Installation to pre partitioned hard disk

cr4321 · n00b Joined: 05 Jan 2012 Posts: 2

Hi,

I just downloaded the Gentoo-2012 livedvd-x86-amd64 and this is my first look at Gentoo.

The DVD boots without any problems and it has a list of interesting programs. However, I could not find any GUI installer. Can you please let me know if there is any way to install this graphically, since I am practically a newbie.

I have an AMD machine with a multi-boot system. I have Windows XP and have Ubuntu and Fedoro in other partitions. I also have other spare partitions for trying out other distros. I would like to install Gentoo too, without disturbing this setup. The text way of doing the install as I read, looks a bit complicated. I have installed most other distros graphically without disturbing my existing multboot.

Thanks in anticipation.
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cr4321

John R. Graham · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 5:17 am Post subject:

cr4321, Welcome to Gentoo!

Take a look at the Gentoo Handbook. There is no graphical installer, nor any installer of any kind. The Handbook gives you step-by-step instructions to install Gentoo: you are the installer.

Don't worry: there's plenty of help on the Forums if you run into issues.

Your existing bootloader (Grub?) will be configurable to launch Gentoo from an additional partition without disturbing the existing installs. You should use the same swap partition for all Linux installs.

- John
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cr4321 · n00b Joined: 05 Jan 2012 Posts: 2

Thank you very much for the quick response.

The 92 page step-by-step instruction for installing Gentoo 12 is quite a put-off. I went through it. It doesn't seem to follow a straight thread and appears to confuse me - so I did not yet have the courage to go through the installation process. Maybe, I'll try it once more before giving up!

Is there any simpler instructions or scrips that can make things more easy?

Bye for now.
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cr4321

TigerJr · Guru Joined: 19 Jun 2007 Posts: 540

Chiitoo · Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:06 pm Post subject:

Yeah, the installer here is you, and in addition to the handbook, there is the great forum if you ever need help.

I had zarro experience on Linux basically when I installed it and I've been running that install basically for over a year now.
For installing Gentoo, I think the handbook is the way really, as it teaches you a lot about how to maintain Gentoo, too.

Taking short-cuts might be detrimental in a way, and installation is by no means hard. I believe that in certain cases, it might be possible to basically copy & paste from the handbook to install Gentoo, which I would never really recommend though as there are some parts that do require some modifications.
Also, while manually typing things imposes the risk of typos, I personally prefer to type things out so I learn them better.
Things tend to stick better in my mind that way. ^^

I had tried Ubuntu very briefly without really learning anything, before jumping into Gentoo, so don't let being new to it stand in your path!
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Kindest of regardses.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:21 pm Post subject:

cr4321,

If you are a little nervous of installing Gentoo direclty on your hardware, install VirualBox first.
VirtualBox emulates another PC on your your PC. Its free both as in beer and zero cost, for Linux and Windows.
Being an emulator does not make it slow as it does not emulate your CPU. Software running in VirtualBox runs vatively on your CPU.

Now, go into the bathroom, look in the mirror and see the Gentoo installer :)

Maybe a top level summary of the steps will help.
Install Virtualbox (you will make a virtual disk) as a part of this process. 20G will be plently for a full install.
Boot the CD *iso image in the virtual machine.
Prepare the disk
Partition it, make your filesystems and mount them.
Now you are ready to begin the install proper.
Fetch your stage3 and unpack it.
Fetch your portage snapshot and unpack it.
Set up networking, set a few odds and ends
Chroot into your install.
Install your choice of system packages
Install your choice of bootloader
Install your kernel - you need to configre and build it.
Reboot into your Gentoo

Post with any problems along the way.

Note that none of the code on your choosen boot CD, or CD image file goes into your install, so you can use any Linux that will give you a root shell to install.
You can even use your existing Ubuntu or Fedoro to install Gentoo but not if you choose to install into VirtualBox.

What most new users find challenging in their first install is not the install process itself but the choices they must make during the install. Thats what Gentoo is really about - choice.
You have to make the choices that every binary distro makes for you
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Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.