Gentoo.

I can't help without any details but Gentoo is really made to be installed from a stage3 tarball (a bare minimum Linux system that doesn't even have X yet) you build your custom kernel, install all your packages, configure your USE flags and go from there.

Installing LinuxCNC on Gentoo with a PREEMPT_RT from scratch is not a trivial task. I'll be working on the PREEMPT_RT kernel soon but as of this writing, the latest PREEMPT_RT kernel is based on 6.1-rc7.

I've been watching this tree closely and waiting for the next release, hasn't been touched in 3 weeks:

git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/rt/linux-rt-devel.git/

My portage tree for the Gentoo LinuxCNC image is here:

github.com/NTULINUX/gentoo_backup/tree/linuxcnc

and I've had to make some custom packages not only for LinuxCNC but for some of it's dependencies too:

github.com/NTULINUX/ntu_overlay

By the time this is all done, full installation instructions will be thoroughly documented, an installer I wrote from scratch will be published, and once the image is installed, it will be as easy as:

Log out, and log back in so the environmental variables take effect (Tcl lib stuff)

Gentoo can be very difficult from the beginning, has a learning curve, but I'm making all of this incredibly simple and as point-and-click as possible.

The installer btw will be interactive and a Bash script. I'll be testing on several different medias and hardware to make sure it all works.

Due to licensing restrictions, I can't actually put LinuxCNC on the image itself, but one command is pretty simple!

Please see my post here, first page, all the way at the bottom:

forum.linuxcnc.org/38-general-linuxcnc-q...hich-are-out?start=0

If it helps, I have custom compiled 6.1 PREEMPT_RT kernel and headers from the kernel.org pristine source here:
drive.google.com/drive/folders/10uwGg5Rv...LtQ8BZhM3At_gODk16na
kernel-deb.txt in the same folder should be able to be converted to a fully scripted solution.
Currently we open xconfig to select the Fully Preemptible Kernel but I think it can be done with /scripts/config --enable as is done for the other security settings that bypass the security model.

EDIT: You will need to follow the script and change the command so you install the kernel, not just build a deb as I have done for debian.

rodw wrote:

If it helps, I have custom compiled 6.1 PREEMPT_RT kernel and headers from the kernel.org pristine source here:
drive.google.com/drive/folders/10uwGg5Rv...LtQ8BZhM3At_gODk16na
kernel-deb.txt in the same folder should be able to be converted to a fully scripted solution.
Currently we open xconfig to select the Fully Preemptible Kernel but I think it can be done with /scripts/config --enable as is done for the other security settings that bypass the security model.

EDIT: You will need to follow the script and change the command so you install the kernel, not just build a deb as I have done for debian.
 
Thank you, I'm just waiting for the next PREEMPT_RT kernel release. I still have to test the image with actual CNC hardware. Do you use a camera with LinuxCNC by any chance for camview, and if so, can you post your `lsmod` with it connected? A lot of cameras are UVC now, just want to make sure before pushing everything out there and make any changes if necessary. I've been building custom kernels since 06' and I'll be using LTO with Clang+LLD for the kernel as well. Module signing and all that security stuff won't be an issue. I'm pulling a lot of that out anyway for better performance. Intel CPUs should be absolutely SCREAMING fast in comparison to other distros with the kernel I'm making lol. A lot of the Spectre/Meltdown mitigation hits those CPUs hard.

Also, to make sure your system is new enough, this goes for anyone interested in the Gentoo image I'm working on, please run:


This covers CPUs starting from Intel Nahelem (2008, first generation Core i5/i7) and AMD Bulldozer (2011.)

Intel Core 2 Duo and AMD K10 processors such as Phenom/Phenom II will not work.

x86-64-v2 is now required for RHEL 9 and openSUSE Tumbleweed (rolling release) and as this is a brand new image, I figured I'd keep up with the trend.

I can't help with cameras.

I looked at versions of the kernel and the rt patch and tried to keep them the same. But the kernel 6.1 is now final  so I figured the RT RC7 should be fine.. No issues so far.

I'm sure it's great! I just don't want to push this out with a release candidate kernel lol.

edit: I'm working on the Gentoo image installer right now:

github.com/NTULINUX/gentoo_backup/blob/linuxcnc/installer.sh

Debian does an absolutely terrible job at partitioning devices, so the only way for me to make sure this gets put on right using the script is to have _IT_ handle all partitioning and formatting for you. If people want to create a new partition themselves and drop the tarball on it, I will be writing documentation for that. I've seen Debian make extra, unused partitions, make extended partitions for no reason, all kinds of weird stuff, and even leave free space between partitions and I've seen the partition numbering out of sequential order or something like that.. I've never actually seen Debian partition a drive properly, even when doing manual mode.. It still does it's own thing.

In short, if you use the script, it will just use the whole drive, absolutely destroy Debian, and it _will_ just work, following a proper partitioning scheme.