On Wed, May 4, 2016 at 11:31 AM, Michael Mol <mikemol@gmail.com> wrote:

You should use the AMD64 handbook, not the x86 handbook, if you're trying to
install on x86_64 hardware.

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

More importantly, you should be booted into a 64-bit environment. That means
using a 64-bit live image for your initial boot, and using an amd64 stage3.

EFI has similar requirements; you'll need to be booted via EFI in the first
place in order to set up the bootloader properly; your firmware won't make the
necessary hardware calls available to register your bootloader if you're not
booted in EFI mode.

HTH

I had read similar thoughts about booting into a 64 bit environment before posting and had gone to some effort to figure out whether the sysrescuecd kernel was, in fact, 64 bit. Its /proc/config.gz seemed to indicate 64 bit, as did uname -a. But I really don't know if there is a definitive way of determining whether a running kernel is 64 or 32 bit.

I was booted via EFI, so that part of my installation process was correct.

I never thought to look in the AMD64 handbook. Thanks for the suggestion - will give it a try.

John