en/handbook/hb-install-alpha-medium.xml

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<!DOCTYPE sections SYSTEM "/dtd/book.dtd">

<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license -->
<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0 -->

<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/handbook/hb-install-alpha-medium.xml,v 1.14 2004/09/12 22:59:22 vapier Exp $ -->

<sections>
<section>
<title>Hardware Requirements</title>
<subsection>
<title>Introduction</title>
<body>

<p>
Before we start, we first list what hardware requirements you need to
successfully install Gentoo on your box. This of course depends on your
architecture.
</p>

</body>
</subsection>
<subsection>
<title>The Alpha Architecture</title>
<body>

<p>
Check the following requirements before you
continue with the Gentoo installation:
</p>

<ul>
<li>
  You need at least 1 Gb of free disk space
</li>
<li>
  For the <e>Alpha architecture</e>, you should check with the <uri
  link="http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/FAQ-5.html">Alpha/Linux FAQ</uri>
</li>
</ul>

</body>
</subsection>
</section>
<section>
<title>Make your Choice</title>
<subsection>
<title>Introduction</title>
<body>

<p>
Still interested in trying out Gentoo? Well, then it is now time to
choose the installation medium you want to use. Yes, you have the
choice, no, they are not all equal, and yes, the result is always the same: a
Gentoo base system.
</p>

<p>
The installation media we will describe are:
</p>

<ul>
<li>The Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</li>
</ul>

<p>
Before we continue, let's explain our three-stage installation.
</p>

</body>
</subsection>
<subsection>
<title>The Three Stages</title>
<body>

<p>
Gentoo Linux can be installed using one of three <e>stage</e> tarball files.
The one you choose depends on how much of the system you want to compile
yourself. The <e>stage1</e> tarball is used when you want to bootstrap and
build the entire system from scratch. The <e>stage2</e> tarball is used for
building the entire system from a bootstrapped &quot;semi-compiled&quot; state.
The <e>stage3</e> tarball already contains a basic Gentoo Linux system that has
been built for you. 
</p>

<p>
Now what stage do you have to choose?
</p>

<p>
Starting from a <e>stage1</e> allows you to have total control over the
optimization settings and optional build-time functionality that is
initially enabled on your system. This makes <e>stage1</e> installs good for
power users who know what they are doing. It is also a great
installation method for those who would like to know more about the
inner workings of Gentoo Linux.
</p>

<p>
A <e>stage1</e> installation can only be performed when you have a working
Internet connection.
</p>

<table>
<tr>
  <th>Stage1</th>
  <th>Pros and Cons</th>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>+</th>
  <ti>
    Allows you to have total control over the optimization settings and optional
    build-time functionality that is initially enabled on your system
  </ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>+</th>
  <ti>Suitable for powerusers that know what they are doing</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>+</th>
  <ti>Allows you to learn more about the inner workings of Gentoo</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>-</th>
  <ti>Takes a long time to finish the installation</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>-</th>
  <ti>
    If you don't intend to tweak the settings, it is probably a waste of time
  </ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>-</th>
  <ti>
    Not suitable for networkless installations
  </ti>
</tr>
</table>

<p>
<e>Stage2</e> installs allow you to skip the bootstrap process and doing this
is fine if you are happy with the optimization settings that we chose
for your particular <e>stage2</e> tarball.
</p>

<p>
A <e>stage2</e> installation can only be performed when you have a working
Internet connection.
</p>

<table>
<tr>
  <th>Stage2</th>
  <th>Pros and Cons</th>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>+</th>
  <ti>You don't need to bootstrap</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>+</th>
  <ti>Faster than starting with stage1</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>+</th>
  <ti>You can still tweak your settings</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>-</th>
  <ti>You cannot tweak as much as with a stage1</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>-</th>
  <ti>It's not the fastest way to install Gentoo</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>-</th>
  <ti>You have to accept the optimizations we chose for the bootstrap</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>-</th>
  <ti>
    Not suitable for networkless installations
  </ti>
</tr>
</table>

<p>
Choosing to go with a <e>stage3</e> allows for the fastest install of Gentoo
Linux, but also means that your base system will have the optimization
settings that we chose for you (which to be honest, are good settings
and were carefully chosen to enhance performance while maintaining
stability). <e>stage3</e> is also required if you want to install Gentoo using
prebuilt packages or without a network connection.
</p>

<table>
<tr>
  <th>Stage3</th>
  <th>Pros and Cons</th>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>+</th>
  <ti>Fastest way to get a Gentoo base system</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>+</th>
  <ti>Suitable for networkless installations</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>-</th>
  <ti>You cannot tweak the base system - it's built already</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <th>-</th>
  <ti>You cannot brag about having used stage1 or stage2</ti>
</tr>
</table>

<p>
Write down (or remember) what stage you want to use. You need this later when
you decide what LiveCD (or other installation medium) you want to use. You might
be interested to know that, if you decide to use different optimization settings
after having installed Gentoo, you will be able to recompile your entire system
with the new optimization settings.
</p>

<p>
Now take a look at the available installation media.
</p>

</body>
</subsection>
<subsection>
<title>The Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</title>
<body>

<p>
The <e>Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</e> is a bootable CD which contain a
self-sustained Gentoo environment. It allows you to boot Linux from the CD.
During the boot process your hardware is detected and the appropriate drivers
are loaded. It is maintained by Gentoo developers.
</p>

<p>
The <e>Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</e> is a small, no-nonsense, bootable CD which sole 
purpose is to boot the system, prepare the networking and continue with the 
Gentoo installation. It does not contain any stages (or, in some cases, a 
single stage1 file), source code or precompiled packages. For example the 
alpha variant of this LiveCD can be found in the 
<path>releases/1.4_rc1/alpha</path> subdirectory and is called
<c>gentoo-alpha-1.4rc1-test3.iso.bz2</c>.
</p>

</body>
</subsection>
</section>
<section>
<title>Download, Burn and Boot the Gentoo LiveCD</title>
<subsection>
<title>Downloading and Burning the LiveCDs</title>
<body>

<p>
You have chosen to use a Gentoo LiveCD (if not, then you are reading the
wrong document). We'll first start by downloading and burning the chosen
LiveCD. 
</p>

<p>
Visit one of our <uri
link="/main/en/mirrors.xml">mirrors</uri> and go to
<path>releases/1.4rc1/alpha</path> which is where the LiveCD(s) of your choice 
are located. Inside that directory you'll find so-called ISO-files. Those are 
full CD images which you can write on a CD-R.
</p>

<p>
In case you wonder if your downloaded file is corrupted or not, you can
check its MD5 checksum and compare it with the MD5 checksum we provide (such as
<path>gentoo-alpha-1.4rc1-test3.iso.bz2.md5sum</path>). You can check the MD5 
checksum with the <c>md5sum</c> tool under Linux/Unix or <uri
link="http://www.etree.org/md5com.html">md5sum</uri> for Windows.
</p>

<p>
Once downloaded, decompress the ISO file (as it is stored in a compressed format
using the Burrows-Wheeler text compression algorithm) using <c>bunzip2</c> (on
Unix/Linux systems):
</p>

<pre caption="Decompressing the iso.bz2 file">
# <i>bunzip2 gentoo-alpha-1.4rc1-test3.iso.bz2</i>
</pre>

<p>
Another way to check the validity of the downloaded file is to use GnuPG to
verify the cryptographic signature that we provide (the file ending with
<path>.asc</path>). Download the signature file and obtain the public key:
</p>

<pre caption="Obtaining the public key">
$ <i>gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 17072058</i>
</pre>

<p>
Now verify the signature:
</p>

<pre caption="Verify the cryptographic signature">
$ <i>gpg --verify &lt;signature file&gt; &lt;downloaded iso&gt;</i>
</pre>

<p>
To burn the downloaded ISO(s), you have to select raw-burning. How you
do this is highly program-dependent. We will discuss <c>cdrecord</c> and
<c>K3B</c> here; more information can be found in our <uri
link="/doc/en/faq.xml#isoburning">Gentoo FAQ</uri>.
</p>

<ul>
  <li>
    With cdrecord, you simply type <c>cdrecord dev=/dev/hdc</c> (replace
    <path>/dev/hdc</path> with your CD-RW drive's device path) followed
    by the path to the ISO file :)
  </li>
  <li>
    With K3B, select <c>Tools</c> &gt; <c>CD</c> &gt; <c>Burn Image</c>. Then
    you can locate your ISO file within the 'Image to Burn' area. Finally click
    <c>Start</c>.
  </li>
</ul>

</body>
</subsection>
<subsection>
<title>Booting the Alpha LiveCD(s)</title>
<body>

<p>
When your Alpha is powered on, the first thing that gets started is the
firmware. It is loosely synonymous with the BIOS software on PC systems. There
are two types of firmware on Alpha systems: SRM (<e>Systems Reference 
Manual</e>) and ARC (<e>Advanced Risc Console</e>).
</p>

<p>
SRM is based on the Alpha Console Subsystem specification, which provides an
operating environment for OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX, and Linux operating systems. ARM
is based on the Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) specification, which provides
an operating environment for Windows NT.  You can find a 
<uri link="http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/SRM-HOWTO/">detailed guide</uri> on 
using SRM over at the Alpha Linux website.
</p>

<p>
If your Alpha system supports both SRC and ARCs (ARC, AlphaBIOS, ARCSBIOS) you
should follow <uri link="http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/x31.html">these
instructions</uri> for switching to SRM. If your system already uses SRM, you
are all set. If your system can only use ARCs (Ruffian, nautilus, xl, etc.) you
will need to choose <c>MILO</c> later on when we are talking about bootloaders.
</p>

<p>
Now to boot an Alpha LiveCD, put the CD-ROM in the tray and reboot the system.
You can use SRM to boot the LiveCD. If you cannot do that, you will have to use
<c>MILO</c>. If you don't have <c>MILO</c> installed already, use one of the
precompiled <c>MILO</c> images available on <uri
link="http://dev.gentoo.org/~taviso/milo/">taviso's homepage</uri>.
</p>

<pre caption="Booting a CD-ROM using SRM">
<comment>(List available hardware drives)</comment>
&gt;&gt;&gt; <i>show device</i>
dkb0.0.1.4.0        DKB0       TOSHIBA CDROM
<comment>(...)</comment>
<comment>(Substitute dkb0 with your CD-ROM drive device)</comment>
&gt;&gt;&gt; <i>boot dkb0 -flags 0</i>
</pre>

<pre caption="Booting a CD-ROM using MILO">
<comment>(Substitute hdb with your CD-ROM drive device)</comment>
MILO&gt; <i>boot hdb:boot/vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc</i>
</pre>

<p>
You should have a root ("#") prompt on the current console and can also switch
to other consoles by pressing Alt-F2, Alt-F3 and Alt-F4. Get back to the one you
started on by pressing Alt-F1.
</p>

<p>
Now continue with <uri link="#hardware">Extra Hardware Configuration</uri>.
</p>

</body>
</subsection>
<subsection id="hardware">
<title>Extra Hardware Configuration</title>
<body>

<p>
When the Live CD boots, it tries to detect all your hardware devices and
loads the appropriate kernel modules to support your hardware. In the
vast majority of cases, it does a very good job. However, in some cases (the
SPARC LiveCDs don't even do autodetection), it may not auto-load the kernel 
modules you need. If the PCI auto-detection missed some of your system's 
hardware, you will have to load the appropriate kernel modules manually. 
</p>

<p>
In the next example we try to load the <c>8139too</c> module (support for 
certain kinds of network interfaces):
</p>

<pre caption="Loading kernel modules">
# <i>modprobe 8139too</i>
</pre>

</body>
</subsection>
<subsection>
<title>Optional: Tweaking Hard Disk Performance</title>
<body>

<p>
If you are an advanced user, you might want to tweak the IDE hard disk
performance using <c>hdparm</c>. With the <c>-tT</c> options you can
test the performance of your disk (execute it several times to get a
more precise impression):
</p>

<pre caption="Testing disk performance">
# <i>hdparm -tT /dev/hda</i>
</pre>

<p>
To tweak, you can use any of the following examples (or experiment
yourself) which use <path>/dev/hda</path> as disk (substitute with your
disk):
</p>

<pre caption="Tweaking hard disk performance">
<comment>Activate DMA:</comment>                                       # <i>hdparm -d 1 /dev/hda</i>
<comment>Activate DMA + Safe Performance-enhancing Options:</comment>  # <i>hdparm -d 1 -A 1 -m 16 -u 1 -a 64 /dev/hda</i>
</pre>

</body>
</subsection>
<subsection id="useraccounts">
<title>Optional: User Accounts</title>
<body>

<p>
If you plan on giving other people access to your installation
environment or you want to chat using <c>irssi</c> without root privileges (for
security reasons), you need to create the necessary user accounts and change 
the root password.
</p>

<p>
To change the root password, use the <c>passwd</c> utility:
</p>

<pre caption="Changing the root password">
# <i>passwd</i>
New password: <comment>(Enter your new password)</comment>
Re-enter password: <comment>(Re-enter your password)</comment>
</pre>

<p>
To create a user account, we first enter their credentials, followed by
its password. We use <c>useradd</c> and <c>passwd</c> for these tasks.
In the next example, we create a user called &quot;john&quot;.
</p>

<pre caption="Creating a user account">
# <i>useradd john</i>
# <i>passwd john</i>
New password: <comment>(Enter john's password)</comment>
Re-enter password: <comment>(Re-enter john's password)</comment>
</pre>

<p>
You can change your user id from root to the newly created user by using
<c>su</c>:
</p>

<pre caption="Changing user id">
# <i>su - john</i>
</pre>

</body>
</subsection>
<subsection>
<title>Optional: Viewing Documentation while Installing</title>
<body>

<p>
If you want to view the Gentoo Handbook (either from-CD or online) during the
installation, make sure you have created a user account (see <uri
link="#useraccouts">Optional: User Accounts</uri>). Then press <c>Alt-F2</c> to
go to a new terminal and log in.
</p>

<p>
If you want to view the documentation on the CD you can immediately run
<c>links2</c> to read it:
</p>

<pre caption="Viewing the on-CD documentation">
# <i>links2 /mnt/cdrom/docs/html/index.html</i>
</pre>

<p>
However, it is preferred that you use the online Gentoo Handbook as it will be
more recent than the one provided on the CD. You can view it using <c>links2</c>
as well, but only after having completed the <e>Configuring your Network</e>
chapter (otherwise you won't be able to go on the Internet to view the
document):
</p>

<pre caption="Viewing the Online Documentation">
# <i>links2 http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-alpha.xml</i>
</pre>

<p>
You can go back to your original terminal by pressing <c>Alt-F1</c>.
</p>

</body>
</subsection>
<subsection>
<title>Optional: Starting the SSH Daemon</title>
<body>

<p>
If you want to allow other users to access your computer during the
Gentoo installation (perhaps because those users are going to help you
install Gentoo, or even do it for you), you need to create a user
account for them and perhaps even provide them with your root password 
(<e>only</e> do that <e>if</e> you <b>fully trust</b> that user).
</p>

<p>
To fire up the SSH daemon, execute the following command:
</p>

<pre caption="Starting the SSH daemon">
# <i>/etc/init.d/sshd start</i>
</pre>

<p>
To be able to use sshd, you first need to setup your networking. Continue with
the chapter on <uri link="?part=1&amp;chap=3">Configuring your Network</uri>.
</p>

</body>
</subsection>
</section>
</sections>
1	swift	1.1	<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
2			<!DOCTYPE sections SYSTEM "/dtd/book.dtd">
3
4			<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license -->
5			<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0 -->
6
7	swift	1.15	<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/handbook/hb-install-alpha-medium.xml,v 1.14 2004/09/12 22:59:22 vapier Exp $ -->
8	swift	1.1
9			<sections>
10			<section>
11			<title>Hardware Requirements</title>
12			<subsection>
13			<title>Introduction</title>
14			<body>
15
16			<p>
17			Before we start, we first list what hardware requirements you need to
18			successfully install Gentoo on your box. This of course depends on your
19			architecture.
20			</p>
21
22			</body>
23			</subsection>
24			<subsection>
25			<title>The Alpha Architecture</title>
26			<body>
27
28			<p>
29			Check the following requirements before you
30			continue with the Gentoo installation:
31			</p>
32
33			<ul>
34			<li>
35			You need at least 1 Gb of free disk space
36			</li>
37			<li>
38			For the <e>Alpha architecture</e>, you should check with the <uri
39			link="http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/FAQ-5.html">Alpha/Linux FAQ</uri>
40			</li>
41			</ul>
42
43			</body>
44			</subsection>
45			</section>
46			<section>
47			<title>Make your Choice</title>
48			<subsection>
49			<title>Introduction</title>
50			<body>
51
52			<p>
53			Still interested in trying out Gentoo? Well, then it is now time to
54			choose the installation medium you want to use. Yes, you have the
55			choice, no, they are not all equal, and yes, the result is always the same: a
56			Gentoo base system.
57			</p>
58
59			<p>
60			The installation media we will describe are:
61			</p>
62
63			<ul>
64			<li>The Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</li>
65			</ul>
66
67			<p>
68			Before we continue, let's explain our three-stage installation.
69			</p>
70
71			</body>
72			</subsection>
73			<subsection>
74			<title>The Three Stages</title>
75			<body>
76
77			<p>
78			Gentoo Linux can be installed using one of three <e>stage</e> tarball files.
79			The one you choose depends on how much of the system you want to compile
80			yourself. The <e>stage1</e> tarball is used when you want to bootstrap and
81			build the entire system from scratch. The <e>stage2</e> tarball is used for
82			building the entire system from a bootstrapped "semi-compiled" state.
83			The <e>stage3</e> tarball already contains a basic Gentoo Linux system that has
84			been built for you.
85			</p>
86
87			<p>
88			Now what stage do you have to choose?
89			</p>
90
91			<p>
92			Starting from a <e>stage1</e> allows you to have total control over the
93			optimization settings and optional build-time functionality that is
94			initially enabled on your system. This makes <e>stage1</e> installs good for
95			power users who know what they are doing. It is also a great
96			installation method for those who would like to know more about the
97			inner workings of Gentoo Linux.
98			</p>
99
100	swift	1.7	<p>
101			A <e>stage1</e> installation can only be performed when you have a working
102			Internet connection.
103			</p>
104
105	swift	1.1	<table>
106			<tr>
107			<th>Stage1</th>
108			<th>Pros and Cons</th>
109			</tr>
110			<tr>
111			<th>+</th>
112			<ti>
113			Allows you to have total control over the optimization settings and optional
114			build-time functionality that is initially enabled on your system
115			</ti>
116			</tr>
117			<tr>
118			<th>+</th>
119			<ti>Suitable for powerusers that know what they are doing</ti>
120			</tr>
121			<tr>
122			<th>+</th>
123			<ti>Allows you to learn more about the inner workings of Gentoo</ti>
124			</tr>
125			<tr>
126			<th>-</th>
127			<ti>Takes a long time to finish the installation</ti>
128			</tr>
129			<tr>
130			<th>-</th>
131			<ti>
132			If you don't intend to tweak the settings, it is probably a waste of time
133			</ti>
134			</tr>
135	swift	1.7	<tr>
136			<th>-</th>
137			<ti>
138			Not suitable for networkless installations
139			</ti>
140			</tr>
141	swift	1.1	</table>
142
143			<p>
144			<e>Stage2</e> installs allow you to skip the bootstrap process and doing this
145			is fine if you are happy with the optimization settings that we chose
146			for your particular <e>stage2</e> tarball.
147			</p>
148
149	swift	1.7	<p>
150			A <e>stage2</e> installation can only be performed when you have a working
151			Internet connection.
152			</p>
153
154	swift	1.1	<table>
155			<tr>
156			<th>Stage2</th>
157			<th>Pros and Cons</th>
158			</tr>
159			<tr>
160			<th>+</th>
161			<ti>You don't need to bootstrap</ti>
162			</tr>
163			<tr>
164			<th>+</th>
165			<ti>Faster than starting with stage1</ti>
166			</tr>
167			<tr>
168			<th>+</th>
169			<ti>You can still tweak your settings</ti>
170			</tr>
171			<tr>
172			<th>-</th>
173			<ti>You cannot tweak as much as with a stage1</ti>
174			</tr>
175			<tr>
176			<th>-</th>
177			<ti>It's not the fastest way to install Gentoo</ti>
178			</tr>
179			<tr>
180			<th>-</th>
181			<ti>You have to accept the optimizations we chose for the bootstrap</ti>
182			</tr>
183	swift	1.7	<tr>
184			<th>-</th>
185			<ti>
186			Not suitable for networkless installations
187			</ti>
188			</tr>
189	swift	1.1	</table>
190
191			<p>
192			Choosing to go with a <e>stage3</e> allows for the fastest install of Gentoo
193			Linux, but also means that your base system will have the optimization
194			settings that we chose for you (which to be honest, are good settings
195			and were carefully chosen to enhance performance while maintaining
196			stability). <e>stage3</e> is also required if you want to install Gentoo using
197	swift	1.6	prebuilt packages or without a network connection.
198	swift	1.1	</p>
199
200			<table>
201			<tr>
202			<th>Stage3</th>
203			<th>Pros and Cons</th>
204			</tr>
205			<tr>
206			<th>+</th>
207			<ti>Fastest way to get a Gentoo base system</ti>
208			</tr>
209			<tr>
210	swift	1.7	<th>+</th>
211			<ti>Suitable for networkless installations</ti>
212			</tr>
213			<tr>
214	swift	1.1	<th>-</th>
215			<ti>You cannot tweak the base system - it's built already</ti>
216			</tr>
217			<tr>
218			<th>-</th>
219			<ti>You cannot brag about having used stage1 or stage2</ti>
220			</tr>
221			</table>
222
223			<p>
224			Write down (or remember) what stage you want to use. You need this later when
225			you decide what LiveCD (or other installation medium) you want to use. You might
226			be interested to know that, if you decide to use different optimization settings
227			after having installed Gentoo, you will be able to recompile your entire system
228			with the new optimization settings.
229			</p>
230
231			<p>
232			Now take a look at the available installation media.
233			</p>
234
235			</body>
236			</subsection>
237			<subsection>
238			<title>The Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</title>
239			<body>
240
241			<p>
242			The <e>Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</e> is a bootable CD which contain a
243			self-sustained Gentoo environment. It allows you to boot Linux from the CD.
244			During the boot process your hardware is detected and the appropriate drivers
245			are loaded. It is maintained by Gentoo developers.
246			</p>
247
248			<p>
249			The <e>Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</e> is a small, no-nonsense, bootable CD which sole
250			purpose is to boot the system, prepare the networking and continue with the
251			Gentoo installation. It does not contain any stages (or, in some cases, a
252			single stage1 file), source code or precompiled packages. For example the
253			alpha variant of this LiveCD can be found in the
254			<path>releases/1.4_rc1/alpha</path> subdirectory and is called
255			<c>gentoo-alpha-1.4rc1-test3.iso.bz2</c>.
256			</p>
257
258			</body>
259			</subsection>
260			</section>
261			<section>
262			<title>Download, Burn and Boot the Gentoo LiveCD</title>
263			<subsection>
264			<title>Downloading and Burning the LiveCDs</title>
265			<body>
266
267			<p>
268			You have chosen to use a Gentoo LiveCD (if not, then you are reading the
269			wrong document). We'll first start by downloading and burning the chosen
270			LiveCD.
271			</p>
272
273			<p>
274			Visit one of our <uri
275			link="/main/en/mirrors.xml">mirrors</uri> and go to
276			<path>releases/1.4rc1/alpha</path> which is where the LiveCD(s) of your choice
277			are located. Inside that directory you'll find so-called ISO-files. Those are
278			full CD images which you can write on a CD-R.
279			</p>
280
281			<p>
282			In case you wonder if your downloaded file is corrupted or not, you can
283			check its MD5 checksum and compare it with the MD5 checksum we provide (such as
284			<path>gentoo-alpha-1.4rc1-test3.iso.bz2.md5sum</path>). You can check the MD5
285			checksum with the <c>md5sum</c> tool under Linux/Unix or <uri
286	neysx	1.11	link="http://www.etree.org/md5com.html">md5sum</uri> for Windows.
287	swift	1.1	</p>
288
289			<p>
290			Once downloaded, decompress the ISO file (as it is stored in a compressed format
291			using the Burrows-Wheeler text compression algorithm) using <c>bunzip2</c> (on
292			Unix/Linux systems):
293			</p>
294
295			<pre caption="Decompressing the iso.bz2 file">
296			# <i>bunzip2 gentoo-alpha-1.4rc1-test3.iso.bz2</i>
297			</pre>
298
299			<p>
300	swift	1.8	Another way to check the validity of the downloaded file is to use GnuPG to
301			verify the cryptographic signature that we provide (the file ending with
302			<path>.asc</path>). Download the signature file and obtain the public key:
303			</p>
304
305			<pre caption="Obtaining the public key">
306	swift	1.12	$ <i>gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 17072058</i>
307	swift	1.8	</pre>
308
309			<p>
310			Now verify the signature:
311			</p>
312
313			<pre caption="Verify the cryptographic signature">
314	swift	1.12	$ <i>gpg --verify <signature file> <downloaded iso></i>
315	swift	1.8	</pre>
316
317			<p>
318	swift	1.1	To burn the downloaded ISO(s), you have to select raw-burning. How you
319	swift	1.9	do this is highly program-dependent. We will discuss <c>cdrecord</c> and
320			<c>K3B</c> here; more information can be found in our <uri
321			link="/doc/en/faq.xml#isoburning">Gentoo FAQ</uri>.
322	swift	1.1	</p>
323
324			<ul>
325			<li>
326			With cdrecord, you simply type <c>cdrecord dev=/dev/hdc</c> (replace
327			<path>/dev/hdc</path> with your CD-RW drive's device path) followed
328			by the path to the ISO file :)
329			</li>
330	swift	1.2	<li>
331	bennyc	1.5	With K3B, select <c>Tools</c> > <c>CD</c> > <c>Burn Image</c>. Then
332			you can locate your ISO file within the 'Image to Burn' area. Finally click
333	swift	1.2	<c>Start</c>.
334			</li>
335	swift	1.1	</ul>
336
337			</body>
338			</subsection>
339			<subsection>
340			<title>Booting the Alpha LiveCD(s)</title>
341			<body>
342
343			<p>
344			When your Alpha is powered on, the first thing that gets started is the
345			firmware. It is loosely synonymous with the BIOS software on PC systems. There
346			are two types of firmware on Alpha systems: SRM (<e>Systems Reference
347			Manual</e>) and ARC (<e>Advanced Risc Console</e>).
348			</p>
349
350			<p>
351			SRM is based on the Alpha Console Subsystem specification, which provides an
352			operating environment for OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX, and Linux operating systems. ARM
353			is based on the Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) specification, which provides
354	vapier	1.14	an operating environment for Windows NT. You can find a
355			<uri link="http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/SRM-HOWTO/">detailed guide</uri> on
356			using SRM over at the Alpha Linux website.
357	swift	1.1	</p>
358
359			<p>
360			If your Alpha system supports both SRC and ARCs (ARC, AlphaBIOS, ARCSBIOS) you
361			should follow <uri link="http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/x31.html">these
362			instructions</uri> for switching to SRM. If your system already uses SRM, you
363			are all set. If your system can only use ARCs (Ruffian, nautilus, xl, etc.) you
364			will need to choose <c>MILO</c> later on when we are talking about bootloaders.
365			</p>
366
367			<p>
368			Now to boot an Alpha LiveCD, put the CD-ROM in the tray and reboot the system.
369			You can use SRM to boot the LiveCD. If you cannot do that, you will have to use
370			<c>MILO</c>. If you don't have <c>MILO</c> installed already, use one of the
371			precompiled <c>MILO</c> images available on <uri
372			link="http://dev.gentoo.org/~taviso/milo/">taviso's homepage</uri>.
373			</p>
374
375			<pre caption="Booting a CD-ROM using SRM">
376			<comment>(List available hardware drives)</comment>
377			>>> <i>show device</i>
378			dkb0.0.1.4.0 DKB0 TOSHIBA CDROM
379			<comment>(...)</comment>
380			<comment>(Substitute dkb0 with your CD-ROM drive device)</comment>
381			>>> <i>boot dkb0 -flags 0</i>
382			</pre>
383
384			<pre caption="Booting a CD-ROM using MILO">
385			<comment>(Substitute hdb with your CD-ROM drive device)</comment>
386			MILO> <i>boot hdb:boot/vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc</i>
387			</pre>
388
389			<p>
390			You should have a root ("#") prompt on the current console and can also switch
391			to other consoles by pressing Alt-F2, Alt-F3 and Alt-F4. Get back to the one you
392			started on by pressing Alt-F1.
393			</p>
394
395			<p>
396			Now continue with <uri link="#hardware">Extra Hardware Configuration</uri>.
397			</p>
398
399			</body>
400			</subsection>
401			<subsection id="hardware">
402			<title>Extra Hardware Configuration</title>
403			<body>
404
405			<p>
406			When the Live CD boots, it tries to detect all your hardware devices and
407			loads the appropriate kernel modules to support your hardware. In the
408			vast majority of cases, it does a very good job. However, in some cases (the
409			SPARC LiveCDs don't even do autodetection), it may not auto-load the kernel
410			modules you need. If the PCI auto-detection missed some of your system's
411			hardware, you will have to load the appropriate kernel modules manually.
412			</p>
413
414			<p>
415			In the next example we try to load the <c>8139too</c> module (support for
416			certain kinds of network interfaces):
417			</p>
418
419			<pre caption="Loading kernel modules">
420			# <i>modprobe 8139too</i>
421			</pre>
422
423			</body>
424			</subsection>
425			<subsection>
426			<title>Optional: Tweaking Hard Disk Performance</title>
427			<body>
428
429			<p>
430			If you are an advanced user, you might want to tweak the IDE hard disk
431			performance using <c>hdparm</c>. With the <c>-tT</c> options you can
432			test the performance of your disk (execute it several times to get a
433			more precise impression):
434			</p>
435
436			<pre caption="Testing disk performance">
437			# <i>hdparm -tT /dev/hda</i>
438			</pre>
439
440			<p>
441			To tweak, you can use any of the following examples (or experiment
442			yourself) which use <path>/dev/hda</path> as disk (substitute with your
443			disk):
444			</p>
445
446			<pre caption="Tweaking hard disk performance">
447			<comment>Activate DMA:</comment> # <i>hdparm -d 1 /dev/hda</i>
448			<comment>Activate DMA + Safe Performance-enhancing Options:</comment> # <i>hdparm -d 1 -A 1 -m 16 -u 1 -a 64 /dev/hda</i>
449			</pre>
450
451			</body>
452			</subsection>
453	swift	1.13	<subsection id="useraccounts">
454	swift	1.1	<title>Optional: User Accounts</title>
455			<body>
456
457			<p>
458			If you plan on giving other people access to your installation
459			environment or you want to chat using <c>irssi</c> without root privileges (for
460			security reasons), you need to create the necessary user accounts and change
461			the root password.
462			</p>
463
464			<p>
465			To change the root password, use the <c>passwd</c> utility:
466			</p>
467
468			<pre caption="Changing the root password">
469			# <i>passwd</i>
470			New password: <comment>(Enter your new password)</comment>
471			Re-enter password: <comment>(Re-enter your password)</comment>
472			</pre>
473
474			<p>
475	swift	1.4	To create a user account, we first enter their credentials, followed by
476	swift	1.1	its password. We use <c>useradd</c> and <c>passwd</c> for these tasks.
477			In the next example, we create a user called "john".
478			</p>
479
480			<pre caption="Creating a user account">
481			# <i>useradd john</i>
482			# <i>passwd john</i>
483			New password: <comment>(Enter john's password)</comment>
484			Re-enter password: <comment>(Re-enter john's password)</comment>
485			</pre>
486
487			<p>
488			You can change your user id from root to the newly created user by using
489			<c>su</c>:
490			</p>
491
492			<pre caption="Changing user id">
493	swift	1.15	# <i>su - john</i>
494	swift	1.1	</pre>
495
496			</body>
497			</subsection>
498			<subsection>
499	swift	1.13	<title>Optional: Viewing Documentation while Installing</title>
500			<body>
501
502			<p>
503			If you want to view the Gentoo Handbook (either from-CD or online) during the
504			installation, make sure you have created a user account (see <uri
505			link="#useraccouts">Optional: User Accounts</uri>). Then press <c>Alt-F2</c> to
506			go to a new terminal and log in.
507			</p>
508
509			<p>
510			If you want to view the documentation on the CD you can immediately run
511			<c>links2</c> to read it:
512			</p>
513
514			<pre caption="Viewing the on-CD documentation">
515			# <i>links2 /mnt/cdrom/docs/html/index.html</i>
516			</pre>
517
518			<p>
519			However, it is preferred that you use the online Gentoo Handbook as it will be
520			more recent than the one provided on the CD. You can view it using <c>links2</c>
521			as well, but only after having completed the <e>Configuring your Network</e>
522			chapter (otherwise you won't be able to go on the Internet to view the
523			document):
524			</p>
525
526			<pre caption="Viewing the Online Documentation">
527			# <i>links2 http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-alpha.xml</i>
528			</pre>
529
530			<p>
531			You can go back to your original terminal by pressing <c>Alt-F1</c>.
532			</p>
533
534			</body>
535			</subsection>
536			<subsection>
537	swift	1.1	<title>Optional: Starting the SSH Daemon</title>
538			<body>
539
540			<p>
541			If you want to allow other users to access your computer during the
542			Gentoo installation (perhaps because those users are going to help you
543			install Gentoo, or even do it for you), you need to create a user
544			account for them and perhaps even provide them with your root password
545			(<e>only</e> do that <e>if</e> you <b>fully trust</b> that user).
546			</p>
547
548			<p>
549			To fire up the SSH daemon, execute the following command:
550			</p>
551
552			<pre caption="Starting the SSH daemon">
553			# <i>/etc/init.d/sshd start</i>
554			</pre>
555
556			<p>
557			To be able to use sshd, you first need to setup your networking. Continue with
558			the chapter on <uri link="?part=1&chap=3">Configuring your Network</uri>.
559			</p>
560
561			</body>
562			</subsection>
563			</section>
564			</sections>