############################################################################################ # GENTOOX 1.4_rc3 README NOTES # ############################################################################################ Foreword 0. Ed's Debian 1. What is this trash? 2. Why? 3. Installation and requirements 4. Important information 5. Who are you? 6. Thank you FOREWORD -------- NO ONE BUT YOU WILL BE HELD RESPONSIBLE IF YOU KILL YOUR XBOX WITH THIS OR KILL YOURSELF!!! You run/install Gentoox TOTALLY at your own risk. If anything bad comes from running Gentoox I will NOT claim ANY responsibility. You will need a modchip to run Gentoox and any BIOS that will allow you to run EvoX or boXplorer. This product also has absolutely no guarantee. So if it doesnt work, you cant complain. Every effort has been made to get this distribution to work as smoothly as possible but there are always bugs to be found. You have been warned! I do not claim to have compiled/ constructed the bootloader (initrd.gz, gentooxx.xbe and linuxboot.cfg). They are taken from Ed's debian and are UNTOUCHED except for the name of the .xbe file. Therefore, I do not claim responsibility for any legalities relating towards them. My work is the rootfs ONLY which is strictly all Gentoo (GNU). Having said this, I have made every effort to inquire about the legality of this project (contacted Xbox-linux team), and I quote them: "Nothing from Xbox Linux contains any MS or other copyrighted or illegal code. We haven't used the XDK to build anything. Michael" As far as I am aware, this project is legal. Should there be any reason it is not legal the project will instantly cease (upon being shown reasonable proof). I'm absolutely NOT here to start a lawsuit with Microsoft or any other company. I'm not doing this to start trouble, I'm doing this to offer an alternative operating system for the Xbox, nothing more. I do not encourage or recommend piracy as it damages the work of developers and publishers. If you like a game, buy it! Just because you have a modchip to run linux doesnt mean you should pirate games! The Gentoo team are neither associated with this project, nor do they endorse it and you will not hold them responsible for any problems the usage of this software may cause. To reiterate, I do not claim responsibility for the bootloader nor do I claim responsibility for anything bad that may come of using this software. You may not challenge me on these issues, but if the bootloader is found to be illegal then this project will cease until a legal alternative is discovered. On a final note - Theres always something to be forgotten, while I have spent a long time messing around with this distro, it may be possible that I have left something out. Since Ive stayed up for about 48+ hours to get this finished, this whole README may not even make sense or may have errors contained within/ omitted data etc. Interpret the data as you see fit, but I will have the final say on what is actually meant by all of this. If you agree with the above then you may use this software, otherwise you may NOT! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (# represents code, dont actually type the #s) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Ed's Debian Ed's Linux distribution for the Xbox is really the inspiration for all of this, he has obviously put in an extremely large amount of work into his project and has released a great working distro. I'll freely admit that Gentoox contains some of his work, for example the /XBOXLocal directory (whether its still needed or not, I dont know - I just leave it there incase). Also, total credit to him for the bootloader, though I'm not sure why he made it boot to init 2. Instead of changing his bootloader, I changed Gentoox to accomodate for this so rc-update still works. There is nothing wrong with Ed's debian, I just prefer Gentoo over it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. What is this trash? TRASH?! This is not trash, its Gentoo! Gentoo is one of the many linux distributions available. Check out www.gentoo.org for more information. This isnt really a port so to speak, just a reconfiguration so from here on port will be in ''s just so you know I'm not claiming to have done any coding. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Why? Why did I 'port' Gentoo over to the Xbox? Well, I felt that the other linux distros out there for the Xbox were really cut down, hacked death and just didnt "feel" much like a proper linux environment. Also, with me actually being the one creating the distro, I instantly know whats been going on and how everything is configured - and let me tell you its functionality is IDENTICAL to a PC installation of Gentoo. I also believe that Gentoo is the best linux distribution out there as its TOTALLY source based. The good thing about my 'port' is that it was installed from stage1. For you people that dont understand what this means, basically, it means that ALL the software was compile with specific settings to make it as optimised as possible for the Xbox. The great thing is, since all Xboxes are the same, it will be optimised for everyones Xbox! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Installation Ok, if you've skipped down here without reading the rest then its Obvious you want your Gentoox! I've tried to make the installation as easy as possible and I'll hope you agree. You dont need to have put a new HDD in your Xbox, all that is required is that you have 2256MB free on your E: partition. The installation can be done in a couple of ways: Method 1) - No network (Boot EvoX or Boot boXplorer) a) Unpack the WHOLE archive to a single directory on your computer b) Burn the files to a DVD (whichever media works for you - wont fit on a CD though) c) Install boXplorer on your Xbox and load it d) Put in your DVD and copy over the contents of D:\ to E:\ e) Add a menu item in your EvoX config file to load E:\gentooxx.xbe f) Done - enjoy Gentoox, until you get a network, you wont actually be able to run anything as this is a barebones installation. Method 2) - With network a) Unpack the WHOLE archive to a single directory on your computer b) Start EvoX on your Xbox c) FTP across all the files you unpacked to /E/ on your Xbox d) Add a menu item in your EvoX config file to load E:\gentooxx.xbe e) Done - enjoy Gentoox -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Important information The default login for your Xbox is: Username: root Password: xbox (Dont use capitals!) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ By default a USB keyboard will work, also, if you have a network with a DHCP server, Gentoox will automagically configure itself to run on your network and you will be able to ssh into your Xbox (though determining its IP is up to you looking through your router's configuration). Sound is also fully configured to work. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In order to keep this release as small as possible, the bare minimum has been installed. To get things rolling youll need to run the following: # emerge sync This will synchronise the portage of 'software library' with the master servers (requires an network/internet connection). From then on, you can install software by typing: # emerge software_title If youre not sure what software is available, or youre not sure of the name you can run: # emerge --search software_title to see if its available. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ !!!!REALLY IMPORTANT!!!! YOU WONT BE ABLE TO PRESS THE EJECT BUTTON IN GENTOOX. IF YOU NEED TO OPEN THE CD DRIVE YOU WILL NEED TO DO THE FOLLOWING: This is quite complicated and since Gentoox has everything you could possibly want in its portage system you may not even need to do this. Firstly, you need XBTool and the X2 4974 BIOS: 1) Load XBTool 2) Press the extract button and select the X2 4974 BIOS 3) Open the xboxkernel.img in a hex editor 4) Search for evoXdash.xbe (Should be preceeded by something like /device/harddisk0/partition2) 5) change evoXdash.xbe to gentooxx.xbe 6) Use XBTool to make a BIOS from the xboxkernel.img file and save it somewhere 7) FTP to your Xbox and move gentooxx.xbe, initrd.gz, linuxboot.cfg, vmlinuz to /C/ 8) Flash your newly hacked BIOS to your modchip and reset your Xbox, it should autoload Gentoox! (Note the above how-to is written from memory) Once you are inside Gentoox, you will need to do the following: # emerge eject << Must have done emerge sync first # eject << This will open the DVD tray # eject -t << This will close the DVD tray The above will prevent your Xbox from rebooting. To access the DVD drive type: # mount /mnt/cdrom # cd /mnt/cdrom # ls << Shows you the contents of the CD This is the only way I've been able to get this working without having to hack the eject program itself, I'm not totally sure why it works this way but it does. If you dont make the above hack to the BIOS, it will still reset your Xbox! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If you want to add programs to your startup, first check inside /etc/init.d to see if the program has an rc script. If it does, type: # rc-update add rc_script_name_here default And this program will automatically start at every bootup. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If you're going to use XFree, remember to go to the xbox-linux site and download the configs from their CVS!. If you just want to get on IRC to show off to your friends, you might want to run: # emerge irssi or # emerge bitchx ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You can browse your Xbox partitions (c, e and f) by typing # mount /mnt/fatx/c && cd /mnt/fatx/c && ls # mount /mnt/fatx/f && cd /mnt/fatx/f && ls !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At bootup /mnt/fatx/e is automatically mounted and /mnt/fatx/e/swap is automatically mounted as a swapfile. DO NOT under ANY circumstance try to unmount /mnt/fatx/e or /mnt/fatx/e/swap as your Xbox WILL at some point run out of RAM and crash! In addition to this, please dont try mounting a floppy drive as this causes the kernel and mount to segfault. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To get rid of the shallax@ prompt type: # echo "new.hostname.com" > /etc/hostname then reboot. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Along with this distro comes a fully working kernel source which can be found in /usr/src/linux Its already properly configured, but if you decide you want to add something (and know how) you can do so. Its best to compile everything as modules so you dont have to mess around with the kernel (vmlinuz) on drive E:\. If you make a new module, be sure to add it to /etc/modules.autoload to make it load on bootup. Basic information for kernel compilation follows: # cd /usr/src/linux # make menuconfig (select anything you want as a module by pressing 'm') # make dep # make clean && make bzImage modules modules_install Should you wish to replace the entire current kernel do the following after compilation # mount /mnt/fatx/e # rm -rf /mnt/fatx/e/vmlinuz << dangerous command, make sure you type it correctly # cp /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /mnt/fatx/e/vmlinuz # reboot << required to load new kernel Once you have rebooted, reload gentooxx.xbe and if all your kernel modifications were sucessful it should boot with no problems. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Who are you? I'm ShALLaX, if you have questions/ problems with Gentoox feel free to email me at: gentoox@shallax.com Also, you can check out my website (which you might find amusing) at: www.shallax.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Thank you I'd like to thank: Ed AGAIN: For his debian distro - really, I can't give him enough credit for his work Xbox-Linux: 'nuff said - without their hacking, none of this would have been possible Xbox-Scene: For converting me from a newbie to a Pro and for their great news posts Gotmod forums: Ubergeek, benjeremy, Bald Bouncer, MadgamEr, .... and all the other guys whose names I cant think of at 3:51am (the time now) Gamesnet (IRC): EVERYONE in #linux for sure, especially Genlee for putting up with my endless questions ;). Thanks to Xolution and Byte for telling me that I was wasting my time (theyre probably right, but hell, it all worked in the end). There are probably many more people im forgetting to thank. If you have some spare time, just drop in, I'll be there to talk to. Special thanks to all the Xbox owners in here who kept me motivated in my task. Thanks to wik for knowing everything there is to know about anything related to computers :). Thanks to Ziekke for having an interest in the project and for having an interest in Gentoo! EFNet (IRC): Everyone in #xbox, especially Jwoo for constantly banning me... >:( MANY thanks to the guys in #gentoo for helping me with some problems (theDevil-, icaruX, Nicon, Genlee (AGAIN), Bluesman... the list goes on) Team Xecuter: For their GREAT modchip, the allmighty X2:PRO Team Assembly: For Config Magic - Much fun to be had with this program EvolutionX: Brilliant menu system, and they actually listen to requests! :o Gentoo: How could I forget to thank the creators of this distro?! MrModChips: For selling me my X2Pro - best shop in the UK :D www.mrmodchips.com Microsoft: I guess Mr. Gates has to be thanked for the Xbox... Im really sorry if I missed anyone off this list, if youre not on here but helped me, trust me... I REALLY appreciate it! This product would never have seen the light of day if it wasnt for all of the above (even the people I forgot to mention!) THANK YOU! - ShALLaX (me@shallax.com) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------