First, you've mentioned the kernel doing this and that several times. The kernel doesn't really do anything unless explicitly told to. During boot-up the kernel initializes your hardware and then calls /sbin/init. What is done from there on is up to the distro.
On Monday 08 September 2003 12:09, Joshua Banks wrote: > # env-update && source /etc/profile (have no clue what this is doing but > did it anyways)(I would like to know though):D When do I know when to > invoke this command? Basically, default environment variables are stored under /etc/env.d in gentoo for easy management. env-update processes these and combines them into a single file at /etc/profile.env. /etc/profile includes that file and so running "source /etc/profile" ensures that all your environment variables are consistent with the defaults. > # rc-update add xfs default (not sure what this is doing but I'm assuming > that this is needed before I can install KDE or GNOME or any other > windowing/gui stuff..)(maybe this is telling the kernel to add xfee at > bootup..again not sure exactly) Under Mandrake, there is a tool in "Mandrake Control Center" that allows you to choose which services start at boot-up. rc-update is Gentoo's equivalent. There are two "runlevels" that you should be concerned with for the time being: "boot" and "default". During startup, the kernel calls init which then starts up everything in the "boot" runlevel followed by everything in the "default" runlevel. In the above, xfs is the X Font Server. What the command does is tells Gentoo to start xfs by default on start-up. > # /etc/init.d/xfs start (not sure...) This starts up xfs immediately. > [Quote:] > Don't forget to add the modules that your mouse uses to > modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.4. Code listing 2.10: Adding entries to > modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.4 [4] > # nano -w /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.4 (not sure what this file is > used for and what I'm doing here..looks as though I'm telling the kernel to > load hardware settings about my mouse and or other hardware that I have) > # We will add the following lines to the file. > mousedev > hid > usbcore > input > [Unquote:] > > I didn't add anything to this file because I didn't understand what they > wanted me to add and why. I have a "IMPS/2" mouse and made the appropriate > changes to the /etc/X11/XF86Config file. But my mouse buttons and scroll > wheel work fine even after reboot. The file above is used by /etc/init.d/modules called during runlevel "boot" to initialize any modules listed there. The modules above are all for usb as far as I know. If not, kernel module auto-loading has probably taken care of loading the appropriate modules for you. You can confirm this by running lsmod and looking for modules matching the above. > Next..... > [Quote:] > Make sure that "qt" and "kde" are in your USE variables in make.conf. > Make sure that (optional) "-gnome" and "-gtk" are in your USE variables in > make.conf. [Unquote:] > Now this is an area that really confused me even after reading the USE > doc.. They give examples of what you put in thier and lead me to beleive > that for every peace of software that I install that I should add the name > here...Not to sure...even after reading the USE doc...I think some better > examples would help maybe. Look at /usr/portage/profiles/use.desc for a list of all the use flags. Basically, if a package *optionally* supports one of the flags and it is enabled then the package will be compiled with it. Otherwise, it wont. If USE flags seem too foreign at the moment, you can safely ignore them and still get a working system up and running. Check /etc/make.profile/use.defaults to see what functionality will be compiled into packages where supported. > Now the strange thing is that I didn't do anything as far as a video card > and sound card configuration and these just seem to work. I don't know how > so I just leave it alone for now. But eventually I would like to have > Gentoo optimizing any features that these devices have. SoundBlaster Live > adition Soundcard > 64M AGP ATI RADEON vid card. Can't help here. Don't have either of those cards. When you do get around to it, though, read first and ask specific questions later. > #emerge sync > But the next part right after this command is where I need to get a better > understanding: Cut&Paste: > * NOTICE: PLEASE *REPLACE* your make.globals. All user changes to variables > * in make.globals should be placed in make.conf. DO NOT MODIFY > make.globals. > > * Feature additions are noted in help and make.conf descriptions. Update > * them using 'etc-update' please. Maintaining current configs for portage > * and other system packages is fairly important for the continued health > * of your system. > > bash-2.05b# etc-update > Scanning Configuration files... > The following is the list of files which need updating, each > configuration file is followed by a list of possible replacement files. > 1) /etc/dispatch-conf.conf > /etc/._cfg0000_dispatch-conf.conf > 2) /etc/make.conf > /etc/._cfg0000_make.conf > 3) /etc/make.globals > /etc/._cfg0000_make.globals > Please select a file to edit by entering the corresponding number. > (-1 to exit) (-3 to auto merge all remaining files) > (-5 to auto-merge AND not use 'mv -i'): -3 > > (I WASN'T SURE WHAT TO DO HERE AND I CHOSE -3 BECAUSE THIS SEEMED LIKE THE > LOGICAL CHOICE) (wHAT SHOULD I BE CHOOSING AT THIS POINT?) That's fine. It just means that any changes you made to /etc/make.conf were deleted. As it states above, you should not modify /etc/make.globals and you are very unlikely to have modified /etc/dispatch-conf. Have you read "man etc-update"? If not, read that and then ask specific questions if you still need help. > I then did: > #emerge -u world > > Cut&paste: > >>> /usr/src/linux-2.4.20-gentoo-r6/COPYING > >>> /usr/src/linux-2.4.20-gentoo-r6/REPORTING-BUGS > >>> /usr/src/linux-2.4.20-gentoo-r6/CREDITS > > * After installing a new kernel of any version, it is important > * that you have the appropriate /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-X.Y > * created (X.Y is the first 2 parts of your new kernel version) > > (I thought that this was created automatically when the kernel is compiled) > So I check that directory to see whats listed. > #ls /etc/modules.autoload.d/* > /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.4 /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.5 So /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.4 is created. All is well. > bash-2.05b# etc-update > Scanning Configuration files... > The following is the list of files which need updating, each > configuration file is followed by a list of possible replacement files. > 1) /etc/init.d/hdparm > /etc/init.d/._cfg0000_hdparm > 2) /etc/kernels/genkernel > /etc/kernels/._cfg0000_genkernel > Please select a file to edit by entering the corresponding number. > (-1 to exit) (-3 to auto merge all remaining files) > (-5 to auto-merge AND not use 'mv -i'): -3 > [11] > (again..I chose -3 like I did last time. Still don't know exactly what I > should be choosing or how to unfix what I've done the last two times.) :D See above. Can't "unfix" because essentially what you've done is "mv /etc/init.d/._cfg0000_hdparm /etc/init.d/hdparm". > Now it looks as though I have a new kernel to compile but I don't know what > steps SPECIFICALLY IN ORDER considering that I used Genkernel to compile > last time. And what effects this is going to have on the software that I > have emerged so far and exactly where the new kernel is actually located. Just do the same as when you first compiled the kernel. There is a miniscule possibility of something breaking if you don't switch major versions (i.e. 2.4 to 2.6). If genkernel automatically installs the kernel for you, it will be in /boot. > Ethereal... Not sure whats happening with this one. (worked in Mandrake > fine) I know that when I compiled this in Mandrake I had to have ethereal > plus libpcap. And libpcap is installed and up-to-date. > > When I'm logged in as a normal user and type: > bash-2.05b$/usr/bin/ethereal (not sure if I need to be root or normal user) > Anyways, Ethereal opens but when I goto capture traffic I don't have any > network interfaces to choose from to start capturing traffic. Eth0 (local > lan) or PPP0 when I'm dialed up. Everythings plugged in and I can ping > from eth0 to a Win98 machine and I can ping from ppp0 out to the internet. > Im missing something small I'm sure..:D You definately need to be root to capture raw network traffic. > [14] > So I thought that I needed to be "su". This is what's spit out. > > bash-2.05b# /usr/bin/ethereal > Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server > Xlib: No protocol specified You're using kde, right? Try hitting Alt-F2 or select Run from the K menu, hit options and putting root's password in there. Of course, you'll need to put /usr/bin/ethereal in the command box as well. > When I emegre a package, how can I tell after I have emerged that package > everything that was installed along with the specific package? qpkg -l <pkg-name> > Shoerwall firewall > It looked like it install the iproute package and the neccessary modules > but I'm unsure. > > when I issued the Shorewall "start" command this is whats spit out: > bash-2.05b#shorewall start > Starting Shorewall... > Initializing... > Shorewall has detected the following iptables/netfilter capabilities: > NAT: Not available > Packet Mangling: Not available > Multi-port Match: Not available > Connection Tracking Match: Not available > modprobe: Can't locate module ip_tables > iptables v1.2.8: can't initialize iptables table `filter': iptables who? > (do you need to insmod?) > Perhaps iptables or your kernel needs to be upgraded. > Processing /etc/shorewall/stop ... You'll need to compile your kernel manually to include this functionality. Check out the install guide again to see how to do this. The preset configuration will that of genkernel's when you run "make menuconfig" so just go to Networking Options, select Network Packet Filtering, go down to Netfilter Configuration and then select what modules you want. The best thing you can learn to do to become proficient with Linux is research. Almost all the answers I have given you should have been fairly easy to find by doing some searching at forums.gentoo.org or even with google. Gentoo tends to attract power users and as such questions such as these usually don't get a warm reception. May I also suggest getting a book on Slackware or Debian. Many things are done differently but if you can get through that Gentoo will be a breeze to understand and to use. Jason -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list
