Getting the hardware to work

Fortunately one thing I was able to rescue from earlier, corrupted, installation is the kernel config. So I don't need to spend much time with kernel configuration. I however decided to go bleeding edge with the just released 2.6.24 kernel. Preserving the old configuration is pretty easy, just copy the old .config-file to the new kernel sources (/usr/src/linux) and run "make oldconfig" the command asks user to answer few questions and voilá, kernel configured.

Installing DVB drivers is also pretty easy and there are few different ways to do it. I used to install them just by using emerge, ie. "emerge mercurial && emerge v4l-dvb-hg" but currently there seems to be compilation problem. Because of the problem with emerge I had to install the drivers by hand. Here is a short overview of the process, the guide is for different tuner card than mine, but one can see the outline of the process easily enough. After dropping the firmware file to correct location (/lib/firmware) and rebooting, udev should load the modules for the card automatically. One can verify that the tuner is working by making sure there is device called /dev/dvb/adapter0 .

Lirc installation is also pretty straightforward, although it can also be problematic for the first timers. For emerge to work correctly a line needs to be added to /etc/make.conf, with my Silverstone (iMon) IR-receiver the line looks like this
LIRC_DEVICES="lirc_imon imon_pad2keys imon imon_pad imon_rsc"

After that "emerge lirc" and reboot the /dev/lirc device should be available. With serial port IR-receiver some tweaking with "setserial" command might be required. Correct lircd.conf is of course needed in /etc directory. For most remotes you don't need to look any further than here. I however made my own for the Harmony remote by using "irrecord" command. Testing that lirc is working command "irw" can be run, while running it should detect key presses from the remote.

If you want to use the remote that came with the case (the one with a "mouse pad" on it) you should have look at this page.

Once the lirc is working, emergin lcdprog makes the VFD available for using. Testing that it is working is easy, just "echo whatever > /dev/lcd0".


So what else is there?

• Proprietary Nvidia graphics drivers can be installed by issuing "emerge x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers" command and then using "modprobe nvidia" to load the module, although I think udev also loads automatically after reboot. Remember to include the nvidia as a driver to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf if you are using X.
• My integrated sound card is recognized automatically and my sound is working after "emerge alsa-utils" and setting the volume with "alsamixer", using "alsactl" one can store the volume settings as defaults.
• Integrated network was correctly detected during install and if it is not and you can not get it to work by hand, installing Gentoo becomes pretty hard. Luckily ethernet works correctly at full gigabit speed.
• Flat panel TV can sometimes be a real pain to get working correctly due to the TV itself giving wrong information about its capabilities. Example xorg.conf file for Mirai DTL-642E500 can be found here. I personally had some problems with finding correct settings and hopefully the linked file is useful to others.

Disclaimer: To get the devices to work, the kernel needs to be configured correctly. But that information is (mainly) available at Gentoo wiki, so there is no need for me to rewrite it all here. Check the Howto Index, Tips & Tricks and Hardware part of the wiki.