Project:RelEng/LiveDVD/10.0/FAQ

Introduction

The Gentoo hybrid LiveDVD is made by the community for the community. It was created with the help of Gentoo developers from around the world and users alike. Thank you all for your contributions and suggestions!

Your Gentoo Ten Team

Please note that this is simply a list of common questions. Please read the handbook and man pages to gain a greater understanding of how Gentoo works. For answers to questions which may not be answered here, please visit the forums and bugzilla.

Getting Started

Download the correct ISO for your hardware

The livedvd-x86-x86_64 ISO will work on 32-bit x86 or 64-bit x86_64. If your architecture is x86, boot with the default. If your arch is amd64, boot with gentoo64.

The livedvd-amd64 ISO is only for x86_64. Boot with the default.

Boot options for the LiveDVD

The README lists the possible command line options that can be used to tweak the boot process of the DVD. The README lists the Gentoo-specific options, along with a few options that are built-in to the kernel, but that have been proven very useful to our users. All options that start with do have a no inverse that does the opposite. For example, doscsi enables SCSI support in the initial ramdisk boot, while noscsi disables it.

Default root and user password

The default user and password are gentoo.

How do I become root?

user $sudo su -

You can use passwd to change the password for the user you are logged into. As root, you can change any user password by issuing the command passwd username For extra options and setting, please man passwd.

Can I copy the image to a USB stick?

Yes. To determine your device before you plug it in, open a terminal and read /var/log/messages:

root #tail -f /var/log/messages

Note
You will need at least a 4GB device!

root #dd if=image.iso of=/dev/sdb

Important
Do not point to a partition number!

Warning
Not all BIOS support booting from USB devices. Consult your motherboard documentation first!

Can I resume the autologin?

To resume the KDM autologin, you need to press the ESC key and wait for the timeout to pass or just hit the Enter key to login.

Can I install firmware for my wireless card?

Yes. You just need to copy the firmware to /lib/firmware and reload your wireless card's kernel modules. The example below installs the firmware for a Ralink RT2501USB wireless LAN chip set. It requires non-free firmware, which cannot be included on the Live DVD because of license issues. The firmware is copied from a 2GB USB stick.

To install the firmware, mount the USB stick:

root #

mkdir /mnt/pin

root #

mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/pin

Copy the firmware:

root #cp /mnt/pin/firmware/rt73.bin /lib/firmware

Reload modules so that the firmware is included:

root #modprobe -r rt73usb rt2x00usb rt2x00lib

Insert modules and load firmware:

root #modprobe rt73usb

Restart wicd to pickup the interface:

root #/etc/init.d/wicd restart

Can I speed up the boot process?

To speed up the boot try this at the boot prompt:

root #gentoo-nofb nox

Once you are returned to the command line:

root #/etc/init.d/xdm start

Is there a list of packages on the DVD?

Yes:

More Information

What if my question has not been answered?

Come join us on our IRC channel, #gentoo-ten. You can also help us fix some bugs!

This page is based on a document formerly found on our main website gentoo.org.
The following people contributed to the original document: David Abbott (author), Joshua Saddler (author), Fernando V. Orocu (reviewer), Theo Chatzimichos (reviewer), and Ned Ludd (editor).
They are listed here because wiki history does not allow for any external attribution. If you edit the wiki article, please do not add yourself here; your contributions are recorded on each article's associated history page.