# post installation configuration

## travo

Hi all,

I have recently installed gentoo on my home pc and have encountered some of the problems that others appear to be facing. So far i have managed to get my networking going, but i am now trying to install sound support and have a couple of questions regarding what i'm actually about to do. Mods feel free to move if this is not the right spot.

I have gone through the Gentoo ALSA readme file and feel comfortable that i can do that, but part of the installation calls for:

cd /etc/src/linux

and i noticed i dont have this directory or anything in it!

I am doing emerge --sync as we speak so that portage will be up to date, and i am under the impression that i have to emerge a gentoo sources file, and this will put the required files into this directory, is this correct?

also, is the make menuconfig process just for initial installation, or is it ok for me to be doing this to install sound support after the system is already set up?

Forgive me for asking simple questions of this nature, my linux background is not strong (ie. from early redhat), and i realise gentoo is for advanced users, but i like a challenge   :Very Happy: 

Also, if anyone can recommend a good primer to better understand linux configuration, i would greatly appreciate it.

All the best,

Trav.

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## aaron_firebright

You probably mean /usr/src/linux, not /etc/src/linux.  This is where the gentoo-sources package is placed.

You may have to symlink it..

```
ln -sfn /usr/src/linux-[i]version[/i] /usr/src/linux
```

That step should have been done when you installed your kernel, however.

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## travo

my bad, i meant /usr/src   :Very Happy: 

the problem is that there is no /usr/src/linux directory, there is a /usr/src, but thats as far as it goes.

if i do the following

ln -sfn /usr/src/linux-version /usr/src/linux

will that be all i need to do, or do i have to download a sources package?

thanks for the reply

-Trav

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## John R. Graham

If there are truly no directories under /usr/src, then it is a mystery as to how you've "finished" the Gentoo install.  If you're booting off your install, then you have to have compiled your kernel and there will be a directory there to symlink to.  

Yes, substituting in the name of the kernel source directory that you find into aaron_firebright's instructions is all you need to do.

- John

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## aaron_firebright

Make sure you've followed the instructions here:

Configuring a Kernel

That will get you going with installing the sources, etc.

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## travo

thanks for the replies so far, i'm not really sure what's going on with it.

This is my setup and how i installed gentoo

dual boot winxp/gentoo on separate hd's

gentoo on s-ata drive

to install i used the live-cd (torrent)

did all my partitioning through the live install and opted for the grub bootloader

installed most of the packages on the live cd but didn't really bother with any others

used the live-cd kernel and defaults for most other options such as syslog and cron

first time i tried to install grub didn't install properly so i had to redo

second time i installed i found i had no network after install, i have since fixed this problem

second installation went fine, the installer told me installation was complete so i rebooted/removed cd and gentoo on the hd loaded up fine.

now im just tinkering to improve a few things eg. add sound support, video card is next

but i noticed there is no linux directory in /usr/src, and i too can't understand why this is.

to get around it, should i emerge a gentoo sources file, as in the link aaron provided, or is there something else i need to do

cheers

Trav

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## John R. Graham

Okay,

Please post the results of the following trivial command:

```
ls -l /usr/src
```

- John

----------

## travo

This is what happens when i type what you requested

```

gentoo ~ # ls -l /usr/src

total 0

```

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## travo

ok, ive done a little digging and i may have solved part of the problem myself.

Another page on the forum indicates that the livecd only contains a binary for the kernel, so as we speak i am running emerge gentoo-sources

this is the page i found

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-463366-highlight-empty+src.html

hope this fixes the problem

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## John R. Graham

travo,

That's good.  However it also indicates that you've missed some steps of the standard installation from the Gentoo Handbook.  You need to pick up at Chapter 7:  Configuring the Kernel and finish the installation.  There are additional steps besides emerging the source, including some that should come before emerging the source.  You also may not have a "linux" subdirectory when you finish because the instructions in Chapter 7 read

```
USE="-doc symlink" emerge gentoo-sources
```

which is probably not what you did.

Give Chapter 7 a try and let me know if you run into any snags.

- John

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## travo

ok i've now run

USE="-doc symlink" emerge gentoo-sources

and have a full linux source directory which has enabled me to run make menuconfig and configure and build a kernel

i have added sound support and am pleased to say that i now have sound running

however...

now i'm having the same networking problem that everyone else seems to have with eth1 not existing when dhcp tries to initialise

so im trying to work through all the solutions i can find on the forum, but have not had any success yet

ill keep trying for a little while, but may need to post back for help.

thanks to everyone for their help thus far.

-Trav

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## davascript

please put [SOLVED] into your subject and start a new thread after searching the forums for your new netowkring problem.  which i am assumin when you built your new kernel you either didnt compile your NIC into your kernel or it has to loaded as a module.

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## jmbsvicetto

Moved from Installing Gentoo to Kernel & Hardware.

[mod]Since this thread is mostly about kernel configuration, I believe it belongs in K&H.[/mod]

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