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matt_w
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:49 am    Post subject: Cherry-poppin' sparc install Reply with quote

OK, I've never installed gentoo on a sparc before - and can barely make it through an install on an x86.

My specs:
Ultra Sparc 5
400MHZ, 512MB RAM, 20GB ATA/IDE

A few questions:
1. 2.4 or 2.6 I hear the 2.4 is easier, but my personal preference is a 2.6. And which kernel? Vanilla? Sparc-sources?
2. What filesystems should I use on different partitions? I would like to try XFS on some of my partitions, I only know that I have to use ext2 or ext 3 on /boot ... which leads me to my next question..
3. Is it that hard to place /boot on a seperate partition? The handbook says not to..
4. How long should I expect this to take? 2 Days? I will be using this as a desktop machine: internet, word processing, some music.. and since my roommates will also be using it.. I'm hoping to run KDE.
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luisfelipe
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Joined: 09 Apr 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I can't really answer all of your questions, since I've just begun reading about installing gentoo
on a sparc (got my hands on a SunBlade 150), but from what I could gather it seems that the 2.6 kernel
doesn't play nicely with it. Have no idea why, tough.
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chance2105
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Joined: 10 Jun 2004
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Location: Norman, OK USA

PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 7:48 am    Post subject: Re: Cherry-poppin' sparc install Reply with quote

Duder wrote:
OK, I've never installed gentoo on a sparc before - and can barely make it through an install on an x86.

My specs:
Ultra Sparc 5
400MHZ, 512MB RAM, 20GB ATA/IDE

A few questions:
1. 2.4 or 2.6 I hear the 2.4 is easier, but my personal preference is a 2.6. And which kernel? Vanilla? Sparc-sources?
2. What filesystems should I use on different partitions? I would like to try XFS on some of my partitions, I only know that I have to use ext2 or ext 3 on /boot ... which leads me to my next question..
3. Is it that hard to place /boot on a seperate partition? The handbook says not to..
4. How long should I expect this to take? 2 Days? I will be using this as a desktop machine: internet, word processing, some music.. and since my roommates will also be using it.. I'm hoping to run KDE.


1. On PCI-based ultrasparc's like this one, the newest 2.6 kernels work OK. Since this is your first install I'd just recommend getting everything up and running with 2.4 first -- much less hassle. Things to consider: sun sound chips don't work yet in 2.6 but work great on 2.4. Stability of 2.6 is OK but unproven for most uses, but 2.4 is like a rock.

2. Ext3. Ext2. ReiserFS, good luck. XFS .. give it a shot on something you wouldn't mind losing. :)

3. Yeah, that handbook was made by a million monkeys typing at random at keyboards for years

4. Be prepared to drink some coffee. Especially if you install from a Stage 1 and are wanting to compile QT and the related QT applications. "Awhile" is relative. The U5 IDE chipset is like a lightning rod quick. [/sarcasm]

The lighter GTK environments work well (XFCE); KDE works very well. KDE on these machines make these old sparcs look just rosy. :) (I myself can't stomach KDE, but it *does* have good desktop "responsiveness" that's missing currently from GTK-based desktops, if you're into that sort of thing.)
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Weeve
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Joined: 30 Oct 2002
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:58 am    Post subject: Re: Cherry-poppin' sparc install Reply with quote

chance2105 wrote:

1. On PCI-based ultrasparc's like this one, the newest 2.6 kernels work OK. Since this is your first install I'd just recommend getting everything up and running with 2.4 first -- much less hassle. Things to consider: sun sound chips don't work yet in 2.6 but work great on 2.4. Stability of 2.6 is OK but unproven for most uses, but 2.4 is like a rock.


In 2.6.15, the onboard CS4231 sound chips are working fine using the in-kernel ALSA drivers

chance2105 wrote:

2. Ext3. Ext2. ReiserFS, good luck. XFS .. give it a shot on something you wouldn't mind losing. :)


Use ext2 or ext3. ReiserFS has been reported to work for some and reported not to work for others. XFS appears to work until the first time your drive is unmounted uncleanly and then you'll never get your data back (on SPARC).

chance2105 wrote:

3. Yeah, that handbook was made by a million monkeys typing at random at keyboards for years


Shakespeare is rolling in his/her grave

chance2105 wrote:

4. Be prepared to drink some coffee. Especially if you install from a Stage 1 and are wanting to compile QT and the related QT applications. "Awhile" is relative. The U5 IDE chipset is like a lightning rod quick. [/sarcasm]

The lighter GTK environments work well (XFCE); KDE works very well. KDE on these machines make these old sparcs look just rosy. :) (I myself can't stomach KDE, but it *does* have good desktop "responsiveness" that's missing currently from GTK-based desktops, if you're into that sort of thing.)


If you're going with the KDE approach, it'll probably take about a week or so to get everything built and up and running. Unfortunately the C++ compiler in gcc versions less than 4.0 are quite slow and KDE is written in C++. The same applies for KOffice if that is what you are planning to use for your word processing application.
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chance2105
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
In 2.6.15, the onboard CS4231 sound chips are working fine using the in-kernel ALSA drivers


Sweet! I was remembering odd behavior (eg, speed, pitch issues) before, but the latest gentoo-sources seem to work beautiful-like, at least with OSS emulation.

Using alsa directly seems to bring up other issues, namely: https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-419154-start-0-postdays-0-postorder-asc-highlight-.html
... however, it all works great with OSS emulation, and things work by default with OSS, so I'm sticking to it.
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matt_w
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmm.. I forgot about xfce.. I will probably end up using that.

I'm hoping openoffice will run somewhat well, too.
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matt_w
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So to recap: Stick to a 2.4, don't try reiserfs and avoid xfs like the plague, stick / and /boot on the same partition, and this whole process is going to take a while?
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