[Solved] Can't Compile Kernel; Wrong Architecture?

LiamOS · Last edited by LiamOS on Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:18 pm; edited 2 times in total

To preface this, I'm still a bit of a newb, but this is far from my first Gentoo installation. This is also the first time I've failed to solve my problem through simply reading the forums, but I sense that's my fault.

I'm attempting to do an installation on my netbook, which is based on an Intel Atom N570. I downloaded the i686 Stage 3 and Portage snapshots, and unpacked them, all was well.
When I get to the kernel compilation, I get the "CPU you selected does not support x86-64 instruction set" error when I try to build the kernel, regardless of the CPU selected, but this seems odd, since (If I'm not mistaken), I'm not attempting to build a kernel for x86-64.

I suppose my questions are these:
- Does portage download a kernel for a specific architecture, or can the architecture be specified at build time? (If so, how? I can't seem to find the appropriate config.h file.)
- Is i686 for 32 bit systems?
- Are portage snapshots architecture dependent?

Thanks.
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CFLAGS=" -O999999"

kurly · n00b Joined: 02 Apr 2012 Posts: 72

BillWho · Veteran Joined: 03 Mar 2012 Posts: 1576 Location: US

LiamOS,

If you haven't made significant changes to .config, save it and try make defconfig. This will create a default .config based on the architecture - you'll see a message as to the architecture.

Also run make mrproper before running make && make modules_install to clean stale files and dependencies.

Good luck :wink:

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Good luck :wink:

Since installing gentoo, my life has become one long emerge

Ant P. · Veteran Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Posts: 1920 Location: UK

Try "make ARCH=i386" to force it.

LiamOS · Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 1:25 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the replies; nice to know it's not due to my ineptitude.

The make ARCH=i386 got it to compile, but I'll see how functional it is when I get all my configs vritten; I've to emerge vim first, because using nano is just impossible for me.
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CFLAGS=" -O999999"

Hu · Watchman Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 7622

Based on the information provided, I think you booted a 64-bit LiveCD, unpacked a 32-bit snapshot, and did not use linux32 to change the result of uname inside the chroot. Since your system is clearly capable of running 64-bit, I suggest you back out and start over with a 64-bit installation. You cannot convert from 32-bit to 64-bit in place. For most machines, running a 64-bit kernel is a better choice, and using a 64-bit kernel is easier if you have a 64-bit toolchain.

LiamOS · Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:28 am Post subject: