Gentoo on Fulong

Getting gentoo installed on the Fulong was an interesting ordeal. Here are the steps that I took....

Downloads Required

• Stuart Longland
  • Netboot Image
  • LiveUSB Image

Process

TFTP

The first thing you need is a TFTP server (at least for the way that I did it.) I know that Stuart has an image that can be used on a USB key as well, but since I already had a TFTP server ready to go, it was easier for me to drop it in there.

Setting up the Fulong for a TFTP boot is relatively easy. Boot the machine, get into PMON via hitting the DEL key, and do the following:

PMON> ifaddr rtl0 lemote_box_ip_addr # (e.g. 10.0.0.8)
PMON> load tftp://tftp_server_ip_addr/path/to/netboot.image
PMON> g console=tty0 liveusb

This will fire up Stuart's liveusb image and push you straight into a GUI login. Read more on Stuart's pages about how to get logged in there. The passwords for the english and chinese logins are both blank, and the password for the root login is "gentoo".

Once you have booted into the liveusb image, the best thing to do is to start following along the gentoo mips install documentation. I am not sure why, but when I tried it originally with a boot and root partition, it failed, but I think I could rebuild now and get it to work without an issue. I highly recommend that you also compile a new kernel, as the netboot kernel that Stuart provides will not work. You might be able to get away with his standard kernel image, but there are newer kernels out there that compiled without a hitch on my machine.