I need help with installing Gentoo. I downloaded the full iso (the 100 mg one). I followed the instructions exactly as they are written. Everything goes OK until I get to the chroot part. I enter:
chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
Then I get ILLEGAL INSTRUCTION. I'm not familiar with the chroot command, but I thought I understood it enough to do this. Gentoo seems to be worth trying, but this has got me stopped. Can anyone tell me what's happening here?

Thanks

Hmm..
a few things i can think of

1. make sure you have the /mnt/gentoo directory created
2. make sure you have done these steps correctly

# cd /mnt/gentoo
# tar -xvjpf /mnt/cdrom/stage?-*.tbz2
# mount -o bind /proc /mnt/gentoo/proc
# cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/gentoo/etc/resolv.conf

I really can't help you much. All I can say is that you should read every word in those directions, even skip ahead a few steps before you accually perform any of the instructions. They tend to tell you important things after they tell you to type commands.

I get the same error in 1.1a's installation

Tried a few other suggestions, all with the same results. I even d/l the older version and still got to the same point before it stopped. I emailed Gentoo, so we'll see what they have to say (if anything).

Well I heard back from Gentoo and they suggested using the small iso and downloading all the files. Well this won't work as I can only do this via a modem and I don't want to tie it up that long. Anybody have any solutions for this or should I chalk it up to a distro I can't use on my laptop.

maybe if you try using the trailing slash?
ie- chroot /mnt/gentoo/ /bin/bash
i am installing gentoo right now to another HDD and the chroot went fine (w/ 1.1a full iso).

Maybe I should have mentioned this in the beginning. Does it matter that I'm trying to install this on a P266? I know that they say certain distros are processor specific, but I haven't come across this before. The guy from Gentoo mentioned this also.

When using a p266 you will need to tar the /mnt/cdrom/stage1..... file.

You will need to bootstrap your system.

IIt takes some time.

So if I use the stage1 file, do I need to download the packages I need or will it take them off the CD?

From the Gentoo FAQ on their website:

"I have only slow modem connection at home. Can I download sources somewhere else and add them to my system?

Definitely. You can run emerge --pretend package to see what programs are going to be installed. Download sources and bring them on any media home. Put the sources into /usr/portage/distfiles and run emerge package to see it picking up the sources you just brought in!"

You can build your system from a mounted cd. See the portage manual on their website: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/portage-manual.html#doc_chap1
=>Under the "Directory Locations" there's "DISTDIR - Local cache of downloaded archives".

that 100meg iso is for i686 machines....isnt that what the website said...you need to download the 16mb iso and download and and compile or 'emerge' everything i think

That is correct, the kernel is not compatible with your processor as it has been compiled with March=i686 optimization and isn't compatible with your 386 processor.

see if this help.

check this link out it has gentoo user / install guide

pardon my ignorance, but i don't believe his pentium 266 is a 386 chip. i believe it is pentium classic, right? it has mmx right? i believe anything labeled 586 should work. unfortunatally, as has already been pointed out, the 1.x gentoo binaries are all 686. so... you are gonna have to build from source, dude.

some comments:
if you already have linux on your laptop, you can boot up like normal, and then install gentoo in a chroot environment. the advantage to this is that your laptop remains useful to you even as you install, and if you don't want to finish all the steps in one go you don't have too. that is how i installed gentoo most recently; as chroot from my already working gentoo install. just skip the grub step until after your new gentoo is fully configured. you can do the full installation this way, including X and kde.
do you have any access at all to high-speed internet? from a friend or at work or school? if so, after you boot strap your gentoo, go there and do an emerge --fetchonly system, emerge --fetchonly kde, etc. then go home and do emerge again without the fetchonly.

have fun! good luck!

i had the same problem in a similar machine as you (pentium mmx 233).
then... i used stage3 X86 instead of i686 and i also changed the make.conf CFLAGS to march=pentium-mmx and the CHOST to i586 (instead of i686)

now its woking!
good luck