Installation is killing me!!!

[clickmike]

Hi,

I have experience in this field but I am not a coder by any stretch of the imagination. I have tried a few of the Linux distros out there and I have found this one to be the best. It supported all my hardware, even some older stuff, and ran fast and stable on anything it was on.

I have loaded the Live CD and everything works like a dream! Until I try to do the install. It fails everytime for different reasons and each reason I come back to the forum, find the answer and try again but again I run into another issue. UNCLE!

I would really like to run this OS but I can't seem to install the latest release for the life of me. I have installed a lot of different operatings systems and never once have I had a problem like this.

Is there an earlier release that will work without the amount of problems this last release has or is there something else that I can do other than becoming a coder?

Like I said the Live CD works flawlessly, I only wish that I can install or transfer that same image to my hard drive.

Thanks,
Mike

[Roman_Gruber]

check the md5 sum of your livecd, this is a common issue.

[styrmis]

When you say live cd, are you referring to the graphical version?

If so, are you then using the graphical installer? I have not had any success with the graphical installer and would recommend downloading the minimal ISO and using the handbook.

[clickmike]

The MD5 sum checks out perfectly and yes I am using the graphical installation method.

How much programming and time does it take to do it the method your are suggesting?

I have a lot of systems to set up so I need a set and forget type of operation. Right now I am using both PClinuxOS and SuSE and like I said before I prefer Gentoo. Both of those other packages setup perfectly from the Live CD.

The Live CD gives you the chance to ensure that it will work well with the system before you load it and then all you do is hit install, click through a couple of screens and your done and it all works well. It also remembers all your settings from the Live test setup.

Is this installer a beta? Does anyone else package Gentoo with an installer that works? Don't get me wrong I am not critising Gentoo and the team I just need something that works and unfortunately I am not a programmer, I am more of a system and network designer and administrator and I am looking for the best solution. I think Gentoo can be the best solution for many of these system and network needs out there.

Thanks,
Mike

[jseymour]

You would need to follow the handbook for install instructions using the CLI. The link for the installation guide is http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/index.xml?catid=install

I initially had problems installing this way, so I created some flash tutorials that you can view here: http://www.tutorialmasters.com/Tutorials.category.5/gentoo-tutorials.html

The tutorials follow the docs pretty well, so you can see what the operation looks like while reading.

BTW, once installed, my system hums now. Very nice distro.
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WebServerMasters
Gentoo Installation Flash Tutorials

[thorpe]

You do not need to be a programmer to install Gentoo the manual way. you just need to issue a series of commands and configure a few applications via there config files. (Some would say) Unfortunately Gentoo is not the kind of system you can do a set and forget kind of install. Gentoo is about choices, and you'll need to be there to make those choices at each step of the process.

Time? I can get a working system (no xorg or other applications) up and running in about an hour now, however, my first install (following the guide) took me about 3 days to get working.
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Research before taking any advice from me. I'm still coming to grips with this myself.

[PaulBredbury]

[donald7]

[d2_racing]

[clickmike]

Thanks everyone for your input...I would like to respond to a few at once here.

I can appreciate that Gentoo gives you choice and I can see a real benefit to this BUT during the Live CD boot I had no choices and everything worked perfectly and is setup the way I needed it to be, this is all I want. Right now I don't want any other choices in this OS and because of choices I want to use Gentoo, it's the best OS I have seen around.

Thank you for the suggestion of Sabayon but I already use SuSE and from what I see of DVD size OS', they are pigs and should be used on nothing less than a 2Ghz machine with lots of memory, 512Megs or more.

3 days to do an install! Yike's!!! I do not play golf because I do not have the patience for it nor would I have the patience to take 3 days to do an install. I am not a hobbiest nor do I have the time.

I am doing installs for old people (50+) who bring me there Windows machines that don't work anymore and as a public service I help them out. They need internet, e-mail, word and a messenger client for their grandkids who visit. For machines that I get that are under 2Ghz I install PClinuxOS and for anything over 2Ghz I install SuSE. I came across Gentoo, tried it out and found it to be the BEST!!! I don't mind helping these people out but I don't have time to spend 3 days on each machine just so they can have internet. I also like helping these people out because it's kind of an experiment for me. If I use these Linux operating systems and they work flawlessly maybe I can start to convince other businesses and organizations to move from Windows based networks to Linux based. Right now it's still a hard sell, especially if the IT guy can't install the OS.

By the way jsemour, your tutorials are awesome! If I had the patience I think your tutorials would give me the confidence to get through it. It's one thing to read it and it's another to be shown. Awesome job jsemour!

Donalsd7, how long did your whole process take? It sounds a little faster and less involved.

Maybe I will just have to continue doing the same old thing until Gentoo's installer works. I still believe Gentoo is the best and I would really like to use it as a server one day but I will have to wait. I have some test Linux server configurations using SuSE and they look great.

Thanks,
Mike

[wynn]

[clickmike]

Yes, I will keep trying. Right now I am experimenting with something that someone else mentioned on the forum. I am trying to do an install via Microsoft's Virtual PC 2007 and so far so good...not finished though.

You mentioned updates but really for the segment that I am trying to serve, on the short term, once the OS is set up there will be no more updating and if you can keep the grandkids from destroying the OS then it will probably last until the machine gives up it's ghost.

AND...

On the IT side of things I am finding more and more small and medium size businesses going to terminal services for two reasons, databases run much better here and consolitdated service and maintenance (cheaper to setup - cheaper to run - cheaper to maintain). Thus a standard OS image, like Gentoo, to run like a terminal client that once set up will not need any more maintaining. You will not need any antivirus for the minimal services that you run locally and it would be fast, stable and always available. Trying to keep older machines going is one thing that is always requested of me and with Windows that is virtually impossible. Business owners and organizations are always thinking about TCO. They hate spending money on technology but they know it's a necessary evil.

It is such a shame, it's like a huge tease. The Live CD works perfectly and is setup perfectly and supports older hardware perfectly but you can't install it. It's killing me, it's so close I can almost touch it.

Remeber, when you do volume installs once you have a good set up or image you don't think anymore you just do.

Thanks again for everyone's input, great forum and a great bunch of people.

Mike

[wynn]