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3 3
4<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license --> 4<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license -->
5<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0 --> 5<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0 -->
6 6
7<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/handbook/hb-install-alpha-medium.xml,v 1.18 2004/11/02 11:44:39 swift Exp $ --> 7<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/handbook/hb-install-alpha-medium.xml,v 1.26 2005/02/14 15:51:45 swift Exp $ -->
8 8
9<sections> 9<sections>
10
11<version>1.21</version>
12<date>2005-01-07</date>
13
10<section> 14<section>
11<title>Hardware Requirements</title> 15<title>Hardware Requirements</title>
12<subsection> 16<subsection>
13<title>Introduction</title> 17<title>Introduction</title>
14<body> 18<body>
15 19
16<p> 20<p>
17Before we start, we first list what hardware requirements you need to 21Before we start, we first list what hardware requirements you need to
18successfully install Gentoo on your box. This of course depends on your 22successfully install Gentoo on your box.
19architecture.
20</p> 23</p>
21 24
22</body> 25</body>
23</subsection>
24<subsection> 26</subsection>
25<title>The Alpha Architecture</title> 27<subsection>
28<title>Hardware Requirements</title>
29<body>
30
31<table>
32<tr>
33 <th>CPU</th>
34 <ti>
35 Please check with the <uri
36 link="http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/FAQ-5.html">Alpha/Linux FAQ</uri>
37 </ti>
38</tr>
39<tr>
40 <th>Memory</th>
41 <ti>64 MB</ti>
42</tr>
43<tr>
44 <th>Diskspace</th>
45 <ti>1.5 GB (excluding swap space)</ti>
46</tr>
47<tr>
48 <th>Swap space</th>
49 <ti>At least 256 MB</ti>
50</tr>
51</table>
52
26<body> 53</body>
54</subsection>
55</section>
56<!-- Copy/paste from the hb-install-x86-medium.xml file but no Universal LiveCD.
57 Also s/x86/alpha -->
58<!-- START -->
59<section>
60<title>The Gentoo Installation Approaches</title>
61<subsection>
62<title>Introduction</title>
63<body>
27 64
28<p> 65<p>
29Check the following requirements before you 66Gentoo Linux can be installed using one of three <e>stage</e> tarball files.
30continue with the Gentoo installation: 67A stage file is a tarball (compressed archive) that contains a minimal
68environment.
31</p> 69</p>
32 70
33<ul> 71<ul>
34<li> 72 <li>
35 You need at least 1 Gb of free disk space 73 A stage1 file contains nothing more than a compiler, Portage (Gentoo's
74 software management system) and a couple of packages on which the compiler
75 or Portage depends.
36</li> 76 </li>
37<li> 77 <li>
38 For the <e>Alpha architecture</e>, you should check with the <uri 78 A stage2 file contains a so-called bootstrapped system, a minimal
39 link="http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/FAQ-5.html">Alpha/Linux FAQ</uri> 79 environment from which one can start building all other necessary
80 applications that make a Gentoo environment complete.
40</li> 81 </li>
82 <li>
83 A stage3 file contains a prebuilt minimal system which is almost fully
84 deployable. It only lacks a few applications where you, the Gentoo user,
85 needs to choose which one you want to install.
86 </li>
41</ul> 87</ul>
42 88
89<p>
90To help you decide what stage file you want to use, we have written down the
91major advantages and disadvantages of each stage file.
92</p>
93
43</body> 94</body>
44</subsection>
45</section>
46<section>
47<title>Make your Choice</title>
48<subsection> 95</subsection>
49<title>Introduction</title>
50<body>
51
52<p>
53Still interested in trying out Gentoo? Well, then it is now time to
54choose the installation medium you want to use. Yes, you have the
55choice, no, they are not all equal, and yes, the result is always the same: a
56Gentoo base system.
57</p>
58
59<p>
60The installation media we will describe are:
61</p>
62
63<ul>
64<li>The Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</li>
65</ul>
66
67<p>
68Before we continue, let's explain our three-stage installation.
69</p>
70
71</body>
72</subsection> 96<subsection>
73<subsection> 97<title>A Stage1 Approach</title>
74<title>The Three Stages</title>
75<body> 98<body>
76 99
77<p>
78Gentoo Linux can be installed using one of three <e>stage</e> tarball files.
79The one you choose depends on how much of the system you want to compile
80yourself. The <e>stage1</e> tarball is used when you want to bootstrap and
81build the entire system from scratch. The <e>stage2</e> tarball is used for
82building the entire system from a bootstrapped &quot;semi-compiled&quot; state.
83The <e>stage3</e> tarball already contains a basic Gentoo Linux system that has
84been built for you.
85</p> 100<p>
86 101A <e>stage1</e> is used when you want to bootstrap and build the entire system
102from scratch.
87<p> 103</p>
88Now what stage do you have to choose? 104
89</p> 105<p>
90
91<p>
92Starting from a <e>stage1</e> allows you to have total control over the 106Starting from a stage1 allows you to have total control over the
93optimization settings and optional build-time functionality that is 107optimization settings and optional build-time functionality that is
94initially enabled on your system. This makes <e>stage1</e> installs good for 108initially enabled on your system. This makes <e>stage1</e> installs good for
95power users who know what they are doing. It is also a great 109power users who know what they are doing. It is also a great
96installation method for those who would like to know more about the 110installation method for those who would like to know more about the
97inner workings of Gentoo Linux. 111inner workings of Gentoo Linux.
98</p> 112</p>
99 113
100<p>
101A <e>stage1</e> installation can only be performed when you have a working
102Internet connection.
103</p>
104
105<table> 114<table>
106<tr> 115<tr>
107 <th>Stage1</th> 116 <th>Stage1</th>
108 <th>Pros and Cons</th> 117 <th>Pros and Cons</th>
109</tr> 118</tr>
… …
127 <ti>Takes a long time to finish the installation</ti> 136 <ti>Takes a long time to finish the installation</ti>
128</tr> 137</tr>
129<tr> 138<tr>
130 <th>-</th> 139 <th>-</th>
131 <ti> 140 <ti>
132 If you don't intend to tweak the settings, it is probably a waste of time 141 If you don't intend to tweak the settings, it is a waste of time
133 </ti> 142 </ti>
134</tr> 143</tr>
135<tr>
136 <th>-</th>
137 <ti>
138 Not suitable for networkless installations
139 </ti>
140</tr>
141</table> 144</table>
142 145
146</body>
147</subsection>
148<subsection>
149<title>A Stage2 Approach</title>
150<body>
151
152<p>
153A <e>stage2</e> is used for building the entire system from a bootstrapped
154"semi-compiled" state.
143<p> 155</p>
156
157<p>
144<e>Stage2</e> installs allow you to skip the bootstrap process and doing this 158Stage2 installs allow you to skip the bootstrap process; doing this
145is fine if you are happy with the optimization settings that we chose 159is fine if you are happy with the optimization settings that we chose
146for your particular <e>stage2</e> tarball. 160for your particular stage2 tarball.
147</p>
148
149<p>
150A <e>stage2</e> installation can only be performed when you have a working
151Internet connection.
152</p> 161</p>
153 162
154<table> 163<table>
155<tr> 164<tr>
156 <th>Stage2</th> 165 <th>Stage2</th>
… …
172 <th>-</th> 181 <th>-</th>
173 <ti>You cannot tweak as much as with a stage1</ti> 182 <ti>You cannot tweak as much as with a stage1</ti>
174</tr> 183</tr>
175<tr> 184<tr>
176 <th>-</th> 185 <th>-</th>
177 <ti>It's not the fastest way to install Gentoo</ti> 186 <ti>It's still not the fastest way to install Gentoo</ti>
178</tr> 187</tr>
179<tr> 188<tr>
180 <th>-</th> 189 <th>-</th>
181 <ti>You have to accept the optimizations we chose for the bootstrap</ti> 190 <ti>You have to accept the optimizations we chose for the bootstrap</ti>
182</tr> 191</tr>
183<tr>
184 <th>-</th>
185 <ti>
186 Not suitable for networkless installations
187 </ti>
188</tr>
189</table> 192</table>
190 193
194</body>
195</subsection>
196<subsection>
197<title>A Stage3 Approach</title>
198<body>
199
200<p>
201A <e>stage3</e> installation contains a basic Gentoo Linux system that has been
202built for you. You will only need to build a few packages of which we can't
203decide for you which one to choose.
191<p> 204</p>
205
206<p>
192Choosing to go with a <e>stage3</e> allows for the fastest install of Gentoo 207Choosing to go with a stage3 allows for the fastest install of Gentoo
193Linux, but also means that your base system will have the optimization 208Linux, but also means that your base system will have the optimization
194settings that we chose for you (which to be honest, are good settings 209settings that we chose for you (which to be honest, are good settings
195and were carefully chosen to enhance performance while maintaining 210and were carefully chosen to enhance performance while maintaining
196stability). <e>stage3</e> is also required if you want to install Gentoo using 211stability). Stage3 is also required if you want to install Gentoo using
197prebuilt packages or without a network connection. 212prebuilt packages or without a network connection.
198</p> 213</p>
199 214
200<table> 215<table>
201<tr> 216<tr>
… …
205<tr> 220<tr>
206 <th>+</th> 221 <th>+</th>
207 <ti>Fastest way to get a Gentoo base system</ti> 222 <ti>Fastest way to get a Gentoo base system</ti>
208</tr> 223</tr>
209<tr> 224<tr>
210 <th>+</th>
211 <ti>Suitable for networkless installations</ti>
212</tr>
213<tr>
214 <th>-</th> 225 <th>-</th>
215 <ti>You cannot tweak the base system - it's built already</ti> 226 <ti>You cannot tweak the base system - it's built already</ti>
216</tr> 227</tr>
217<tr>
218 <th>-</th>
219 <ti>You cannot brag about having used stage1 or stage2</ti>
220</tr>
221</table> 228</table>
222 229
223<p> 230<p>
224Write down (or remember) what stage you want to use. You need this later when
225you decide what LiveCD (or other installation medium) you want to use. You might
226be interested to know that, if you decide to use different optimization settings 231You might be interested to know that, if you decide to use different
227after having installed Gentoo, you will be able to recompile your entire system 232optimization settings after having installed Gentoo, you will be able to
228with the new optimization settings. 233recompile your entire system with the new optimization settings.
229</p>
230
231<p>
232Now 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>
242The <e>Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</e> is a bootable CD which contain a
243self-sustained Gentoo environment. It allows you to boot Linux from the CD.
244During the boot process your hardware is detected and the appropriate drivers
245are loaded. It is maintained by Gentoo developers.
246</p>
247
248<p>
249The <e>Gentoo Alpha LiveCD</e> is a small, no-nonsense, bootable CD which sole
250purpose is to boot the system, prepare the networking and continue with the
251Gentoo installation. It does not contain any stages (or, in some cases, a
252single stage1 file), source code or precompiled packages. For example the
253alpha 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> 234</p>
257 235
258</body> 236</body>
259</subsection> 237</subsection>
260</section> 238</section>
261<section> 239<section>
240<title>The Gentoo LiveCDs</title>
241<subsection>
242<title>Introduction</title>
243<body>
244
245<p>
246The <e>Gentoo LiveCDs</e> are bootable CDs which contain a
247self-sustained Gentoo environment. They allow you to boot Linux from the CD.
248During the boot process your hardware is detected and the appropriate drivers
249are loaded. They are maintained by Gentoo developers.
250</p>
251
252<p>
253All LiveCDs allow you to boot, set up networking, initialize your
254partitions and start installing Gentoo from the Internet. We currently provide
255two LiveCDs which are equaly suitable to install Gentoo from, as long as you're
256planning on performing an Internet-based installation using the latest version
257of the available packages.
258</p>
259
260<p>
261If you wish to install Gentoo without a working Internet connection, please use
262the installation instructions described in the <uri
263link="2004.3/index.xml">Gentoo 2004.3 Handbooks</uri>. This is currently not
264supported for the Alpha architecture though.
265</p>
266
267<p>
268For the Alpha architecture, we only provide a <e>Minimal</e> LiveCD,
269a small, no-nonsense, bootable CD which sole purpose is to boot the
270system, prepare the networking and continue with the Gentoo installation.
271</p>
272
273</body>
274</subsection>
275<subsection>
276<title>Gentoo's Minimal LiveCD</title>
277<body>
278
279<p>
280The Minimal LiveCD is called <c>install-alpha-minimal-2004.3-r1.iso</c> and
281takes up only 54 MB of diskspace. You can use this LiveCD to install Gentoo,
282but always with a working Internet connection only.
283</p>
284
285<table>
286<tr>
287 <th>Minimal LiveCD</th>
288 <th>Pros and Cons</th>
289</tr>
290<tr>
291 <th>+</th>
292 <ti>Smallest download</ti>
293</tr>
294<tr>
295 <th>+</th>
296 <ti>
297 You can do a stage1, stage2 or stage3 by getting the stage tarball off the
298 net
299 </ti>
300</tr>
301<tr>
302 <th>-</th>
303 <ti>
304 Contains no stages, no Portage snapshot, no prebuilt packages and is
305 therefore not suitable for networkless installation
306 </ti>
307</tr>
308</table>
309
310</body>
311</subsection>
312</section>
313<!-- STOP -->
314<section>
262<title>Download, Burn and Boot the Gentoo LiveCD</title> 315<title>Download, Burn and Boot a Gentoo LiveCD</title>
263<subsection> 316<subsection>
264<title>Downloading and Burning the LiveCDs</title> 317<title>Downloading and Burning the LiveCDs</title>
265<body> 318<body>
266 319
267<p> 320<p>
268You have chosen to use a Gentoo LiveCD (if not, then you are reading the 321You have chosen to use a Gentoo LiveCD. We'll first start by downloading and
269wrong document). We'll first start by downloading and burning the chosen 322burning the chosen LiveCD. We previously discussed the several available
270LiveCD. 323LiveCDs, but where can you find them?
271</p>
272
273<p> 324</p>
274Visit one of our <uri 325
275link="/main/en/mirrors.xml">mirrors</uri> and go to 326<p>
276<path>releases/1.4rc1/alpha</path> which is where the LiveCD(s) of your choice 327You can download any of the LiveCDs (and, if you want to, a Packages CD as
328well) from one of our <uri link="/main/en/mirrors.xml">mirrors</uri>. The
329LiveCDs are located in the <path>releases/alpha/2004.3/livecd</path> directory.
330</p>
331
332<p>
277are located. Inside that directory you'll find so-called ISO-files. Those are 333Inside that directory you'll find so-called ISO-files. Those are full CD images
278full CD images which you can write on a CD-R. 334which you can write on a CD-R.
279</p> 335</p>
280 336
281<p> 337<p>
282In case you wonder if your downloaded file is corrupted or not, you can 338In case you wonder if your downloaded file is corrupted or not, you can
283check its MD5 checksum and compare it with the MD5 checksum we provide (such as 339check 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 340<path>install-alpha-minimal-2004.3.iso.md5</path>). You can check the MD5 checksum
285checksum with the <c>md5sum</c> tool under Linux/Unix or <uri 341with the <c>md5sum</c> tool under Linux/Unix or <uri
286link="http://www.etree.org/md5com.html">md5sum</uri> for Windows. 342link="http://www.etree.org/md5com.html">md5sum</uri> for Windows.
287</p> 343</p>
288
289<p>
290Once downloaded, decompress the ISO file (as it is stored in a compressed format
291using the Burrows-Wheeler text compression algorithm) using <c>bunzip2</c> (on
292Unix/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>
298 344
299<p> 345<p>
300Another way to check the validity of the downloaded file is to use GnuPG to 346Another way to check the validity of the downloaded file is to use GnuPG to
301verify the cryptographic signature that we provide (the file ending with 347verify the cryptographic signature that we provide (the file ending with
302<path>.asc</path>). Download the signature file and obtain the public key: 348<path>.asc</path>). Download the signature file and obtain the public key:
… …
321link="/doc/en/faq.xml#isoburning">Gentoo FAQ</uri>. 367link="/doc/en/faq.xml#isoburning">Gentoo FAQ</uri>.
322</p> 368</p>
323 369
324<ul> 370<ul>
325 <li> 371 <li>
326 With cdrecord, you simply type <c>cdrecord dev=/dev/hdc</c> (replace 372 With cdrecord, you simply type <c>cdrecord dev=/dev/hdc &lt;downloaded iso
327 <path>/dev/hdc</path> with your CD-RW drive's device path) followed 373 file&gt;</c> (replace <path>/dev/hdc</path> with your CD-RW drive's
328 by the path to the ISO file :) 374 device path) followed by the path to the ISO file :)
329 </li> 375 </li>
330 <li> 376 <li>
331 With K3B, select <c>Tools</c> &gt; <c>CD</c> &gt; <c>Burn Image</c>. Then 377 With K3B, select <c>Tools</c> &gt; <c>CD</c> &gt; <c>Burn Image</c>. Then
332 you can locate your ISO file within the 'Image to Burn' area. Finally click 378 you can locate your ISO file within the 'Image to Burn' area. Finally click
333 <c>Start</c>. 379 <c>Start</c>.
… …
335</ul> 381</ul>
336 382
337</body> 383</body>
338</subsection> 384</subsection>
339<subsection> 385<subsection>
340<title>Booting the Alpha LiveCD(s)</title> 386<title>Booting the LiveCD</title>
341<body> 387<body>
342 388
343<p> 389<p>
344When your Alpha is powered on, the first thing that gets started is the 390When your Alpha is powered on, the first thing that gets started is the
345firmware. It is loosely synonymous with the BIOS software on PC systems. There 391firmware. It is loosely synonymous with the BIOS software on PC systems. There
… …
381&gt;&gt;&gt; <i>boot dkb0 -flags 0</i> 427&gt;&gt;&gt; <i>boot dkb0 -flags 0</i>
382</pre> 428</pre>
383 429
384<pre caption="Booting a CD-ROM using MILO"> 430<pre caption="Booting a CD-ROM using MILO">
385<comment>(Substitute hdb with your CD-ROM drive device)</comment> 431<comment>(Substitute hdb with your CD-ROM drive device)</comment>
386MILO&gt; <i>boot hdb:boot/vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc</i> 432MILO&gt; <i>boot hdb:/boot/gentoo initrd=/boot/gentoo.igz root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc looptype=zisofs loop=/zisofs cdroot</i>
387</pre> 433</pre>
388 434
389<p> 435<p>
390You should have a root ("#") prompt on the current console and can also switch 436You should have a root ("#") prompt on the current console and can also switch
391to other consoles by pressing Alt-F2, Alt-F3 and Alt-F4. Get back to the one you 437to other consoles by pressing Alt-F2, Alt-F3 and Alt-F4. Get back to the one you
… …
500<body> 546<body>
501 547
502<p> 548<p>
503If you want to view the Gentoo Handbook (either from-CD or online) during the 549If you want to view the Gentoo Handbook (either from-CD or online) during the
504installation, make sure you have created a user account (see <uri 550installation, make sure you have created a user account (see <uri
505link="#useraccouts">Optional: User Accounts</uri>). Then press <c>Alt-F2</c> to 551link="#useraccounts">Optional: User Accounts</uri>). Then press <c>Alt-F2</c> to
506go to a new terminal and log in. 552go to a new terminal and log in.
507</p> 553</p>
508 554
509<p> 555<p>
510If you want to view the documentation on the CD you can immediately run 556If you want to view the documentation on the CD you can immediately run
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