[SOLVED] Installing Arch on usb stick - login to emergency mode only

I have checked fstbe which is correct
block is in HOOKS line. Also added ext4 to MODULES
not but not least, i have used that usb for live distros and full installs. also portioned with gparted
most attractive errors in log are
kvm disabled in bios (i am installing only 32 bit version, booted to 32bit)
can not execute plymouth
any ideas
thanks in advance
Last edited by Archhotep (2013-03-25 13:19:28)

WonderWoofy wrote:
Archhotep wrote:
Trilby wrote:It will continue working until you change what usb's are plugged in again. If you want a real solution use UUID in fstab.
I understand that. but both UUIDs and devices (/dev/sdX) are there in fstab if I am correct. I will check that in evening. if so did i make a mistake in generating fstab.
I have generated fstab with
genfstab -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab (does this happens if i forget -p).
as I have done this multiple times, I might have done some thing wrong. I will edit that file manually and removed /dev/sdx entries from that
Honestly, you are not very good at sharing what is actually in your configs. So as Trilby said above, no one really knows what is in your fstab, since you have not actually shared that with this thread.
As far as I can tell, when I run "genfstab -p /" on my running machine, letting the output just be dumped to stdout, it doesn't give me UUIDs anywhere. And from your statement it seems you haven't even actually checked.
What I have done in the past is used labels. For example if you are using ext2, ext3, or ext4, you could assign a label using "e2label". So lets say you label your rootfs (/) "usb_root". Now instead of using the unreliable /dev/sdXY format, you can use LABEL=usb_root in your fstab, and in the bootloader you can use root=LABEL=usb_root (or root=/dev/disk/by-label/usb_root).
I would also like to mention that this quote sucks:
Archhotep wrote:No. UUIDs are there in the boot loader (I think) and grub was working fine and why the system is trying to boot at first place.
There are a number of people who are patiently trying to walk you through this issue (with quite a bit more hand holding that usually takes place around here), and you don't have the decency/appreciation to even take the time to confirm what you are actually using in the configs that everyone is telling you to check and/or change.
Sir,
I was a standard linux (i mean ubuntu etc) user until sometime back. I don't know exactly what should be there in /etc/fstab. I also do not know what information you might need to help me. If any one asked me the details about /etc/fstab etc might have provided. I have given what info what I felt was appropriate and enough. I do not have that machine with me when I was posting lat post, otherwise I might have posted. that laptop is at home. I already said thanks in my third post immediately after I solve the problem.
Sorry if I am wrong, and thatnk you once again for letting me about labels.
If I still have a question about /etc/fstab, i will post my fstab.
I don't know where to look to know that my boot loader is using uuid or dev. It would be great help.
Last edited by Archhotep (2013-03-25 16:06:11)

Similar Messages

Not able to install arch from USB stick.

Hi all
First off I'm trying to install arch into my 8540w hp laptop. I have failed and here I'm seeking for help.
I have downloaded the latest arch iso image and put it into a usb stick for the installation
Here is how i prepared the usb.
tried :
sudo dd bs=4M if=archlinux-2013.06.01-dual.iso of=/dev/sdb
to write the iso in to the usb.
I have no success to boot up my 8540w machine (machine stalled on the HP logo)
I went through the wiki and found there some bugs which related to some old firmware (doesn't make any sense)
My laptop relatively new about 2 year old machine bios firmware upgraded a year ago. ( I have no problem to boot with my old Ibm T60)
To rectify the bugs Wiki guided me to:
1. sudo isohybrid.pl -offset 1 archlinux-2013.06.01-dual.iso
2. sudo dd if=archlinux-2013.06.01-dual.iso of=/dev/sdX
I have successfully boot up but the hope soon died
I'm getting these error messages:
mount: you must specify the filesystem type
ERROR;Failed to mount 'dev/disk/by-label/ARCH_201306"
here a snap shot of entire messages
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
Last edited by archlux (2013-06-12 21:52:10)

The filesystem needs to be labeled ARCH_201306. If you dd the iso to the USB, this stays in tact, but it would seem that if you use the method mentioned by the wiki above this filesystem label is not preserved...
Does this machine have UEFI? If so, then you can make a UEFI USB live media and have at it that way. There are instructions on the UEFI wiki page.
FWIW, new and updated firmware does not equate to bug free. I have a Thinkpad E430 that is less than a year old, and the original firmware was not without its bugs. If I have a certain USB stick in the USB 3.0 ports the machine won't get past POST. For a couple bios versions aes-ni was totally borked. There have been other minor issues as well.

EXFAT formatted USB stick - sharing permissions wrong - Read Only - Cannot Reformat - Help please!

EXFAT formatted USB stick - sharing permissions wrong - Read Only - Cannot Reformat - Help please!
Hi.
Having various problems with a USB stick that is formatted in EX-FAT.
It was working fine for a long period.
Yesterday I lent it to a friend to put some things on it.
Now when I try and work on it, I get messages like this.
Mac OS X can’t repair the disk “Disk Name"
You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can’t save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can.
It will also randomly eject the drive.
I have tried to reformat it multiple times, in mac and windows.
[I have never used it in windows previous to this occasion of needing to reformat].
In windows, it crashes the disk when I attempt to format with disk manager [I attempted this due to advice in an internet article].
In Mac , I cannot even try to reformat it, because for some reason the permissions on the USB stick have been set to "read only" and I cannot find any way to change them to read-write, or full permissions, or whatever is appropriate.
I have tried "erase" disk in disk utility. I know how to do a full reformat, but it simply will not allow me to do so.
All the options are greyed out.
Does anybody have any information or links they can point me to?
I've been searching around.
Thanks very much in advance for any advice received.
Running latest mountain lion , 10.8.4, and windows 7 through VMware fusion.

Start over:
select the drive > select the Partition tab > select 1 Partition
select Option > select GUID Partition Table > select OK
name it > click the Apply button > then lastly click Partition

[SOLVED] Install Arch Linux on USB Stick!

So, here is the deal. I want to install Arch Linux on a USB Stick so I can plug it at any computer and have my system... with me
I've had a little bit experience with Arch so I know a few things about it... used it for a few months before on a real system.
My USB stick is a HighSpeed 17-20 MBPS and it's 16 GB capacity.
So how do I do it?
Last edited by 1lj4z1 (2012-04-05 07:25:53)

I'm using occasionally Arch installed on HDD-USB, I've just added usb hook to mkinitcpio.conf and removed autodetect (more modules=more hardware supported). So far it worked on 3 different computers (all of them have one main HDD so no grub issues, but it's no biggie if it doesn't boot right away, you can always edit grub on-the-fly by pressing "e")
About USB stick: installing on USB stick is not the same as running it in LIVE mode! Consider yourself warned.
If you just install it you really should read about SSD optimizations because USB flash cells also have limited read/write cycles (actually is less robust and sophisticated than SSD). Something to look at: noatime mount option, disable swap if not necessary, profile-sync-daemon and so on...
1lj4z1 wrote:Well I don't need to chroot, i am running it live. I'll see about mkinitcpio.conf but I can't understand what you mean rebuilding initramfs? What is that exactcly?
It means if you fiddle with mkinitcpio you should run:
# mkinitcpio -p linux
afterwards or bad things will happen
Last edited by masteryod (2012-03-27 15:37:13)

Boot from floppy and install arch from flash stick - NO CDR - USB 1.1

MY PREVIOUS POST BELOW BECAME A HARD DRIVE INSTALL POST WHICH HAS HELPED THOUGH ISN'T ON SUBJECT CURRENTLY AND I STILL NEED SOLUTION - Now at day 3 :-) - sorry!
I have old laptop with a very broken CDR... so just a floppy and a hard drive and 2 USB 1.1 ports.
[Need commands and which floppy is best]
The USB install WIKI
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ins … _USB_stick
says to write the .img file to flash stick...
--- that I can do!
Though trying a similar process:
I've had no luck with a hard drive install (also on wiki) as I believe that once I write the .img file to the hard drive it WILL boot though can't create mount points as the drive's in use!
Anyways...
IF I have the flash stick with the .img file on it as per the wiki instructions
what commands would I use and what boot floppy would work for:
- booting from floppy
- mounting? the flash stick with arch core on it
- then installing from there to single hard drive partition.
thing is I'm just barely ok with using
dd fdisk and mke2fs
So: I need to know what command to mount USB stick... then HOW do I get arch installer on the img file to boot up??
Any guru tips really needed ....thank you!
Last edited by yvonney (2009-01-28 08:44:59)

nice Kirurgs
doesn't boot from usb... and CDR very broken... good though as I've learned a lot....
dell inspiron 2500 1 ghz pentium III
method 1) used puppy after booting off wakepup2 floppy ....very handy that wakepup flopppy though be advised there's several versions of wakpup2 and try the second boot option on the aug or sept 2008 version it WILL find your USB device even if like me I had an old 128 meg one. also, Crash, a guy at the puppy forums has a 3 floppy set that's specific to whatever puppy version you're running... try that as a last resort
UN-NECESSARY BLATHER COMMENT: The way those puppys are created weird me out., the more I looked around, Yes, I've read a wee bit about Aufs, and what goes into the whole persistent thing.... seems like lotsa almost impossible to ever 'really' know stuff is going on it there.... Consider the source of that comment of course... I have huge blank spots in my knowledge and skill and am actually only a relentless year one linux'r... [not counting 6 years of hum and haw] though I'd wanna build my own live arch usb with tips from here before I ever tried to REALLY figure out what goes into creating puppy. I'm saying that at one or two points I thought.. hmnmm... perhaps puppy on this old laptop.... though concluded that ARCH for ALL things is really the only option. puppy's a great boot and hunt around thing though (for me, and in my current opinion).
method 2) eldamar and eldamar's guide which started me towards success .. which I basically now just do the dd command to an empty partition after booting from puppy .... THEN thrown in a supergrub floppy .... have it 'bring alive' the partition I've just dd'd the arch .img to.... and reboot.... oh, and from puppy I can create partitions as well.. gparted I think.
method 3) untested also can use plop floppy it's a boot loader... you may be able to get slitaz distro to create one for you through the 'bootfloppybox' terminal command... not sure if it uses the old floppy linux version of PloP or the win version or what.... dunnno dunno!!! gotta go! :--)
crazy busy so writing to say... pretty much all fine! :--)
for me this move was 3-4 days of lots of WONDERFUL bad luck... with everything from puppy hell, my partial-dumbness and back..
thing is.... I'm real good at it now.... hehehehe
gotta love problems!
Last edited by yvonney (2009-02-03 17:27:56)

[SOLVED]arch on usb stick, boot error

Hi,
i would like to create a i686 rescue usb arch install.
after googling a lot ive tried to install arch on my usb stick and get it booting, what ive done:
My x2 is running arch64, so i started with:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch64_Install_bundled_32bit_system
Changed HOOKS in mkinitcpio.conf to(for usb support at boot):
HOOKS="base udev autodetect usb ide scsi sata filesystems"
And regenerated the mkinit file:
mkinitcpio -p kernel26
Thx to MrElendig, #archlinux
Grub install: according to the "flash linux" install guide i used:
grub-install --recheck --root-directory=/mnt/usbkey /dev/sda1
But now the system stops with:
kinit: Cannot open root device sda1 (8,1)
kinit: init not found
any ideas?
greets
metalfan
Last edited by metalfan (2008-03-25 15:12:16)

using the HOOK autodetect wasnt a great idea since i used another system for testing the stick, removed it and added usb instead.
Thats it, some minor modifications are needed. Will add the steps to the wiki somewhere below "usb booting".
greets
metalfan

Install on SDCard/USB stick, toggle read-only filesystem - possible?

This is something I thought about while installing Arch on an SD card earlier. You know these small switches on some SD cards that make them read-only, right?
Would it be possible to have a setup where Archlinux is installed on a rewritable storage device like an USB Stick or an SD card, where one mode of operation would be to use it like a regular, persisting Arch install (with writeable filesystem). The second mode would be to use it similar to a Live CD, not persisting any data on the storage device and using RAM instead (mounting the root filesystem as read-only).
Basically, you could boot into regular mode (perhaps by choosing a seperate entry in GRUB), change configurations, update packages, etc. Then you reboot into read-only mode and use it as a Live CD with any changes to the filesystem stored only in RAM. This could be combined with system encryption to provide a secure and portable Arch installation that can be kept up-to date and simply by rebooting, you have a protected, volatile environment similar to a Live CD.
Is something like that possible? Has it been done already?

Comment on the "why" for Flash Device....quiet operation, less power required, faster performance and reduced size.
Faster boot time is also possible with raid applied.
As previously stated, running all in ram doesn't provide any performance improvement if the system has at least 2GB of ram. Thus the use of swap is not required with that much ram.
This principle also applies to Flash Devices which have algortithms controlling the writes across the entire card capacity such that larger capacity increases lifetime expectancy.
Copy- on- write is also proposed for flash devices which reduces the process steps for writing to flash.
In my experience with running-in-ram with CTKArch "live" system, I found not much to endorse using that mode. A negative of good proportion is the copy-to-ram loading time , which cannot be avoided.
Basically, faster ram is the best approach for performance enhancement in all systems.
Thus, there are herein some reasons for using flash in an arch booting system whether "live" or conventional or raid based.
My raid0 bootable system was outlined in previous post and am using it now. It is not a USB connected bus arrangement which inherently limits performance.
I find Compact Flash in UDMA or true IDE mode to provide good performance speed of 90mb/s read and 25mb/s write to be a fine alternative to hard drives. In raid0 read speed is doubled. Good reason for flash devices but not in usb mode.

[SOLVED] install i686 on USB key from x86_64 : how ?

Hi.
As written in the title, I'm trying to install an Arch system on an usb stick, with i686 architecture, from the Arch x86_64 system on my computer.
I would like to do it without copying the iso to an extra usb key.
From the wiki : "If you are already running Arch, simply install arch-install-scripts and proceed with the installation guide just like you would from the iso, [...]"
1) I'm not sure about what it means : can I actually do the install using arch-install-script, without using the iso or the bootstrap image ? Is that correct ?? (english is not my native language).
2) Anyway, it didn't work. So I downloaded the bootstrap(s) image(s).
Tried the i686 one, then the x86_64 one.
For each, I changed the architecture in pacman.conf from "architecture = auto" to "architecture = i686".
[~/tmp] tar xzf ~/downloads/archlinux-bootstrap-2015.03.01-x86_64.tar.gz
[~/tmp] vi root.x86_64/etc/pacman.conf
[~/tmp] vi root.x86_64/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[~/tmp] sudo root.x86_64/bin/arch-chroot root.x86_64/
sh-4.3#
sh-4.3# pacman-key --init
sh-4.3# pacman-key --populate archlinux
sh-4.3# lsblk
sh-4.3# mount /dev/sdc2 /mnt
sh-4.3# pacstrap -c /mnt base base-devel
(I tried with and without the -c option)
will give :
==> Creating install root at /mnt
==> Installing packages to /mnt
:: Synchronizing package databases...
core is up to date
extra is up to date
community is up to date
:: There are 50 members in group base:
:: There are 25 members in group base-devel:
warning: skipping target: file
warning: skipping target: findutils
warning: skipping target: gawk
warning: skipping target: gettext
warning: skipping target: grep
warning: skipping target: gzip
warning: skipping target: pacman
warning: skipping target: sed
warning: skipping target: texinfo
warning: skipping target: util-linux
warning: skipping target: which
error: failed to prepare transaction (package architecture is not valid)
:: package bash-4.3.033-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package bzip2-1.0.6-5-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
[same message with coreutils-8.23-1-x86_64 cryptsetup-1.6.6-1-x86_64
and more than 50 other packages, up to sudo-1.8.12-1-x86_64]
Same with the i686 bootstrap image :
[~/tmp] tar xzf ~/downloads/archlinux-bootstrap-2015.03.01-i686.tar.gz
[~/tmp] sudo cp /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist root.i686/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[~/tmp]♭ sudo root.i686/bin/arch-chroot root.i686/
sh-4.3# pacman-key --init
sh-4.3# pacman-key --populate archlinux
sh-4.3# lsblk
sh-4.3# mount /dev/sdc2 /mnt
sh-4.3# pacstrap /mnt base base-devel
error: failed to prepare transaction (package architecture is not valid)
:: package bash-4.3.033-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
Thanks.
Last edited by Tétrapyle (2015-03-23 21:27:30)

Thanks for your reply. I just updated the whole system.
Then
[~]$ sudo mount /dev/sdc2 /mnt
[~]$ sudo vi /etc/pacman.conf
My system is x86_64. I'm trying to install from that an i686 system.
If I run pacstrap now, it'll run ok but obviously it'll install an x86_64 system.
So, in pacman.conf, I changed Architecture from auto to i686 and I commented out the Multilib lines.
It seems it's not enough.
[~]$ sudo pacstrap -c /mnt
error: failed to prepare transaction (package architecture is not valid)
:: package bash-4.3.033-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package bzip2-1.0.6-5-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package coreutils-8.23-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package cryptsetup-1.6.6-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package device-mapper-2.02.116-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package dhcpcd-6.7.1-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package pkg-config-0.28-2-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package sudo-1.8.12-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
==> ERROR: Failed to install packages to new root
Where do these x86_64 come from ? Could it be they stand for the $arch in the Server line from /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist ?

[SOLVED] Installing arch linux using dd from anrdoid phone's sd card

Hello everybody, I'm totally new and totally excited about arch linux.
I'm trying to create a bootable android phone for some hours now with no success.
The reason I'm trying to do that, is because all my usb sticks are all over the place at friends houses.
Since I'm not the patient type, I decided to do it with my Android Phone's SD card cause I noticed that I have the option to boot from it during startup.
Now, what seems to be the problem is this:
I did "dd bs=4M if=/path/to/archlinux.iso of=/dev/sdc" which seemed to do the job. When I rebooted tho, I didn't see my phone as a booting option.
That was obviously due to unrecognized file system format. How can I dd and keep the filesystem type? I believe that it's ntfs or FAT.
I also tried to install without overwriting the stick, which was a failure, it said it wouldn't find the .cfg files when i ran the commands in the wiki.
Can somebody help me with this?
Thanks in advance
Last edited by deus_deceit (2013-02-10 02:13:12)

Yes, my phone's card works without adding software as soon as I plug it in, the problem appears to be this: when i do "dd" on the SD card the filesystem type changes which causes my phone thinking that the SD card is empty since it doesn't recognize that format and not showing as a bootable device. As soon as I format it with my phone and reboot, it's there. So what I want to do is, create a bootable SD card that keeps the filesystem format that my phone recognizes. Is that possible?
Last edited by deus_deceit (2013-02-10 00:58:54)

[SOLVED (mysteriously)] Arch on USB not recognized during boot

Hi there,
I hope, someone can help me with my problem, I have been searching and trying different things for quite some time now, without success.
I treated myself a new Notebook, Acer Aspire S7 and wanted to run Arch on it. However I am new to Linux and want to try it out on an USB-Stick, to keep the factory install of Win8 intact. (Also, this notebook does not have such a great HDD capacity) Additionally I want to have full disk encryption.
So I followed the Beginner's Guide with modifications described here and here
When it came to install the bootloader I chose Grub for EFI.
I then removed the USB-Stick with the live-Arch, which I used for installation and rebooted and it worked!
However: As soon as I completely shut down and boot again, the USB-Stick with my installation is no longer recognized. If i boot the live-Arch again, reinstall Grub and then reboot, it again works.
Here is something, I found strange. This is the output of efibootmgr:
BootCurrent: 0000
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 2001,0003,0002,2002,2003
Boot0000* USB HDD: KingstonDataTraveler 2.0
Boot0001* Intel HDD0
Boot0002* Windows Boot Manager
Boot0003* arch_grub
Boot2001* EFI USB Device
Boot2002* EFI DVD/CDROM
Boot2003* EFI Network
BootCurrent is 0000, but that number does not appear in the Boot-Order list. Could that be something?
Well, I hope someone has an idea. I will happily share any information about my setup with you, just ask.
Thanks,
Max
Last edited by MaxT (2014-04-07 08:35:20)

Sorry for digging that threat up again. I just wanted to share with you the solution to the problem I was having. Perhaps it will save someone else some frustration.
The Acer Aspire S7 has a dongle that goes in the display port and provides an ethernet and an VGA port. It was that dongle that prevented the USB stick with the Arch installation from being recognized. Done attached -> USB stick was ignored, dongle detached -> it worked.
I have no idea, why that is the case, but maybe this info is helpful for someone.
Cheers,
Max

[SOLVED] Booting Arch off USB HDD fails - can't mount real root device

I've installed Arch on the internal HDD (sda) of my laptop, and I attempted to install a second copy of Arch on partition sdb3 of an external USB HDD. sdb3 is a primary partition that I had prepared beforehand with gparted and outfitted with the reiserfs filesystem. I skipped section 3.2 (manually prepare hard drives) of the Arch installer. There was no problem with section 3.3 (manually configure filesystems and mountpoints); I put all of / in sdb3. Installing packages and configuring the system also went without a hitch.
I wanted to boot this new install of Arch via the boot menu of GRUB that was installed in the MBR of sda with my primary install of Arch. On the new install, I first did go through section 7 (install bootloader), thinking I would want to install GRUB in the root sector of partition sdb3 (not in the MBR of sdb where the GRUB of MintKDE resides, a boot menu that I want to keep) but that failed, so I then picked "no bootloader to be installed". With that I exited the new install, since it appeared to have gone to completion.
I then copied the appropriate stanza in the /boot/grub/menu.lst of this new Arch install to the /boot/grub/menu.lst of my primary Arch install on the internal HDD of my laptop.
This stanza reads as follows:
# (3) Arch Linux on WDPP60 blue (sdb3)
title Arch Linux on WDPP60 blue (sdb3)
root (hd1,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/191cc027-43ce-443b-8846-f265d60555ec ro
initrd /boot/kernel26.img
However, I'm not able to boot the new Arch install when I pick this entry from the GRUB menu list. The new install starts booting, finds sda but not sdb and stops with the following errors, dropping me to a recovery shell:
Root device /dev/disk/by-uuid... doesn't exist. Attempting to create it.
ERROR: Unable to determine major/minor number of root device '/dev/disk/by-uuid...'
mounting /dev/disk/by-uuid... on /new_root failed: No such file ...
ERROR: Failed to mount the real root device.
Running "mount -t reiserfs /dev/sdb3 /new_root" at the ramfs prompt also fails.
I've tried a number of edits of the menu.lst stanza from the grub> command prompt, such as adding rootfstype=reiserfs, replacing root=/dev/disk/by-uuid..etc. with root=/dev/sdb3 (booting then fails with "/dev/sdb3 No such file"), using "initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img" etc., but booting always fails at the same stage with equivalent error messages.
I have no trouble booting half a dozen other Linux/BSD distros that reside on two different external USB HDD's by the same method, i.e. choosing an entry from the GRUB boot menu of my primary Arch install, after I placed the appropriate stanza in its /boot/grub/menu.lst.
How can I get this new Arch install to boot?
Last edited by RobF (2010-05-17 23:03:27)

Yes, this was in fact the solution. I stumbled upon it in this thread:
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=65844
When one wants to boot from a USB mass storage device, the initrd needs to include the modules for accessing USB devices, and in Arch this is accomplished by adding "usb" to the HOOKS array. I simply reinstalled Arch to the USB HDD and in the system configuration step now edited /etc/mkinitcpio.conf by adding the "usb" item. Adding "rootdelay=10" and/or "rootfstype=reiserfs" to the kernel line in the appropriate stanza in Arch's /boot/grub/menu.lst wasn't necessary in this case. I left the stanza exactly as I posted it above.
Thanks for your input.

Installing arch without usb or cd

Hey all,
I'm trying to install arch using only my hd, is this possible?
So far I made a small partition, put the install media on there using dd and tried to boot it using grub(v2).
I however, don't know anything about grub, and I didn't get it to boot, so how do I go about this?
Thanks a lot for your time!

In answer to the thread title (without regards to your post) Two techniques come to mind. Remove the drive, put it on another system, install Arch to the drive on that other system, and move the drive back. The other solution is to use a PXE environment (assuming your system can boot from a network), and set up a DHCP server and a TFTP server on another computer and boot as a thin client.
With regards to your post, how did you get grub and the iso image on to the drive without a usb or cd? Does grub come up at all? Or does the BIOS carp about not having a boot media? Is it a BIOS machine or EFI?

[SOLVED] Installed Arch on IBM A22m laptop, startx fails

I installed arch on this old laptop IBM A22m and I am trying to get XFCE4 or LXDE working on it.
When i start xfce4 i get "server terminated with error(1)" and same thing with lxde but this time i get to see panel and wallpaper for 2 seconds before it crashes.
I tried exec openbox-session and it wont crash until I open browser from terminal.
Here is xorg.0.log i get from crashed openbox-session: http://pastebin.com/SK9Vvunp
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03)
00:02.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1450 (rev 03)
00:02.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1450 (rev 03)
00:03.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82557/8/9/0/1 Ethernet Pro 100 (rev 0c)
00:03.1 Serial controller: LSI Corporation LT WinModem (rev 01)
00:05.0 Multimedia audio controller: Cirrus Logic CS 4614/22/24/30 [CrystalClear SoundFusion Audio Accelerator] (rev 01)
00:07.0 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:07.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Rage Mobility AGP 2x Series (rev 64)
Here is hwinfo: http://pastebin.com/wWePzduM
uname -r 3.16.4-1
I am using xf86-video-mach64 driver.
Help needed =P
Last edited by sahtimonni (2014-10-13 15:16:02)

This is a bit outside my experience - but did you follow the advice and cautions in the wiki for that driver:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mach64

Install Arch on USB flash drive (partitioning and UEFI)?

I am trying to install Arch on a USB flash drive. However I have few questions... in particular about pratitioning and UEFI.
What partition table should I use? dos or gpt? and from this... what partitioning tool should I use? (cfdisk, parted, gdisk... etc)?
Also... I am going to be using this USB flash drive with a new computer that has a UEFI BIOS. Should I do anything different because of this? (Have a different boot flag?)

I think you need to read up on UEFI. Depending on what partitioner you use the boot flag can mean something entirely different.
MBR(dos) or GPT is a personal preference, so asking that is like asking someone else what your favorite soap should be. There is one exception though. I have heard of some systems that have firmware bugs that won't allow GPT/bios and some that won't allow MBR/UEFI. There are also some machines that won't do a damn thing if they aren't MBR partitioned, but those all tend to not be UEFI.
As far as the tool to use, if you want to use GPT then use gdisk and friends, of you want to use MBR(dos) use fdisk and friends. Or you can learn how to use parted, which can apparently handle both. But, for example gdisk offers a number of different tools that can all achieve the same thing. Again, it is like asking someone else if you should prefer boxers or briefs...

[Solved] Installing arch on a notebook /w a 2.6.33+ chipset

Hi,
quick question:
I'd like to install arch on a notebook with a chipset that is not supported until 2.6.33.
The installation images however look rather old, so I'm afraid i won't even get to the installation step where I can chose which kernel to install.
What's the best way to do this?
*fixed typo
Last edited by Zoranthus (2010-04-22 13:41:01)

If you're referring to the Arrandale Chipset then you probably won't have any trouble with the official installation image. I used it to install a Clarkdale system without any trouble at all. The system even ran fine with 2.6.32 kernel.
You should use ethernet to connect to the internet during the installation though since your laptop probably has a very new wifi card too. If you choose netinstall you'll get 2.6.33.2-1 or later and you'll be good to go.
Regards,
demian
Last edited by demian (2010-04-20 13:27:23)

[SOLVED] Installing Arch on usb stick - login to emergency mode only

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