Ubuntu 7.04 to Genntoo?

Message

McLovin · Post by **McLovin** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:25 am

i am currently an ubuntu user, been using for a while now. i use an acer travelmate 8100 laptop, and was thinking about switching to gentoo, just wondering if gentoo has the same kind of hardware, and media support, (wireless card,mp3, avi, etc.) just to give you all an idea, i am a fairly advanced user, i use the console for most things i need to do, (installing software and such) can troubleshoot most problems. i have ubuntu configured nicely, (compiz fusion, avant window manager, emerald, wireless, etc. etc. etc.) i like the reviews i have seen about the stability of gentoo, and gui options available (compiz fusion in kde seems to be working for ppl) just looking for some input.
thanx in advance for any thing you have to give

mrbig4545 · Post by **mrbig4545** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:52 am

Yes the hardware support should be the same, as its all in the kernel. As for compiz and wifi etc, it should all be supported, however may require a lot of configuration, but its well worth it once its done.

Useful links would be these forums, http://gentoo-wiki.com/Main_Page and of course google.

Hope this is of some help,

Mark

McLovin · Post by **McLovin** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:02 am

ty for hte fast response.
that is helpful, i got the gentoo 2007 dvd in linux pro mag, and was thinking about switching over, i think it looks better for a more advanced user, just never tried it, and dont want to go through the whole process of reinstalling and configuring, only to find out that the hardware support and graphical "eye candy" that i enjoy so much, is not supported.

01mf02 · Post by **01mf02** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:49 pm

I'd definitely recommend Gentoo if you are an advanced user - after having tried Ubuntu once (and having it found very nice), I was still happy to go back to Gentoo, mostly because of its flexibility.

gerard27 · Post by **gerard27** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:50 pm

Since you are familiar with the command line I'd suggest to
use the minimal install cd.
The graphic installer is buggy.
Once you have established internet connection you can use one console
to do the install and the other to connect to Gentoo Handbook.
Gerard.

redwoolf · Post by **redwoolf** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:40 pm

You can install Gentoo from within Ubuntu using the command line. All you'll need to do is resize your partition to make space for Gentoo, then follow the instructions in the Gentoo handbook starting at section 4. Preparing the Disks. You might need to run

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install links chroot

in Ubuntu before you start the install.
This is how I installed Gentoo on my Dell 1420n since the kernel on the Gentoo CD didn't support the driver for my Broadcom NIC. It worked like a charm, and I was able to surf the net and read the documentation online while I did the install.

I agree with the above posts, though, that you should use the manual install and not the installer. Not only is the installer buggy, but if you follow the manual install and the excellent documentation in the Gentoo handbook, you'll learn how to get the most out of Gentoo.

d2_racing · Post by **d2_racing** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:40 pm

Yeah , use the handbook and use the minimal CD installation.

Don't use the Graphical installer.

McLovin · Post by **McLovin** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:54 pm

thanx all, i got the gentoo install dvd from linux+ mag, wnated to give it a try, the graphical installer is VERY buggy, (cant even get the xserver to start on the live iso) so i will dl the minimal install cd and do it that way.

i am kinda curious about something, is it possible to "tri"boot winxp ubuntu, gentoo? just kinda curious, as my gf also uses this laptop and is kinda intimidated by linux, never even attempted to do a triboot.

redwoolf · Post by **redwoolf** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:57 pm

it is indeed possible to "tri-boot"
you'll just have to configure grub to do so, but that's really easy. If you only have one computer, I'd suggest you install gentoo from within Ubuntu so you can follow the documentation online as you go.

djscribble · Post by **djscribble** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:42 pm

I also use compiz fusion, avant window navigator, and screenlets...

you will not get the most current ones from the main portage tree, you will have to emerge layman and then execute

Code: Select all

layman -a xeffects

and then

Code: Select all

emerge compiz-fusion

from there after you unmask it and its dependencies.

however for avant, you will have to go to the xeffects fourm (http://forums.gentoo-xeffects.org/) to get the most recent version of the avant ebuild (the one that uses bzr)...

finally if you want the most recent screenlets (.0.0.9) you will need to get that from the developer's blog and compile it yourself

i have a general rule of thumb that if i compile it myself it goes in /usr/local/non-portage/[program name] this way everything stays clean - you do that with --prefix=/usr/local/non-portage/[program name] --exec-prefix=/usr/local/non-portage/[program name]

if you have any problems PM me and i would be more than happy to give you some help/more detailed directions on what i had to do to make it all work nicely together.

McLovin · Post by **McLovin** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:12 am

thanx, i'll do that, as soon as i get everything else in and configure grub, now should i allow gentoo to make a new mbr, or should i use the current mbr and add gentoo to it in ubuntu?

i92guboj · Post by **i92guboj** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:34 am

McLovin wrote:thanx, i'll do that, as soon as i get everything else in and configure grub, now should i allow gentoo to make a new mbr, or should i use the current mbr and add gentoo to it in ubuntu?

You can share the boot partition, as long as you are clean enough to maintain a tidy /boot with kernels for both distros. Then just add the relevant stuff to grub.conf. No need to reinstall grub nor any other thing.

If you install manually, you can install gentoo from within an xterm from your ubuntu desktop. No need to boot a livecd just to install a distro

McLovin · Post by **McLovin** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 5:16 pm

i92guboj wrote:You can share the boot partition, as long as you are clean enough to maintain a tidy /boot with kernels for both distros. Then just add the relevant stuff to grub.conf. No need to reinstall grub nor any other thing.

If you install manually, you can install gentoo from within an xterm from your ubuntu desktop. No need to boot a livecd just to install a distro

ok, i am trying to figure out how to install gentoo from within my ubuntu desktop, cant seem to find any doc on the procedure. are there any wiki's or docs on the process? i have never installed an os from within another os, that is my issue here.

i92guboj · Post by **i92guboj** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 5:25 pm

McLovin wrote:
i92guboj wrote:You can share the boot partition, as long as you are clean enough to maintain a tidy /boot with kernels for both distros. Then just add the relevant stuff to grub.conf. No need to reinstall grub nor any other thing.

If you install manually, you can install gentoo from within an xterm from your ubuntu desktop. No need to boot a livecd just to install a distro
ok, i am trying to figure out how to install gentoo from within my ubuntu desktop, cant seem to find any doc on the procedure. are there any wiki's or docs on the process? i have never installed an os from within another os, that is my issue here.

Just do what the handbook says.

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/h ... ble&full=1

Instead of booting from a livecd, just open a terminal and do it there. The procedure is exactly the same. You just need a partition -at least- to install it.

foxmike · Post by **foxmike** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:21 am

McLovin wrote:
i92guboj wrote:You can share the boot partition, as long as you are clean enough to maintain a tidy /boot with kernels for both distros. Then just add the relevant stuff to grub.conf. No need to reinstall grub nor any other thing.

If you install manually, you can install gentoo from within an xterm from your ubuntu desktop. No need to boot a livecd just to install a distro
ok, i am trying to figure out how to install gentoo from within my ubuntu desktop, cant seem to find any doc on the procedure. are there any wiki's or docs on the process? i have never installed an os from within another os, that is my issue here.

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/altinstall.xml Gentoo Alternative Install Guide, see section 5, everything is well explained!:) And you'll see, quite simple!

I have followed this guide to install from Ubuntu, and to keep my main machine available, I logged-in a tty (ctrl-alt-f1) to do this, so then KDE is still available for anybody without the need to lock a session:)

Somerled · Post by **Somerled** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:19 am

Can someone confirm if the following procedure will work for me - I think I get the gist of this thread - just want to be sure before I go ahead.

I have 3 partitons on my PC. hda3 was used for trying another distro so it is now empty but has been formatted to ext3. Can I mount gentoo on it and then proceed with downloading and installing Gentoo starting at step 4a of the handbook? I want to continue to use the Kubuntu GRUB to boot up so I would install gentoo but not install GRUB here. I think if I run GRUB-INSTALL in Kubuntu it would pick up Gentoo? Or wil I need a boot partition here as well?

Your comments will be appreciated.

baeksu · Post by **baeksu** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 2:20 am

Yes, you can start from 4a to install gentoo on the free partition. That's actually my preferred way of installing Gentoo. When I built a new machine, I put Kubuntu on it so that I could start using it immediately, and then installed Gentoo in a chroot on another partition.

You don't need to install grub again. Just copy the kernel you built in Gentoo over to /boot, and add it to your grub.conf (with the appropriate root partition option).

If you use Kubuntu to automatically update grub (for instance after upgrading your kernel), it might mess it up a bit, so watch out for that.

Somerled · Post by **Somerled** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 2:19 pm

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I'm looking forward to trying Gentoo again.

Ubuntu 7.04 to Genntoo?

Ubuntu 7.04 to Genntoo?

Installing Gentoo from Kubuntu