VGN-FZ240E/B... kernels & modules.

[shyce]

Managed to snag a Sony VGN-FZ240E/B Laptop on clearance for $900. I was pretty excited to get Vista off of it and load a copy of Gentoo from scratch. Don't get me wrong, I know quite a bit about Linux but kernels just escape me.

I can get a mostly-working system compiled from genkernel however, I'd like to be able to build a custom kernel using vanilla sources. So, off I go with questions.

Video (Intel 965GM x3100): emerge xf86-video-i810
- Question: How do I make this work with Gnome when I finally do emerge it, or even pre-environment for higher resolution terminal commands.
Wireless (802.11n WEP): hard unmask, keyword unmask, emerge iwlwifi
- Question: What do I have to enable in the vanilla kernel to get this working? It's hard & keyword masked and fails to emerge properly due to kernel .config missing. (I assume, .config support as well as modular loading should be enabled in the Kernel).
Sound (Unknown/ALSA?): Seems to be working right out of the box with the current genkernel. Although I would like to know the actual module loading for future reference and updates.
Touchpad (Unknown/Synaptics?): For the life of me, I can't figure out who manufacturers my touchpad to get better mouse support for Gnome. Anyone know of hardcore detailed specs on this computer.
Processor(T7250, 2.0Ghz): I don't feel confident configuring proc. specs on my kernel without more knowledge of this. Where can I find timer frequency 250/300/1000? Does my processor support tickless timers? Blah.
DVD-Rom (Unknown): Doesn't seem to be mounting out of the box, not sure on who manufacturers this part except for watered down details from Sony.
Battery: Not displaying battery life information in Gnome. Must be something with the kernel.

That's really all I care about right now, everytime I compile the kernel and replace it with the current... I get /dev/sda3 mount errors or problems because I didn't setup the module load list (how do I know which modules to load, what if I forget something). The first time I tried this, I accidently replaced both the kernel and initramfs and got a kernel panic.

I've been trying to install Gentoo for 4 days now between work and school, and I really want to make linux work because when it does... it's amazing. This morning I went to install Vista, I've almost given up. Managed to actually get into Gnome, install Firefox & set up some favorites before going at the kernel. Last night I botched it up again after all that work. Should I just wait a few months until some of my modules are more stable? Any advise would be amazing.

What am I doing wrong? I've read through the manual so many times regarding modules & kernels. I just have no idea what modules my system needs to load on boot.

My system is partitioned as such:
ext 3 -> boot
ext 2 -> swap
ext 3 -> primary

Specs: http://129.33.22.12/release/specs/VGNFZ240EB_mksp.pdf
_________________
~brian_royer

[nightshade2069]

okay make sure you have the latest beta cd.. it should do the trick for you.
but I make a recommendation..


make the first partition like 200 meg and ext2 for /boot
depending on how much ram you have 1 gig - 2 gig for swap for the next partition
and the / the rest of the hard drive ext3 or the one of your choice.

I have not had any issues with installing with those.

make sure thought that when you do the install you wipe the partitions out.