I bumped into some problems at Manual Static Configuration (section 4.x) when trying to install using http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x86-install.xml #1 Coming from a windows enviroment I had absolutely no idea what Broadcast was let alone what numbers I should enter. After some digging around I now know: * what it is * what numbers it should be * that entering this is compleatly pointless as it's automatically calculated by ifconfig anyway... #2 I have 2 NICs connecting to the same ISP/gateway, and the instructions or hints to get them both correctly routed are missing. Given these lackings in that section I suggest that the text should be changed to: ----- Type in the following commands replacing: $IFACE with your network interface (typically eth0) $IPNUM with your IP address $BCAST with your broadcast address (if you don't know it, leave out "broadcast $BCAST") $NMASK with your network mask $GTWAY with your default gateway. Code listing 4.6: Static IP Network Configuration # ifconfig $IFACE $IPNUM broadcast $BCAST netmask $NMASK # /sbin/route add -net default gw $GTWAY netmask 0.0.0.0 metric 1 eth0 ----- or alternativly, just leave out the broadcast part alltogether from the code listing and instructions ----- Type in the following commands replacing: $IFACE with your network interface (typically eth0) $IPNUM with your IP address $NMASK with your network mask $GTWAY with your default gateway. Code listing 4.6: Static IP Network Configuration # ifconfig $IFACE $IPNUM netmask $NMASK # /sbin/route add -net default gw $GTWAY netmask 0.0.0.0 metric 1 eth0 ----- For referance, here is the current look of that section ----- Type in the following commands, replacing $IFACE with your network interface (typically eth0), $IPNUM with your IP address, $BCAST with your broadcast address, and $NMASK with your network mask. For the route command, replace $GTWAY with your default gateway. Code listing 4.6: Static IP Network Configuration # ifconfig $IFACE $IPNUM broadcast $BCAST netmask $NMASK # /sbin/route add -net default gw $GTWAY netmask 0.0.0.0 metric 1 -----
Opps sorry /sbin/route add -net default gw $GTWAY netmask 0.0.0.0 metric 1 eth0 should of cource be /sbin/route add -net default gw $GTWAY netmask 0.0.0.0 metric 1 $IFACE
I'll take a look at this one.
The broadcast is needed when the network isn't a /24 (ifconfig will guess wrong then). Therefor I won't remove it from the text. I've added an explanation about the needed information and added the $IFACE to the route command. Do note that it's not our goal to configure a complete network, but just enough to get Portage working during the installation. So ppl with more interfaces on the same network should only "use" one interface during install. The proposed new installation guide is on http://cvs.gentoo.org/~swift/gentoo-x86-install.html If it's accepted by the reviewing-committee, I'll add it to the CVS.
> The broadcast is needed when the network isn't a /24 (ifconfig will guess wrong then). Hmm, perhaps a note like this could be used then "If your ISP has not provided you with a broadcast adress, it will probably be autodetected" > Do note that it's not our goal to configure a complete network, but just enough to get Portage working during the installation. So ppl with more interfaces on the same network should only "use" one interface during install. Agreed, but you never know when it WILL be needed. In my case eg, I have a Asus nForce2 board with 2 built in NICs. Trying to install with a Gentoo CD (rc3) was a PITA, since initally one NIC wasn't found and after installation the OTHER NIC wasn't found. Thus I had to get both NICs setup to have it work after the first reboot. > The proposed new installation guide is on Why not use <br> (or <ul>) a bit more often? Would make it a lot less messy to read the instructions (especially in commandline lynx...) to have a nice list Eg: Type in the following commands replacing: $IFACE with your network interface (typically eth0) $IPNUM with your IP address $BCAST with your broadcast address $NMASK with your network mask $GTWAY with your default gateway. Generally a page building more on structured HTML isntead of TABLE hacks would of cource be nice too (especially since it's supposed to work in a comandline lynx enviroment), but I guess that is material for a new bug called "rewrite entire install guide into proper HTML" :D
We try to keep our docs as general as possible, and a broadcast address is something that everybody should learn anyway :) Since it's only needed for static configuration we should assume that the person has 1) enough with the example, or 2) the requested information somewhere on a piece of paper. You're case is exceptional, and I think it has more to do with your hardware (and support for it in the kernel, nForce is rather new). Anyway, I've included the $IFACE after the route command as you suggested. Concerning placing <br>'s has something to do with our format: we use an XML-format which get processed by XSLT-styles. <br>'s aren't supported. I personally read the current layout better than your proposed layout, so I think it's a matter of taste.
> broadcast address is something that everybody should learn anyway :) Perhaps yes, but the current instructions assumes you already know this when you start installing gentoo (I think the single example of a 192.168 adress is not conclusive/descriptive enough and my ISP sure didn't provide me with a BC address). Perhaps a small broadcast tutorial should be included or linked to? Something really basic like: "If you have a class C adress (listing the IP range) your BC should look like x.x.255.255" and the same for class A & B, followed by the example IP. > <br>'s aren't supported. But <ul>'s surely are :) > I personally read the current layout better than your proposed layout, so I think it's a matter of taste. Did you try looking at the page in Lynx? :D Some parts of the installation guide is REALLY hard to read. I had to connect to the onlineversion on my other (windows) mashine just to makes scense of several sections that got compleatly mangled in Lynx due to the badly structured markup. Making a nice <ul> is just a first small step on the way to making it a lot more readable in Lynx (which is what you have available to you when you install the gentoo box from comandline).
Committed into CVS.
