The Alienware family is IMO a nice desktop replacement where space is scarce. Ive bought a used one in great shape.

Pros

  • Great extensibility

  • Great connectivity

  • Good processing quality

Cons

  • Heavy weight

Hardware

lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 06)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor PCI Express x16 Controller (rev 06)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 06)
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio Controller (rev 06)
00:04.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Device 0c03 (rev 06)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI (rev 05)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #2 (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev d5)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #3 (rev d5)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #4 (rev d5)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #5 (rev d5)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM87 Express LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode] (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series Chipset Family Thermal Management Controller (rev 05)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM204M [GeForce GTX 980M] (rev a1)
08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros Killer E220x Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 10)
09:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5209 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
09:00.1 SD Host controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5209 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
0a:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 7260 (rev 73)
Note
 prefixing a command with $ means it should be executed as the current user. No prefix means root 
grep "model name" /proc/cpuinfo|uniq
model name	: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4940MX CPU @ 3.10GHz

Installation

Note
 These are raw notes taken from my installation. Depending on your setup things may be different. Because I am not a gentoo expert there are surely better ways of doing this or that ;)

Preparartion

Follow the instructions from:

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64

I used a Linux Mint Live USB-Stick to boot the system for installation

Disk Partitioning

Note
 Later I added an additional 1TB drive that caused drive identifiers to change 
parted -a optimal /dev/sda

(parted) print
Model: ATA SAMSUNG SSD PM85 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 256GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number  Start   End     Size   File system  Name  Flags
 1      17.4kB  134MB   134MB                     msftres
 2      701MB   1016MB  315MB  ntfs               diag
 3      1016MB  1121MB  105MB  fat32              boot, esp
 4      1121MB  255GB   254GB  ntfs               msftdata
 5      255GB   256GB   937MB  ntfs               hidden, diag

(parted) mklabel gpt

(parted) unit mib

(parted) mkpart primary 1 2
(parted) name 1 grub
(parted) set 1 bios_grub on
(parted) print
Model: ATA SAMSUNG SSD PM85 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 244198MiB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number  Start    End      Size     File system  Name  Flags
 1      1.00MiB  2.00MiB  1.00MiB               grub  bios_grub


(parted) mkpart primary 3 131
(parted) name 2 boot
(parted) mkpart primary 131 1155
(parted) name 3 swap
(parted) mkpart primary 1155 -1
(parted) name 4 rootfs

(parted) set 2 boot on
(parted) print
Model: ATA SAMSUNG SSD PM85 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 244198MiB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number  Start    End        Size       File system  Name    Flags
 1      1.00MiB  2.00MiB    1.00MiB                 grub    bios_grub
 2      3.00MiB  131MiB     128MiB                  boot    boot, esp
 3      131MiB   1155MiB    1024MiB                 swap
 4      1155MiB  244197MiB  243042MiB               rootfs

Filesystems

mkfs.ext2 /dev/sda2
mkfs.btrfs /dev/sda4
mkswap /dev/sda3
swapon /dev/sda3

Stage3 Setup

mkdir /mnt/gentoo && mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/gentoo
cp Downloads/stage3-amd64-20181113T214502Z.tar.xz /mnt/gentoo/ && cd $_
tar xpvf stage3-*.tar.xz --xattrs-include='*.*' --numeric-owner
vim /mnt/gentoo/ETC/portage/make.conf

# These settings were set by the catalyst build script that automatically
# built this stage.
# Please consult /usr/share/portage/config/make.conf.example for a more
# detailed example.
COMMON_FLAGS="-march=native -O2 -pipe"
CFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
CXXFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
FCFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
FFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
MAKEOPTS="-j8"

# NOTE: This stage was built with the bindist Use flag enabled
PORTDIR="/usr/portage"
DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"
PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"

# This sets the language of build output to English.
# Please keep this setting intact when reporting bugs.
LC_MESSAGES=C

GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://distfiles.gentoo.org"
mkdir --parents /mnt/gentoo/etc/portage/repos.conf
cp /mnt/gentoo/usr/share/portage/config/repos.conf /mnt/gentoo/etc/portage/repos.conf/gentoo.conf
cp --dereference /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/gentoo/etc/

mount --types proc /proc /mnt/gentoo/proc
mount --rbind /sys /mnt/gentoo/sys
mount --make-rslave /mnt/gentoo/sys
mount --rbind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev
mount --make-rslave /mnt/gentoo/dev

chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
source /etc/profile
export PS1="(chroot) ${PS1}"

mkdir /boot
mount /dev/sda2 /boot

emerge --sync

elselect news read
elselect news list
elselect news purge

eselect profile list

..
[16]  default/linux/amd64/17.0/desktop (stable)
..

eselect profile set 16
emerge -av --update --deep --newuse @world
emerge --info | grep ^USE
less /usr/portage/profiles/use.desc
ls /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe
echo "Europe/Berlin" > /etc/timezone
emerge --config sys-libs/timezone-data

nano -w /etc/locale.gen
en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
locale-gen
locale -a

eselect locale list
Available targets for the LANG variable:
  [1]   C
  [2]   en_US.utf8
  [3]   POSIX
  [ ]   (free form)
eselect locale set 2

env-update && source /etc/profile && export PS1="(chroot) $PS1"

Kernel

Note
 This is definitely not the best idea because a live CD kernel config includes everything (that means lots of modules) that are only necessary for a live CD. The system thats going to be installed only needs a small fraction of them. I would recommend to either use genkernel or step through the config manually 
emerge --ask sys-kernel/gentoo-sources
emerge -av sys-apps/pciutils

use kernel config from mint live cd as base:

cp /boot/config-4.10.0-38-generic /mnt/gentoo/opt/
make menuconfig

load /opt/config-4.10.0-38-generic and save as .config

make -j8 && make modules_install
make install

SD-Card Reader

# lspci |grep SD
09:00.1 SD Host controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5209 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
# grep REALTEK .config
CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_REALTEK=y
CONFIG_REALTEK_PHY=m
CONFIG_WLAN_VENDOR_REALTEK=y
CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_REALTEK=m
# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_REALTEK is not set
CONFIG_MMC_REALTEK_PCI=m
CONFIG_MMC_REALTEK_USB=m
# CONFIG_MEMSTICK_REALTEK_PCI is not set
# CONFIG_MEMSTICK_REALTEK_USB is not set

# grep HOTPLUG_PCI .config
CONFIG_HOTPLUG_PCI_PCIE=y
CONFIG_HOTPLUG_PCI=y
CONFIG_HOTPLUG_PCI_ACPI=y
# CONFIG_HOTPLUG_PCI_ACPI_IBM is not set
CONFIG_HOTPLUG_PCI_CPCI=y
# CONFIG_HOTPLUG_PCI_CPCI_ZT5550 is not set
# CONFIG_HOTPLUG_PCI_CPCI_GENERIC is not set
# CONFIG_HOTPLUG_PCI_SHPC is not set

Install Firmware

emerge -av sys-kernel/linux-firmware

/etc/fstab

Note
 here /dev/sdb is now the initial 256GB drive (boot+rootfs). The drive /dev/sda is a newly added 1TB housing my data 
vim /etc/fstab
/dev/sda1   /mnt/ssd     btrfs   noatime,discard      0 1
/dev/sdb2   /boot        ext2    defaults,noatime     0 2
/dev/sdb3   none         swap    sw                   0 0
/dev/sdb4   /            btrfs   noatime,discard      0 1

/mnt/ssd/databox  /home/timo/databox   none    defaults,bind   0 0
/mnt/ssd/backup   /home/timo/backup    none    defaults,bind   0 0
/mnt/ssd/pix      /home/timo/pix       none    defaults,bind   0 0

/dev/cdrom  /mnt/cdrom   auto    noauto,user          0 0
vim /etc/conf.d/hostname
vim /etc/conf.d/net
dns_domain_lo="homenetwork"

network

emerge -av --noreplace net-misc/netifrc
vim /etc/conf.d/net
config_eth0="dhcp"
cd /etc/init.d
ln -s net.lo net.eth0
rc-update add net.eth0 default

root pass

passwd
ls /usr/share/keymaps/i386/qwertz/
vim /etc/conf.d/keymaps
keymap="de"
rc-update add keymaps boot
rc-service keymaps restart
vim /etc/conf.d/hwclock

system logger

emerge -av app-admin/sysklogd
rc-update add sysklogd default

cron daemon

emerge -av sys-process/cronie

dhcp daemon

emerge -av net-misc/dhcpcd

wireless

emerge -av net-wireless/iw net-wireless/wpa_supplicant

Run etc-update if config changes need to be applied

bootloader

emerge -av sys-boot/grub:2
grub-install /dev/sda

vim /etc/default/grub
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="rootfstype=btrfs"

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

user

useradd -m -G users,wheel,audio,video,usb,cdrom -s /bin/bash timo
passwd timo

wireless

vim /etc/conf.d/net
dns_domain_lo="homenetwork"
config_enp8s0="dhcp"

modules_wlp10s0="wpa_supplicant"
config_wlp10s0="dhcp"
wpa_supplicant_wlp10s0="-Dwext"
vim /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant

ctrl_interface_group=wheel

ap_scan=1

network={
	ssid="p4radise"
	psk="XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
}
cd /etc/init.d
ln -s net.lo net.wlp10s0
rc-update add net.wlp10s0 default

/etc/init.d/net.wlp10s0 start

NTP

emerge -av net-misc/ntp
rc-service ntp-client start
rc-update add ntp-client default

ConsoleKit

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/ConsoleKit

vim /etc/portage/make.conf
USE="consolekit"

emerge -av --changed-use --deep @world

/etc/init.d/consolekit start
rc-update add consolekit boot

$ vim ~/.xinitrc
exec ck-launch-session dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session openbox-session

Xorg

vim /etc/portage/make.conf
INPUT_DEVICES="libinput synaptics"
VIDEO_CARDS="nouveau"

emerge -av x11-base/xorg-drivers
emerge -av x11-base/xorg-server
env-update && source /etc/profile

OpenBox

echo "x11-wm/openbox imlib" >> /etc/portage/package.use/openbox

emerge -av x11-wm/openbox
mkdir -p /home/timo/.config/openbox
cp /etc/xdg/openbox/* /home/timo/.config/openbox/ -v
chown -R timo:timo /home/timo/.config/

$ startx

emerge -av media-gfx/feh
vim /home/timo/.config/openbox/autostart
source $HOME/.fehbg &

# run this command in an x-session (creates ~/.fehbg):
$ feh --bg-scale /home/timo/gentoo_wallpaper.jpg

emerge -av obconf
emerge -av x11-terms/xterm-327

Openbox Menu

Note
 To automatically generate a right-click openbox menu obmenu-generator does a good job. Later I decided to have my own menu.xml which is cleaner 
emerge -av x11-misc/obmenu-generator
$ obmenu-generator -i -s
config/openbox/menu.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<openbox_menu>
    <menu id="root-menu" label="OpenBox 3">
    <item label="Terminal"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>lxterminal</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <item label="File Manager"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>pcmanfm</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <item label="Firefox"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>firefox-bin</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <item label="Epiphany"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>epiphany</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <item label="Thunderbird"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>thunderbird-bin</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <item label="Tor Browser"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>/home/timo/prg/tor-browser_en-US/Browser/start-tor-browser</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <separator/>
    <item label="Blender"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>blender</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <item label="Gimp"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>gimp</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <item label="Darktable"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>darktable</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <separator/>
    <item label="Pulse Audio"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>pavucontrol</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <item label="Alsamixer"> <action name="Execute">
        <execute>alsamixer</execute>
    </action> </item>
    <separator/>
    <menu id="40" label="OpenBox">
         <menu id="client-list-menu"/>
         <item label="Reconfigure"> <action name="Reconfigure"/> </item>
         <separator/>
         <item label="Exit"> <action name="Exit"/> </item>
         </menu>
    </menu>
</openbox_menu>

Keyboard Layout

emerge -av x11-apps/setxkbmap
vim /home/timo/.config/openbox/autostart
setxkbmap de

Display Manager

vim /etc/conf.d/xdm
DISPLAYMANAGER="slim"

emerge -av x11-misc/slim
rc-update add xdm default
rc-service xdm start

vim /etc/slim.conf
login_cmd           exec /bin/bash -login ~/.xinitrc %session

File Manager

emerge -av x11-misc/pcmanfm

Tint2

add USE flags battery to /etc/portage/make.conf

emerge -av --changed-use --deep @world

echo "x11-misc/tint2 tint2conf" >> /etc/portage/package.use/tint2
emerge -av tint2

vim /home/timo/.config/openbox/autostart
(sleep 2s && tint2) &

tint2conf
emerge -av app-office/orage

Laptop Special Keys

emerge -av xev

Brightness

test setting through kernel

echo 100 > /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness
echo 5237 > /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness
emerge -av sys-power/acpilight
rc-update add acpilight boot
/etc/init.d/udev restart
vim .config/openbox/rc.xml
  <!-- Keybindings for screen bightness  -->
  <keybind key="XF86MonBrightnessUp">
    <action name="Execute">
      <command>xbacklight +10</command>
    </action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="XF86MonBrightnessDown">
    <action name="Execute">
      <command>xbacklight -10</command>
    </action>
  </keybind>

Pulseaudio

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/PulseAudio

vim /etc/portage/make.conf
USE="pulseaudio"

emerge -av --changed-use --deep @world

emerge -av media-sound/pavucontrol media-sound/paprefs
etc-update

gpasswd -d timo audio

emerge -av media-libs/alsa-utils
emerge -av media-plugins/alsa-plugins

Tools

emerge -av app-portage/gentoolkit app-admin/sudo app-portage/cpuid2cpuflags
emerge -av www-client/firefox-bin www-client/chromium www-client/epiphany
emerge -av mail-client/thunderbird-bin
emerge -av lxde-base/lxterminal app-text/evince
emerge -av media-video/mpv
emerge -av media-gfx/imagemagick media-gfx/eog media-gfx/exiv2

emerge -av app-portage/eix
eix-update

emerge -av net-misc/youtube-dl
emerge -av x11-apps/xrandr lxde-base/lxrandr

Darktable

The following REQUIRED_USE flag constraints are unsatisfied:
    cpu_flags_x86_sse3

cpuid2cpuflags
vim /etc/portage/make.conf
CPU_FLAGS_X86="aes avx avx2 f16c fma3 mmx mmxext pclmul popcnt sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3"

emerge -av --changed-use --deep @world
emerge -av media-gfx/darktable

Nvidia Proprietary Driver

Getting this to work was a bit tricky for me. Someone has written an excellent wiki page: https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/NVIDIA/Optimus I highly recommend reading it

vim /etc/portage/make.conf
VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia intel i965"
USE="udev nvidia acpi glamor"
kernel config
grep -i firmware /usr/src/linux/.config
CONFIG_PREVENT_FIRMWARE_BUILD=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL=y
[b]CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE="i915/skl_dmc_ver1_26.bin"
CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE_DIR="/lib/firmware"[/b]
# Altera FPGA firmware download module
# CONFIG_DRM_LOAD_EDID_FIRMWARE is not set
# CONFIG_FIRMWARE_EDID is not set
# Firmware Drivers
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_MEMMAP=y
# CONFIG_GOOGLE_FIRMWARE is not set
# EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) Support
# CONFIG_TEST_FIRMWARE is not set
vim  /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
blacklist nouveau
blacklist rivafb
blacklist nvidiafb
blacklist nvidia
blacklist rivatv
blacklist evbug
emerge -av --changed-use --deep @world
emerge -av x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers
Note
 if kernel is rebuild run emerge @module-rebuild to rebuild the nvidia kernel modules 
mkdir /etc/modules-load.d/
vim /etc/modules-load.d/nvidia.conf
nvidia
rc-update add modules boot
vim /etc/default/grub
GRUB_GFXMODE=1920x1080
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
mkdir -p /usr/lib/X11/xdm
vim /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsetup_0
xrandr --setprovideroutputsource modesetting NVIDIA-0
xrandr --auto
mkdir /etc/X11/xdm/
vim /etc/X11/xdm/xdm-config
DisplayManager._0.setup: /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsetup_0
vim  /etc/portage/make.conf
CONFIG_PROTECT="/usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsetup_0"
vim /home/timo/.xinitrc
xrandr --setprovideroutputsource modesetting NVIDIA-0
xrandr --auto
exec ck-launch-session dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session openbox-session
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 415.18

Section "ServerLayout"

   #Screen 1 "nvidia"
   #Screen 0 "intel"
   #Inactive "nvidia"
    Identifier     "layout"
    Screen      0  "nvidia" 0 0
    Inactive       "intel"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from data in "/etc/conf.d/gpm"
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
   # in millimeters
    Identifier     "builtin"
    DisplaySize     382    214
EndSection

Section "Device"

   # Change the BusID if necessary. Tips: (lspci | grep -E "VGA|3D") (Change 01:00.0 to 1:0:0)
    Identifier     "nvidia"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    BusID          "PCI:1:00:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"

   #Driver "intel"
   # Change BusID if necessary. Tips: (lspci | grep -E "VGA|3D") (Change 00:02.0 to 0:2:0)
   #Option "AccelMethod" "none"
   # The next three options help to reduce tearing, but reduce performance
    Identifier     "intel"
    Driver         "modesetting"
    Option         "AccelMethod" "sna"
   #Option "AccelMethod" "uxa"
    Option         "TearFree" "True"
    Option         "Tiling" "True"
    Option         "SwapbuffersWait" "True"
    BusID          "PCI:0:02:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "nvidia"
    Device         "nvidia"
    Monitor        "builtin"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration" "Yes"
    Option         "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP-0"
    Option         "CustomEDID" "DFP-0:/sys/class/drm/card0-eDP-1/edid"
    Option         "UseEDID" "true"
#   Option "AccelMethod" "none"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes      "nvidia-auto-select"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "intel"
    Device         "intel"
    Monitor        "builtin"
EndSection
lspci | grep VGA
echo "busid=0:02:0" > /etc/directfbrc
eselect opengl set nvidia
eselect opencl set nvidia
emerge -av  x11-apps/mesa-progs
media-libs/opencv cuda opencl
media-libs/openimageio opencv
media-libs/opensubdiv cuda opencl ptex tbb
Troubleshoot

see:

dmesg
xrandr --listproviders
less /var/log/Xorg.0.log

Blender

vim /etc/portage/package.use/blender
media-gfx/blender cycles boost openexr tiff openimageio player game-engine bullet fftw openal jemalloc opensubdiv openvdb openvdb-compression
vim /etc/portage/make.conf
USE="ffmpeg X opengl threads tiff fftw openexr expat"
emerge -av media-gfx/gimp media-gfx/blender
emerge -av dev-util/nvidia-cuda-toolkit

gPhoto2

/etc/portage/make.conf
USE="gphoto2"
emerge -av --changed-use --deep @world
emerge -av gphoto2

To import images from a camera, plug it in, change to the image import directory, and run

$ mkdir pics && cd $_
$ gphoto2 --get-all-files

Update The System

emerge --sync
# emerge -avuDN --with-bdeps y world
# sadly the nvidia drivers often make problems
# emerge -avuDN --exclude=x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers --with-bdeps y world
# OR
emerge -avuDN --exclude=x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers --exclude=xorg-server --exclude=xorg-drivers --with-bdeps y world

etc-update
emerge @module-rebuild
# depclean also wipes /usr/src/linux which is often needed by an upgrade
emerge -pv --depclean --exclude gentoo-sources
emerge -av --depclean --exclude gentoo-sources
revdep-rebuild
eclean -d distfiles

Update The Kernel

make olddefconfig

Generates a new configuration with default values from the ARCH supplied defconfig file while, at the same time, maintaining all the previous options set in the .config file found at /usr/src/linux/.config. This is a fast and safe method for upgrading a config file that has all the configuration options it needs for hardware support while at the same time gaining bug fixes and security patches.

— unknown author
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Kernel/Configuration#Configuration_tools

Use emerge -av meld to compare old/new kernel .config

emerge -av --update --deep --with-bdeps=y --newuse sys-kernel/gentoo-sources
# your old kernel-config is here
ls /usr/src/linux/.config
# this is your new kernel
cd /usr/src/linux-4.19.66-gentoo
make olddefconfig
# quick check the differences
meld .config /usr/src/linux/.config
# set your new kernel
eselect kernel list
eselect kernel set 1
# compile
make modules_prepare
make -j8
make modules_install
make install
emerge -av @module-rebuild

I recommend installing sys-boot/os-prober if you have other systems installed

emerge --ask --newuse sys-boot/os-prober

Whenever a new kernel is installed, GRUB2 must be reconfigured to recognize it

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

The new kernel should now be added to the bootloader. Before rebooting check the configuration generated by grub-mkconfig. If the new kernel is not the default set it with GRUB_DEFAULT=X

vim /boot/grub/grub.cfg
grep gnulinux /boot/grub/grub.cfg
# set #GRUB_DEFAULT=2
vim /etc/default/grub

Here is the current config I use on this system (still improving ;)

.config

Troubleshooting

If the new kernel fails to boot and the error messages tell you something about cannot mount root fs or anything regarding filesystems, you most likely have forgotten to:

  • compile the SATA controller device drivers not as module (*)

  • compile the root filesystem not as module (*)

grep -i btrfs /usr/src/linux/.config
CONFIG_BTRFS_FS=y
...

grep -i sata /usr/src/linux/.config
CONFIG_SATA_AHCI=y
...

# go back to cd /usr/src/linux and
make menuconfig

Managing Licenes

To accept all licenses add to @/etc/portage/make.conf@

ACCEPT_LICENSE="*"

For per package control use @etc/portage/package.license@

>=games-action/rive all-rights-reserved

@masked by: ~amd64 keyword@

echo "games-action/koth **" >> /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords