Arch Linux Talk

[Rumor]

What do yall think about Pacman the software package manager developed as part of Arch Linux?

I like pacman a lot. Pacman *is* Arch. it is lightweight, it is simple and versatile. All of the features I want in a package manager, searching, installing, updating, removing, etc. are part of pacman. Once you learn the option switches, you come to realize just how flexible and useful a tool it is for keeping your system both up to date and built exactly the way you want it built.

[fwojciec]

What do yall think about Pacman the software package manager developed as part of Arch Linux?

Imagine a crossbreed of Debian's apt-get and BSD's ports system. You can work with binaries or sources, it's easy to build your own packages, it's lightning fast. In other words: pure awesomeness... And it keeps getting better with each release.

[cdiem]

Is Arch, using its stablest repo, stable enough for running as a Desktop? I mean, as I've heard it's bleeding edge and have never tried it, does it crash often, as for instance Kubuntu does? I'm attracted very much by what I've heard about its speed, but I need my computer for work; would Arch be as stable as, say, Debian Testing or would it be a bit crashier? Also, are there packages of translations, as with Ubuntu - that's one thing I like very much, having my system in my own language (Bulgarian) and it's a thing I think I'd be missing, if nonexistent.
See, I'm attracted by the speed, but I also need stability (I really do).

[fwojciec]

Is Arch, using its stablest repo, stable enough for running as a Desktop? I mean, as I've heard it's bleeding edge and have never tried it, does it crash often, as for instance Kubuntu does? I'm attracted very much by what I've heard about its speed, but I need my computer for work; would Arch be as stable as, say, Debian Testing or would it be a bit crashier? Also, are there packages of translations, as with Ubuntu - that's one thing I like very much, having my system in my own language (Bulgarian) and it's a thing I think I'd be missing, if nonexistent.
See, I'm attracted by the speed, but I also need stability (I really do).

No idea about Bulgarian translation, but it shouldn't be a problem I think. You might want to ask about this on Arch forums, perhaps some Bulgarian Arch users might be able to let you know how it works.

Stability -- it really depends on how you set up your system. I've not had Arch crash on me in any significant way since I'd installed about 6 months ago, but that doesn't mean that I didn't have to do little troubleshooting every once in a while. Stability in Arch comes with knowing your system and being hands on about maintaining it, so if you know what you're doing Arch can be extremely stable. In the worst case you'd have to temporarily roll back the package that causes problems or reconfigure something due to upstream changes on occasion.

If I needed a stable system for a server I wouldn't choose Arch, I would probably go for something like Debian Etch in such a case, but for desktop use Arch is great and I've never had any problems with it... On the contrary, in fact -- because by using Arch I've learned so much about Linux now I'm actually more confident in my systems than ever before and I'm not really anxious about possible breakage because even if something broke most likely I'd be able to fix it quite easily.

YMMV - of course.

[Rumor]

cdiem: I have used Arch for over a year as my desktop, first dual booting with Ubuntu and then exclusively. It is very stable. It *can* be bleeding edge if you use the [unstable] or [testing] repositories, but they are not enabled by default.

Packages are tested pretty well before they are introduced to the main repositories. When I first moved to Arch, I found it more stable than Ubuntu was then (7.04).

If you want stability, you will be quite satisfied with the main repositories. You'll have the current kernel and newer packages than you enjoy in Ubuntu and you'll never need to reinstall. Arch updates everything with a simple pacman -Syu.

[Drakx]

Is Arch, using its stablest repo, stable enough for running as a Desktop? I mean, as I've heard it's bleeding edge and have never tried it, does it crash often, as for instance Kubuntu does? I'm attracted very much by what I've heard about its speed, but I need my computer for work; would Arch be as stable as, say, Debian Testing or would it be a bit crashier? Also, are there packages of translations, as with Ubuntu - that's one thing I like very much, having my system in my own language (Bulgarian) and it's a thing I think I'd be missing, if nonexistent.
See, I'm attracted by the speed, but I also need stability (I really do).

I've only had Arch on my laptop for a few days at most the only problem I really had was compiz-fusion which i got fixed the same day also exaile was complaining about gnome-python-extras which again i fixed the same day i just reinstalled the package from ABS (a ports like system, if you have used FreeBSD or gentoo you should feel right at home), I've not once had the system crash or an application crash on me I've got all of the best bits from ubuntu and the speed of Arch i.e my ideal distro!.

[cdiem]

Thanks a lot for all your answers; they sound really convincing as regarding the stability; I'll check out about the Bulgarian support on the Arch-forums. Thanks again.

[jseiser]

arch is stable, Ive never had a problem with it and I run testing.

[ST.x]

Im going to be moving to Arch x64 for my desktop soon. Im not sure which DE to choose between OpenBox, Xfce, KDEMod and Fluxbox. Can openbox be used with any of those other ones?

Also, i've been on gnome on gutsy so far and what happens to the 'Notification Area' on these other DE's that don't have a panel.

[mips]

Im going to be moving to Arch x64 for my desktop soon. Im not sure which DE to choose between OpenBox, Xfce, KDEMod and Fluxbox. Can openbox be used with any of those other ones?

Also, i've been on gnome on gutsy so far and what happens to the 'Notification Area' on these other DE's that don't have a panel.

I moved my desktop to arch64 2 days ago and use KDEmod. There is no reason why you cannot install another DM or WM. Try kdemod and only do a base install of it and then only add what you need. There is also a kofficemod which i have not tried yet.

I honestly don't know about notifiers for the WMs.

[Rumor]

Im going to be moving to Arch x64 for my desktop soon. Im not sure which DE to choose between OpenBox, Xfce, KDEMod and Fluxbox. Can openbox be used with any of those other ones?

Also, i've been on gnome on gutsy so far and what happens to the 'Notification Area' on these other DE's that don't have a panel.

Openbox will work very nicely with gnome, allowing you to use the various gnome panels as you see fit. I do not know how well (or even *if*) it works with the other desktop environments.

[drum]

I posted this to the Arch newbie forum but got no reply so maybe someone here can help me :)
Every time I reboot I have to restart the esd daemon to get system sounds to work. I use the GNOME desktop.
It always used to work till recently after I did a pacman -Syu and updated a few files (don't remember what they were)
I have esd in rc.conf daemons.
All other sounds such as cd's, dvd's, streaming audio work fine.
Is there a way to set esd permanently so that it won't "drop out" on shutdown? Or any other ideas would be great. Arch is so good but I like my ear candy:guitar:
Thanks
Cheers:)

Edit: After restarting esd daemon the system sounds work when I click on them in Gnome/Sound Preferences/Sound but not in actual practice when normally using the computer, if you see what I mean.

[CM Xtasy]

Arch hangs on me during install. Text flows for many seconds to about a minute and hangs at detecting Intel 3945ABG Wireless. Once it says it detects it, it just hangs and I can hear my CD drive stop spinning.

[kellemes]

Is there a way to set esd permanently so that it won't "drop out" on shutdown? Or any other ideas would be great.


Adding "esd" to the daemons-section in rc.conf will probably do the trick..

[yabbadabbadont]

Adding "esd" to the daemons-section in rc.conf will probably do the trick..

I have esd in rc.conf daemons.
Someone didn't read closely enough... ;)

[kellemes]

Someone didn't read closely enough... ;)


:oops:

[aeto]

I've noticed a post about conflicting files, so I just want to highlight some things for the benefit of future victims.

When you install kdemod, there are many kde-* packages that are already provided. For instance, qt-enhanced provides qt3. Since the package installs files which are already on the system, the package manager will naturally not replace those files unless you force it.

Currently there can be more than one reason for conflicts, the first being a different repo with a higher version, and the other a recent issue with the provision packaging standard where a rebuild with ABS or forced install with -d (--nodeps) would sove it.

Arch is stable, for a desktop and workstation. If I didn't have to change kernels often for audio tasks and testing patches my uptime would probably be 7 months :) 2 months more if I hadn't done stupid things. Another 2 months more if I got used to hybrid suspend earlier.

[yabbadabbadont]

Also be aware that with 3.1.0 of pacman on the loose, many community packages are now broken as far as dependencies are concerned. Installing many of the core or extra packages will try to replace community packages that were fine before 3.1.0. According to the open bug on pacman, AUR packages will probably stay broken until 3.1.1 is released sometime next week and the AUR PKGBUILD files are updated for the new dependency syntax.

[fwojciec]

Arch hangs on me during install. Text flows for many seconds to about a minute and hangs at detecting Intel 3945ABG Wireless. Once it says it detects it, it just hangs and I can hear my CD drive stop spinning.

It can sometimes "hang" for about a minute or so when detecting intel wireless drivers -- but id does continue afterwards so all that's required is a little patience.

[Elvish Legion]

I ran into a snag trying to reinstall

My configuration files aren't being generated like they need to (so in rc.conf its just a blank screen)

Any input?

Edit: this only happens on the cd install doing a ftp/http install works fine just none of the pretty colors :( I miss the pretty colors

[PurposeOfReason]

I did a reinstall just now (messed up with compiling a kernel and it went as bad as it could have) and decided to use gnome instead of xfce. Installed acpid and gnome-power-manager but when I unplug the A/C, the backlight stays the same even though the OSD says different. Cpufreq notices the change though.

[Rumor]

I ran into a snag trying to reinstall

My configuration files aren't being generated like they need to (so in rc.conf its just a blank screen)

Any input?

Edit: this only happens on the cd install doing a ftp/http install works fine just none of the pretty colors :( I miss the pretty colors

I saw a thread about this some time ago and tracked it back to this bug report: http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/8898?project=1

You might want to add a comment to it. Here's the thread that was recently posted: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=42097

Sorry it is not much help, though :(

[raul_]

I did a reinstall just now (messed up with compiling a kernel and it went as bad as it could have) and decided to use gnome instead of xfce. Installed acpid and gnome-power-manager but when I unplug the A/C, the backlight stays the same even though the OSD says different. Cpufreq notices the change though.

That's weird. I find it annoying though. I always crank up the brightness :twisted:

[PurposeOfReason]

That's weird. I find it annoying though. I always crank up the brightness :twisted:
But on a laptop I go for battery life over screen. :/

[~LoKe]

I'm considering install Arch and giving it a try. But before I do, what are the downsides? Are there any "features" that Ubuntu has, but Arch doesn't? How about the other way around? How often are packages updates?

EDIT: 5 minute download for the 64bit version. 166MB...mmm...bare minimum.

[yabbadabbadont]

It is rare that a day goes by without at least one package being updated. One of the downsides is that you have to manage your rc.d init scripts yourself in the /etc/rc.conf file. Not a big deal for a veteran Linux user, but it could cause noobs trouble.

[PurposeOfReason]

I'm considering install Arch and giving it a try. But before I do, what are the downsides? Are there any "features" that Ubuntu has, but Arch doesn't? How about the other way around? How often are packages updates?

EDIT: 5 minute download for the 64bit version. 166MB...mmm...bare minimum.
Pacman is your new apt-get, there is no GUI though with what I see in your screens, I don't think that is an issue. I recommend the beginners guide no matter how much you think you know. I've done over ten arch installations and I still double check it with that as it is well written.

Even script you'll need is will commented so don't worry about that.

Updates, that depends what you install and what repositories you enable. If you use the testing and unstable you can bet your bottom dollar you'll get something daily.

The only "feature" Ubuntu has is it's already done for you. However, for every .deb you'll ever find you'll find ten times as much in the AUR. That and they all work with x86_64 so that is never an issue. Arch also has a much better wiki so I guess that is a feature.

The only downside I find to arch is that it is too addicting, lol. But seriously, when I finally got suspend to work properly with my laptop, the auto-dim goes out on batter. Good think I have a three day weekend. :)

[~LoKe]

Ah, my main concern was that Arch wouldn't be able to keep up with Debian in terms of packages. If it's as you say, and especially a bare install, I'll give it a shot in the morning. Ubuntu has become too bloated for me.

[PurposeOfReason]

Ah, my main concern was that Arch wouldn't be able to keep up with Debian in terms of packages. If it's as you say, and especially a bare install, I'll give it a shot in the morning. Ubuntu has become too bloated for me.
For a taste, look through here:
http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php

Then you can look here for update times:
http://www.archlinux.org/packages/search/?sort=-last_update

EDIT - Is there a program to "find" the cursor with the ctrl key? Whiteglass + white window = where did it go?

[yabbadabbadont]

As I noted above, you are going to want to hold off on installing AUR packages until pacman 3.1.1 is released. The current PKGBUILD files are incompatible with the new dependency syntax in 3.1.0 and won't be fixed until 3.1.1 comes out sometime next week. At least that was what was said by the pacman developers in their bug tracker.

[~LoKe]

Well, I suppose I'll be installing in a few minutes. Just gonna wipe out my current installation (assuming the arch installer allows me to re-mount my /home partition). Not very fond of this install (32bit was faster than 64, it seems).

I'll take a quick look at the wiki....but while I do, could anyone tell me what I'm in for? As in, what are the big differences between Arch and Ubuntu that I'll notice right away. Basically, will I have to set up sudo, networking, yadda yadda, before I can use them?

[EDIT: Wiki looks interesting. Looks like I'll fubar everything at least once, probably five times. Oh well, why not?

[raul_]

Ah, my main concern was that Arch wouldn't be able to keep up with Debian in terms of packages. If it's as you say, and especially a bare install, I'll give it a shot in the morning. Ubuntu has become too bloated for me.

I told we all started like that :lolflag:

Just have a spare pc with internet OR print the begginer's guide /installation guide, so you won't end up stuck somewhere. The installation is pretty straightforward, and the only thing you have to do is edit some configuration files (mainly rc.conf, I can't live without it), but it's really easy.

As for pacman gui's, I think the best one is YAPG (yet another pacman gui), but it's for kde. I think you won't need a gui though. You can always browse through the packages both in the Arch and AUR site.

[~LoKe]

Yeah, post-installation I'll find my way around and get everything working. It's the initial install I'm slightly worried about. I've never had to load modules manually, modify config files, etc, during an install. I'll be back to let you know how it went (eventually).

[PurposeOfReason]

Forget sudo. It's all about su, password, and being root. But if you need sudo, you'll have to install it (pacman -S sudo) and set it up (AKA, uncomment a few lines). If you have a spare computer, printer, notes, whatever, take them up to the point you can get to a GUI.

Have an ethernet connection. To sum up the install.

Partition using c-disk
Mount points
Edit main files (like two lines per one [/etc/rc.conf, /etc/hosts, /etc/locale.gen]).
Edit /etc/pacman.conf to enable which repositories you want (community, core, extra for sure).
Run a pacman -Syu
Make a user
Install xorg
Install a desktop environment

Really, it's not that bad and to get a full gnome enviroment with compiz it took me 3 hours to have it perfect with a max internet speed of 130kbs.

EDIT - Don't worry about modules. HWdetect (make sure to run it, it will ask) will do it for you. Everything is WELL commented so don't worry.

[~LoKe]

Alright, that puts me at ease.

Rebooting.

[~LoKe]

Well, the installer was much simpler than I thought it would be.

Now I've got an issue. pacman -Sy gives me problems:
error: failed to synchronize any databases
After a list of "error: failed retrieving file..."

Sounds like I messed up my internet connection.

[PurposeOfReason]

Well, the installer was much simpler than I thought it would be.

Now I've got an issue. pacman -Sy gives me problems:

After a list of "error: failed retrieving file..."

Sounds like I messed up my internet connection.
Try a ping -c 3 www.google to find out. if that works, look at your /etc/pacman.conf.

Make sure your /etc/rc.conf internet line is like:
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
eth0="dhcp"
wlan0="dhcp"
#eth0="eth0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255"
INTERFACES=(lo !eth0 !wlan0)

and your hostname in your /etc/rc.conf matches the /etc/hosts one. I'm just going to post both of my files to give you an idea. Keep in mind I have my interfaces banged out as well as network in my daemons because I use wicd. Don't do that yet.

/etc/rc.conf
#
# /etc/rc.conf - Main Configuration for Arch Linux
#

#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# LOCALIZATION
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# LOCALE: available languages can be listed with the 'locale -a' command
# HARDWARECLOCK: set to "UTC" or "localtime"
# TIMEZONE: timezones are found in /usr/share/zoneinfo
# KEYMAP: keymaps are found in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps
# CONSOLEFONT: found in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts (only needed for non-US)
# CONSOLEMAP: found in /usr/share/kbd/consoletrans
# USECOLOR: use ANSI color sequences in startup messages
#
LOCALE="en_US.utf8"
HARDWARECLOCK="localtime"
TIMEZONE="Canada/Pacific"
KEYMAP="us"
CONSOLEFONT=
CONSOLEMAP=
USECOLOR="yes"

#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# HARDWARE
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Scan hardware and load required modules at bootup
MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes"
# Module Blacklist - modules in this list will never be loaded by udev
MOD_BLACKLIST=()
#
# Modules to load at boot-up (in this order)
# - prefix a module with a ! to blacklist it
#
MODULES=(acpi-cpufreq cpufreq_ondemand cpufreq_powersave sky2 iwl4965 snd-mixer-oss snd-pcm-oss snd-hwdep snd-page-alloc snd-pcm snd-timer snd snd-hda-intel soundcore sony_laptop)
# Scan for LVM volume groups at startup, required if you use LVM
USELVM="no"

#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# NETWORKING
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
HOSTNAME="reasons"
#
# Use 'ifconfig -a' or 'ls /sys/class/net/' to see all available
# interfaces.
#
# Interfaces to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each interface then list in INTERFACES
# - prefix an entry in INTERFACES with a ! to disable it
# - no hyphens in your interface names - Bash doesn't like it
#
# Note: to use DHCP, set your interface to be "dhcp" (eth0="dhcp")
#
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
eth0="dhcp"
wlan0="dhcp"
#eth0="eth0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255"
INTERFACES=(lo !eth0 !wlan0)
#
# Routes to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each route then list in ROUTES
# - prefix an entry in ROUTES with a ! to disable it
#
gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)
#
# Enable these network profiles at boot-up. These are only useful
# if you happen to need multiple network configurations (ie, laptop users)
# - set to 'menu' to present a menu during boot-up (dialog package required)
# - prefix an entry with a ! to disable it
#
# Network profiles are found in /etc/network-profiles
#
#NET_PROFILES=(main)

#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# DAEMONS
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order)
# - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it
# - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background
#
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng @hal !dhcdbd !networkmanager @wicd !network @netfs crond @acpid @alsa @cups @fam @mpd @gdm)


# End of file

/etc/hosts
#
# /etc/hosts: static lookup table for host names
#

#<ip-address> <hostname.domain.org> <hostname>
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost reasons

# End of file

/etc/pacman.conf
#
# /etc/pacman.conf
#
# See the pacman manpage for option directives

#
# GENERAL OPTIONS
#
[options]
LogFile = /var/log/pacman.log
HoldPkg = pacman glibc
#XferCommand = /usr/bin/wget --passive-ftp -c -O %o %u

#
# REPOSITORIES
# - can be defined here or included from another file
# - pacman will search repositories in the order defined here
# - local/custom mirrors can be added here or in separate files
# - repositories listed first will take precedence when packages
# have identical names, regardless of version number
#
[testing]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/testing

[core]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/core

[extra]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/extra

[community]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/community

#[unstable]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/unstable

# An example of a custom package repository. See the pacman manpage for
# tips on creating your own repositories.
#[custom]
#Server = file:///home/custompkgs



EDIT - LOOK AT THAT COFFEE CUP!

[raul_]

You're not using the latest pacman huh? :P

All the repositories now use the "mirrorlist" file in /etc/pacman.d instead of the file with their name. Much simpler. Throw in rankmirrors, and you can't beat that.

Loke: Can you access web pages at least? Should be something about rc.conf, if your connection isn't working, just as PurposeOfReason stated

[~LoKe]

Looks about the same. However, I get "Unknown host XXX.com" when I try to ping an address. This makes me thing it's a problem with my /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain myhost

"myhost" is unfortunately my system's name (oops).

[~LoKe]

You're not using the latest pacman huh? :P
I don't know. I just downloaded the CD on the website and installed.

Loke: Can you access web pages at least? Should be something about rc.conf, if your connection isn't working, just as PurposeOfReason stated

I haven't even installed xorg or a DE yet. ;)

EDIT: /etc/resolv.conf is empty. o_O

[fwojciec]

Well, the installer was much simpler than I thought it would be.

Now I've got an issue. pacman -Sy gives me problems:

After a list of "error: failed retrieving file..."

Sounds like I messed up my internet connection.

That means that the network is not properly set up.

Can you post the output of ifconfig and iwconfig (if your network is is wireless) - both run as root - as well as your rc.conf?

[~LoKe]

ifconfig eth0
eth0 link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:50:8D:9F:56:6D
inet addr:192.168.0.2 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
--- RX/TX packet stuff, no errors, drops, etc ---
RX/TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:18

/etc/rc.conf (relevant lines)
HOSTNAME="myhost"
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
eth0="eth0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255"
INTERFACES=(lo eth0)

gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)

*whew*

[raul_]

I don't know. I just downloaded the CD on the website and installed.



I haven't even installed xorg or a DE yet. ;)

EDIT: /etc/resolv.conf is empty. o_O

I was talking to PurposeOfReason on that one :D sorry about that
just for testing, try commenting your eth0 line, and adding


eth0="dhcp"


then do a

sudo /etc/rc.d/network restart

and try pinging something

[~LoKe]

On /etc/rc.d/network restart while it's starting, I get an error, "Error, eth0:timed out"

Tried a second time and no error. ping still doesn't work.

[raul_]

On /etc/rc.d/network restart while it's starting, I get an error, "Error, eth0:timed out"

Tried a second time and no error. ping still doesn't work.

Humm..those settings worked for the FTP install? Or you installed from the CD?

If you installed from the cd, maybe those settings are wrong. Did you copy those from PurposeOfReason?

Where are you posting from right now?

[~LoKe]

I installed from CD, and none of the settings are different from the way they came (with the exception of the modification you told me to try with /etc/rc.conf).

I'm posting from a laptop right now.

If I re-install, what do I have to look out for in order to not have this problem again?

[raul_]

Well, it's not really an installation problem, is more of a network settings problem :-k


. If your laptop has a working internet connection , you could write down the laptop's internet settings and copy them to your rc.conf file. Like ip, gateway, etc...

[~LoKe]

They're all the same. :(

[fwojciec]

ifconfig eth0


/etc/rc.conf (relevant lines)


*whew*

Remove the exclamation mark from before gateway in the ROUTES line (exclamation mark is only needed if you use dhcp).

[raul_]

Ok, try undoing what I told you, and now remove the ! from the ROUTE list. After that, do a network restart and try again

[Gigamo]

Not that it might be a help, but you could try doing the FTP installation. That way you're sure your network works, as it will automatically set it up with dhcp and keep the settings in the installation. Also by doing this you will already install all latest packages, instead of upgrading them from the ones you installed with the core CD.

[~LoKe]

Yeah, I'm going to re-install Thanks for all the effort, though!

[raul_]

Keep us posted :) good luck

[fwojciec]

Yeah, I'm going to re-install Thanks for all the effort, though!

If problem is, I'm 99% sure, to do with the exclamation mark in the routes line, so you don't have to reinstall -- you shouldn't have to reinstall Arch ever (that's one of the differences compared to Ubuntu).

EDIT: Also, as Rumor points out below, change eth0= to eth= (see his post)

[PurposeOfReason]

Talk to me about this new pacman as in link to AUR (I'm assuming that where I'll get it). Or is it coming out soon and I should just wait?

[Rumor]

HOSTNAME="myhost"
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
eth0="eth0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255"
INTERFACES=(lo eth0)


I would change your eth0= line to eth0="dhcp" and then do an /etc/rc.d/network restart and then try pinging a site. The rest of the lines above look fine as they are to me.

[PurposeOfReason]

If problem is, I'm 99% sure, to do with the exclamation mark in the routes line, so you don't have to reinstall -- you shouldn't have to reinstall Arch ever (that's one of the differences compared to Ubuntu).

Sometimes it's easier though, like when you brake your kernel like I have so many times. :(

[raul_]

Talk to me about this new pacman as in link to AUR (I'm assuming that where I'll get it). Or is it coming out soon and I should just wait?

http://www.archlinux.org/news/378/

should be available. I got it from [testing]

[PurposeOfReason]

[shawn] pacman -V

.--. Pacman v3.1.0 - libalpm v2.0.0
/ _.-' .-. .-. .-. Copyright (C) 2002-2007 Judd Vinet <jvinet@zeroflux.org>
\ '-. '-' '-' '-'
'--'
This program may be freely redistributed under
the terms of the GNU General Public License


I guess I have it. So should I be configuring pacman.conf differently?

[mips]

pacman -S pacman

There are currently issues with pacman wich will be sorted by next week.

[raul_]

[shawn] pacman -V

.--. Pacman v3.1.0 - libalpm v2.0.0
/ _.-' .-. .-. .-. Copyright (C) 2002-2007 Judd Vinet <jvinet@zeroflux.org>
\ '-. '-' '-' '-'
'--'
This program may be freely redistributed under
the terms of the GNU General Public License


I guess I have it. So should I be configuring pacman.conf differently?


Check if you have a mirrorlist file in /etc/pacman.d/

[PurposeOfReason]

This look right?
/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

#
# $repo: Arch Linux @REPO@ repository
#

# United States
Server = ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.nethat.com/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://locke.suu.edu/linux/dist/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirrors.unixheads.org/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp-linux.cc.gatech.edu/pub/linux/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.cs.vt.edu/pub/ArchLinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://mirrors.easynews.com/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://holmes.umflint.edu/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# South America
# - Brazil
Server = http://archlinux.c3sl.ufpr.br/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://archlinux.c3sl.ufpr.br/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# Europe
# - Austria
Server = ftp://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Belgium
Server = ftp://ftp.belnet.be/mirror/archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Czech Republic
Server = ftp://ftp.sh.cvut.cz/MIRRORS/arch/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Estonia
Server = ftp://ftp.estpak.ee/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Finland
Server = ftp://ftp.sixnix.net/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - France
Server = ftp://mir1.archlinuxfr.org/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mir2.archlinuxfr.org/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://mir.archlinux.fr/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.free.fr/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Germany
Server = ftp://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.hosteurope.de/mirror/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.archlinuxppc.org/i686/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Great Britain
Server = http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Greece
Server = ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Hungary
Server = ftp://ftp.mfa.kfki.hu/pub/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Ireland
Server = ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Italy
Server = ftp://mi.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Netherlands
Server = ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.surfnet.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Poland
Server = ftp://ftp.icm.edu.pl/pub/Linux/sunsite/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.icis.pcz.pl/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Portugal
Server = ftp://cesium.di.uminho.pt/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Romania
Server = ftp://ftp.iasi.roedu.net/mirrors/archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Russia
Server = ftp://archlinux.org.ru/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.yandex.ru/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://archlinux.freeside.ru/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Sweden
Server = ftp://ftp.ds.hj.se/pub/os/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.gigabit.nu/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Switzerland
Server = ftp://archlinux.puzzle.ch/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Turkey
Server = http://server.elsistech.com/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Ukraine
Server = ftp://hell.org.ua/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.linux.kiev.ua/pub/Linux/ArchLinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# Asia
# - Israel
Server = http://mirror.isoc.org.il/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# Australia
Server = ftp://mirror.pacific.net.au/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64


Never touched it or read about rankmirrors.

[raul_]

That's it :)

Well, rankmirrors is a program, it's pretty neat. You just run

rankmirrors -n 2 /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

and it will output the 2 fastest mirrors in that list. After that, you can move those mirrors to the top os the list.

Now with pacman 3.1, you don't need to edit file by file. You just change mirrorlist, and make every repo use it. Here's my relevant part of pacman.conf:


[testing]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[core]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[extra]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[community]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[unstable]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist



You can see that they all use mirrorlist

[PurposeOfReason]

So I don't even have to put them in any order? I may have just died.

EDIT - running rankmirrors right now. So when that is done, the two it gives me I comment out and the put at the top? Do they have to be in the same country category or can I put them at the top of the file before everything?

[raul_]

So I don't even have to put them in any order? I may have just died.

Well, the mirrors in 'mirrorlist' have to be in order, so just copy the output of rankmirrors to the top of the list, and that way you'll always use the fastest mirrors. I use 2, because in case one of them is down, i always have backup.

The big thing about mirrorlist, is that if your preferred server was down, you had to manually edit every single file in /etc/pacman.d/

Really painful. But no more! :D

[PurposeOfReason]

Seems faster. Just making sure this all looks right:
mirrorlist:
#
# $repo: Arch Linux @REPO@ repository
#

Server = http://mirrors.easynews.com/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://holmes.umflint.edu/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64


# United States
Server = ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.nethat.com/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://locke.suu.edu/linux/dist/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirrors.unixheads.org/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp-linux.cc.gatech.edu/pub/linux/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.cs.vt.edu/pub/ArchLinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://mirrors.easynews.com/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://holmes.umflint.edu/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# South America
# - Brazil
Server = http://archlinux.c3sl.ufpr.br/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://archlinux.c3sl.ufpr.br/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# Europe
# - Austria
Server = ftp://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Belgium
Server = ftp://ftp.belnet.be/mirror/archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Czech Republic
Server = ftp://ftp.sh.cvut.cz/MIRRORS/arch/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Estonia
Server = ftp://ftp.estpak.ee/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Finland
Server = ftp://ftp.sixnix.net/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - France
Server = ftp://mir1.archlinuxfr.org/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mir2.archlinuxfr.org/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://mir.archlinux.fr/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.free.fr/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Germany
Server = ftp://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.hosteurope.de/mirror/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.archlinuxppc.org/i686/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Great Britain
Server = http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Greece
Server = ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Hungary
Server = ftp://ftp.mfa.kfki.hu/pub/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Ireland
Server = ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Italy
Server = ftp://mi.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Netherlands
Server = ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.surfnet.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Poland
Server = ftp://ftp.icm.edu.pl/pub/Linux/sunsite/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.icis.pcz.pl/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Portugal
Server = ftp://cesium.di.uminho.pt/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Romania
Server = ftp://ftp.iasi.roedu.net/mirrors/archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Russia
Server = ftp://archlinux.org.ru/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.yandex.ru/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://archlinux.freeside.ru/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Sweden
Server = ftp://ftp.ds.hj.se/pub/os/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.gigabit.nu/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Switzerland
Server = ftp://archlinux.puzzle.ch/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Turkey
Server = http://server.elsistech.com/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Ukraine
Server = ftp://hell.org.ua/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.linux.kiev.ua/pub/Linux/ArchLinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# Asia
# - Israel
Server = http://mirror.isoc.org.il/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# Australia
Server = ftp://mirror.pacific.net.au/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64


#
# /etc/pacman.conf
#
# See the pacman manpage for option directives

#
# GENERAL OPTIONS
#
[options]
LogFile = /var/log/pacman.log
HoldPkg = pacman glibc
#XferCommand = /usr/bin/wget --passive-ftp -c -O %o %u

#
# REPOSITORIES
# - can be defined here or included from another file
# - pacman will search repositories in the order defined here
# - local/custom mirrors can be added here or in separate files
# - repositories listed first will take precedence when packages
# have identical names, regardless of version number
#
[testing]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[core]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[extra]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[community]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

#[unstable]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/unstable

# An example of a custom package repository. See the pacman manpage for
# tips on creating your own repositories.
#[custom]
#Server = file:///home/custompkgs

[raul_]

Exactly :)

I'm starting to worry about Loke :-k

[~LoKe]

Maybe Arch isn't for me. I spent an excessive amount of time downloading packages at 50kbps (I usually max out at 800...) only to find that, once again, my networking connection doesn't work. This is getting stupid.

[~LoKe]

DHCP works now, but I still get the package errors in pacman. Oh well, I'll figure that out later.

Where to go from here? How do I use pacman to install something, like xorg?

[Gigamo]

DHCP works now, but I still get the package errors in pacman. Oh well, I'll figure that out later.

Where to go from here? How do I use pacman to install something, like xorg?

run "pacman -S xorg"

[PurposeOfReason]

Does anyone (back to a question a few pages ago) know what command controls the brightness of a laptop screen? I figure since my cpu goes to powersave mode when I unplug the computer, the cord is noticed to be unplugged. The screen tries to dim as the OSD comes up. I'm thinking the problem is it is giving off a bad command that isn't executing properly.

[Ub1476]

Hi, I decided to try Arch after reading only positive feedback about it, but can I run it?

I have a Intel Centrino Duo, which I'm quite sure is i386. From Archs wiki it says:

Arch Linux is optimized for the i686 processor and therefore will not run on any lower or incompatible generations of x86 CPUs (i386,i486,i586). A Pentium II or AMD K6-2 processor or higher is required. x86-64 architectures are also officially supported.

Am I out of luck, or will it run "slow"?

[raul_]

DHCP works now, but I still get the package errors in pacman. Oh well, I'll figure that out later.

Where to go from here? How do I use pacman to install something, like xorg?

read my post about rankmirrors for speed issues

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Main_Page

[PurposeOfReason]

Hi, I decided to try Arch after reading only positive feedback about it, but can I run it?

I have a Intel Centrino Duo, which I'm quite sure is i386. From Archs wiki it says:

Am I out of luck, or will it run "slow"?

Perfectly fine. I'm not sure which version to go with though. The i686 works on basically everything (was it made within the last ten years basically) and 86_64 for dual cores. If you can run (I'm sorry as I don't know much how to do this) 'cpufreq-info in the terminal and see if it tells you if you have two cores. If you do, go for the 86_64. Flash is easily fixed with ndispluginwrapper.

[~LoKe]

read my post about rankmirrors for speed issues

Yep, I did that now that my connection is working. It was an issue for the initial install, but it's done now.

And Arch works! Yeah!!!

I have to add myself to the sudoers file then get everything "back to normal". I used to install the nVidia drivers using the installer from the nvidia website, that should work just the same, right?

[PurposeOfReason]

Yep, I did that now that my connection is working. It was an issue for the initial install, but it's done now.

And Arch works! Yeah!!!

I have to add myself to the sudoers file then get everything "back to normal". I used to install the nVidia drivers using the installer from the nvidia website, that should work just the same, right?
With how bleeding edge arch can be, it might be just as good to use their driver. However, a kernel is a kernel so if you want to use the nvidia website, go for it. :)

[raul_]

Hi, I decided to try Arch after reading only positive feedback about it, but can I run it?

I have a Intel Centrino Duo, which I'm quite sure is i386. From Archs wiki it says:



Am I out of luck, or will it run "slow"?

Well, unless your pc is like 10 years old, I don't think it's i386

[raul_]

I don't know about these drivers, because I don't use nVidia, but have a look at this, maybe it's useful:

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA#How_to_install_Nvidia_Driver_with_pacman

[Ub1476]

Well, the Centrino processors were introduced in 2006, is a x86 architecture, dual-core (CPU 0 and CPU 1). I guess I'm fine then?

*Download core now*

[PurposeOfReason]

You're great. Get the 86_64 if you want to take as much advantage of it as possible. Is there a quick way to get all the fonts from pacman? Some sites are using fonts I don't have and I'd really just like to do a pacman -S *-font but that doesn't work.

EDIT - (for my own records if I reinstall ever)
pacman -S artwiz-fonts font-bh-ttf font-bitstream-speedo ftgl ttf-bitstream-vera ttf-cheapskate ttf-dejavu xorg-fonts-alias xorg-fonts-cyrillic xorg-fonts-encodings xorg-fonts-misc xorg-fonts-type1 font-mathematica oldstand-font ttf-freefont ttf-liberation ttf-mgopen

[Gigamo]

Nice LoKe, keep us posted :D


Makes me tingle as well... But I'm gonna stick to ubuntu a little longer :D

[fwojciec]

I used to install the nVidia drivers using the installer from the nvidia website, that should work just the same, right?

Right - that's what I do. You'll have to reinstall manually after major kernel updates as well (and sometimes it is also a good idea after xorg-server updates also).

[PurposeOfReason]

To my previous post which installed basically every font, what font does this page use where all the info is? It's really bad for me.

http://dotfiles.org/~krib/.screenrc

[~LoKe]

It'll take a while to get used to pacman, but I like it so far. =]

My fonts and whatnot are all messed. Time to learn all over again. Oh, and it'll take a while to get used to type rc.d instead of init.d. ;)

[Gigamo]

To my previous post which installed basically every font, what font does this page use where all the info is? It's really bad for me.

http://dotfiles.org/~krib/.screenrc (http://dotfiles.org/%7Ekrib/.screenrc)

Very bad for me as well.


My fonts and whatnot are all messed. Time to learn all over again. Oh, and it'll take a while to get used to type rc.d instead of init.d.

I had that problem too when I gave Arch a spin. Would be cool if you would let me know how you fixed that.

[~LoKe]

(2/2) checking for file conflicts [########################] 100%
error: could not prepare transaction
error: failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)
nvidia-utils: /usr/bin/nvidia-bug-report.sh exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/bin/nvidia-settings exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/bin/nvidia-xconfig exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libGL.so.169.07 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libGLcore.so.1 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libGLcore.so.169.07 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libXvMCNVIDIA.a exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libXvMCNVIDIA.so.169.07 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libXvMCNVIDIA_dynamic.so.1 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libcuda.so.1 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libcuda.so.169.07 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libnvidia-tls.so.1 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/libnvidia-tls.so.169.07 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.so exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so.169.07 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libnvidia-wfb.so.169.07 exists in filesystem
nvidia-utils: /usr/share/applications/nvidia-settings.desktop exists in filesystem
nvidia: /lib/modules/2.6.23-ARCH/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia.ko exists in filesystem
Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded.
Eh?

[PurposeOfReason]

It'll take a while to get used to pacman, but I like it so far. =]

My fonts and whatnot are all messed. Time to learn all over again. Oh, and it'll take a while to get used to type rc.d instead of init.d. ;)
This should do the fonts:
pacman -S ttf-ms-fonts ttf-dejavu ttf-bitstream-vera


In general, read:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners_Guide

[cardinals_fan]

I am finally getting a little sick of Ubuntu. It seems to be getting very wizardy and most configuration is gui-based. I was also horrified to see that booting up in "Recovery mode" lands the user with root privileges - without a password prompt! This is not secure!

Anyway, I've checked out many other distros. So far Zenwalk was my favorite, but it also felt a bit dumbed down. Now I am looking at Arch, and really like what I see. It seems to be far more configurable and command-line based. Since I'm not going to try it until school gets out (~May 25), I might as well get some input regarding its pros/cons. Any Arch users willing to summarize their experience? I know that that has been the entire point of this thread from the beginning, but it would be nice to hear whether anybody in my position made the switch and has more detailed advice.

[fwojciec]

Eh?

Are you trying to install nvidia driver pacman package after trying to install the nvidia driver manually? If so you should be able to overwrite these files (force it be adding -f switch to the pacman command). As long as you know what it is that you're overwriting it is usually ok to use that switch.

[PurposeOfReason]

My only advice, you'll mess up your first install so don't panic. I mean, it was all working fine (internet, DE, compiz) but it wasn't exactly clean looking or fast as I did things . . .differently. Really, start reading the wiki now and there is a good chance you'll be fine on your first try.

EDIT - loke, did you install anything else as far as graphics go?

[raul_]

I am finally getting a little sick of Ubuntu. It seems to be getting very wizardy and most configuration is gui-based. I was also horrified to see that booting up in "Recovery mode" lands the user with root privileges - without a password prompt! This is not secure!

Anyway, I've checked out many other distros. So far Zenwalk was my favorite, but it also felt a bit dumbed down. Now I am looking at Arch, and really like what I see. It seems to be far more configurable and command-line based. Since I'm not going to try it until school gets out (~May 25), I might as well get some input regarding its pros/cons. Any Arch users willing to summarize their experience? I know that that has been the entire point of this thread from the beginning, but it would be nice to hear whether anybody in my position made the switch and has more detailed advice.


Zenwalk is cool, but it's package management is nowhere near Arch. At least for me.

have a read http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/The_Arch_Way

[cardinals_fan]

I read The Arch Way - it's part of what attracted me to Arch in the first place ;-)

[Ub1476]

Alright, I'm at the package step now. I select CD and get the to choose base, devel, lib and support. But I do not know how to tick any of them! Pressing enter will either choose all or none. Also, any suggestion which I should install? It's a laptop, mostly Intel except for the ATI graphic card.

EDIT: Figured I just need to press space to tick them^^

Help with packages is appreciated though:)

[Gigamo]

Alright, I'm at the package step now. I select CD and get the to choose base, devel, lib and support. But I do not know how to tick any of them! Pressing enter will either choose all or none. Also, any suggestion which I should install? It's a laptop, mostly Intel except for the ATI graphic card.

Press space.

[PurposeOfReason]

Alright, I'm at the package step now. I select CD and get the to choose base, devel, lib and support. But I do not know how to tick any of them! Pressing enter will either choose all or none. Also, any suggestion which I should install? It's a laptop, mostly Intel except for the ATI graphic card.
space key

[Ub1476]

Thanks, I figured it out. Anyway I wonder about these "support" packages:

iptables
ipw3945 - This is a driver, right?
madwifi - What's this?
screen - What's this?
wireless-tools - What's this?

[PurposeOfReason]

Thanks, I figured it out. Anyway I wonder about these "support" packages:

iptables
ipw3945 - This is a driver, right?
madwifi - What's this?
screen - What's this?
wireless-tools - What's this?
In this order:
driver
support type driver
addition to the terminal, don't need
tools for wireless networking

[Gigamo]

I think screen is pretty nice and useful with a nice config tho :)

[Ub1476]

Thanks for your help!

Anyway, I'm configuring now, an I know I have a SATA or Raid HDD, but not sure which type! Should I say yes on:

Do you need support for booting from software raid arrays?

EDIT: Figured out it's a SATA, so I'll say no then.

[~LoKe]

Can't log into the Arch forums. Clicking the "Login" button does nothing. Boo!

I'm gonna have to ask here...Can I get Firefox3 from the repositories/whatever? Or do I have to compile it from source?

[PurposeOfReason]

Can't log into the Arch forums. Clicking the "Login" button does nothing. Boo!

I'm gonna have to ask here...Can I get Firefox3 from the repositories/whatever? Or do I have to compile it from source?
It's in the AUR, so get the tarball from there, extract it, run makepkg. Once that is done, install it with a pacman -U *.tgz.gz
http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?do_Details=1&ID=14351&O=0&L=0&C=0&K=firefox3&SB=n&SO=a&PP=25&do_MyPackages=0&do_Orphans=0&SeB=nd

[raul_]

Have a look at yaourt:

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=25718

[~LoKe]

Never really realized how slow FF3 was until now. Dear God..

[Ub1476]

Alright, now I feel sort of stupid.. I'm going to install X and Gnome now, but when using packman, the command "packman" is not found.

Everything else works alright, and I have create a new "wheel" user.


Never really realized how slow FF3 was until now. Dear God..

It's really fast for me on Gutsy, at least compared to FF2, both in speed and resources. I think Opera 9.5 still beats it though.

[fwojciec]

Try pacman without "k" ;)

[Majorix]

Why isn't Arch updated lately? I was going to test it, so I paid their site a little visit, and saw that the distro which was usually updated like once every month wasn't updated in the last 3 months or so. What could be the reason? What should I do?

[Ub1476]

Try pacman without "k" ;)

Thanks, that's what I get from copying in a GUI.. But it doesn't look like I have an internet connection. I get a "sync db" error. Tried to connect via wire/cable, but it's not working. Is it possible to set up wireless network from the terminal?

[raul_]

Why isn't Arch updated lately? I was going to test it, so I paid their site a little visit, and saw that the distro which was usually updated like once every month wasn't updated in the last 3 months or so. What could be the reason? What should I do?

Arch isn't updated. It doesn't have releases like Ubuntu. It uses a rolling release system, which means that whenever the programs are updated, the packages land in the repositories. The versions you download of the site, are just snapshots of the current repositories.

[Majorix]

Arch isn't updated. It doesn't have releases like Ubuntu. It uses a rolling release system, which means that whenever the programs are updated, the packages land in the repositories. The versions you download of the site, are just snapshots of the current repositories.

Hmm I see...

What's a good guide to install it and get it running with an ATI card then?

Thanks.

[Drakx]

check out the arch wiki look for beginners guide :)

[fwojciec]

Thanks, that's what I get from copying in a GUI.. But it doesn't look like I have an internet connection. I get a "sync db" error. Tried to connect via wire/cable, but it's not working. Is it possible to set up wireless network from the terminal?

Everything in arch is possible from the terminal but it's likely that you will have to connect directly to the router and get your cable connection to work in order to download the drivers necessary to get the wifi working.

The best thing to do is to use the http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners_Guide, read through it and try to figure out the issues as they come up. Arch is not like Ubuntu, it'll not configure everything automatically and you'll have to set up things like users, groups, network, xorg, daemons, etc. manually.

[~LoKe]

Heh...just realized that I have no sound whatsoever. Maybe I was right in that Arch wasn't for me...not as knowledgeable as I thought I was. ;)

EDIT: mplayer -ao alsa ~/Movies/Rush*/*
mplayer: error while loading shared libraries: libGL.so.1: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS32

Never ends, does it? =/

[raul_]

Heh...just realized that I have no sound whatsoever. Maybe I was right in that Arch wasn't for me...not as knowledgeable as I thought I was. ;)

EDIT:

Never ends, does it? =/

You have to set it up. Take a look at the alsa section in the wiki.

Don't worry, after the initial set up, you don't have to do anything anymore.

[fwojciec]

Heh...just realized that I have no sound whatsoever. Maybe I was right in that Arch wasn't for me...not as knowledgeable as I thought I was. ;)

EDIT:

Never ends, does it? =/

It looks like you're trying to run a 32 bit library on a 64bit system... Not quite sure how you've managed that. In either case, the error doesn't say anything about problems with sound.

Arch requires a bit of patience at first. Don't get discouraged, you'll appreciate it in the end and learn a lot very quickly.

[~LoKe]

I installed mplayer using pacman, so if it pulled a 32bit app...what the heck is going on?

So far I haven't seen too much appeal in Arch...I like the package manager (less so if my problems should be blamed on it) and the formatting of the boot messages.

But otherwise...?

[fwojciec]

I installed mplayer using pacman, so if it pulled a 32bit app...what the heck is going on?

So far I haven't seen too much appeal in Arch...I like the package manager (less so if my problems should be blamed on it) and the formatting of the boot messages.

But otherwise...?

Did you manually change the mirrors by any chance? Make sure that your mirrors are pointing to "x86_64" not "i686" directories on the server (or whichever ones are appropriate for the architecture you're using).

[~LoKe]

/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
# United States
Server = ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.nethat.com/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://locke.suu.edu/linux/dist/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirrors.unixheads.org/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp-linux.cc.gatech.edu/pub/linux/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.cs.vt.edu/pub/ArchLinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://mirrors.easynews.com/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://holmes.umflint.edu/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# South America
# - Brazil
#Server = http://archlinux.c3sl.ufpr.br/$repo/os/x86_64
#Server = ftp://archlinux.c3sl.ufpr.br/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# Europe
# - Austria
Server = ftp://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Belgium
Server = ftp://ftp.belnet.be/mirror/archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Czech Republic
Server = ftp://ftp.sh.cvut.cz/MIRRORS/arch/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Estonia
Server = ftp://ftp.estpak.ee/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Finland
Server = ftp://ftp.sixnix.net/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - France
Server = ftp://mir1.archlinuxfr.org/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mir2.archlinuxfr.org/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://mir.archlinux.fr/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.free.fr/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Germany
Server = ftp://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.hosteurope.de/mirror/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.archlinuxppc.org/i686/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Great Britain
Server = http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Greece
Server = ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Hungary
Server = ftp://ftp.mfa.kfki.hu/pub/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Ireland
Server = ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Italy
Server = ftp://mi.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Netherlands
Server = ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.surfnet.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Poland
Server = ftp://ftp.icm.edu.pl/pub/Linux/sunsite/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.icis.pcz.pl/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Portugal
Server = ftp://cesium.di.uminho.pt/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Romania
Server = ftp://ftp.iasi.roedu.net/mirrors/archlinux.org/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Russia
Server = ftp://archlinux.org.ru/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.yandex.ru/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = http://archlinux.freeside.ru/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Sweden
Server = ftp://ftp.ds.hj.se/pub/os/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.gigabit.nu/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Switzerland
Server = ftp://archlinux.puzzle.ch/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Turkey
Server = http://server.elsistech.com/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
# - Ukraine
Server = ftp://hell.org.ua/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://ftp.linux.kiev.ua/pub/Linux/ArchLinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# Asia
# - Israel
Server = http://mirror.isoc.org.il/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# Australia
Server = ftp://mirror.pacific.net.au/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64
Server = ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/x86_64

# Setup-Entry
Server = ftp://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/distributions/archlinux/mirrorlist/os/x86_64

[raul_]

Everything's fine there.

[~LoKe]

The thing is, I've installed plenty of other applications before/after mplayer that worked.

[~LoKe]

sudo pacman -S mplayer
Password:
warning: mplayer-1.0rc2-2 is up to date -- reinstalling
resolving dependencies...
looking for inter-conflicts...

Targets: mplayer-1.0rc2-2

Total Download Size: 0.00 MB
Total Installed Size: 8.44 MB

Proceed with installation? [Y/n]
checking package integrity...
(1/1) checking for file conflicts [########################################] 100%
(1/1) upgrading mplayer [########################################] 100%
/sbin/ldconfig: libraries libGL.so.1.2 and libGL.so.169.07 in directory /usr/lib have same soname but different type.

o_O

EDIT: Does this have to do with my nVidia drivers? libGL.so.169.07....169.07 is the version of the nvidia driver I installed.

[fwojciec]

libGL belongs to the nvidia driver if this helps...

EDIT: reinstalling nvidia + nvidia-utils (with -f to overwrite) should help, I think

[~LoKe]

Yep, that did it. Thanks!

Here's the new problem...
[AO_ALSA] alsa-lib: conf.c:3949:(snd_config_expand) Unknown parameters AES0=6
[AO_ALSA] alsa-lib: pcm.c:2145:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM iec958:AES0=6
[AO_ALSA] alsa-lib: pcm.c:2145:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.iec958
[AO_ALSA] Playback open error: No such file or directory
Could not open/initialize audio device -> no sound.
Audio: no sound
Starting playback...
VDec: vo config request - 560 x 240 (preferred colorspace: Planar YV12)
Could not find matching colorspace - retrying with -vf scale...
Opening video filter: [scale]
VDec: using Planar YV12 as output csp (no 0)
Movie-Aspect is 2.33:1 - prescaling to correct movie aspect.
[swscaler @ 0xf6b710]SwScaler: using unscaled yuv420p -> bgr24 special converter
VO: [gl2] 560x240 => 560x240 BGR 24-bit
Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
Xlib: extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0".
[gl2] no GLX support present
FATAL: Cannot initialize video driver.

FATAL: Could not initialize video filters (-vf) or video output (-vo).

I take it I need to add the glx module to /etc/X11/XF86Free...but the audio...

[raul_]

Well, looking on the bright side, once you've got it working, it will be a boost to your ego :D

my first setup didn't go smoothly either. I just was a little stubborn, and never had a problem since.

did you setup alsa or oss? Like, is your user in the audio group, etc etc?

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ALSA

[fwojciec]

Yep, that did it. Thanks!

Here's the new problem...


I take it I need to add the glx module to /etc/X11/XF86Free...but the audio...

The glx driver error has to do with video drivers - you should restart X after installing nvidia driver, or, in fact, log out of X, reinstall them again, and then log back in.

As for the sound -- no idea, check out the wiki entry for alsa and see if you'll find anything useful there.

[~LoKe]

I give up. Back to Ubuntu until I become a little more experienced...or patient.

However, Arch isn't ready to let me give up.

growisofs -dvd-compat -Z /dev/scd0=/home/loke/hardy-desktop-i386.iso -speed=16
:-( unable to open64("/dev/scd0",O_RDONLY): Permission denied

sudo mount /dev/scd0
sudo mount /dev/scd0
mount: block device /dev/sr0 is write-protected, mounting read-only
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sr0,
missing codepage or other error
(could this be the IDE device where you in fact use
ide-scsi so that sr0 or sda or so is needed?)
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so

cat /etc/fstab
#
# /etc/fstab: static file system information
#
# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0


/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
/dev/scd0 /mnt/dvd udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
#/dev/fd0 /mnt/fd0 vfat user,noauto 0 0
/dev/sda2 / ext3 defaults 0 1
/dev/sda3 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/sda1 /home/ ext3 defaults 0 0

[Peyton]

Have you tried the Arch forums?

[raul_]

I give up. Back to Ubuntu until I become a little more experienced...or patient.

However, Arch isn't ready to let me give up.





cat /etc/fstab

just comment out the dvd and the cdrom lines

[~LoKe]

Have you tried the Arch forums?

Can't log into the Arch forums. Yet another problem. ;)

[fwojciec]

I give up. Back to Ubuntu until I become a little more experienced...or patient.

However, Arch isn't ready to let me give up.





cat /etc/fstab

from what I know growisofs is used for burning dvd not cd images... have a look here and see if anything helps http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/CD_Burning_Tips#Commandline_CD-burning

Sorry, I've no real experience with command line burning tools.

[yabbadabbadont]

Edit: previous poster's answer is more likely correct.

[fedex1993]

yeah i am finally installing arch. I tried it out ina virtual machine and i loved. Now my only question how do i install awesome and get it configured correctly. My only question is with startx and what sessions manager should i use gdm kdm xdm excetra.

[~LoKe]

just comment out the dvd and the cdrom lines

sudo mount /dev/scd0
mount: can't find /dev/scd0 in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab

Heh.

[raul_]

Heh.

I had that issue, and commenting out those lines worked, as HAL just handled it fine.

Why don't you reboot with the Ubuntu cd?

[~LoKe]

Why don't you reboot with the Ubuntu cd?

Trying to burn the Ubuntu CD. :lolflag:

[Peyton]

yeah i am finally installing arch. I tried it out ina virtual machine and i loved. Now my only question how do i install awesome and get it configured correctly. My only question is with startx and what sessions manager should i use gdm kdm xdm excetra.

Just install it through pacman and then put "exec awesome" in .xinitrc.

Loke, maybe you would have been better off trying Arch out in a virtual machine. :-P

[raul_]

Trying to burn the Ubuntu CD. :lolflag:

oh! sorry about that then :)

Does any gui work?

Just to be sure, what didn't work out for you, besides the sound?

[~LoKe]

Just to be sure, what didn't work out for you, besides the sound?

A lot of small things that just add up.

Installed a few KDE apps (k3b, k9copy, etc) and they didn't end up in /usr/bin, but rather /opt/kde/bin. A few font problems, not entirely pleased with pacman (though it's my fault, not something I'm ready to get used to), etc.

Not a big deal, just not in my interest at this time.

[raul_]

A lot of small things that just add up.

Installed a few KDE apps (k3b, k9copy, etc) and they didn't end up in /usr/bin, but rather /opt/kde/bin. A few font problems, not entirely pleased with pacman (though it's my fault, not something I'm ready to get used to), etc.

Not a big deal, just not in my interest at this time.

yeah kde ends up in /opt...there's a discussion going on about it i think.

about the fonts..err...did you install them?

Anyway, i'm disappointed it didn't work out for you. You would've been a good addition to the community (i love your screenies, and good screenshots are always good additions :D )

I hope you try again though :D

[mips]

Hi, I decided to try Arch after reading only positive feedback about it, but can I run it?

I have a Intel Centrino Duo, which I'm quite sure is i386. From Archs wiki it says:

Am I out of luck, or will it run "slow"?

Centrino Duo is the branding Intel uses for their laptop processors. You actually have a Dual Core 64bit cpu from what I have read up. So you can install either the i686 or x86_64 versions. I would go full 64bit but keep in mind there is no flash for 64bit but you can run gnash which supports flash7 + some later stuff.

It will run like greased lightning on your pc. If you like kde (or even if you don't) then have a look at KDEmod.

[mips]

I used to install the nVidia drivers using the installer from the nvidia website, that should work just the same, right?

pacman -S nvidia

Which will install 100.14.19, well thats what I have on my pc anyway.

[ST.x]

anyone tried lArch? - http://larch.berlios.de/doc/larch_docindex.html

[mips]

My only question is with startx and what sessions manager should i use gdm kdm xdm excetra.


Well the session manager basically depends on what DM you are going to use.

X - xdm
KDE - kdm
Gnome - gdm

[mips]

For those complaining about fonts, if you have a LCD/Laptop then see:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fonts#Beautify_Fonts_for_LCD_in_X

[Ub1476]

Thanks for the help everyone. I got it up and running with Gnome and the the ATI 7.12 drivers. I were amazed that direct rendering worked and X didn't crash. Anyway, I have a few issues, and I guess it's due to some missing packages.

First of, the "notification" area won't show anything. It shows no errors when I add it to the panel.

II installed Compiz-Fusion through the comunity repos (I think), and it installs fine, but when running it I get this:

compiz --replace
libGL error: open DRM failed (Operation not permitted)
libGL error: reverting to (slow) indirect rendering


No window borders, windows list on panel doesn't work etc..
I recall that when I installed catalyst, it said that libGL had to be removed due to some issues.

Thirdly the fonts.. I followd the link provided above and the first issue was the PKGBUILD. I read a little about it on the Wiki, grapped the file on AUR (http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?do_Details=1&ID=12283&O=0&L=0&C=0&K=freetype2-lcd&SB=n&SO=a&PP=25&do_MyPackages=0&do_Orphans=0&SeB=nd)
, and put it in my home directory, but when running the makekg command I get this error:

[kasper@myhost ~]$ makepkg -ci /full/path/freetype2-lcd_ 2.3.5-1.tar.gz
==> Making package: freetype2-lcd_ 2.3.5-1 (Mon Jan 21 13:30:11 PST 2008)
==> Checking Runtime Dependencies...
==> Checking Buildtime Dependencies...
==> Retrieving Sources...
-> Found freetype-2.3.5.tar.bz2 in build dir
==> ERROR: There is no agent set up to handle freetype-2-quantization_fix.patch URLs. Check /etc/makepkg.conf.
Aborting...
-> Downloading freetype-2-quantization_fix.patch...
/usr/bin/makepkg: line 472: freetype-2-quantization_fix.patch: command not found
==> ERROR: Failure while downloading freetype-2-quantization_fix.patch
Aborting...


The last thing is about sudo/su priviligies. When I type sudo with the wheel user I created, it asks for the password, and when I write it and press enter it does nothing. I wrote the root password as well, but the it says it's incorrect. Currently, I have to write "su", then "exit" again, when I have to use root priviligies..

[Rumor]

The last thing is about sudo/su priviligies. When I type sudo with the wheel user I created, it asks for the password, and when I write it and press enter it does nothing. I wrote the root password as well, but the it says it's incorrect. Currently, I have to write "su", then "exit" again, when I have to use root priviligies..

Glad you got Arch up and running. That first install can be pretty daunting.

Regarding sudo, read the wiki entry for sudo. It wil tell you what to install and how to edit your /etc/sudoers file.

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sudo

[Ub1476]

Glad you got Arch up and running. That first install can be pretty daunting.

Regarding sudo, read the wiki entry for sudo. It wil tell you what to install and how to edit your /etc/sudoers file.

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sudo

It says I can only use the terminal, no gedit. How would I save the file in terminal?

[ST.x]

It says I can only use the terminal, no gedit. How would I save the file in terminal?
using vi

[~LoKe]

using vi

Nano is easier.

[Rumor]

It says I can only use the terminal, no gedit. How would I save the file in terminal?

Navigate using the arrow keys to the line to be edited.
Type i to enter insert mode and make your edit.
Press esc to exit insert mode.
Type ZZ to save your file and exit the session.

Nano is easier.

Yes, but the file is not editable even in a root session of nano or gedit. You have to use visudo for this one file.

[~LoKe]

Yes, but the file is not editable even in a root session of nano or gedit. You have to use visudo for this one file.

Woops, didn't notice that he was trying to edit the sudoers file.

visudo
and escape :wq to exit.

[yabbadabbadont]

I think that if you export EDITOR=nano visudo will use nano instead of vi.

[raul_]

Well, my desktop just went completely berserk (I just have to learn not to play so much with config files and such..)and I removed Arch. I'm actually installing Linux Mint, 'cause I don't have the time to configure Arch :( I just want a working "media center".

I'll keep Arch on my laptop though, where I spend most of my time. It's my distro of choice. Plus, I was just curious about Mint (it has a nice interface, what can I say?)

[kazuya]

doing the same. Arch linux runs awesome and looks great on my laptop. For my desktop, it puts most other distros to shame performance-wise, but I am itching to get Linux mint back on the desktop. It simply looks better for my desktop.

[Ub1476]

Thank again everyone. Now Alch isn't just running, but working:D

I still get this Compiz error though. I copied my xorg.conf file from Ubuntu over to Alch, which should work, yet I still get this:

compiz (core) - Fatal: GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap is missing
compiz (core) - Error: Failed to manage screen: 0
compiz (core) - Fatal: No manageable screens found on display :0.0

I came over this (http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=42283) thread, and it appears there is a problem with the driver not supporting Archs xorg? Is it possible to downgrade (without issues) or will Catalyst 8.01 fix this. How long time does it usually take before it reach the Arch repos? Any other fix?

The AUR is awesome though, and yaourt, I don't have words:KS

[raul_]

doing the same. Arch linux runs awesome and looks great on my laptop. For my desktop, it puts most other distros to shame performance-wise, but I am itching to get Linux mint back on the desktop. It simply looks better for my desktop.

Actually I had Mint installed for like 20 minutes before i thought "ah screw it, I'm gonna lose a night to set up Arch again"

So I stayed up late, and now Arch is running again. I don't even need a wiki anymore :)

Mint is a good distro though. I liked the feeling of "just working",

[Sunflower1970]

Glad you got Arch up and running. That first install can be pretty daunting.

Yes it is! I decided to try out some different distros over the weekend. Arch being one of them. Don't think I'm quite ready yet for this. I could get the system installed (yay!), but since the computer has a wireless connection I had trouble installing the madwifi driver to get it to connect so I could continue on. At one point I thought I had it... but then something screwed up...I gave up for the time being

I'm really curious about this one, but I need time away from it for a bit before I tackle it again. :)

[Drakx]

heh, my arch laptop just went **** up on me :S too much configuring i guess so as a quick and nasty way to get the laptop up and running i put vista x64 on and omg shoot me please the damn thing takes 2gb ram for idle and wont show that my laptop has 4gb ram it tells me its 3.062gb ram wtf is that about i ask you... oh well ill get arch installed again and go from there teach me not to play all the time :)

[fackamato]

Just curious, what files are you guys messing with to fsck up your systems? And always cp file file.back before you edit it, so it can easily be changed back to "working state". ;)

[raul_]

Just curious, what files are you guys messing with to fsck up your systems? And always cp file file.back before you edit it, so it can easily be changed back to "working state". ;)

Well, my arch installation was fine, the thing was that I couldn't install Gnome or XFCE on it(no panels, things crashing, etc, etc), but KDEmod was working fine. Since I'm sick of KDE, and couldn't upgrade to KDEmod4, I couldn't live with it anymore.

Now I have a fully working Gnome installation. Even Compiz is snappier :)

[Rumor]

Just curious, what files are you guys messing with to fsck up your systems? And always cp file file.back before you edit it, so it can easily be changed back to "working state". ;)

Arch is for tweakers, IMO. Tweakers are rarely satisfied with things, or are insatiably curious about how things work. They took clocks apart as young children. From there it progressed to toasters, vacuum cleaners, automobiles and most of the major appliances in their home (Yes, dear. I will put the washing machine back together).

The odds are that the more one tweaks something, the greater the chance that doing so will break it.

And besides, fixing it is fun!

[fackamato]

Arch is for tweakers, IMO. Tweakers are rarely satisfied with things, or are insatiably curious about how things work. They took clocks apart as young children. From there it progressed to toasters, vacuum cleaners, automobiles and most of the major appliances in their home (Yes, dear. I will put the washing machine back together).

The odds are that the more one tweaks something, the greater the chance that doing so will break it.

And besides, fixing it is fun!


I know. I'm a tweaker. ;)

[Drakx]

Arch is for tweakers, IMO. Tweakers are rarely satisfied with things, or are insatiably curious about how things work. They took clocks apart as young children. From there it progressed to toasters, vacuum cleaners, automobiles and most of the major appliances in their home (Yes, dear. I will put the washing machine back together).

The odds are that the more one tweaks something, the greater the chance that doing so will break it.

And besides, fixing it is fun!

Omg you more or less describe my childhood lmao.

[K.Mandla]

Arch is for tweakers, IMO. Tweakers are rarely satisfied with things, or are insatiably curious about how things work. They took clocks apart as young children. From there it progressed to toasters, vacuum cleaners, automobiles and most of the major appliances in their home (Yes, dear. I will put the washing machine back together).

The odds are that the more one tweaks something, the greater the chance that doing so will break it.

And besides, fixing it is fun!
#-o I wish I had written that.

[aeto]

You are all WRONG.

THIS (http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Archlinux) is the FINAL authority.

Arch is for overlords and friends of Thor. Only. No tweaker/lumberjack comes close. Maybe hunters are an exception, but that's because phrik feasts on them!

[pelle.k]

HAHA! :)
That was the best link i've seen in a long time. Check out the debian section. A little quote;
Many popular applications from the twentieth century, which are no longer available via more mainstream channels, are preserved in Debian. For instance, as of 2007, the latest version of Debian (4.0, codenamed Retch) includes the following software titles, among others:

* Netscape Navigator, version 3.2 Gold
* Lotus 123, version 3.5
* Pacman
* Zork, version zero.
* Pong
* Hunt the Wumpus
* Microsoft Bob Beta 4
* Compuserve
* Difference Engine Emulator
* Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition
* Petris

Debian stable does not include any version of the X Window System whatsoever, because all the versions which meet Debian Stable's guidelines violate a small, obscure portion of the Debian Free Software Guidelines. Likewise, support for high-speed networking isn't present in Debian stable yet for similar reasons. X Windows and high-speed networking can be found in Debian unstable, but Debian developers strongly recommend against using unstable - and instead recommend learning to like text-based computing and dial-up modems.

And of course, from the ubuntu section;
Each time a new version of Ubuntu is released, Shuttleworth chooses a new and wacky release name. In the past these have included:

* Lazy Lemming
* Mouldy Mongoose
* Paraplegic Pigeon
* Pissing Panda
* Retarded Rhino
* ****** Shark
* Slutty Salamander
* Suffering Suckatash!
* Surly Snail
* Wista Windows
* Wobbly Whale
* Zany Zebra
......
Ubuntu is an ancient Swahili word (pronounced OOOBOOONTOOO, and in several dialects has many more o's) which may mean one or more of these:

* White man come, give us computer. Not taste good.
* I am because you are.
* I know you are, but what am I?
* Oh, the humanity!
* Pictures of naked people are work-friendly.
* Brown
* I can't figure out Debian.
* An ancient African drum-solo ritual performed by a gnome, dressed in brown.
* Boom, tsk, boom, splash.
* What You See Is What You Get From Debian

As these lists suggest, there is no general agreement between scientists about the real meaning of the word.

Some suggest that the lack of any vowels different from "u" in the name could be further investigated. Others are still trying to install Ubuntu on their laptops and cannot be reached for an opinion.

[kellemes]

Great link indeed.. :-)

GNOME's logo.. http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Image:Footprint.png

[mips]

Any OS could be for tweakers.

I'm running arch+kdemod on my desktop & laptop and have not really tweaked anything as my installs are the defaults. I'm happy, it's lite and it is fast, I don't see what else I have to tweak. I tweakeked more with (K)ubuntu to try and make it faster and leaner.

[nat6138]

I tried putting Arch on my laptop, but I couldn't get internet to work at all, even trying the guides on their website.

So I said screw it.

[K.Mandla]

What kind of network connection do you use? or is it not worth chasing?

[raul_]

That's weird, cause Locke had the same problem. I wonder if these network problems are a serious issue?

[Dark Star]

I installed Arch Linux after I tried to install Grub I got an error that failed installing grub /dev/tty or something like that . That didn't bother me since I have Ubuntu installed and I can use its grub.. I added Arch Linux entry in Ubuntu grub but it didn't boot .. Here is my Arch Linux Entry .. I have installed it in /dev/sda7


# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,6)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda7 ro
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

[miggols99]

I installed Arch Linux after I tried to install Grub I got an error that failed installing grub /dev/tty or something like that . That didn't bother me since I have Ubuntu installed and I can use its grub.. I added Arch Linux entry in Ubuntu grub but it didn't boot .. Here is my Arch Linux Entry .. I have installed it in /dev/sda7


# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,6)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda7 ro
initrd /boot/kernel26.img
My GRUB entry looks like this:

# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda1 ro resume=/dev/sda3
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

Try changing your root (hd0,6) to something else.

[5-HT]

I added Arch Linux entry in Ubuntu grub but it didn't boot .. Here is my Arch Linux Entry .. I have installed it in /dev/sda7

Any error messages?


I installed Arch Linux after I tried to install Grub I got an error that failed installing grub /dev/tty or something like that . That didn't bother me since I have Ubuntu installed and I can use its grub...
One guess is that the failed install may have corrupted your MBR a bit (or were you trying to install GRUB in your Arch partition), though it looks like you can boot into Ubuntu without issue.
I can't see anything wrong with the menu entry, what about reinstalling grub if you're not getting any specific error messages to go on?

[Dark Star]

My GRUB entry looks like this:

# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda1 ro resume=/dev/sda3
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

Try changing your root (hd0,6) to something else.

Thanks added that resume part it booted. . But it asked me login name and password while I hasn't set any password .. Does the Core ver. doen't have desktop /? No Desktop Manager ? How to install it /:lolflag:

[PurposeOfReason]

It's impossible to have installed arch without a password. You should have a root account with a password set during the install.

[fackamato]

Thanks added that resume part it booted. . But it asked me login name and password while I hasn't set any password .. Does the Core ver. doen't have desktop /? No Desktop Manager ? How to install it /:lolflag:

Er. Sigh.. Archlinux users are required to actually use their brains. So, you will have to install the things you want, yourself. Easy. Read the wiki on http://wiki.archlinux.org/ , you should have very few questions left after reading that.

[Rumor]

Thanks added that resume part it booted. . But it asked me login name and password while I hasn't set any password .. Does the Core ver. doen't have desktop /? No Desktop Manager ? How to install it /:lolflag:

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners_Guide

During the install routine, you were given the option to configure your system. This is a rather critical step. There are options on that screen to set the root passwrd and choose your pacman mirror. You are given the option to edit your /etc/rc.conf file which is the heart of your Archlinux install.

If you did not set a root password, then login as root with no password and set one using the passwd command. From there follow the steps in the beginner's guide to finishing your install.

[regomodo]

i've decided to leave Archlinux. Actually i've not used for 2 weeks now. The pain in not being able to use the Arduino IDE is too much. I've spent way too much time trying to get such a simple thing to work that i have decided to give up.

I may go back again one day but i haven't felt the urge the last 2 weeks since i wiped my install with Debian. Oh well.

[aeto]

what urge are you referring to? if Debian was serving you fairly _OK_, why bother with another Linux? Furthermore, why even wipe it?

Arduino in AUR (http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?do_Details=1&ID=8388&O=0&L=0&C=0&K=arduino&SB=n&SO=a&PP=25&do_MyPackages=0&do_Orphans=0&SeB=nd) - Outdated, but at least it's there. Or do you mean you have issues with it run-time?

Yes, if you aren't getting productivity more than work done after 2 weeks, you should go back to Debian or check out another distro where your purpose of using a computer can be salvaged.

[PurposeOfReason]

I'm asking this here because less Ubuntu users use urxvt.

I know how to make it transparent with the alpha channel, but is there a way to make it more transparent? I'd like it to be slightly more so. My Xdefaults if it matters to you:


URxvt.termName: rxvt
URxvt.transparent: true
URxvt.inheritPixmap: False
URxvt.imLocale: pl_PL.UTF-8
URxvt.scrollBar: false
URxvt.saveLines: 500
URxvt.urlLauncher: firefox
URxvt.cursorBlink: true
URxvt.geometry: 80x21
URxvt.fading: 25%
urxvt.font: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:pixelsize=8
urxvt.boldFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:bold:pixelsize=9
#URxvt*background: #000000
urxvt.depth: 32
urxvt.background: rgba:0000/0000/0000/dddd
URxvt.foreground: #ffffff
URxvt.tintColor: #262626
URxvt.borderLess: true
URxvt.borderColor: #000000
URxvt.externalBorder: 1
!URxvt.internalBorder: 25

*foreground: rgba:1000/1000/1000/dddd
*background: rgb:10/10/10
!black
*color0: rgb:20/20/20
*color8: rgb:75/77/73
!red
*color1: rgb:cc/00/00
*color9: rgb:ef/29/29
!green
*color2: rgb:4e/9a/06
*color10: rgb:8a/e2/34
!brown/yellow
*color3: rgb:c4/a0/00
*color11: rgb:fc/e9/4f
!blue
*color4: rgb:34/65/a4
*color12: rgb:72/9f/cf
!magenta
*color5: rgb:75/50/7b
*color13: rgb:ad/7f/a8
!cyan
*color6: rgb:06/98/9a
*color14: rgb:34/e2/e2
!white
*color7: rgb:d3/d7/cf
*color15: rgb:ee/ee/ec

[Gigamo]

While you ask that question, I'm stuck with this: I have tried using your exact Xdefaults, but I get no transparency at all (while you do in your screenshots with it). Is this because I don't run xcompmgr? The only way I can get transparency atm is with inheritPixmap.

[PurposeOfReason]

You need beryl, compiz, xcompmgr or something running.

Also (not related) I remember there was a howto for the ubunt wallpapaer (the default brown with curved lines), and I lost it. Does anyone have that as I'm going to do a wall based off of that.

Found it.
http://gimp-tutorials.net/node/106

[Ub1476]

Anyone around here who know how to downgrade xorg from 1.4 to 1.3? Catalyst won't work with 1.4 (god damn ATI).

[PurposeOfReason]

Anyone around here who know how to downgrade xorg from 1.4 to 1.3? Catalyst won't work with 1.4 (god damn ATI).
I know how to hold a release but to roll back I'd check the pacman wiki. I'll check right now too.

Some walls I made.
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=74346

[yabbadabbadont]

@PurposeOfReason: If you didn't find an answer to your transparency issue, it could be because you didn't have a "shading" entry in your .Xdefauls for Uxrvt.

Example: URxvt*shading: 25

[Dimitriid]

Can the mods reconsider an Arch Linux sub forum? This thread has over 900 posts yet the entire BSD sub forum has 819 posts according to my calculation.

Its clearly too hard to follow a single thread anymore.

[PurposeOfReason]

@PurposeOfReason: If you didn't find an answer to your transparency issue, it could be because you didn't have a "shading" entry in your .Xdefauls for Uxrvt.

Example: URxvt*shading: 25
Tried it with no difference.

[regomodo]

what urge are you referring to? if Debian was serving you fairly _OK_, why bother with another Linux? Furthermore, why even wipe it?

Arduino in AUR (http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?do_Details=1&ID=8388&O=0&L=0&C=0&K=arduino&SB=n&SO=a&PP=25&do_MyPackages=0&do_Orphans=0&SeB=nd) - Outdated, but at least it's there. Or do you mean you have issues with it run-time?

Yes, if you aren't getting productivity more than work done after 2 weeks, you should go back to Debian or check out another distro where your purpose of using a computer can be salvaged.
That is very outdated and doesn't work. I helped with the archwiki on how to get the arduino's dependencies (which were also outdated in the aur) to install and get the IDE to start up without spitting errors everywhere.
The main issue was getting the IDE to see the correct port. Despite a "cat /devttyUSB0" worked (if the arduino was told to send data), the ide refused to see it even though the config files were set correctly.
I spent way too much time just to get that far and it appeared only 2 other people actually use the arduino in Archlinux. Not worth my time at all.

[K.Mandla]

Can the mods reconsider an Arch Linux sub forum? This thread has over 900 posts yet the entire BSD sub forum has 819 posts according to my calculation.

Its clearly too hard to follow a single thread anymore.
I think at this point it would be best to start a thread requesting a new subforum in Forum Feedback and Help. Make sure you explain why it's necessary, and what benefits you see coming from it.

I'm sure if you present the idea politely and logically, with lots of reasons, the admins will do their best to satisfy the community's requests.

For my own part I'm going to stay on the sidelines for this one, because I'm biased on the issue (I use it pretty much all the time :roll: ).

[nat6138]

What kind of network connection do you use? or is it not worth chasing?

It's a wireless, but I also have wired, and neither worked at all.

And everything was setup correctly.

[fackamato]

It's a wireless, but I also have wired, and neither worked at all.

And everything was setup correctly.

If "Everything was setup correctly" and you didn't manage to get a working network, there was either a kernel bug, or some hardware error. Was the module for your network loaded? Did you see it in dmesg? Did you notice any errors in dmesg? Did you manage to get a working (pingable) network connection when set up manually with a static IP, with ifconfig? Did you set up rc.conf correctly in the network section, and then restarted /etc/rc.d/network ?

:lolflag:

[Rumor]

I think at this point it would be best to start a thread requesting a new subforum in Forum Feedback and Help. Make sure you explain why it's necessary, and what benefits you see coming from it.

I'm sure if you present the idea politely and logically, with lots of reasons, the admins will do their best to satisfy the community's requests.

For my own part I'm going to stay on the sidelines for this one, because I'm biased on the issue (I use it pretty much all the time :roll: ).

I'll undertake this task. I can probably even manage polite :)

Ok, I've posted in the Forum Feedback and Help sub-forum . . . if this were an election, I'd tell you to go vote twice! :D

[nat6138]

If "Everything was setup correctly" and you didn't manage to get a working network, there was either a kernel bug, or some hardware error. Was the module for your network loaded? Did you see it in dmesg? Did you notice any errors in dmesg? Did you manage to get a working (pingable) network connection when set up manually with a static IP, with ifconfig? Did you set up rc.conf correctly in the network section, and then restarted /etc/rc.d/network ?

:lolflag:

Lets see, drivers were on there, ip's were all set up, according to what is I know, trying pinging, told me to screw off, and I said screw it.

Considering that when I log onto Ubuntu, everything is setup and working good.

So, I guess Arch just isn't my cup of tea.

[fackamato]

Lets see, drivers were on there, ip's were all set up, according to what is I know, trying pinging, told me to screw off, and I said screw it.

Considering that when I log onto Ubuntu, everything is setup and working good.

So, I guess Arch just isn't my cup of tea.

That is exactly my point. Arch is not your cup of tea. That is no reason to diss arch. Arch is not meant to set everything up for you, a lá Windows style. Ops, I mean ubuntu. ;)

[nat6138]

That is exactly my point. Arch is not your cup of tea. That is no reason to diss arch. Arch is not meant to set everything up for you, a lá Windows style. Ops, I mean ubuntu. ;)

Didn't diss Arch, said it didn't work with the internet, and I didn't like it.

Who would?

[PurposeOfReason]

Didn't diss Arch, said it didn't work with the internet, and I didn't like it.

Who would?
I do and right now (after an update) I can't unplug my laptop or it'll lock and have to restart. First it was saying my battery was stuck at 0%, now it says I have 2 batteries. It'll be fixed soon. I'm going to have to do a clean install before I go to the dorms and make sure I only use stable things and lock important packages.

[Tenken]

Didn't diss Arch, said it didn't work with the internet, and I didn't like it.

Who would?

Lots of people do, and saying that it's hard to believe that anyone would like it sounds like a diss to me.

Also, +1 for the Arch Sub Forum, there are lots of questions/problems posted in this thread that get kind of lost in a jumble going from Urxvt settings to install troubles to battery issues.

[p_quarles]

Didn't diss Arch, said it didn't work with the internet, and I didn't like it.

Who would?
Yeah, that sounds like a diss to me. You've made your opinion on Arch clear, and I don't see any reason for you to post further in this thread.

[mips]

I'll undertake this task. I can probably even manage polite :)

Ok, I've posted in the Forum Feedback and Help sub-forum . . . if this were an election, I'd tell you to go vote twice! :D

I gave you some backup ;)

[Drakx]

Looks like we got a sub forums for arch now :P good work guys

[mips]

Looks like we got a sub forums for arch now :P good work guys

I think a 'thank you' would be in order here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=681565

[pelle.k]

Well deserved IMO. Thankyou moderators/forum staff. :)
Can i suggest someone puts a sticky thread with links to the beginners guide, and the official install guide since these two are the most common advice arch nubies get...?
The FAQ might also be of interest, especially item no. 1
Q) I am a complete Linux beginner. Should I use Arch?

A) This question has had much debate. Arch is targeted at more-advanced Linux users, but some people feel "Arch is a good place to start". If you are a beginner and want to use Arch, just be warned that you MUST be willing to learn. Before asking any question, do your own independent research by googling, searching the Wiki, and searching the forum (and reading past FAQs). If you do that, you should be fine. Also know that many people do not want to answer the same basic questions over and over, so you are exposing yourself to that environment. There is a reason these resources were created/made available to you. You could reference the ArchLinux Newbie Guide.

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/FAQ
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners_Guide
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Official_Arch_Linux_Install_Guide

[aeto]

This must also be highlighted: Unlike other distros, Arch is not primarily concerned about the user. The user is important, sure, but most important are simplicity and elegance. The user is important as long as it does not interfere with these doctrines.

[floke]

Anyone around here who know how to downgrade xorg from 1.4 to 1.3? Catalyst won't work with 1.4 (god damn ATI).

This question got lost so I will try to answer.
If you haven't cleared your cache with pacman -Scc then you need to use pacman -A /var/cache/pacman/[name-of-package]

You might have to remove first - and you can then pin it in your pacman.conf so that it doesn't get upgraded back again

hope this helps

(am currently in debian so can't check the exact filepath - but i think that's right!)

[aeto]

Right, /var/cache/pacman/pkg/$package

-A is deprecated. -U should be used.

One can grab a package from anywhere on the web. Pacman takes URIs. So look out for laggy mirrors, they can help you in this case.

The option in pacman.conf is IgnorePkg. Add it, it's not there by default. Syntax is same as the rest, like HoldPkg.

[Rumor]

Well deserved IMO. Thankyou moderators/forum staff. :)
Can i suggest someone puts a sticky thread with links to the beginners guide, and the official install guide since these two are the most common advice arch nubies get...?
The FAQ might also be of interest, especially item no. 1


http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/FAQ
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners_Guide
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Official_Arch_Linux_Install_Guide

I don't mind undertaking something like this. A sort of "Welcome to the Arch sub-forum" introduction with sections for introducing Arch, useful links etc. I can post it to the forum here for suggestions and once we're happy with it, K.Mandla or someone with admin abilities can sticky it for us.

Unless someone else wants to undertake this?

[K.Mandla]

Is this sufficiently KISS?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=682160

We can start another one if there are additional resources that are worth mentioning.

[Rumor]

Is this sufficiently KISS?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=682160

We can start another one if there are additional resources that are worth mentioning.

Whoops . . . you and I must have posted moments apart :-)

[K.Mandla]

I saw that. I copy and pasted your version in, since it was better and more complete. :) Cheers!

[raul_]

Last time I tried downgrading Xorg, it went bad, very bad...

well, not so bad actually, because I just installed the new version again =P I just removed catalyst and went back to the Open Source radeon drivers, that were working fine (and still are)

[PurposeOfReason]

Tried it with no difference.

Future reference to all who want a more transparent urxvt, change the alpha channel from dddd to aaaa.

[raul_]

Is the site down? I can't open any arch's sites. It's weird because I can ping them...

[yabbadabbadont]

Yep, it's been down for a couple of hours at least.

[ST.x]

hmm i just found out that creative x-fi cards arent really supported in linux, i know about the first beta driver for x64 but it doesnt sound promising. Any arch users have this card working? i have an xtremeMusic.

[rocknrolf77]

Then you are in luck. Creative has finally decided to release spesifications :)

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/02/11/creative-labs-releases-specs

[ST.x]

Then you are in luck. Creative has finally decided to release spesifications :)

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/02/11/creative-labs-releases-specs

sweet, mm ill just my onboard sound until this comes out then. After all I cant let something stop me from going to arch : )

[handy]

I've just successfully installed Arch. This was my 2nd attempt, the first failed attempt was directly after my first 3 days of trying to get Gentoo to install, both of these were about 8 months ago.

X in Gentoo just would not under any circumstances do what it was supposed to. Someone said it was a problem in the BIOS of my motherboard? I don't know.

The first install of Arch was so much easier than Gentoo, but collapsed in a heap during the install the first time, & I was about out of perseverance at the time.

Anyway 2nd time with Arch went really well except for getting the nVidia proprietary drivers to work for my AGP XFX nVidia 7950GT card. I spent over 12 hours on that problem (split over 2 days with a few days off in between :-) ) any way cracked that today which made me so happy, because I really like Arch but would not have been able to stay with it without the card working properly.

Here is a link to the simple solution (as usual) for anyone that is interested. (http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4621147&postcount=42)

I think I might try & install Arch on my Alu' 24" iMac. Has anyone here had succes on that hardware?

[d3br074]

I have found arch to be easier to use than ubuntu becuase I don't find myself needing to reinstall the OS every 6 months....With a rolling release system it is constantly up to date, and I don't find myself wistfully looking for the latest version of software that I have becuase it will be in the repo's of arch within days. Also, pacman is ridiculously fast.

[handy]

I have found arch to be easier to use than ubuntu becuase I don't find myself needing to reinstall the OS every 6 months....With a rolling release system it is constantly up to date, and I don't find myself wistfully looking for the latest version of software that I have becuase it will be in the repo's of arch within days. Also, pacman is ridiculously fast.

I need to use NeroLinux, as it is the most reliable on my hardware, so I looked for it via pacman, it was not available so then I tried yaourt & the latest 3.5.0.1 version which was like less than 2 days old was there! :-D

With pacman & yaourt supplying binaries, they are so much simpler & quicker to use than the Gentoo system that I have been using on Sabayon. Everything under portage took me 20 minutes or more to download, compile & install.

Having just installed Arch, I'm still setting up & learning about it, so I'm yet to truly appreciate the rolling release process from experience, but I like what I have read.

Also, there are no more trashed X's from kernel & graphic card driver updates!

Speedy Arch seems to be a time saver on multiple fronts!

[rocknrolf77]

Pacman and yaourt is one of the main reasons arch is my main distro. It's the fastest package manager out there. And with AUR you have a lot of updated packages all the time.

But for my laptop I use ubuntu, because everything just works. Things like suspend is working from a fresh install.

[raul_]

For me rolling release + pacman + AUR = life saver

[Frak]

For me rolling release + pacman + AUR = life saver
Agreed

I also add ABS to the mix.

[will1911a1]

Threw Arch on a second drive a few days ago and I'm loving it. Took a while to get some things configured the way I wanted them, but in the end I'm left with a sleek installation that run only the stuff I want.

It's a great distro. :D

[mips]

Took a while to get some things configured the way I wanted them, but in the end I'm left with a sleek installation that run only the stuff I want.


Takes a while to get it going, especially the first time but it ends up like a well cut suite from a tailor, you have to love it.

[will1911a1]

Takes a while to get it going, especially the first time but it ends up like a well cut suite from a tailor, you have to love it.

That's the truth! It being my first installation, I think I was at it for about an hour (reading the beginner's guide VERY carefully), but it was well worth it.

Took some work to get the clock right (needed to install openntpd and make sure the network daemon was NOT running in the background) and to get fluxbox to run in 1280x1024 everytime (had to edit the fluxbox startup to auto run xarandr -s).

I'm still tinkering with it, but just for fun. :)

[mips]

I'm still tinkering with it, but just for fun. :)

The weird thing is once I got everything running the way I wanted it I never tinkered or tweaked it again.

[will1911a1]

The weird thing is once I got everything running the way I wanted it I never tinkered or tweaked it again.

Once my curiosity is satisfied I'll most likely never touch it again, but for now I'm having a lot of fun playing with it. It's already to the point where I could use it as an everyday computer but there's something about playing with it's guts that puts a smile on my face.

Makes my wife think I'm crazy too. ;)

[derekr44]

The weird thing is once I got everything running the way I wanted it I never tinkered or tweaked it again.

+1 That's why I like Arch so much. Make it the way you want it and there is a heck of a lot less hassle later on.

[Gigamo]

The weird thing is once I got everything running the way I wanted it I never tinkered or tweaked it again.

+2

[Frak]

The weird thing is once I got everything running the way I wanted it I never tinkered or tweaked it again.
+3

[finferflu]

The weird thing is once I got everything running the way I wanted it I never tinkered or tweaked it again.
-1

[MisfitI38]

-1

-2 ;)
Hehe. I can't stop customizing, building up, tearing down, rearranging and abusing Arch.,
I just can't seem to break it. :D

[will1911a1]

-2 ;)
Hehe. I can't stop customizing, building up, tearing down, rearranging and abusing Arch.,
I just can't seem to break it. :D

That's what's so fun about it!

[Barrucadu]

What's the point of a computer if not for fun? :P

[will1911a1]

What's the point of a computer if not for fun? :P

Some people do this "work" thing on their computers. I've never understood it. ;)

But seriously, most of the reason I own a computer at all is for fun. I sometimes use it for information and only occasionally for work (that's what the computer at the office is for :P).

[Barrucadu]

"Work"? I do not understand this concept. Could someone explain it to me? :lol:

[raul_]

"Work"? I do not understand this concept. Could someone explain it to me? :lol:

It's a myth.

but yeah, while tinkering is fun, I think Arch steals less (none?) time because once you have your system running, you don't have to reinstall every six months, and go through the whole backup,download,install,install all my favorite apps/themes again.

Once you go rolling release you don't go back

[will1911a1]

"Work"? I do not understand this concept. Could someone explain it to me? :lol:

It has something to do with "life" but I couldn't tell you more than that. :(

Once you go rolling release you don't go back

Amen!

[shearn89]

hey, i didn't know this thread was here... *yay*

[finferflu]

In case you haven't noticed, we have a whole subforum (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=321) :D

[shearn89]

W00t!!!

[kaiju]

In case you haven't noticed, we have a whole subforum (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=321) :D

sweet. :)