Mailing List Archive

On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 9:37 AM, Henry W. Peters <hwpeters@jamadots.com>wrote:

> Back (again) at trying to install Gentoo with new "stuff."
>
> Now, I'm having problems with my "Ralink RT5390R 802.1 bgn Wi-Fi Adapter"
> (in my new HP Pavillion 500, AMD64 desktop). Besides the Gentoo LiveDVD
> (AMD64)... in which neither a wireless or ethernet network is apparently
> detected by the DVD (udev?), I DID try "System rescue CD," no internet
> connect there either.
>
> In the spirit of seeing if I could boot up with UEFI (as you may be aware,
> Windows 8 version of a bios) & an external USB 3 hard drive (yet some
> problems to be resolved; i.e., how to handle dual os's in a workable
> manner), I also tried Ubuntu Studio live DVD (all of this in "legacy" mode,
> though I did not actually install), & it configured wireless for me, all I
> had to do was enter my router key... then I also temporarily installed
> Debian Wheezy & Mate... on the external hd, which wouldn't connect with
> wireless, but would via ethernet (the installation more or less worked;
> Gnome 3 does apparently not like my AMD64 Radeon integrated graphics card [image:
> :?] ). Very puzzling. [image: :?:]
>
> Any suggestions welcome!
> Henry
>
> P.s., I think I read awhile ago, something about an RF kill switch...?
> (not sure of the relevancy, but thought I might ask, just in case...)
>

Henry,
I think it would be good if you posted the output of a few commands so
we could get our bearings:

uname -a

lspci -k

lsmod

My wife's laptop uses wireless. I took a quick look in her kernel config
and don't find "RALINK" so I'm not sure what driver should be enabled.

In terms of doing the install presumably you have a wired Ethernet port
on this laptop? If so you are likely to do better with that during install.
I didn't get her ATH9K wireless working until I was running Gentoo.

Good luck,
Mark

On 9/19/2013 1:10 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
>
>
> Henry,
> I think it would be good if you posted the output of a few commands
> so we could get our bearings:
>
> uname -a
>
> lspci -k
>
> lsmod
>
> My wife's laptop uses wireless. I took a quick look in her kernel
> config and don't find "RALINK" so I'm not sure what driver should be
> enabled.
>
> In terms of doing the install presumably you have a wired Ethernet
> port on this laptop? If so you are likely to do better with that
> during install. I didn't get her ATH9K wireless working until I was
> running Gentoo.
>
> Good luck,
> Mark
Thanks Mark, ok, will post soon as I can get to it.

I should have mentioned that it is not a laptop, but a desktop (& I can,
& have tried ethernet connect, as I said, with no luck, so far).
Regards,
Henry

On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 10:28 AM, Henry W. Peters <hwpeters@jamadots.com> wrote:
> On 9/19/2013 1:10 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Henry,
>> I think it would be good if you posted the output of a few commands so
>> we could get our bearings:
>>
>> uname -a
>>
>> lspci -k
>>
>> lsmod
>>
>> My wife's laptop uses wireless. I took a quick look in her kernel
>> config and don't find "RALINK" so I'm not sure what driver should be
>> enabled.
>>
>> In terms of doing the install presumably you have a wired Ethernet port
>> on this laptop? If so you are likely to do better with that during install.
>> I didn't get her ATH9K wireless working until I was running Gentoo.
>>
>> Good luck,
>> Mark
>
> Thanks Mark, ok, will post soon as I can get to it.
>
> I should have mentioned that it is not a laptop, but a desktop (& I can, &
> have tried ethernet connect, as I said, with no luck, so far).
> Regards,
> Henry
>
>
Ah, sorry. You did bury in there that it was a desktop. My mistake. I
just lept to the laptop conclusion as you are working on wireless.
That said I've always had better luck, especially with newer hardware,
making sure I start with wired Ethernet if possible.

uname -a will tell us what kernel you have on the install DVD

lspci -k will tell us what hardware

From there we can make more educated inputs.

I will say that I still keep one old PCI Ethernet adapter around that
I know all kernels have support for just in case new hardware isn't
recognized. That's helped get through the install phase more than
once.

Good luck,
Mark

On 9/19/2013 1:59 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:

Ah, sorry. You did bury in there that it was a desktop. My mistake. I just lept to the laptop conclusion as you are working on wireless. That said I've always had better luck, especially with newer hardware, making sure I start with wired Ethernet if possible. uname -a will tell us what kernel you have on the install DVD lspci -k will tell us what hardware >From there we can make more educated inputs. I will say that I still keep one old PCI Ethernet adapter around that I know all kernels have support for just in case new hardware isn't recognized. That's helped get through the install phase more than once. Good luck, Mark

Ok, here they are (sorry, rather long list):

P.s., just got a new wireless router from my isp. Didn't have much choice... as the old (non wireless) was pooped out... but I couldn't connect with this HP machine & old ethernet, either.

Gentoo-20121221 gentoo # uname -a
Linux Gentoo-20121221 3.6.8-gentoo-r1 #1 SMP Thu Dec 20 04:20:10 UTC 2012 x86_64 AMD A10-5700 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
Gentoo-20121221 gentoo # lspci -k
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Root Complex
        Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Root Complex
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Trinity [Radeon HD 7660D]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
00:07.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Root Port
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:10.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
        Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
00:10.1 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
        Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 40)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
        Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
        Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:12.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 11)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
        Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
        Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 11)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
        Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 14)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
        Kernel driver in use: piix4_smbus
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 11)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
00:14.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH PCI Bridge (rev 40)
00:14.5 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
        Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:15.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 0)
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:15.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 3)
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 5
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
04:00.0 Network controller: Ralink corp. Device 539b
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 18ed
        Kernel driver in use: rt2800pci
Gentoo-20121221 gentoo # lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by                                                                                                        
ipv6                  221184  26                                                                                                             
shpchp                 21306  0                                                                                                              
pci_hotplug            19093  1 shpchp                                                                                                       
arc4                    1808  2                                                                                                              
rt2800pci               8595  0                                                                                                              
rt2800lib              41163  1 rt2800pci                                                                                                    
crc_ccitt               1276  1 rt2800lib                                                                                                    
rt2x00pci               3857  1 rt2800pci                                                                                                    
rt2x00lib              28379  3 rt2x00pci,rt2800lib,rt2800pci                                                                                
eeprom_93cx6            1906  1 rt2800pci                                                                                                    
mac80211              205670  3 rt2x00lib,rt2x00pci,rt2800lib                                                                                
cfg80211              143572  2 mac80211,rt2x00lib                                                                                           
joydev                  8424  0                                                                                                              
hid_logitech_dj         8550  0                                                                                                              
snd_hda_codec_idt      44369  1
snd_hda_intel          19240  5
snd_hda_codec          58218  2 snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep               4967  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                53874  2 snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_page_alloc          5834  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_timer              15200  1 snd_pcm
kvm_amd                41578  0
snd                    47094  16 snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
kvm                   201231  1 kvm_amd
hp_wmi                  6891  0
sparse_keymap           2425  1 hp_wmi
rfkill                 12816  2 cfg80211,hp_wmi
i2c_piix4               7504  0
wmi                     7012  1 hp_wmi
pcspkr                  1732  0
crc32c_intel            1660  0
ghash_clmulni_intel     3374  0
button                  4164  0
microcode               9258  0
aufs                  124693  152
xts                     2664  0
gf128mul                5163  1 xts
aesni_intel            40122  0
ablk_helper             1565  1 aesni_intel
cryptd                  6430  3 ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel,ablk_helper
aes_x86_64              7356  1 aesni_intel
iscsi_tcp               7469  0
libiscsi_tcp           10427  1 iscsi_tcp
libiscsi               29117  2 libiscsi_tcp,iscsi_tcp
scsi_transport_iscsi    32732  2 iscsi_tcp,libiscsi
tg3                   115726  0
libphy                 15630  1 tg3
e1000                  84745  0
fuse                   55118  0
zfs                   776195  0
zcommon                27778  1 zfs
znvpair                21832  2 zfs,zcommon
zavl                    3926  1 zfs
zunicode              315753  1 zfs
spl                   101824  5 zfs,zavl,zunicode,zcommon,znvpair
nfs                    96214  0
lockd                  51450  1 nfs
sunrpc                140360  2 nfs,lockd
btrfs                 529580  0
zlib_deflate           17532  2 spl,btrfs
libcrc32c                915  1 btrfs
multipath               5185  0
linear                  3008  0
raid0                   6172  0
dm_raid                12229  0
raid10                 32144  1 dm_raid
raid1                  22621  1 dm_raid
raid456                44873  1 dm_raid
async_pq                2959  1 raid456
async_xor               2130  2 async_pq,raid456
xor                     7090  1 async_xor
async_memcpy            1151  1 raid456
async_raid6_recov       1226  1 raid456
raid6_pq               86215  2 async_pq,async_raid6_recov
async_tx                1655  5 async_pq,raid456,async_xor,async_memcpy,async_raid6_recov
dm_snapshot            23108  0
dm_crypt               12665  0
dm_mirror              11168  0
dm_region_hash          6056  1 dm_mirror
dm_log                  7244  2 dm_region_hash,dm_mirror
dm_mod                 56815  5 dm_raid,dm_log,dm_mirror,dm_crypt,dm_snapshot
hid_pl                  2040  0
hid_monterey            1426  0
hid_microsoft           2676  0
hid_logitech           13296  0
ff_memless              3676  2 hid_pl,hid_logitech
hid_ezkey               1307  0
hid_cypress             1747  0
hid_chicony             2074  0
hid_cherry              1410  0
hid_belkin              1527  0
hid_apple               4851  0
hid_a4tech              1805  0
sl811_hcd               8454  0
usbhid                 20942  3 hid_pl,hid_logitech,hid_logitech_dj
xhci_hcd               63655  0
ohci_hcd               16549  0
uhci_hcd               17153  0
usb_storage            41910  0
ehci_hcd               32151  0
mpt2sas               114414  0
raid_class              3125  1 mpt2sas
aic94xx                63171  0
libsas                 50937  1 aic94xx
lpfc                  442315  0
qla2xxx               362849  0
megaraid_sas           62312  0
megaraid_mbox          23255  0
megaraid_mm             6729  1 megaraid_mbox
megaraid               34873  0
aacraid                67483  0
sx8                    10742  0
DAC960                 60679  0
hpsa                   41615  0
cciss                  43043  0
3w_9xxx                27487  0
3w_xxxx                20464  0
mptsas                 32823  0
scsi_transport_sas     21015  4 mpt2sas,libsas,mptsas,aic94xx
mptfc                  10189  0
scsi_transport_fc      38472  3 lpfc,qla2xxx,mptfc
scsi_tgt                8041  1 scsi_transport_fc
mptspi                 10922  0
mptscsih               16105  3 mptfc,mptsas,mptspi
mptbase                52435  4 mptfc,mptsas,mptspi,mptscsih
atp870u                22544  0
dc395x                 26661  0
qla1280                19167  0
dmx3191d                8898  0
sym53c8xx              61132  0
gdth                   71937  0
advansys               48291  0
initio                 14717  0
BusLogic               19165  0
arcmsr                 23186  0
aic7xxx               102452  0
aic79xx               107059  0
scsi_transport_spi     17020  5 mptspi,sym53c8xx,aic79xx,aic7xxx,dmx3191d
sg                     20973  0
pdc_adma                5086  0
sata_inic162x           5967  0
sata_mv                22434  0
ata_piix               14953  0
ahci                   19799  1
libahci                16221  1 ahci
sata_qstor              4885  0
sata_vsc                3850  0
sata_uli                2917  0
sata_sis                3566  0
sata_sx4                7825  0
sata_nv                17138  0
sata_via                7460  0
sata_svw                4026  0
sata_sil24              9616  0
sata_sil                6870  0
sata_promise            9480  0
pata_sl82c105           3355  0
pata_cs5530             3958  0
pata_cs5520             3283  0
pata_via                8036  0
pata_jmicron            2308  0
pata_marvell            2804  0
pata_sis                9879  1 sata_sis
pata_netcell            2122  0
pata_sc1200             2883  0
pata_pdc202xx_old       4303  0
pata_triflex            2929  0
pata_atiixp             4372  0
pata_amd                9762  0
pata_ali                8758  0
pata_it8213             3339  0
pata_pcmcia             9622  0
pcmcia                 28660  1 pata_pcmcia
pcmcia_core             9513  1 pcmcia
pata_ns87415            2964  0
pata_ns87410            2681  0
pata_serverworks        4852  0
pata_artop              4600  0
pata_it821x             7985  0
pata_hpt3x2n            5325  0
pata_hpt3x3             2747  0
pata_hpt37x            10746  0
pata_hpt366             4763  0
pata_cmd64x             6564  0
pata_efar               3455  0
pata_rz1000             2424  0
pata_sil680             3935  0
pata_radisys            2835  0
pata_pdc2027x           5758  0
pata_mpiix              2775  0
libata                132867  50 ahci,pata_pdc202xx_old,sata_inic162x,pata_efar,sata_sil,sata_sis,sata_sx4,sata_svw,sata_uli,sata_via,sata_vsc,pata_marvell,sata_promise,sata_mv,sata_nv,libahci,sata_qstor,sata_sil24,pata_netcell,pata_ali,pata_amd,pata_sis,pata_via,pata_sl82c105,pata_triflex,pata_ns87410,pata_ns87415,libsas,pdc_adma,pata_artop,pata_atiixp,pata_mpiix,pata_cmd64x,pata_cs5520,pata_cs5530,pata_hpt3x2n,pata_hpt366,pata_hpt37x,pata_hpt3x3,pata_it8213,pata_it821x,pata_serverworks,pata_pcmcia,pata_sc1200,pata_sil680,pata_rz1000,ata_piix,pata_jmicron,pata_radisys,pata_pdc2027x
Gentoo-20121221 gentoo #

On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 11:31 AM, Henry W. Peters <hwpeters@jamadots.com> wrote:
> On 9/19/2013 1:59 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
>
<SNIP>
> uname -a will tell us what kernel you have on the install DVD
>
> lspci -k will tell us what hardware
>
> >From there we can make more educated inputs.
<SNIP>
>
> Ok, here they are (sorry, rather long list):
>
> P.s., just got a new wireless router from my isp. Didn't have much choice...
> as the old (non wireless) was pooped out... but I couldn't connect with this
> HP machine & old ethernet, either.
>
> Gentoo-20121221 gentoo # uname -a
> Linux Gentoo-20121221 3.6.8-gentoo-r1 #1 SMP Thu Dec 20 04:20:10 UTC 2012
> x86_64 AMD A10-5700 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux


> Gentoo-20121221 gentoo # lspci -k
<SNIP>
> 01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR8161 Gigabit
> Ethernet (rev 10)
> Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 2ae0
> 04:00.0 Network controller: Ralink corp. Device 539b
> Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 18ed
> Kernel driver in use: rt2800pci
<SNIP>

OK, so your wired Ethernet is the AR8161 and doesn't appear to have a
driver associated with it at this time

Your wireless is the Ralink and is currently using the rt2800pci driver.

> Gentoo-20121221 gentoo # lsmod
> Module Size Used by
<SNIP>
> rt2800pci 8595 0
> rt2800lib 41163 1 rt2800pci
> crc_ccitt 1276 1 rt2800lib
> rt2x00pci 3857 1 rt2800pci
> rt2x00lib 28379 3 rt2x00pci,rt2800lib,rt2800pci
> eeprom_93cx6 1906 1 rt2800pci

<LIBERAL SNIP>

The Ralink driver is apparently loaded so nothing to do there. At this
point I think we need someone with experience configuring wireless
from the console. I have only do it inside of KDE. Possibly this will
help, I don't know:

slinky linux # ls -al /etc/init.d/* | grep net
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 6 Mar 19 2011 /etc/init.d/net.eth0 -> net.lo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 16919 Apr 9 16:39 /etc/init.d/net.lo
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 6 Sep 11 2011 /etc/init.d/net.wlan0 -> net.lo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1578 Apr 9 16:39 /etc/init.d/netmount
slinky linux #

On the other hand you may be able to load an Atheros driver by hand if
somehow the kernel missed doing it automatically due to a new device
ID or something like that. That might have happened if the AR8161 is
newer than 3.6.8-gentoo-r1 which is getting pretty long in the tooth
at this point. Was this a VERY new live DVD or something you tried
earlier. I don't know what kernel is in the current download but if
it's newer it might have support.

This link suggests support was not part of 3.8.3 so you might need
something newer than that. In this fellows case it appears he got the
driver source and built it to get networking up and running but that's
a lot of work.

Please note: You do NOT need a Gentoo install DVD to do a Gentoo
install. If you can find ANY install CD that supports the NIC then
boot with that and do the Gentoo install. It will work.

Note: When you get done you shouldn't need to load many of the drivers
that the install CD has loaded. Here's what's in my wife's list using
an Atheros wireless adapter:

slinky linux # lsmod
Module Size Used by
vboxnetadp 17158 0
vboxnetflt 13522 0
vboxdrv 1784669 2 vboxnetadp,vboxnetflt
nvidia 9376709 31
ath9k 65677 0
acpi_cpufreq 6214 1
mperf 1027 1 acpi_cpufreq
drm 199753 2 nvidia
ath9k_common 1751 1 ath9k
ath9k_hw 340455 2 ath9k_common,ath9k
freq_table 2172 1 acpi_cpufreq
kvm_intel 116424 0
ath 13809 3 ath9k_common,ath9k,ath9k_hw
kvm 213323 1 kvm_intel
slinky linux #

HTH,
Mark

<snip> support for the 5390 is probably not on the livedvd
a system rescue cd may provide

from my menuconfig: I use several rotating usb ralinks
--- Ralink driver support
< > Ralink rt2400 (PCI/PCMCIA) support
< > Ralink rt2500 (PCI/PCMCIA) support
< > Ralink rt2501/rt61 (PCI/PCMCIA) support
< > Ralink rt27xx/rt28xx/rt30xx (PCI/PCIe/PCMCIA) support
< > Ralink rt2500 (USB) support
< > Ralink rt2501/rt73 (USB) support
<M> Ralink rt27xx/rt28xx/rt30xx (USB) support
[*] rt2800usb - Include support for rt33xx devices
[*] rt2800usb - Include support for rt35xx devices (EXPERIMENTAL)
[*] rt2800usb - Include support for rt53xx devices (EXPERIMENTAL)
[*] rt2800usb - Include support for rt55xx devices (EXPERIMENTAL)
[*] rt2800usb - Include support for unknown (USB) devices
[ ] Ralink debug output

Menuconfig help for RT53XX:
CONFIG_RT2800USB_RT53XX:

This adds support for rt53xx wireless chipset family to the
rt2800usb driver.
Supported chips: RT5370

Symbol: RT2800USB_RT53XX [=y]
Type : boolean
Prompt: rt2800usb - Include support for rt53xx devices (EXPERIMENTAL)
Location:
-> Device Drivers
-> Network device support (NETDEVICES [=y])
-> Wireless LAN (WLAN [=y])
-> Ralink driver support (RT2X00 [=m])
-> Ralink rt27xx/rt28xx/rt30xx (USB) support (RT2800USB [=m])
Defined at drivers/net/wireless/rt2x00/Kconfig:169
Depends on: NETDEVICES [=y] && WLAN [=y] && RT2X00 [=m] && \
RT2800USB [=m]

On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 3:47 PM, Drake Donahue <donahue95@comcast.net> wrote:
> <snip> support for the 5390 is probably not on the livedvd
> a system rescue cd may provide
>

I think Drake's right. I hate to be pushing Arch Linux links around
here but the SystemRescueCD kernel page says 3.8 so I don't think that
will work in this case either.

This link says the Arch guys have a release with 3.10.10 which is a
very recent long-term support kernel:

https://www.archlinux.org/download/

If networking works with that then you're good to go with a Gentoo
install I think. The Gentoo DVD seems to be from last December if I
read it correctly.

Good luck,
Mark

On 9/19/2013 3:25 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 3:47 PM, Drake Donahue <donahue95@comcast.net> wrote:
>> <snip> support for the 5390 is probably not on the livedvd
>> a system rescue cd may provide
>>
> I think Drake's right. I hate to be pushing Arch Linux links around
> here but the SystemRescueCD kernel page says 3.8 so I don't think that
> will work in this case either.
>
> This link says the Arch guys have a release with 3.10.10 which is a
> very recent long-term support kernel:
>
> https://www.archlinux.org/download/
>
> If networking works with that then you're good to go with a Gentoo
> install I think. The Gentoo DVD seems to be from last December if I
> read it correctly.
>
> Good luck,
> Mark
>
>
>
Thanks MUCH Mark (& ALL), I will try this... (Arch Linux). & yes, last
December )Gentoo DVD(

Henry

On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 1:03 PM, Henry W. Peters <hwpeters@jamadots.com> wrote:
> On 9/19/2013 3:25 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
<SNIP>
>> This link says the Arch guys have a release with 3.10.10 which is a
>> very recent long-term support kernel:
>>
>> https://www.archlinux.org/download/
<SNIP>
>>
> Thanks MUCH Mark (& ALL), I will try this... (Arch Linux). & yes, last
> December )Gentoo DVD(
>
> Henry

Henry,
Report back how it goes. I've never been forced to bring up
wireless during an install so I'd like to understand how you make it
work under Gentoo and what problems you run into, if any. I'm assuming
here that Arch doesn't have any proprietary magic about getting
wireless started and that eventually a new Gentoo Live DVD would be
able to do the same thing.

Cheers,
Mark

On 9/19/2013 6:25 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
> Henry,
> Report back how it goes. I've never been forced to bring up
> wireless during an install so I'd like to understand how you make it
> work under Gentoo and what problems you run into, if any. I'm assuming
> here that Arch doesn't have any proprietary magic about getting
> wireless started and that eventually a new Gentoo Live DVD would be
> able to do the same thing.
>
> Cheers,
> Mark
>
Mark,

Well I went into the section that shows one's hardware, drivers, etc. in
the live CD for Arch Linux (didn't take notes, so don't remember the
exact term for it) & DID look like the Ralink & the ethernet adaptor
(Qualcomm Atheros) had drivers recognized... I wasn't prepared to try to
connect to anyplace from in the shell, so I will try that too (as I
can). & will let you know (how it goes, if it does).

It does look like having uptodate drivers are most probably (among) the
problem solvers (i.e., this problem is likely solvable). I also have
burned the "latest" snapshot minimal Gentoo install, which I have not
yet tried, which I will do, too.

Regards,
Henry

On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 5:41 PM, Henry W. Peters <hwpeters@jamadots.com> wrote:
> On 9/19/2013 6:25 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
>>
>> Henry,
>> Report back how it goes. I've never been forced to bring up
>> wireless during an install so I'd like to understand how you make it
>> work under Gentoo and what problems you run into, if any. I'm assuming
>> here that Arch doesn't have any proprietary magic about getting
>> wireless started and that eventually a new Gentoo Live DVD would be
>> able to do the same thing.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Mark
>>
> Mark,
>
> Well I went into the section that shows one's hardware, drivers, etc. in the
> live CD for Arch Linux (didn't take notes, so don't remember the exact term
> for it) & DID look like the Ralink & the ethernet adaptor (Qualcomm Atheros)
> had drivers recognized... I wasn't prepared to try to connect to anyplace
> from in the shell, so I will try that too (as I can). & will let you know
> (how it goes, if it does).
>
> It does look like having uptodate drivers are most probably (among) the
> problem solvers (i.e., this problem is likely solvable). I also have burned
> the "latest" snapshot minimal Gentoo install, which I have not yet tried,
> which I will do, too.
>
> Regards,
> Henry
>
>

Henry,
In my personal search to find a USB 802.11ac networking adapter I
ran across one additional resource which might help you, or others
laters, in your searches. If you were to run the command 'lspci -nn |
grep Ethernet' as I do here on my desktop: (adjust what you are
grepping for if it's not Ethernet but rather something else)

c2RAID6 ~ # lspci -nn | grep Ethernet
05:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller [11ab:4364] (rev 12)
07:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller [11ab:4364] (rev 12)
c2RAID6 ~ #

then you will find both the Ethernet controllers and their associated
PCI vendor & device IDs. In my case for the Marvell controllers the ID
is '11ab:4364'

If you then go to Google in your browser and put this in the search
area, making sure to remove the colon:

"11ab 4364" site:cateee.net/lkddb/

the first result directs you to this page:

http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/SKY2.html

which gives you information about what kernels support this device.

This works for both PCI & USB device IDs.

Hope this helps,
Mark

On 9/20/2013 2:50 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
> Henry,
> In my personal search to find a USB 802.11ac networking adapter I
> ran across one additional resource which might help you, or others
> laters, in your searches. If you were to run the command 'lspci -nn |
> grep Ethernet' as I do here on my desktop: (adjust what you are
> grepping for if it's not Ethernet but rather something else)
>
> c2RAID6 ~ # lspci -nn | grep Ethernet
> 05:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
> 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller [11ab:4364] (rev 12)
> 07:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
> 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller [11ab:4364] (rev 12)
> c2RAID6 ~ #
>
> then you will find both the Ethernet controllers and their associated
> PCI vendor & device IDs. In my case for the Marvell controllers the ID
> is '11ab:4364'
>
> If you then go to Google in your browser and put this in the search
> area, making sure to remove the colon:
>
> "11ab 4364" site:cateee.net/lkddb/
>
> the first result directs you to this page:
>
> http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/SKY2.html
>
> which gives you information about what kernels support this device.
>
> This works for both PCI & USB device IDs.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Mark
Thanks Mark for the info. It didn't help directly, but your ideas
spurred me on to find this:

https://wiki.debian.org/rt2800pci

> This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on
> Ralink 802.11n PCI chipsets on Debian systems.


Which got my Debian/Mate/XFCE install functioning in wireless mode...
But probably more important, once again rather verifies that there is a
driver problem (with my Ralink) in Gentoo Live DVD...

You mentioned in a previous msg, that it was possible to install Gentoo
from another "live" DVD/C OS... wondering if you know of any how to do
links... ?

Regards,
Henry

On Kindle so forced to top post. Sorry. Once you get to a root
terminal you are free to follow the Gentoo install.

On 9/20/13, Henry W. Peters <hwpeters@jamadots.com> wrote:
> On 9/20/2013 2:50 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
>> Henry,
>> In my personal search to find a USB 802.11ac networking adapter I
>> ran across one additional resource which might help you, or others
>> laters, in your searches. If you were to run the command 'lspci -nn |
>> grep Ethernet' as I do here on my desktop: (adjust what you are
>> grepping for if it's not Ethernet but rather something else)
>>
>> c2RAID6 ~ # lspci -nn | grep Ethernet
>> 05:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
>> 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller [11ab:4364] (rev 12)
>> 07:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
>> 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller [11ab:4364] (rev 12)
>> c2RAID6 ~ #
>>
>> then you will find both the Ethernet controllers and their associated
>> PCI vendor & device IDs. In my case for the Marvell controllers the ID
>> is '11ab:4364'
>>
>> If you then go to Google in your browser and put this in the search
>> area, making sure to remove the colon:
>>
>> "11ab 4364" site:cateee.net/lkddb/
>>
>> the first result directs you to this page:
>>
>> http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/SKY2.html
>>
>> which gives you information about what kernels support this device.
>>
>> This works for both PCI & USB device IDs.
>>
>> Hope this helps,
>> Mark
> Thanks Mark for the info. It didn't help directly, but your ideas
> spurred me on to find this:
>
> https://wiki.debian.org/rt2800pci
>
>> This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on
>> Ralink 802.11n PCI chipsets on Debian systems.
>
>
> Which got my Debian/Mate/XFCE install functioning in wireless mode...
> But probably more important, once again rather verifies that there is a
> driver problem (with my Ralink) in Gentoo Live DVD...
>
> You mentioned in a previous msg, that it was possible to install Gentoo
> from another "live" DVD/C OS... wondering if you know of any how to do
> links... ?
>
> Regards,
> Henry
>
>
>

Henry W. Peters posted on Fri, 20 Sep 2013 23:55:01 -0400 as excerpted:

> You mentioned in a previous msg, that it was possible to install Gentoo
> from another "live" DVD/C OS... wondering if you know of any how to do
> links... ?

FWIW, I've only installed from gentoo's live* when working on someone
else's systems, doing it all as simple as possible "by the handbook", so
they could see how it all worked.

Back when I first installed gentoo in 2004, I did so from an existing
Mandrake system, installing gentoo to a different (set of) partition(s).

Since that first time I've not actually done a whole lot of gentoo
installs, only the (32-bit) netbook. For it, I created a 32-bit chroot
on my main system based on the gentoo/amd64 32-bit chroot guide, except
building the bits (like the kernel and openrc) that would ordinarily not
need built in a chroot too. Then I cp-ed the chroot install to an
external drive and booted it on the target system. Once booted to the
external on the target system, I was able to run the usual partitioning
natively, mount the new internal drive partitions as necessary, and cp
external -> internal.

Since my main system is vastly more powerful than the netbook, I continue
to use the chroot build scheme for netbook updates today, doing an rsync
dry-run first to catch anything that's different between the netbook and
the chroot-image, resolving any config differences so they're the same on
both, then doing the update to the chroot and ssh/rsyncing it over to the
netbook.

Unfortunately I don't keep up with netbook updates like I do the main
system, so it gets quite behind, often a year or more, so when I *DO* do
the update, it's a BIG job, often involving intermediate updates and
reconfiguration in the middle of things so the final update will actually
complete properly.

But of course not all that's apropos to the current situation. Anyway,
yes, installing gentoo from an existing installation or some non-gentoo
live* isn't particularly hard. As might be expected on gentoo, there's
actually instructions! =:^)

The Gentoo Linux alternative installation method HOWTO

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/altinstall.xml

Section 3 is Installation from non-Gentoo LiveCDs.
Section 4 is Diskless install using PXE boot.
Section 5 is Installing Gentoo from an existing Linux distribution.

Take your pick! =:^)

Note that in all three cases the instructions substitute a few steps as
appropriate for those found in the handbook, so you'll need the handbook
available as well, since after the substituted steps you resume
installation from the handbook at the appropriate location as instructed.
That shouldn't be a problem from either an existing install or from most
non-gentoo live*s as you can simply use the existing browser and net
connection to read the docs on the gentoo site. =:^)

The other alternative, as mentioned, would be doing a chroot
installation, much like I did with my netbook, basically following the 32-
bit chroot guide except that it doesn't have to be 32-bit, a 64-bit chroot
on an existing 64-bit system would work similarly except that you'd run
linux64 instead of linux32. And (as I did) you'd install the bits the
chroot guide skips as well, kernel and openrc, etc, since it won't just
be a chroot, you'll ultimately be booting it.

(One nice thing about a fully bootable chroot is that if you setup your
bootloader for it, you can even boot to it instead of the main system on
the chroot system too. And if it's a 32-bit chroot that means you can
run the main system no-multilib as well, since you don't need the 32-bit
multilib stuff because you have a full 32-bit system in the chroot! =:^)

How to set up a 32bit chroot

http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/amd64/howtos/chroot.xml


You can of course do a chroot without following the guide above, but
following the guide is nice, as they've already given some thought to
making the chroot work well with the host system too, with as little
waste as possible. For instance, the chroot guide uses a lot of bind-
mounts to mount bits of the main system inside the chroot as well, so
they don't have to be duplicated, and cps other things. That's a nice
touch, and it gives you a bit of flexibility too, since you can simply
choose not to bind-mount or copy bits that differ enough between the host
system and the ultimate target to screw things up. =:^) (Things like
/sys and /proc shouldn't matter, however, since in chroot mode you don't
actually run the kernel you build in the chroot, and you'll want to
configure and build the kernel for the target system without referring to
the hosts /proc and /sys files. So those can be mounted from the host
without interfering with the target system, as long as you don't use them
to setup your kernel config.)

--
Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman

On 9/21/2013 4:28 AM, Duncan wrote:
> The Gentoo Linux alternative installation method HOWTO
>
> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/altinstall.xml
>
> Section 3 is Installation from non-Gentoo LiveCDs.
> Section 4 is Diskless install using PXE boot.
> Section 5 is Installing Gentoo from an existing Linux distribution.
>
> Take your pick! =:^)
Thanks Duncan,

Though, now that I have my USB 3 external hd, which has Debian
installed, now working with wireless internet connect, I am thinking of
trying to install Gentoo on a partition on an internal hd... but having
other options with some guidance is more reassuring, & could be very
helpful (& what I was looking for, though I might just try Marks'
suggestion, too, thanks Mark). One other thing I have been meditating
upon, is that I have a UEFI bios... (Windows 8), I did install an MBR on
the external disk, with grub on it... & when I boot, in legacy mode,
from it... grub works... so thinking I might be able to update grub,
after the Gentoo install, & (hopefully) use grub to load the Gentoo
system... Grub would not install in the UEFI, & the directions to boot
from it, with Linux, are a bit complex for me at this stage... (will try
to work that out too, eventually).

Regards,
Henry

Henry W. Peters posted on Sat, 21 Sep 2013 13:38:58 -0400 as excerpted:

> One other thing I have been meditating upon, is that I have a UEFI
> bios... (Windows 8), I did install an MBR on the external disk, with
> grub on it... & when I boot, in legacy mode, from it... grub works... so
> thinking I might be able to update grub, after the Gentoo install, &
> (hopefully) use grub to load the Gentoo system... Grub would not install
> in the UEFI, & the directions to boot from it, with Linux, are a bit
> complex for me at this stage... (will try to work that out too,
> eventually).

You don't mention what version of grub you're talking about. I haven't
used grub's UEFI modes personally (see below), but grub2 is supposed to
fully support it, and definitely CAN install in the UEFI reserved
partition.

Several years ago I converted to gpt based partitions, which are native
to (U)EFI but can be used on BIOS as well, if the kernel and boot-loader
are compatible. Gentoo's grub1 (0.97-rX) has a patch that supports gpt,
but it's definitely a hack as despite gpt having partition-types
specifically reserved for both EFI and BIOS boot areas, grub1 is simply
not designed to use them and continues to install its stage-1.5/2 to
either the pre-partition space (if there's room) or into a partition.
Still, back when I first switched to gpt, I setup both the reserved BIOS
and EFI-system partitions, thus ensuring forward compatibility without
having to repartition once again.

Then sometime later, I upgraded to grub2 on my main system (not the
netbook yet, I actually wait years between upgrades on it sometimes),
which as I said, is fully gpt and efi compatible. Both systems are still
legacy BIOS based, but are on gpt with both a BIOS-reserved and an EFI-
system-reserved partition setup, as I said, for forward compatibility.

Installing grub2 was therefore dead easy, because I already had the BIOS-
reserved partition for it to use and it did so, altho learning the
differences from grub1 and getting the vastly more flexible grub2
configured the way I wanted, taking advantage of all that new
flexibility, did take some work.

Meanwhile, I took advantage of the fact that I had multiple disks
installed (at the time in kernel/md-raid1, now upgraded to a pair of SSDs
in btrfs-raid1 mode), with separate boot configurations, to upgrade one
of the disks' boot-loaders and /boot to grub2 and experiment with that,
while the other one remained strictly off limits as grub1, until I was
thru experimenting and 100% comfortable with grub2. Only THEN, with
grub2 already up and working to my satisfaction on the first upgrade, did
I touch the grub1 installation on the other drive, upgrading it to match,
thus providing a backup boot option all the way from both grub1, thru one
each grub1 and grub2, to both grub2, in case the one I was working with
failed for whatever reason.

So now I'm definitely a grub2 booster, as well as a gpt booster (it's FAR
more reliable, with partition data checksumming and a second partition
table in case the first goes bad), and don't intend to go back. The only
reason I've not updated the netbook to grub2 yet, is because I've not
updated it AT ALL, since I did the grub2 upgrade on the main machine.

But as I said, while I'm a gpt and a grub2 user, and know based on
personal experience that it works with gpt in legacy mode, and based on
my research for the upgrade but NOT personal experience, that it works
with EFI, since I do NOT have that personal experience with grub2 in EFI
mode, I can't really tell you how that works, only that it is supposed to
work quite well indeed with (U)EFI, as UNLIKE grub1, it was actually
designed with MBR/BIOS/GPT/(U)EFI all in mind.

I also know that a big part of grub2's flexibility comes from the fact
that it's fully modular, with all sorts of modules available for MBR/BIOS/
GPT/UEFI (both 32-bit and 64-bit EFI, actually) and more, plus all the
filesystems support is modules, as well as most of the available
commands, the graphics mode, etc.

So given that UEFI is a standard with the specs available, it's no
surprise that grub2 supports it, since that's just another module to add
to the many it already has. Actually, that's the story with both btrfs
and zfs support as well -- in grub2 they're just filesystem modules along
with those for ext1/2/3, reiserfs, etc, so adding support is a simple
matter of adding another module with that support.

Tho I should mention that I don't do proprietary software such as MS
Windows at all any more, so I'm not a reliable source on its GPT/EFI
support but I can warn that I have read that at least one version
(Vista?) detects that at install and will let you do either MBR/GPT then,
but won't let you switch between them without a full reinstall.

So anyway, assuming your MS install can handle it, since you have the
opportunity now that you're running Debian on the external, I'd recommend
switching to at least GPT if you haven't, and preferably grub2 while
you're at it, tho that /will/ take some research. And when setting up
the GPT, I'd recommend setting up both a legacy BIOS-reserved partition
and an EFI-system partition, just to cover your bases. You can then
install grub2 to either one or both, as you wish, and I think, could then
at least in theory (I'm vague on how that works, since I've not done EFI
personally at all) choose between them, since you have an EFI system and
thus have that end covered.

--
Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman

Duncan posted on Sun, 22 Sep 2013 12:27:41 +0000 as excerpted:

> Henry W. Peters posted on Sat, 21 Sep 2013 13:38:58 -0400 as excerpted:
>
>> One other thing I have been meditating upon, is that I have a UEFI
>> bios... (Windows 8), I did install an MBR on the external disk, with
>> grub on it... & when I boot, in legacy mode, from it... grub works...
>> so thinking I might be able to update grub, after the Gentoo install, &
>> (hopefully) use grub to load the Gentoo system... Grub would not
>> install in the UEFI, & the directions to boot from it, with Linux, are
>> a bit complex for me at this stage... (will try to work that out too,
>> eventually).
>
> You don't mention what version of grub you're talking about. I haven't
> used grub's UEFI modes personally (see below), but grub2 is supposed to
> fully support it, and definitely CAN install in the UEFI reserved
> partition.

... And immediately after sending that, I checked the gentoo-dev
list/group (subscribed via gmane.org's list2news service, so it's a
newsgroup to me, just as this list is), and find this new thread:

Subject: News item: GRUB2 migration

[quoting from the body]

GRUB2 will be stabilized soon (bug 455544). Here's a draft of a news
item to hopefully prevent any confusion. Please review.

------------

Title: GRUB2 migration
Author: Mike Gilbert <floppym@gentoo.org>
Content-Type: text/plain
Posted: 2013-09-22
Revision: 1
News-Item-Format: 1.0
Display-If-Installed: <sys-boot/grub-1

A newer version of GRUB (sys-boot/grub) is now stable. There are now
two available slots:

sys-boot/grub:0 - Known as "GRUB Legacy"
sys-boot/grub:2 - Known as "GRUB2"

[end quote, there's more, including links to migration guides, etc]

Here's the gmane web-version archived-message link (there's a link to the
topic/thread on the left, if you want to see the full thread):

http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/88209


--
Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman