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Multilib System without emul-linux Packages
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Introduction
For 64bit systems it is sometimes necessary to execute 32bit binaries, e.g. if the application is only available as 32bit binary like Opera, Steam, Windows applications and games via wine, ... To achieve this, Gentoo has a multilib profile which offers some emul-linux packages that bundle some 32bit libraries. So if an application like Opera, Steam or wine gets installed, then it pulls the emul-linux packages it needs to run. This approach works but has at least two drawbacks:
- The bundled libraries are several months old (based on the stable libraries in Gentoo). Owners of relatively modern graphic cards (1-2 years old) who want to play a game once in a while (without proprietary drivers) need the latest available drivers and libraries because versions older than a month may render even old games completely unplayable. If the performance is excellent with multimedia and desktop applications but very low with wine and steam (native or not), then the problem lies with the emul-linux packages.
- Prepackaged software compiled by other people is not the Gentoo way where the user wants to set his USE-flags and compiler flags etc. by himself.
But the end of emul-linux is coming: Several months ago Gentoo packages introduced a new flag (abi_x86_32) which will also create 32bit libraries of every package where this flag has been activated. So the times where a user e.g. had a fast 64bit mesa-10.2 library for his RadeonSI card and a 32bit emul-linux-opengl bottleneck with mesa-10.0 are over: If everything is set up properly, emerge mesa will install the same version of mesa in 64bit and 32bit on the system; same USE-flags, same everything.
This document will show how to setup a Gentoo ~amd64 system for this new way of dealing with 32bit libraries. A stable amd64 system may not work this way but if the new feature is completely stable, it will be available to all users eventually.
Overview
The following steps are needed to setup the system for abi_x86_32:
- Unmerge all packages from Overlays that replace packages from the base system (like X11 packages from x11-overlay) and all packages that depend on emul-linux packages, because they will interfere with the transition process.
- Note which emul-linux packages are installed, remove and mask them
- Set the abi_x86_32 flag for those packages which were part of the previously uninstalled emul-linux packages. The flag may be set globally but it makes no sense to create additional 32bit binaries for really everything (a 32bit copy of your desktop and GUI applications is probably very useless)
- Recompile everything that changed (which may need several hours)
Detailed Guide
For this guide you need eix and gentoolkit installed unless you know how to achieve the same things without their functionality. The guide follows the steps from the overview above.
Dealing with Overlays
Removing overlay packages depends on what you have installed so it cannot be handled here. If dependency problems or USE-flag problems occur later, you will see which package caused it.
Remove emul-linux and all dependencies
To find out which packages depend on emul-linux packages, you can use the following shell command:
root #for EMUL in $(eix -I --only-names emul-linux); do equery depends $EMUL; doneNote which packages were printed, then unmerge them. Gcc might be seen among those packages because of its multilib flag and, of course, do NOT unmerge GCC.
Execute
root #eix -I --only-names emul-linuxto know which emul-packages you had installed, open http://dev.gentoo.org/~pacho/emul.html and open the linked site listing the contents of the emul-packages.
Now unmerge all emul-packages and mask them by adding them to /etc/portage/package.mask
/etc/portage/package.maskMasking all emul-linux packages# mask emul-linux app-emulation/emul-linux-x86-*
Apply the abi_x86_32 flag
First, unmask abi_x86_32 flag by putting the following in /etc/portage/profile/use.mask. If the file does not exist, create it.
/etc/portage/profile/use.maskUnmasking abi_x86_32 flag-abi_x86_32
Then, open /etc/portage/package.use, append all package names from the site to it and append to every package name the flag abi_x86_32, like so:
/etc/portage/package.useSetting abi_x86_32# app-emulation/emul-linux-x86-baselibs-20140508-r14 USE="development kerberos ldap pam" ABI_X86="-32" 39,395 kB app-admin/gamin abi_x86_32 app-arch/bzip2 abi_x86_32 app-arch/xz-utils abi_x86_32 app-crypt/mit-krb5 abi_x86_32 app-text/libpaper abi_x86_32 dev-db/sqlite abi_x86_32 dev-lang/perl abi_x86_32 dev-lang/python abi_x86_32 dev-libs/dbus-glib abi_x86_32 dev-libs/elfutils abi_x86_32 dev-libs/expat abi_x86_32 dev-libs/glib abi_x86_32 dev-libs/gmp abi_x86_32 dev-libs/json-c abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libffi abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libgcrypt abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libgpg-error abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libnl abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libpcre abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libtasn1 abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libusb abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libusb-compat abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libxml2 abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libxslt abi_x86_32 dev-libs/lzo abi_x86_32 dev-libs/nettle abi_x86_32 dev-libs/nspr abi_x86_32 dev-libs/nss abi_x86_32 dev-libs/openssl abi_x86_32 dev-libs/udis86 abi_x86_32 media-libs/giflib abi_x86_32 media-libs/lcms abi_x86_32 media-libs/libart_lgpl abi_x86_32 media-libs/libjpeg-turbo abi_x86_32 media-libs/libmng abi_x86_32 media-libs/libpng abi_x86_32 media-libs/tiff abi_x86_32 media-sound/pulseaudio abi_x86_32 net-dialup/capi4k-utils abi_x86_32 net-dns/libidn abi_x86_32 net-libs/gnutls abi_x86_32 net-libs/libgssglue abi_x86_32 net-libs/libsoup abi_x86_32 net-libs/libtirpc abi_x86_32 net-libs/neon abi_x86_32 net-misc/curl abi_x86_32 net-nds/openldap abi_x86_32 net-print/cups abi_x86_32 net-wireless/bluez abi_x86_32 sys-apps/acl abi_x86_32 sys-apps/attr abi_x86_32 sys-apps/dbus abi_x86_32 sys-apps/file abi_x86_32 sys-apps/keyutils abi_x86_32 sys-apps/pciutils abi_x86_32 sys-apps/tcp-wrappers abi_x86_32 sys-apps/util-linux abi_x86_32 sys-auth/nss-mdns abi_x86_32 sys-auth/nss_ldap abi_x86_32 sys-auth/pam_ldap abi_x86_32 sys-devel/binutils abi_x86_32 sys-devel/gettext abi_x86_32 sys-devel/libperl abi_x86_32 sys-devel/libtool abi_x86_32 sys-devel/llvm abi_x86_32 sys-fs/e2fsprogs abi_x86_32 sys-fs/udev abi_x86_32 sys-libs/cracklib abi_x86_32 sys-libs/db abi_x86_32 sys-libs/e2fsprogs-libs abi_x86_32 sys-libs/gdbm abi_x86_32 sys-libs/gpm abi_x86_32 sys-libs/libavc1394 abi_x86_32 sys-libs/libraw1394 abi_x86_32 sys-libs/ncurses abi_x86_32 sys-libs/pam abi_x86_32 sys-libs/pwdb abi_x86_32 sys-libs/readline abi_x86_32 sys-libs/slang abi_x86_32 sys-libs/talloc abi_x86_32 sys-libs/zlib abi_x86_32 #app-emulation/emul-linux-x86-db-20140508-r1 USE="development" ABI_X86="-32" 1,470 kB dev-db/myodbc abi_x86_32 dev-db/mysql abi_x86_32 dev-db/unixODBC abi_x86_32 # app-emulation/emul-linux-x86-medialibs-20140508-r6 USE="development" ABI_X86="-32" 11,058 kB app-misc/lirc abi_x86_32 dev-libs/DirectFB abi_x86_32 dev-libs/fribidi abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libcdio abi_x86_32 dev-libs/liboil abi_x86_32 media-gfx/sane-backends abi_x86_32 media-libs/a52dec abi_x86_32 media-libs/faac abi_x86_32 media-libs/faad2 abi_x86_32 media-libs/gst-plugins-base abi_x86_32 media-libs/gstreamer abi_x86_32 media-libs/libcuefile abi_x86_32 media-libs/libdca abi_x86_32 media-libs/libdv abi_x86_32 media-libs/libdvdnav abi_x86_32 media-libs/libdvdread abi_x86_32 media-libs/libgphoto2 abi_x86_32 media-libs/libid3tag abi_x86_32 media-libs/libiec61883 abi_x86_32 media-libs/libmad abi_x86_32 media-libs/libmimic abi_x86_32 media-libs/libmms abi_x86_32 media-libs/libmpeg2 abi_x86_32 media-libs/libofa abi_x86_32 media-libs/libreplaygain abi_x86_32 media-libs/libshout abi_x86_32 media-libs/libsidplay abi_x86_32 media-libs/libtheora abi_x86_32 media-libs/libv4l abi_x86_32 media-libs/libvisual abi_x86_32 media-libs/libvpx abi_x86_32 media-libs/speex abi_x86_32 media-libs/taglib abi_x86_32 media-libs/x264 abi_x86_32 media-libs/xvid abi_x86_32 media-sound/lame abi_x86_32 media-video/ffmpeg abi_x86_32 media-video/mjpegtools abi_x86_32 sys-libs/libieee1284 abi_x86_32 # app-emulation/emul-linux-x86-opengl-20140508 USE="development" ABI_X86="-32" 48,065 kB media-libs/freeglut abi_x86_32 media-libs/glew abi_x86_32 media-libs/glu abi_x86_32 media-libs/mesa abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libdrm abi_x86_32 # app-emulation/emul-linux-x86-soundlibs-20140508 USE="alsa development pulseaudio" ABI_X86="-32" 7,090 kB dev-libs/libical abi_x86_32 media-libs/alsa-lib abi_x86_32 media-libs/alsa-oss abi_x86_32 media-libs/audiofile abi_x86_32 media-libs/flac abi_x86_32 media-libs/ladspa-sdk abi_x86_32 media-libs/libao abi_x86_32 media-libs/libmikmod abi_x86_32 media-libs/libmodplug abi_x86_32 media-libs/libogg abi_x86_32 media-libs/libsamplerate abi_x86_32 media-libs/libsndfile abi_x86_32 media-libs/libvorbis abi_x86_32 media-libs/portaudio abi_x86_32 media-libs/webrtc-audio-processing abi_x86_32 media-plugins/alsa-plugins abi_x86_32 media-plugins/alsaequal abi_x86_32 media-plugins/caps-plugins abi_x86_32 media-plugins/swh-plugins abi_x86_32 media-sound/cdparanoia abi_x86_32 media-sound/gsm abi_x86_32 media-sound/jack-audio-connection-kit abi_x86_32 media-sound/mpg123 abi_x86_32 media-sound/musepack-tools abi_x86_32 media-sound/pulseaudio abi_x86_32 media-sound/twolame abi_x86_32 media-sound/wavpack abi_x86_32 net-wireless/bluez abi_x86_32 sci-libs/fftw abi_x86_32 # app-emulation/emul-linux-x86-xlibs-20140508 USE="(development) opengl" ABI_X86="-32" 2,704 kB media-libs/fontconfig abi_x86_32 media-libs/freetype abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libICE abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libSM abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libX11 abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXScrnSaver abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXau abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXaw abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXcomposite abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXcursor abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXdamage abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXdmcp abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXext abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXfixes abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXft abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXi abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXinerama abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXmu abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXp abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXpm abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXrandr abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXrender abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXt abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXtst abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXv abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXvMC abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXxf86dga abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libXxf86vm abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libpciaccess abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libvdpau abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libxcb abi_x86_32 x11-proto/scrnsaverproto abi_x86_32
It does not matter if you need or want all these packages, just set the flag in case it gets emerged. I also added
/etc/portage/package.useSetting abi_x86_32 for wineapp-emulation/wine abi_x86_32
because my main motivation was to play games via wine and mostly every commercial Windows game comes as 32bit binary.
Update the System
Emerge everything that changed:
root #emerge --keep-going --update --newuse --deep --with-bdeps=y world. It is imperative to emerge with dependency and newuse checks.
If emerge complains about missing useflags for some packages (it probably will!), add them to the /etc/portage/package.use file like you did for the emul-linux packages. In my case I needed to add
/etc/portage/package.useSetting additional abi_x86_32 flags - EXAMPLEdev-util/pkgconfig abi_x86_32 x11-proto/dri2proto abi_x86_32 x11-proto/xf86vidmodeproto abi_x86_32 x11-libs/pixman abi_x86_32 x11-proto/xineramaproto abi_x86_32 virtual/libudev abi_x86_32 media-libs/libsdl abi_x86_32 media-libs/libass abi_x86_32 x11-proto/xf86bigfontproto abi_x86_32 x11-proto/xf86dgaproto abi_x86_32 dev-libs/icu abi_x86_32 net-libs/libasyncns abi_x86_32 media-libs/harfbuzz abi_x86_32 x11-proto/xextproto abi_x86_32 net-libs/glib-networking abi_x86_32 app-i18n/enca abi_x86_32 media-libs/libwebp abi_x86_32 x11-proto/renderproto abi_x86_32 virtual/opengl abi_x86_32 virtual/libusb abi_x86_32 virtual/pkgconfig abi_x86_32 x11-proto/xproto abi_x86_32 x11-proto/recordproto abi_x86_32 virtual/libiconv abi_x86_32 x11-proto/compositeproto abi_x86_32 x11-libs/pango abi_x86_32 x11-proto/presentproto abi_x86_32 dev-lang/orc abi_x86_32 x11-proto/dri3proto abi_x86_32 virtual/jpeg abi_x86_32 media-libs/vo-aacenc abi_x86_32 sys-libs/libcap abi_x86_32 x11-proto/xcb-proto abi_x86_32 x11-proto/xf86driproto abi_x86_32 x11-proto/inputproto abi_x86_32 x11-proto/randrproto abi_x86_32 media-libs/opus abi_x86_32 media-gfx/graphite2 abi_x86_32 net-libs/libproxy abi_x86_32 x11-proto/videoproto abi_x86_32 virtual/libintl abi_x86_32 media-libs/libdvdcss abi_x86_32 x11-proto/glproto abi_x86_32 virtual/glu abi_x86_32 virtual/libffi abi_x86_32 x11-libs/cairo abi_x86_32 x11-libs/libxshmfence abi_x86_32 dev-libs/libpthread-stubs abi_x86_32 x11-proto/damageproto abi_x86_32 x11-proto/kbproto abi_x86_32 sys-devel/flex abi_x86_32 x11-proto/fixesproto abi_x86_32
but the exact list will most likely depend on your USE-flags and will vary!
After all has been rebuilt, it is a good idea to restart the system or at least X. Then emerge all applications that needed emul-linux packages before. If something still depends on these packages now, fill out a bug.
GNU Compiler Collection special case
The above will successed untill recompiling sys-devel/gcc is required and reached. This may happen dependending on sys-devel/gcc[$USE] USE flags because the toolchain herd did not yet resolve bug #511832 for quite some time now. The associated patch may be an ovrkill but the fix seems almost too easy. So follow the next sub section for a workaround.
Dead END
After following the previous steps one will get in a dead end with various packages depending on emulation packages not yet converted to the newer multilib variant. So, to not waste such an effort after so much trouble to get emul cruft out of the system, a workaround is to create /etc/portage/profile, if not already created, and add the emuluation packages pulled in by those remaining dependencies, like GNU Compiler Collection case, in package.provided. At this point, one should be fine to go for the time being. Untill those problematic packages get converted to the new multilib standard, this workaround will remain a safe net avoiding the numerous issues related to having emulation packages when using ~arch or simply for performance related issues.