376Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionIf you (Frontpage web hosting)
376Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionIf you have a slow processor, consider getting precompiled packages because thefull compilation process can take a long time. If you need further information about any of the steps described in this proce- dure,refer to the Gentoo Handbook: www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/ index.xml. With the install CD in hand, here s how to install Gentoo on your computer: 1.Insert the CD (minimal or universal) into your computer s CD or DVD drive. 2.Reboot your computer. 3.Boot CD.From the boot prompt, press Enter. (If you are not able to boot theinstall medium, press F1 or F2 to see other install options that might help youget going.) Gentoo should detect your computer hardware, start the install process, anddisplay a boot prompt. 4.Set date. Type the datecommand to make sure the date and time are set correctly. If they need to be changed, use the datecommand (with options) to change them. For example, to set the date to 8:15 a.m., June 15, 2005, youwould type: # date 0615081520055.Load modules. If some piece of hardware was not auto-detected, you mayhave to load the module you need to access that hardware. Use the modprobecommand with the name of the module you want to load. For example, to loadthe module for an Orinico wireless LAN card, you could type: # modprobe orinocoSearch the Web for the term Linux and the name of the hardware that is not beingdetected to find out what module to load. 6.Configure network. Type ifconfig eth0to see if the Internet connection toyour first Ethernet card is up and running. Then try to ping a computer on theInternet to make sure you can get out (for example, ping www.gentoo.org). If you are not able to pick up a DHCP server to automatically connect to theInternet, you can set up your Internet connection manually, by typing: # net-setup eth0Refer to the network configuration information in the installation procedure inChapter 8 to help you answer questions about setting up your Internet con- nection manually. 7.Partition hard disk. Partition your hard disk to prepare it to receive yourGentoo installation. You can use the fdiskutility to do this. Gentoo recom- mends a 64MB boot volume (ext2 file system), a swap partition that s doublethe size of your RAM, and a large root (/) partition (ReiserFS file system). Startfdiskby following the command with the name of your first hard disk (suchTipNote20_