Gentoo on a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
 

I just received the new Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook and I'm trying to
install Gentoo but I can't get install-amd64-minimal-20120223.iso to
boot via a USB key. I installed it to two different USB keys via
unetbootin but I get this right after it asks for the keymap:

Looking for the cdrom
Attempting to mount media:- /dev/sda1
Attempting to mount media:- /dev/sda2
Attempting to mount media:- /dev/sda3
Attempting to mount media - /dev/sda4
Media not found
No bootable medium found. Waiting for new devices...
Could not find CD to boot, something else needed!
Determining root device...
Could not find the root block device in .

It must be reading the USB key fine or it never would have gotten that
far. Maybe it has no drivers for the disk controller, but then why
does it reference the cdrom? I tried the nosata and ide=nodma options
to no avail.

- Grant

Gentoo on a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
 

On Thu, 1 Mar 2012 18:12:11 -0800
Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:

> I just received the new Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook and I'm trying to
> install Gentoo but I can't get install-amd64-minimal-20120223.iso to
> boot via a USB key. I installed it to two different USB keys via
> unetbootin but I get this right after it asks for the keymap:
>
> Looking for the cdrom
> Attempting to mount media:- /dev/sda1
> Attempting to mount media:- /dev/sda2
> Attempting to mount media:- /dev/sda3
> Attempting to mount media - /dev/sda4
> Media not found
> No bootable medium found. Waiting for new devices...
> Could not find CD to boot, something else needed!
> Determining root device...
> Could not find the root block device in .
>
> It must be reading the USB key fine or it never would have gotten that
> far. Maybe it has no drivers for the disk controller, but then why
> does it reference the cdrom? I tried the nosata and ide=nodma options
> to no avail.

Use some other distro on the USB device to get you a chroot.

Check BIOS carefully. Some of those options can dick with booting
immensely

--
Alan McKinnnon
alan.mckinnon@gmail.com

Gentoo on a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
 

>> I just received the new Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook and I'm trying to
>> install Gentoo but I can't get install-amd64-minimal-20120223.iso to
>> boot via a USB key. *I installed it to two different USB keys via
>> unetbootin but I get this right after it asks for the keymap:
>>
>> Looking for the cdrom
>> Attempting to mount media:- /dev/sda1
>> Attempting to mount media:- /dev/sda2
>> Attempting to mount media:- /dev/sda3
>> Attempting to mount media - /dev/sda4
>> Media not found
>> No bootable medium found. Waiting for new devices...
>> Could not find CD to boot, something else needed!
>> Determining root device...
>> Could not find the root block device in .
>>
>> It must be reading the USB key fine or it never would have gotten that
>> far. *Maybe it has no drivers for the disk controller, but then why
>> does it reference the cdrom? *I tried the nosata and ide=nodma options
>> to no avail.
>
> Use some other distro on the USB device to get you a chroot.

Thanks Alan, I'm installing via a Kubuntu ISO. Does Gentoo have
anything like a daily live ISO?

- Grant

Gentoo on a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
 

On Fri, 2 Mar 2012 12:29:51 -0800, Grant wrote:

> Does Gentoo have anything like a daily live ISO?

Closer to weekly, but look in releases/autobuilds on your favourite
mirror.


--
Neil Bothwick

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

Gentoo on a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
 

On 03/01/2012 06:12 PM, Grant wrote:
> I just received the new Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook and I'm trying to
> install Gentoo but I can't get install-amd64-minimal-20120223.iso to
> boot via a USB key.

Have you tested your boot USB keys on another machine?

Gentoo on a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
 

>> Does Gentoo have anything like a daily live ISO?
>
> Closer to weekly, but look in releases/autobuilds on your favourite
> mirror.

Got it, thanks.

- Grant

Gentoo on a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
 

>> I just received the new Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook and I'm trying to
>> install Gentoo but I can't get install-amd64-minimal-20120223.iso to
>> boot via a USB key.
>
> Have you tested your boot USB keys on another machine?

Gentoo is installed but I can't get my USB->ethernet adapter to bring
up an eth0 (or any other) interface. It works if I boot the Kubuntu
USB key. I've definitely built the correct driver into the kernel
(mcs7380). I'm going through an emerge world right now to bring
everything up to date. Is there anything else I might need to do?

- Grant

Gentoo on a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
 

>>> I just received the new Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook and I'm trying to
>>> install Gentoo but I can't get install-amd64-minimal-20120223.iso to
>>> boot via a USB key.
>>
>> Have you tested your boot USB keys on another machine?
>
> Gentoo is installed but I can't get my USB->ethernet adapter to bring
> up an eth0 (or any other) interface. *It works if I boot the Kubuntu
> USB key. *I've definitely built the correct driver into the kernel
> (mcs7380). *I'm going through an emerge world right now to bring
> everything up to date. *Is there anything else I might need to do?
>
> - Grant

I enabled some more kernel options under USB Network Adapters and it's
working now. The install is about done but there were a few
peculiarities:

1. fdisk won't let me specify a start block before 2048 even though I
deleted all partitions.

2. grub-install reported something like:

fd0
hd0
hd1

where hd1 was the USB key. Should I fix this to remove the USB key from grub?

3. Portage complains about duplicate repositories. I think it has to
do with the fact that I ran emerge --sync without downloading and
extracting an initial snapshot.

Please let me know if you have any idea on these.

- Grant

Gentoo on a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
 

On Mar 4, 2012 12:54 AM, "Grant" <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:

>

> >>> I just received the new Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook and I'm trying to

> >>> install Gentoo but I can't get install-amd64-minimal-20120223.iso to

> >>> boot via a USB key.

> >>

> >> Have you tested your boot USB keys on another machine?

> >

> > Gentoo is installed but I can't get my USB->ethernet adapter to bring

> > up an eth0 (or any other) interface. *It works if I boot the Kubuntu

> > USB key. *I've definitely built the correct driver into the kernel

> > (mcs7380). *I'm going through an emerge world right now to bring

> > everything up to date. *Is there anything else I might need to do?

> >

> > - Grant

>

> I enabled some more kernel options under USB Network Adapters and it's

> working now. *The install is about done but there were a few

> peculiarities:

>

> 1. fdisk won't let me specify a start block before 2048 even though I

> deleted all partitions.

>


That's normal. It's a long story, but Windows Vista and Windows 7 expects the first partition to start at sector 2048.


You can force a lower number by toggling "DOS compatibility"; this should let you start the first partition as low as sector 63.


HOWEVER, make sure that all partitions begin at multiples of 8 (e.g., 64, 72, 80, and so on); this will save you a lot of grief if it happens that the hard disk you're using has 4KiB-sectors. [1]


> 2. grub-install reported something like:

>

> fd0

> hd0

> hd1

>

> where hd1 was the USB key. *Should I fix this to remove the USB key from grub?

>


I see no problem. The lower number is still the internal hard disk, so grub shouldn't have any trouble booting.


> 3. Portage complains about duplicate repositories. *I think it has to

> do with the fact that I ran emerge --sync without downloading and

> extracting an initial snapshot.

>


Try 'rm -rf /usr/portage', download (or copy) portage-latest tarball, and extract it into a re-created /usr/portage


> Please let me know if you have any idea on these.

>

> - Grant

>


Rgds,

Gentoo on a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
 

On Mar 4, 2012 1:13 AM, "Pandu Poluan" <pandu@poluan.info> wrote:

>

>

> On Mar 4, 2012 12:54 AM, "Grant" <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:

> >



> >

> > I enabled some more kernel options under USB Network Adapters and it's

> > working now. *The install is about done but there were a few

> > peculiarities:

> >

> > 1. fdisk won't let me specify a start block before 2048 even though I

> > deleted all partitions.

> >

>

> That's normal. It's a long story, but Windows Vista and Windows 7 expects the first partition to start at sector 2048.

>

> You can force a lower number by toggling "DOS compatibility"; this should let you start the first partition as low as sector 63.

>

> HOWEVER, make sure that all partitions begin at multiples of 8 (e.g., 64, 72, 80, and so on); this will save you a lot of grief if it happens that the hard disk you're using has 4KiB-sectors. [1]

>


[1] http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-4kb-sector-disks/


Rgds,