make.conf almost empty

Message

Spanik · Post by **Spanik** » Sun Jan 18, 2026 2:45 pm

I'm slowly setting up a small pc to play around with audio and dsp on linux/Gentoo. So far everything runs fine and I'm starting the audio part of the setup. I have emerged jack, qjackctl and I can start it, see the rme digi9652. Next I wanted to add Calf. So I emerged Calf (no errors or messages) but it doesn't start because /usr/bin/calfjackhost is not there. Strange because the main desktop is also running jack, qjackctl and Calf. So I started comparing settings. I know I have on the desktop the jack USE flag in make.conf so I checked on the new pc. What I found is this:

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GRUB_PLATFORMS="efi-64"

This is the complete content of /etc/portage/make.conf! I have no idea where or when this happened.

Now I take it I have to redo the make.conf and probably emerge @world with changed use. But what are the risks?

logrusx · Post by **logrusx** » Sun Jan 18, 2026 3:55 pm

It could be completely missing and you would still have running system with decent defaults.
Also you don't need to put use flags in make.conf. There's package.use nowadays. I'm saying that because I see your registration date and your surprise it worked. You must be used to do the things the old way.

No, there are no risks. Go ahead and redo your make.conf. But do you really need to do it at all? Put your stuff in package.use and run a full world update.

Best Regards,
Georgi

pingtoo · Post by **pingtoo** » Sun Jan 18, 2026 4:01 pm

Spanik,

May I guess you were following Gentoo handbook and in Configuring the bootloader in the Emerge section, the suggested command

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echo 'GRUB_PLATFORMS="efi-64"' >> /etc/portage/make.conf

And in your case you miss one '>' therefor you overwrite the entire content of make.conf.

Post by **NeddySeagoon** » Sun Jan 18, 2026 4:04 pm

Pingtoo was faster than me :)

logrusx · Post by **logrusx** » Sun Jan 18, 2026 4:07 pm

Yeah, been there, done that...

Spanik · Post by **Spanik** » Mon Jan 19, 2026 7:54 pm

logrusx wrote:It could be completely missing and you would still have running system with decent defaults.
Also you don't need to put use flags in make.conf. There's package.use nowadays. I'm saying that because I see your registration date and your surprise it worked. You must be used to do the things the old way.

No, there are no risks. Go ahead and redo your make.conf. But do you really need to do it at all? Put your stuff in package.use and run a full world update.

Best Regards,
Georgi

I do date from the time a stage 1 was normal...

Yes, I do know about package.use and I do make use of that. But some USE flags are -at least to me- of general use and I prefer to put those in the make.conf because I really don't know every package that makes use of it but I want to be sure that if a package can make use of it, it does. Like "X", or "-systemd" or in this case "jack". Because I think that /usr/bin/calfjackhost is only compiled when the "jack" use flag is set. It is set at the desktop but because of the empty make.conf it is missing on the minipc.

pingtoo wrote: May I guess you were following Gentoo handbook and in Configuring the bootloader in the Emerge section, the suggested command
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echo 'GRUB_PLATFORMS="efi-64"' >> /etc/portage/make.conf
And in your case you miss one '>' therefor you overwrite the entire content of make.conf.

I think you are 100% right. As this is a standalone minipc I just attached a keyboard I had around and I'm not used on typing on it. And now I think of it, that missing make.conf might also explain the silly things I see when typing on that minipc.

Post by Hu » Mon Jan 19, 2026 8:09 pm

/etc/portage/package.use supports some forms of globbing. You could start the file with */* X jack -systemd to get the same effect as listing those in USE for /etc/portage/make.conf. I have no comment on whether one form is better than the other. They should work the same, so use whichever you prefer.

Spanik · Post by **Spanik** » Mon Jan 19, 2026 8:36 pm

I have fallen into the habit of putting the use flags I want globally into make.conf and for the others to make a separate file for each package in /etc/portage/package.use/. I find that this keeps it a bit easier to manage. When I run an update @world or install something new I get messages of wrong or missing or contradicting use flags then I add a file for that package only.

That's what I did right now, copied the make.conf and /package.use/* from the desktop to the minipc and adjusted where needed. Like one is amd, the other intel so they need different cpu_flags_x86 and other video and makeopts. Also only the /portage/package.use/ files for the packages actually installed on the minipc. Only 473 packages to update/rebuild. With 4 cores that should take a while so it will be tomorrow to see if that makes a difference.

logrusx · Post by **logrusx** » Mon Jan 19, 2026 8:46 pm

Spanik wrote:When I run an update @world or install something new I get messages of wrong or missing or contradicting use flags then I add a file for that package only.

Portage issues such messages in very specific and limited cases.

Spanik · Post by **Spanik** » Mon Jan 19, 2026 9:15 pm

logrusx wrote:
Spanik wrote:When I run an update @world or install something new I get messages of wrong or missing or contradicting use flags then I add a file for that package only.

Portage issues such messages in very specific and limited cases.

Doesn't look to me like that, I get them almost every time.

Anyway, after finding a typo in my /etc/fstab it's compiling. I'll let you know tomorrow if it got through all 473 packages.

logrusx · Post by **logrusx** » Tue Jan 20, 2026 9:36 am

Spanik wrote:
logrusx wrote:
Spanik wrote:When I run an update @world or install something new I get messages of wrong or missing or contradicting use flags then I add a file for that package only.

Portage issues such messages in very specific and limited cases.
Doesn't look to me like that, I get them almost every time.

That's because most of the time portage silently ignores your mistakes. It would never tell you there's no such use flag. It'll try to match it somewhere but it can't guarantee it'll apply. It doesn't know if two packages have the same user flag that means different things and so on. It'll just silently try and silently succeed or fail unless it's syntax error, required use or something like that.

I just found out I could run completely without make.conf if I wanted to. Over the years I've simplified it so much that it currently holds a few features, cpu flags, language and license settings and a mirror. And some emerge default opts.

I recently migrated from Gnome to pure desktop profile and I need to add just a few use flags to keep some stuff from the Gnome profile.[EDIT]It turned out those had become obsolete as well[/EDIT] When I read your thread I revisited the USE variable and found out it only contained two flags that I used to negate things from the Gnome profile and now they are not necessary anymore. I commented it out and run full world update. Portage offered me no change at all.

I admit the global effect of make.conf is very convenient and in the same time leaving as many defaults as possible simplifies maintenance immensely.

Best Regards,
Georgi

Spanik · Post by **Spanik** » Tue Jan 20, 2026 7:17 pm

Spanik wrote:Anyway, after finding a typo in my /etc/fstab it's compiling. I'll let you know tomorrow if it got through all 473 packages.

As I feared, it stopped after156 packages. Guess I'll have to bother you guys in another thread.