Stage1 (sortof?) install with a modem internet connection

illusion · n00b Joined: 06 Jun 2002 Posts: 37

Hi,

I am restricted to a modem connection for the moment, but wish to do a stage1 install... I am fairly familliar with linux, but new to gentoo. My basic question is, can it be done by hook or crook?

Is there any way to possibly pre-download the sources needed up to stage3 when a ppp connection can be made (that i know of) and store those sources on the install cdrom? Then perhaps, copy them to where they "would" be in the gentoo system were you to download them normally?

I really wish to compile everything from scratch, partially because I would like to try to use GCC 3.1 to do the compiles, also because I want to have a from-source system, but I am restricted to a modem connection. Any help?

Thanks in advance,
-i

Guest

Yes, you can get the files you need in advance from http://www.ibiblio.org/gentoo/distfiles/ or ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/gentoo/distfiles/. Then it would be necessary to get them into /usr/portage/distfiles at the emerge rsync stage of setup (from a burnt CD for example). The problem is twofold:

1) You can't emerge rsync of course, so you need to get hold of a portage "snapshot" so you can create the portage directory correctly.
2) Knowing exactly which files you need. Some are obvious, but there are also lots of little patches and other bits and pieces that you might need.

The best way, IMO, to do it is to somehow get access to a machine that has a nice Internet connection and boot the Gentoo CD. Then do something like:

474 · l33t Joined: 19 Apr 2002 Posts: 714

Damn it, I hate losing my session in the forums ... :roll:

illusion · n00b Joined: 06 Jun 2002 Posts: 37

Ooook... I'd like to try pre-downloading the dist files as getting access to a decent internet connection at all is difficult where I am currently.

So my question is, can i go into the tarball for one of the latter stage installs, and get the portage snapshot from there? How would I best go about doing this?

Also, since I only need to make it to ~stage3 in Gentoo, where i can compile ppp support into my own kernel, and use it, it seems it should be possible, by going for overkill in the downloading of distfiles for the needed components up to that point, to get all the distfiles needed into a tarball i could then have on a burned cd, correct?

Thanks for your response, and I too would like to see either a ppp enabled kernel, or better yet, the ability to put all (or most) of the distfiles onto fixed media, ie cds.

-i

id10t · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 18 May 2002 Posts: 100

Whatever is in the portage snapshot will determine what exactly you need to download.

I just made my own boot cd image to have SMP support from the get-go, and it was really easy to do. Adding in PPP, etc. would be easy as well, especially if you compiled all the binaries it needs statically and put ppp support into the kernel.
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illusion · n00b Joined: 06 Jun 2002 Posts: 37

Perhapse Gentoo could include an ISO (series?) that has the distfiles on them, and allow the portage/emerge system to be setup easily to grab the distfiles from there instead of the internet.

If you are on a dial up connection, its going to be annoying to download EVERY aspect of linux seperately... if you could possibly just order a cd for 99cents, or get a friend to burn an ISO or 2. Why not give the option of having some form of local media support for the distfiles? It seems to me it would be fairly easy to do, even if only done in the setup of Gentoo. (ie, telling the user to copy the distfiles from the cd(s) to the correct directory, and/or to symlink them, or some such)

I think that my problem will be fixed by hauling my computer to a decent internet conneciton just because mine is sooo slow that I couldn't let my computer sit for the days it would take to download each aspect of gentoo, and install it.

That said, it is true that it would be very easy to configure a kernel with ppp support. Considering the setup system comes on a CD as is, why not? space is not an issue, include it! minimal effort on the part of the gentoo developers it seems to me. Would also be nice to see built-in, and explained instructions for pppoe and other more obscure methods of connecting to the internet. The current setup CD is 16megs. I don't think it'd hurt to add some more configuration options for the setup side of things.

My final 2cents. I'll either get a good internet connection, or install from stage3, and forget gcc3.1, so this is just an interest i have in gentoo, not an issue for me any more. =] I do hope that the modem users of linux will be taken care of a bit better by gentoo in the future however. =]

-i