installing arch

August 12, 2021

installation procedure

1. boot to iso

2. partition disks

• fdisk -l to identify disk
• fdisk /dev/sdX or fdisk /dev/nvmeXXX
• create partitions
  1. efi partition, +512M as #1 EFI System type
  2. root partition, +40G as #23 Linux x86_64
  3. home partition, remaining capacity as Linux Filesystem

3. format partitions

• efi partition mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1
• root and home mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdaX

4. networking

• wired should already work
• wifi wifi-menu

5. update system and install reflector, update reflector

$ pacman -Syy
$ pacman -S reflector
# backup mirrorlist
$ cp /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.bak
# update mirrorlist
$ reflector -c "US" -f 12 -l 10 -n 12 --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

6. mount partitions

# mkdirs
$ mkdir -pv /mnt/home /mnt/boot/efi
# mount partitions
$ mount /dev/sda2 /mnt # root partition to /mnt
$ mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi  # efi partition to /mnt/boot/efi
$ mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/home # home partition to /mnt/home

7. install arch system

$ pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware vim 

8. generate fstab

genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

9. arch-chroot and set up system

# enter system as root
$ arch-chroot /mnt
# timezone
$ timedatectl set-timezone America/Chicago
# locale
$ vim /etc/local.gen # uncomment locale en_US-UTF.8
$ echo LANG=en_US-UTF.8 > /etc/locale/conf
$ export LANG=en_US-UTF.8
# hosts
$ echo myarch > /etc/hostname # customize hostname for myarch
$ vim /etc/hosts
  # ADD HOSTS
  127.0.0.1     localhost
  ::1           localhost
  127.0.1.1     myarch    #same as hostname
$ passwd # set root password
# update pacman.conf
$ vim /etc/pacman.conf
  # add ILoveCandy to the options section
  [Options]
  ...
  ILoveCandy

  # uncomment multilib section
  [multilib]
  Include=/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

10. install grub

$ pacman -S grub efibootmgr
$ grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --bootloader-id=GRUB --efi-directory=/boot/efi
$ grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

11. install desktop

$ pacman -S xorg sddm plasma kde-applications
# if nvidia gpu
$ pacman -S nvidia nvidia-settings nvidia-utils nvidia-dkms lib32-nvidia-utils vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader
# if amd cpu
$ pacman -S amd-ucode
# other utils
$ pacman -S nfs-utils neofetch firefox git base-devel ttf-fira-code ttf-fira-mono ttf-fira-sans ttf-dejavu

12. enable display server, network, config dm

$ systemctl enable sddm
$ systemctl enable NetworkManager
$ vim /usr/lib/sddm/sddm.conf.d/default.conf
  # find [Theme] and add 'breeze'
  [Theme]
  Current=breeze

13. Reboot

# exit arch-chroot
$ exit
$ systemctl reboot

post-install config

install software

• install aur/yay

  $ cd /opt
  $ sudo git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay-git.git
  $ sudo chown -R gavin:gavin ./yay-git
  $ cd yay-git
  $ makepkg -si
  $ sudo yay -Syu
  

• install software pacman

  pacman -S steam lutris newsboat mpv youtube-dl jq fzf ueberzug conky thunderbird signal-desktop virtualbox libreoffice-still rsync rclone wget
  

  • steam
  • lutris
  • newsboat
  • mpv
  • youtube-dl
  • jq fzf ueberzug
  • conky
  • signal
  • thunderbird
  • virtualbox
    • sudo modprobe vboxdrv
    • sudo vim /etc/modules-load.d/virtualbox.conf
      • add vboxdrv
    • sudo usermod -aG vboxusers gavin
    • https://www.virtualbox.org/ > downloads > extensions > all supported platforms
    • open virtualbox, add extension
  • libreoffice
  • rsync
  • rclone
    • copy rclone config file
  • wget

• install AUR software yay

  yay -S brave-bin vscodium bottom gwe ttf-ms-win10 synology-drive conky openrgb discord_arch_electron mangohud minecraft-launcher slack-desktop
  

  • brave
  • codium
  • bottom
  • conky
  • gwe (nvidia)
  • synology drive client
  • openRGB
    • pacman -S i2c-tools
    • Allowing access to SMBus:
      • Load the i2c-dev module: sudo modprobe i2c-dev
    • Load the i2c driver for your chipset:
    • AMD:
      • modprobe i2c-piix4
  • ytfzf
  • mangohud
  • discord
  • minecraft
  • slack

• install wine

  $ sudo pacman -S wine-staging giflib lib32-giflib libpng lib32-libpng libldap lib32-libldap gnutls lib32-gnutls mpg123 lib32-mpg123 openal lib32-openal v4l-utils lib32-v4l-utils libpulse lib32-libpulse libgpg-error lib32-libgpg-error alsa-plugins lib32-alsa-plugins alsa-lib lib32-alsa-lib libjpeg-turbo lib32-libjpeg-turbo sqlite lib32-sqlite libxcomposite lib32-libxcomposite libxinerama lib32-libgcrypt libgcrypt lib32-libxinerama ncurses lib32-ncurses opencl-icd-loader lib32-opencl-icd-loader libxslt lib32-libxslt libva lib32-libva gtk3 lib32-gtk3 gst-plugins-base-libs lib32-gst-plugins-base-libs vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader
  

• install thinkorswim

  • yay -S zulu-11-bin
  • download installer script from thinkorswim
  • run script

• install ssg

  • https://shibby.xyz/install-ssg.html
  • dependencies: cpio lowdown
    • pacman -S cpio
    • yay -S lowdown

system configs

• config fonts

  • yay -S ttf-ubraille ttf-symbola
  • yay -Rs gnu-free-fonts
  • fc-cache -fv --really-force

• copy dotfiles

  • alias
  • bash prompt
  • newsboat config
    • ~/.newsboat
  • conky
    • ~/.config/.conkyrc
  • mangohud config
    • ~/.config/MangoHud/MangoHud.conf
    • /usr/share/doc/mangohud/MangoHud.conf.example

• config dolphin

  • disable zoom slider
  • show home directory on startup
  • disable folders expandable

• config konsole

  • do not remember window size
  • import profile
    • location: ~/.local/share/konsole/
  • import colors
    • /usr/share/konsole/
    • sudo cp share/unraid/files/salient/Salient\ OS.colorscheme /usr/share/konsole/
  • hide menubar
  • hide toolbar

• thunderbird

  • ~/.thunderbird replace with backup

• kde connect

• create share folders

  $ mkdir -pv ~/share/unraid/files ~/share/unraid/backups ~/share/unraid/isos ~/share/unraid/photos ~/share/unraid/downloads ~/share/unraid/sinefiles
  

• update fstab with shared drives

  • fstab

  • 192.168.50.148:/mnt/user/files  /home/gavin/share/unraid/urFiles  nfs  rw,dev,exec,auto,user,async  0  0
    

• ssh keys

customize kde

• global theme - breeze dark
• app style - breeze
• plasma - breeze dark
  • plasma-apply-desktoptheme breeze-dark
• colors - salient dark
  • /usr/share/color-schemes/
  • sudo cp ~/share/unraid/files/salient/SalientDark.colors /usr/share/color-schemes/
  • plasma-apply-colorscheme SalientDark
• window decorations
  • theme breeze
  • edit remove circle around close button
  • edit shadows 35%
• icons - tela dark/tela circle dark
• cursors - bibata-original-classic
• splash screen - none
• wallpaper
  • desktop
  • login screen
  • lock screen
• compositor - opengl 3.1
• general behavior
  • clicking files or folders selects them
• window management
  • task switcher: large icons
  • window behavior > advanced > window placement > centered
• keyboard shortcuts
  • super+t terminal
  • super+e dolphin
  • super+d desktop
  • super+esc lock screen
  • super+a show all windows
    • toggle present windows current desktop
  • remap caps lock to esc
• krunner
  • position on screen: center
• panel
  • content
    • application menu - avalon menu
      • icon arch logo
    • show desktop
    • icons only task manager
    • separator
    • better inline clock
    • separator
    • system tray
  • position: top
  • width: 32
• system monitor widgets
  • if blank, pacman -S ksysguard and reboot
• IMPORT OPTIONS
  • install Plasma Customization Saver
  • import default.tar.gz

references

its foss
kde sddm not wayland
its foss (kde/wayland)
install yay/aur
install virtualbox on arch btm font braille kde-configuration-files kde config to kwriteconfig.kt

other

packages installed but these failed on a previous install
vulkan-icd-loader
lib32-nvidia-utils
lib32-vulkan-icd-loader

research/future items

• arch disk encryption
  • encrypted arch install
  • arch install disk encrypt
• bash vs zsh
  • pacman -S zsh zsh-completions grml-zsh-config
  • arch zsh
  • configure zsh
  • configure zsh ohmyzsh
  • bash vs zsh linuxhint
  • bash vs zsh reddit
• benefits of swap
  • https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Swap
• update kde settings from cli OR through script file
• backup kde settings:
  • backup kde
• btm cpu freq
• pass
  • using pass
• disable GRUB boot menu
  • disable boot menu
  • grup tips and hide grub unless shift is pressed
• add grub boot splash screen
  • bootsplash
• copy from vim screen in konsole
• IRC/Matrix
• startup: conky
• add .local/bin to PATH