Gentoo make.conf for ECS A097

This file maybe useful for people installing Gentoo into their ECS A097. Highlighted text below is the make.conf that I use for my own A097.

# These settings were set by the catalyst build script that automatically built this stage
# Please consult /etc/make.conf.example for a more detailed example
# CFLAGS="-O2 -mtune=i686 -pipe"
# CHOST="i386-pc-linux-gnu"
# CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}"
CHOST="i586-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-march=i586 -O2 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}"
LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1"
MAKEOPTS="-j2"
USE="-qt3 -qt4 -arts -kde -bindist gtk gnome hal avahi X tk bitmap-fonts truetype-fonts type1-fonts alsa nptl nptlonly"
SYNC="rsync://rsync.asia.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"

GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://gentoo.gg3.net/ "
INPUT_DEVICES="keyboard mouse"
VIDEO_CARDS="sis"
ALSA_CARDS="ali5451"

~yth

Installing Gentoo into ECS A097

ECS A097 is a laptop using a Transmeta Crusoe microprocessor. Crusoe is different from two other will known processors, namely AMD microprocessors and Intel microprocessor, because it is using the VLIW technology. Intel and AMD are mostly CISC based processors. With the Transmeta Crusoe design, some of the instructions are being run by the processor and some are implemented in software they called code morphing. By doing this they basically offloaded the microprocessor thereby consuming less power. To prove further about Crusoe check the following link. What I am going to do here basically is to document how to run Linux in Transmeta Crusoe the fastest possible. There are many ways of achieving this like installing the OS using LFS but we will use Gentoo here instead. Install sequence: 1) Download install-x86-minimal-2006.1.iso from www.gentoo.org. 2) Burn the image into a CD-R/W. 3) Boot the machine using the minimal Gentoo CD. 4) Since my network was not configured properly on boot-up, I configured eth0 using "net-setup eth0." This is needed in my case because my network configuration is not really one of the common setup. I have a gateway running Windows XP SP2 and I have a DHCP served by Airlink wireless router. I don't know how to setup the router so that when a computer requests for an IP it should also return the correct gateway. My problem really is with configuring the router with non-default gateway. Anyways, enough for that. Since this is my own network I know what data to supply for the gateway and the DNS servers. 5):(... I got stumbled with issues and forgot to document every steps I have taken to configure this portable computer in Gentoo. Better luck next time. Some important information I have collected while playing around with Gentoo.

• Safe CFLAGS for Transmeta Crusoe http://gentoo-wiki.com/Safe_Cflags#Transmeta_Crusoe
• LDFLAGS optimization
• Migrating to NPTL (Native POSIX Thread Library)

Updating entire Gentoo system:

#: emerge --update --deep --newuse world
#: emerge --deepclean
#: revdep-rebuild

Very Important when updating kernel: Run the following command to rebuild external modules:

#: module-rebuild rebuild

~yth~

Globe Visibility Speed Tracking

Location : Near Shangri La Plaza Hotel, Mandaluyong City, Philipipines

Decide for yourself if this internet subscription is worth the cost

Impression: Globe Visibility is very slow compared to wired, always on internet subscription. Upload is very very slow. Browsing is marginally/slightly faster to dial-up. But note the price. Globe Visibility is 2000.oo flat which is way more expensive compared to cable/dsl. If you don't need extreme mobility please do yourself a favor, get wired connection.
Note: Listed below are top speed, nominal/average speed is way below dial-up speeds.

[Update (04March07)] After pooking around with how E220 modem works, I was able to achieve reasonable speeds. I think with this new speed Globe Visibility is good enough for home and for mobile users. I will create another blog entry describing how I managed to get decent speeds from Visibility.

See the table tracking here. I have another table with more columns here .

Udpates:
As of 06August2007 I can only connect to Edge network :(.
23Nov2008 - Seems like Globe has issues with DNS. Accessing random websites return something indicative of DNS issues. I have called Globe and asked them to contact me if they have more information from their tech group but to no avail. Seems like they just don't really care about their customers but the bill is coming on time though. And for the past 3 or 4 weeks we can only connect reliably through EDGE.