Installed Gentoo on PS3 - Getting started

[asdfffdsa]

I just installed Gentoo on a PS3. I have configured several aspects of the system to my personal liking (such as getting rid of that pesky xdm), but--as I am completely new to Gentoo--there are some things I need assistance with (I'm coming from an Archlinux and LinuxFromScratch background). In addition, I am unaware of any constraints or limitations--if any--the PS3 has with linux (aside from the lack of good flash and access to the RSX). So I have a few questions, and if you have any tips, they would be welcome.

I'm assuming the Live CD I installed from is pretty out of date. I can't post the link because of the SPAM filter, but it can be found on the Gentoo dot org pp64 ps3 project page.

First of all, I changed the profile from "default-linux/ppc/ppc64/2007.0/32bit-userland" to "default/linux/powerpc/ppc64/2008.0/32bit-userland/desktop". I'm assuming this was the right thing to do as I was receiving the warning:

!!! Your current profile is deprecated and not supported anymore.
!!! Please upgrade to the following profile if possible:
This profile will be deprecated on or after May 10, 2009. Please update to a 2008.0 profile using eselect profile.

Next, I would like to update all of my packages, but something as simple as "sudo emerge -u portage" is giving me messages about Blocked Packages:

asdffdsa@3 ~ $ sudo emerge -u portage
Calculating dependencies... done!

!!! Error: the <sys-apps/util-linux-2.13 package conflicts with another package;
!!! the two packages cannot be installed on the same system together.
!!! Please use 'emerge --pretend' to determine blockers.

For more information about Blocked Packages, please refer to the following
section of the Gentoo Linux x86 Handbook (architecture is irrelevant):

(link removed b/c of SPAM filter)

So using the "--pretend" option:

asdffdsa@3 ~ $ sudo emerge --pretend -u portage

These are the packages that would be merged, in order:

Calculating dependencies... done!

[ebuild NS ] dev-lang/python-2.5.2-r7 USE="berkdb gdbm ipv6 ncurses readline ssl threads xml -build -doc -examples -sqlite -tk -ucs2 -wininst"
[ebuild U ] sys-apps/sed-4.1.5-r1 [4.1.5]
[ebuild N ] app-admin/eselect-news-20080320
[ebuild U ] app-misc/pax-utils-0.1.19 [0.1.16]
[ebuild U ] net-misc/rsync-3.0.5 [2.6.9-r5] USE="iconv%* -xattr%"
[ebuild N ] app-arch/lzma-utils-4.32.7 USE="-nocxx"
[ebuild U ] sys-apps/portage-2.1.6.7 [2.1.3.19]
*** Portage will stop merging at this point and reload itself,
then resume the merge.
[ebuild U ] app-shells/bash-3.2_p39 [3.2_p17] USE="-examples% -plugins%"
[ebuild U ] sys-apps/coreutils-7.1 [6.9-r1] USE="-caps% -vanilla%"
[ebuild U ] dev-python/pycrypto-2.0.1-r8 [2.0.1-r6]
[blocks B ] <sys-apps/util-linux-2.13 (is blocking sys-apps/coreutils-7.1)
[blocks B ] sys-apps/mktemp (is blocking sys-apps/coreutils-7.1)

and

sudo emerge -u util-linux
Calculating dependencies -
!!! All ebuilds that could satisfy ">=sys-libs/e2fsprogs-libs-1.41" have been masked.
!!! One of the following masked packages is required to complete your request:
- sys-libs/e2fsprogs-libs-1.41.3-r1 (masked by: required EAPI 2, supported EAPI 1)
- sys-libs/e2fsprogs-libs-1.41.4 (masked by: required EAPI 2, supported EAPI 1)

For more information, see MASKED PACKAGES section in the emerge man page or
refer to the Gentoo Handbook.
(dependency required by "sys-apps/util-linux-2.14.1" [ebuild])

So util-linux blocks Portage update because of a conflict, and e2fsprogs (which is required by util-linux) has been masked because the Portage API (EAPI 1) is outdated. The man page for Portage states:

The EAPI variable in an ebuild(5) file is used to mask packages that are not supported by the current version of portage. Packages masked by EAPI can only be installed after portage has been upgraded

I'm assuming I'm interpreting this incorrectly, but: in order to update Portage, I need to update e2fsprogs, but--due to the outdated EAPI--in order to update e2fsprogs I need to update Portage. Naturally, I'm confused, and this is probably a result of my lack of hands-on experience with Gentoo.

I apologize for my unfamiliarity with Gentoo and I would greatly appreciate your help with where to go from here. I read something somewhere that advised to just completely reinstall with updated packages, but I'm not really sure if this is a valid solution for me as I installed the latest Live CD intended for the PPC64 PS3.

[mach_kernel]

Oh god, that's quite odd, I never had that problem. I remember Portage had a force option, didn't it? (APT does).

I'd read this: Portage - Gentoo Linux Wiki

[asdfffdsa]

Sorry to respond after so long, but after messing around with a lot of things, I've got Gentoo running very well on the PS3 with most (if not all) of my packages updated. It took lots and lots of compiling, though.

Things are smoother than I expected them to be, and I am very satisfied. Firefox can get quite slow, but that's to be expected from a program that has no qualms with taking up 50% of the PS3's RAM on only a few tabs. Opera is as smooth as butter, though, and if it wasn't for Vimperator, Opera is all I would use (there is a "vimperator-like" plugin for Opera, but it just didn't compare the firefox counterpart last time I tried it).

The only challenge ahead of me now is getting flash working. The instructions at the ps3wiki are quite outdated and due to changes in packages like ffmpeg, there are many issues.

If anyone wants to share their ps3 flash binaries and the firefox/opera flash plugins, that would be greatly appreciated. In the mean time, I'll be trying to get it working in my free time.