Gentoo 2007.0 GUI Installer is buggy

xcable · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:26 am Post subject: My two cents

The GUI installer is definitely a step back. Taking action during the install process is a mistake, all user options should be done and then at the end the install takes action. Also fails everytime I tried to use it.

I think the team needs to consider not using there custom installer, and should utilize Anaconda as the installer.

[edit]
The text based installer also failed. Failed at installed a package (xine-ui), most likely just a compile problem. I should have known better than to add extra packages on the install. I should not have added any extra packages, and just waited until the system was up and then emerged them like normal. It there are still alot of problems with emergeing packages then that option needs to be taken out of the installer.

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Swervo · n00b Joined: 28 Jul 2005 Posts: 6

Just thought I'd throw in here: Was hoping 2007.0 was the release that would include support for wireless networking in the installer, as I was hoping to get Gentoo running at home (I run it at work and love it, but I only have a wireless network at home). I didn't see anything in the release notes, but I figured how could there possibly be a 2007 release without support for it.

I haven't found out. Every time I try to install, I get the thing about the installer running into numerous errors, telling me to check the installer.log.failed (I believe that's it, it's not in front of me right now) in /tmp, which doesn't exist. There is a compile.log.failed, but that's just a huge list of packages.

I've installed using every liveCD version up until 2007.0 and had absolutely no problems except for the lack of wireless networking. Now, it doesn't work at all, and for the first time I got confused using a Gentoo installer. I'm not sure what the plan was here, but as far as I can tell, the installer is far less bulletproof and is now more confusing. This coming from a linux user (various distros, Slackware, Mandrake, RedHat, Gentoo, Ubuntu, etc) since 1995. What in the sam hill happened?

xcable · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 2:12 am Post subject:

Warning; rant following.

2007.0 is fing useless!!!! Nothing works! I've wasted hours on this crap. If you want to install using a GUI use VLOS or Sabayon. At least they work.

--
heath
bulah.com

siamect · n00b Joined: 08 Jun 2007 Posts: 27 Location: Thailand

I had lots of problems with the 2007.0, like stopping at Perl... 50/116 described by others in this thread, both on the CD and the DVD (both i686).

I put the cd files on a USB memory-stick as described elsewhere in this site and from the USB stick I could boot and install without problems. This seems to be repeatable... I have reinstalled 4-5 times on two different computers without problems.

Now I tried with the DVD and I copied the stage3 tarball first from the CD to the /root folder. I choose advanced so I could choose the URL for the tarball... and pointed it to the copy and it seemed to work.
I couldn't continue the installation because it was trying to emerge and I'm not allowed to connect this computer to the Corp LAN, so no internet. But still I think this problem have something to do with the CD drive.

The next step for me is to get a 4Gb usb memory do I can put the whole DVD on it..

Best regards
Martin

c0vert · Guru Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 355

Go with a pure networkless install. As I said before I tested like 9 different install scenarios with the LiveCD and it only worked twice. And each time I partitioned using the command line installer, then exited it, and continued with the GUI installer, networkless install. Making sure to mount / and /boot at the secoond (or third) screen.
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belad · n00b Joined: 23 Apr 2002 Posts: 11 Location: NW New Jersey

I have spent about 12 hours trying to get 2007.0 to install on a Thinkpad r40 that had 2006.1 running just fine. The posts the indicated I could recoveer from the ATI 'F U " doesn't work period. This is a non-starter! Period!!!

John R. Graham · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 1:24 am Post subject:

Well, I know this isn't very helpful at this juncture, but, why did you do that? On your 2006.1 installation, if you've been using emerge to update your system reasonably regularly, you probably had a more up-to-date installation than the "new" 2007.0 (which was frozen a couple of months ago). Only other thing you need to do is to update your profile every year or so.

Incidentally, did you try the installer or do a manual install via the CLI and Handbook? I failed last weekend to get an install going with the installer and was quite frustrated as a result, too.

- John

desultory · Bodhisattva Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Posts: 9410

Merged the above two posts.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 9:43 am Post subject:

belad,

You missed a key feature of Gentoo.

Gentoo does not have versions - the install media does. So installing 2007.0 in place of 2006.1 gets you almost nothing.
Your gentoo is as up to date as your last

G2k · l33t Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 672 Location: Rome, Italy

When is 2007.1 coming out (hopefully it will fix the bugs), I want to put Gentoo back on my system but don't feel like doing the whole manual commandline thing again, if I can get a GUI to do more than half the work for me that would be great. I'm using Ubuntu now and I don't appreciate it.
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gmtongar · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 6:32 pm Post subject: Back to Gentoo

Not really a question...

I didn't get my wireless to work, and in my frustration I downloaded Sabayon which should be the fast way to Gentoo :roll:

So what's a poor sucker to do...

Everything worked fine, install was smooth... login screen was terrific... blah, blah, blah... Even getting my wireless to work was done in seconds... So why go back to real Gentoo when everything is cool n nice?

Well, my favourite browser is Opera (it's norwegian - I'm norwegian, kidding, that's not the reason: it's small and it's fast, also it looks great and has a great set of tools)... So Opera it is! So, of course I run emerge -av opera . And this is my disappointment, and the reason for writing this: Resolving dependencies takes forever !! Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, don't think so. So, I take a quick look at make.conf... and it looks like a bloody nightmare. There it is. I'm running Gentoo on 4 clients, a web server and a file- and db server. Now, this posting will be the last to be done on my Sabayon laptop, it's back to Gentoo with this one too.

So, there it is... Enough said.
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G2k · l33t Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 672 Location: Rome, Italy

Yeah Sabayon is the worst distro I've every tried in my life. It seems like the guy had no clue what he's doing so he just put everything so that he can't go wrong. Bad approach to what should be a faster system than Windows.
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gmtongar · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 6:40 pm Post subject:

... and of course, this is to be done via command line... all though it takes me a great deal of hours, but I'll have a system built on my own, and with only my own failures to blame...

Have a nice one !!
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20div0 · n00b Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 20

like on April 1st, because it's totally a joke.
Sorry for the rant. I have used Linux for over 10 years and is a die hard Gentoo
fan. This 2007.0 thing is the worse installer I have ever seen. Guys, please don't
ruin a great distro. If it doesn't work, don't release it. We are happy with the manual
command line install.

I have used the installer on the LiveCD (gui and command line) many times and all
kinds of problem come up. Never got passed the 50% copying .... like others already
mentioned.

(sorry for beating a dead horse, but have to rant it out because I love Gentoo so much)
Andy

Dirk.R.Gently · Guru Joined: 29 Jan 2007 Posts: 546 Location: Titan

My philosophy, install once, then update.
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didymos · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 9:26 pm Post subject:

The installer != 2007.0. What defines a Gentoo release is the profile, the GRP set of binary packages, and the various iso images. The installer is a separate sub-project. To wit:

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 9:52 pm Post subject:

Added above 3 posts to the collection here
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20div0 · n00b Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 20

Yes. I meant the installer is crap. No matter how great 2007.0 is, it's pointless when
you cannot install it. Anyone try Gentoo for the first time with 2007.0 installer will be
saying "What the xxxx is the Gentoo people thinking ......"

After reading the sticky buggy installer thread, I am surprised the
installer liveCD is STILL available to download. Many people lost all their partitions because of that.

Luckily I used Gparted to resize my partitions and created new ones. Otherwise, I would have been
a victim. Some says there is a warning in the Handbook. Who would go read the Handbook when
you have a graphic installer? It has caused more harm then help IMO. If there is any WARNING or beta,
alpha version. It should be highlighted in the installer itself. NOT in the handbook.

I vote to yank the installer LiveCD out of the file server to prevent further damage of the
reputation of a great distribution.

Andy

20div0 · n00b Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 20

I setup a vote here:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-566719.html

anton123 · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 3:24 pm Post subject:

First of all, I truly love the GTK+ installer from the live CD/DVD. However, I strongly encourage the Gentoo developers to really and I mean, REALLY, work on the installer since the one in the 2007.0 edition is the worst I have seen since its inception in 2006.0. It looks professional, but it is unstable, riddled with bugs and basically, unfinished. I hope that the 2007.1 release will have a stable, fully working, finished GTK+ installer.

http://techgage.com/article/gentoo_20070/3

Thank you.

warrawarra · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 30 May 2007 Posts: 84

Did someone manage to get a fix or a how-to to recover from this live dvd 2007 ?

I can get as far as the sys-devel/gettext or 50 of 116 ? then it hangs.

Managed to get past the defective partition tool that is in gnome by opening terminal and "sudo passwd" and then changing it to root.

Then managed to using cfdisk to get my partitions to be correct.

And what is up with selecting kde and it still goes to gnome or even xfce and still ending in gnome.

Text installer as root or as user ? locks up at 1st copying it does 1of2.

PS> getting ipw3945 to work is a nightmare.

warrawarra · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 30 May 2007 Posts: 84

Might helps someone else:

Started dvd using "gentoo-nofb nox"

This ends up as root login already
(can be used to start gnome with "gdm" as for some reason nothing else kde / xfce works except gdm.)

I managed to use cfdisk to create my partition and format them using "mke2fs" for ext2 and "mke2fs -j" for ext3 as well as mkswap for swap partition.
Then I launched "mc" and coppied the /mnt/livedvd folder and all it's contents to /mnt/gentoo or my new root partition.

Then restarted again using "gentoo-nofb and nox" and using gentoo.org handbook / manual I chrooted into my hd from the dvd after following some options from "installing the system / chroot chapter" network/internet is working already at this stage before chroot.

Next going to continue using genkernel and grub and reboot.

This should work.

Will post a working generic make.conf here for anyone who needs it and or wants to copy it while in as root starting gdm and accesing the internet + copy file to correct /mnt/gentoo/ect/make.conf .

Hope this helps.

desultory · Bodhisattva Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Posts: 9410

Merged the above two posts, formerly topic "Any fix for defective live 2007.0 dvd installer ?".

siamect · n00b Joined: 08 Jun 2007 Posts: 27 Location: Thailand

For the 50/116 problem and other "hangings". I have put everything on a bootable USB memory according to the instructions in Gentoo Linux Documentation -- Gentoo Linux LiveUSB HOWTO.htm.

From the USB memory I can install without problems using the GTK. I have installed several machines now and it works great. All those machines were hopelessly hanging when I installed using the live CD installe 2007.0 i686.

To make the USB stick bootable there was a problem when I used the Gentoo Linux Documentation -- Gentoo Linux LiveUSB HOWTO.htm. It wouldn't boot...

But on www.slax.org there is a version 6rc instructions first to make a bootable SLAX USB. This worked and after that I used the Gentoo Linux Documentation -- Gentoo Linux LiveUSB HOWTO.htm instruction and it worked so there is something missing. I have used the same procedure for a both a 1 Gb and a 4Gb Kingston Datatreveler. Both works great.

Thanks for a great distro...

Aiken · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:48 am Post subject:

I found this sticky after I found the graphical installer on the live cd had problems. My problem was I could not get out of the screen where you setup user accounts. Neither the next or back buttons worked.

The whole install process has left me rather disappointed.

So tried the text installer. Took 2 attempts at installing with the text installer. I used the existing partitions from a previous ubuntu install and had problems until I manually formated /dev/hda1 (for /). I would have expected the installed to have formatted the partition itself.

During boot and shutdown there are many messages about something in /etc being from the future. Using the date cmd shows the time is correct. Also netmount is being run before eth0 is started which is useless.

I also don't know whether the installer finished or crashed. I would expect some kind of message when the install has finished. Instead the installer disappeared. Found /mnt/gentoo had been unmounted so I tried booting the new system anyway to see what happened.

Probably the most annoying thing about this is I chose the livecd to install from so I could have a working system quickly to build on that instead of starting with a stage 3. The time I have spent on this I could have had a simple working system from a stage3.

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