing /etc/init.d/eth0 and see what happens
Did you set up iface_eth0="dhcp" in /etc/conf.d/net
_________________
MasonM
Linux: because a PC is a terrible thing to waste.
Registered Linux User # 382617 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Installing Gentoo
