If I followed the kernel instructions page correctly, its E8400 Core2Duo wasn't in need of an initrd, and so did not get one. Main deviation from suggestions/defaults was enabling HPFS filesystems. Result was 6001056 byte 4.0.5. openSUSE Tumbleweed 4.0.5 kernel is virtually identical at 6004656, but there is also its 8712096 initrd.
I reached the bottom of https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:X86/Installation/Bootloader and restarted host before clicking on link to next step. Before emerging recommendations in the Tools instructions page I took a timeout to emerge mc. The process involved 22 packages, more than I had any idea mc depended on, but I guess that's at least partly because the installation to that point was so very skeletal. I got ahead of things I suppose on the bootloader instructions, which include no example for Grub 0.97. I did emerge -s grub to identify the package name, then did 'emerge --ask sys-boot/grub-static' without first looking for any instructions, after which I somehow found https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB and its instruction saying 'sys-boot/grub:0'. Having already emerged sys-boot/grub-static without the :0 appendage, I punted instead of looking up meaning of :0, running 'emerge --ask sys-boot/grub-static:0'. That produced 4 beeps prior to emerge exit, which the previous emerge did not do. Next I set Grub up according to its man page: grub> find /boot/grub/stage1; grub> root (hd0,21); grub> setup (hd0,21), then adjusted grub.conf. First boot try I used Gentoo's Grub 0.97 (grub.conf) chainloaded from openSUSE's Grub 0.97-194 (menu.lst). Kernel quickly panic'd. I recognized nothing on the screen to indicate why, though I had seen such things before, among them, not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown block(0,0). / filesystem is mkfs.ext4 created while running openSUSE kernel 3.12.44. Second try I used menu.lst. Fastest boot I've ever experienced! I then tweaked on grub.conf, but #3 try using it also panic'd (~@1.37), also producing no help I recognized. So now after some experimenting with cmdline arguments I'm on ~#10, headed into https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:X86/Installation/Finalizing , wondering why a Gentoo sample/prototype-based Grub stanza produces panic. Panicing grub.conf cmdline arguments: root=/dev/ram0 real_root=/dev/sda22 ipv6.disable=1 net.ifnames=0 splash=0 video=1024x768@60 3 Working grub.conf cmdline arguments: root=/dev/sda22 ipv6.disable=1 net.ifnames=0 splash=0 video=1024x768@60 3 Why is root=/dev/ram0 real_root= in the sample/prototype? 4.0.5's /boot/config* FWIW: http://fm.no-ip.com/Tmp/Linux/G/config-4.0.5-gentoo-gx780.txt -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/
