Arch Linux Help Guide Flowchart

I got sidetracked again and ended up with this
edit: updated link
Last edited by Xyne (2013-02-28 08:27:33)

Kiwi wrote:
No mention of IRC...!?
I refuse to adopt or endorse this system until IRC is added!
Does anyone actually get any real help on IRC? When I stopped going (for various reasons) it was mainly discussing the same topics over and over again. Real fun, but not much practical use....

Similar Messages

Official Arch Linux Install Guide needs edit

Aloha,
This line in the Official Arch Linux Install Guide
Official Arch Linux Install Guide
dd if=archlinux-XXX.img of=/dev/sdX
Needs to be changed too
dd if=archlinux-2010.05-{core|netinstall}-{i686|x86_64|dual}.iso of=/dev/sdx
Mahalo

Hum, well I don't know how to write a git patch. I guess it would be a good thing to learn though, but I have to go to bed now.
Hum..., after further looking at the this forums section I guess I posted in a totally wrong place Live and learn.
Last edited by hunterthomson (2010-05-26 13:16:47)

Arch Linux Beginners Guide

Remembering the days when I installed Arch Linux for the first time I still feel that Arch misses a guide for beginners. I started one at the Wiki. Its intention is to show how you install and configure Arch Linux until you have a fully working desktop system for multimedia and office purpose. I'm still heavily improving it. If you have any suggestions or critics feel free to drop me a note or add the content to the wiki. If you find some spelling or grammar errors do the same or fix them, I'm no native speaker

iphitus wrote:article is too big. provide links to existing wiki pages and documentation. If things change and you dont know, your article will be broken.
Sure...but you will have this problem with all wiki pages. If you don't have a maintainer for bigger articles, the whole idea of the wiki won't work well.
iphitus wrote:For example, change the install documentation to the install guide. Same goes for network, link to existing pages, and if there isnt one, create one.
I disagree with this one. I personally like the idea of having one basic guide which will led in most cases to a fully working system and does not stop right after the installation, which will leave you with a single prompt. I tried to explain the "basic things" and give links for digging deeper (I may have failed at this, but I tried and will try again).
Therefore you are right about linking, but as you may have seen I tried to link to existing pages if they exist and give more than just a basic information. As far as I know no install guide for voodoo exists yet.
What I really don't want to do, is to create just a meta page that only links to other pages, for three reasons:
* It's annoying to read if you have to follow a link, get back and follow the next link...
* Because there is no single maintainer for all the sub pages, you can only link to pages that are known stable, otherwise the beginner will be totally lost fast
* Some of the other pages are way too technically for a beginner, they quickly start with special things for exotic purposes (mainly because experienced people don't like writing about basic things I believe)
iphitus wrote:Some of it seems a bit overkill too, you give a newbie style how to for tiny things, but completely gloss over even a basic description of what the "daemons line" is. Newbies using this beginners guide learn bugger all, as they just copy from the beginner guide. When things go wrong, they come to the forums rather than use initiative. I guess the installation and configuration acts as a form of natural selection.
I think we have a different opinion how a wiki works, I always thought you start with something and improve it over time, when questions or suggestions arrive.
A wiki will get better if more than one people is involved, therefore sharing and discussing at an early point of time is reasonable.
On the other hand you are absolutely right about the daemons line, which should be explained for a beginner (EDIT: I added a paragraph about daemons a few moments ago).
But I think differently about the natural selection. I never felt that Arch Linux aims to be an elitist distribution and that an acceptance test is needed if you want to use it...what I have seen from the community so far, Arch seems in fact to be the opposite. I like Arch for being clean, simple and logical constructed, not for being complicated. I'm too old to get self-confidence just from installing an operating system.
If users use the forum to ask the same questions again and again, our beginners guide is incomplete and we should fix it.
iphitus wrote:Things like:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arc … or_newbies
and a better FAQ, would be more useful than yet another blow by blow install tutorial that falls out of date in 6 months.
James
This may not be representative, but a better FAQ and Jargon for Newbies (damn, I really love this elite attitude ) wouldn't helped him:
Someone at my blog wrote:Thanks for the guide! I tried installing Arch over Christmas and had the worst time trying to figure that out. So I of course went back to my trusty Gentoo. I always liked Gentoo because even though its an "advanced distro" they provide you with plenty of documentation. Arch on the other hand does not and that really bothered me. But now that I have a Gentoo style guide, I think I'll try it again!
Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate your criticism because it makes me think twice about some things and will most probably lead to a better guide.

Arch Linux help - boot up, black screen

OK, i will try to explain to the best of my ability what happened when i was done installing arch and rebooted.
Well i booted into arch core-iso and set my time [UTC] and date.
and then i made for partitions as follows,
sda 1 - 20 gb - /root, boot, type 83
sda2 - 12 gb - /var type 83
sda 3 - 8.3 gb - type 82 - /swap
sda 4 - rest of memory - type 83 - /home
then wrote it
Then went onto install the Base, base-devel + sudo, wirelesstools, ndsiwrappers, wpa - supplicant, ssh, and net - cfg,
then installed it, then went on the config the system with nano
- click - /etc/rc.conf
edited the following
hostname = "baxxan"
eth0 = "dhcp"
gateway= "dhcp"
ctrl - x, y, enter
- clicked /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
then uncommented the [#] next to the url
"http://mirrorit.edu/archlinux/$repolos/1000"
and the ftp to
then set the root password
Then went onto install bootloader [ the hdd was empty so not much work there]
installed it on /dev/sda
then rebooted
upon reboot i preformed system update
[pacman -Syu] as the root user
then through pacman installed xorg, gnome, gnome-extra, and alsa-utils
then configed the /etc/rc.conf files [ nano /etc/rc.conf]
and added "hal" and "gdm" to the daemons
then typed "adduser"
and completed on the required asked for information for adding that user
then went onto /etc/sudoers [nano /etc/sudoers]
and under,
root ALL= (ALL) + ALL
wrote,
username ALL = (ALL) + ALL
THEN saved and rebooted. and was happy i was done with my arch linux install!
BUT WHEN I REBOOTED, and went into arch linux through the new bootloader, NOTHING but a BLACK SCREEN, comes up with two little white lines near the top! i even tried booting into the fallback option and its the same black screen with 2 little lines near the top!
WTF IS GOING ON!
Please help
Thank you,
P.S -
dont send me the dam link to the beginners cause i READ It, believe me.
Thanks!

litemotiv wrote:
please don't put text like URGENT or HELP! in your topic titles, it will only distract people from the actual problem
about your issue, it could be a problem with [wiki]KMS[/wiki]. first thing to try is to disable it (see the wiki page and search the forums for topics concerning your specific brand/type of card and bootup problems)
k r u sure this is the problem, also the KMS link you sent me, is that the wiki?

Finding the Arch Linux installation guide...

...is not the most obvious thing. Couldn't/shouldn't there be a link on the main web page to the Arch Installation Guide, or at least to the docs page?
I've just tried Arch (0.7.2) for the first time, and am finding my way with it quite well so far - but just found it a little irritating to have to hunt around the web site for the installation guide from a 2nd machine (where it wasn't bookmarked yet) while I was installing Arch on another.

smoon wrote:
I'm not sure what you mean. The Installation Guide is two clicks away from http://www.archlinux.org/
http://www.archlinux.org/ -> "Documentation English" -> "Installation & First Steps"
Ok, now that I made a fuss about this, it's time to admit that I just didn't see that Documentation section on the home page - thanks for pointing it out - time for some sleep I guess :-)

[Solved] Please help setting up xbmc on Arch Linux

Trying to setup Arch Linux on my Asus Chromebox to run XBMC at startup. I have installed the following packages as per a guide on another site, xorg-server xorg-xinit xf86-video-intel xbmc. Whan I try to manually start xbmc, it gives me
Error: unable to open display
XBMC needs hardware accelerated OpenGL rendering.
Install an appropriate graphics driver.
Please consult XBMC Wiki for supported hardware
[url=http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Supported_hardware]http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Supported_hardware"[/url]
When I try startx, I get the following
X.Org X Server 1.16.2
Release Date: 2014-11-10
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 3.17.2-1-ARCH x86_64
Current Operating System: Linux bunga 3.17.4-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Nov 21 21:14:42 CET 2014 x86_64
Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=c20ca43d-7d5a-4335-bca3-a0224f2280c3 rw quiet
Build Date: 10 November 2014 07:52:13PM
Current version of pixman: 0.32.6
Before reporting problems, check [url]http://wiki.x.org[/url]
to make sure that you have the latest version.
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Mon Dec 8 23:23:00 2014
(==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc: line 51: twm: command not found
/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc: line 53: xterm: command not found
/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc: line 54: xterm: command not found
/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc: line 55: exec: xterm: not found
xinit: connection to X server lost
waiting for X server to shut down (EE) Server terminated successfully (0). Closing log file.
That's as far as I've been able to get, what else do I need to do?
Thanks for any help!
Last edited by regder (2014-12-13 03:49:29)

Thank you, wasn't sure how to interpret X's output. I'm just trying to start xbmc from the command line, haven't tried yet getting it to autostart. Is there another command I should be using so it invokes X?
jasonwryan wrote:
Well, the error message is pretty clear: X is starting successfully, there is just nothing for it to do.
What method are you using to start xbmc? https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xb … r_ondemand

[GUIDE] How to get MapleStory working in Arch Linux

MapleStory is a free-of-charge, 2D, side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by the South Korean company Wizet. Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions, and each is published by various companies such as Wizet and Nexon. Although playing the game is free, character appearances and gameplay enhancements can be purchased from the "Cash Shop" using real money. MapleStory has a combined total of over 50 million subscriber accounts in all of its versions. MapleStory North America (Global), for players mainly in North America and outside of East Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe, has over three million players.
In the game, players travel the "Maple World", defeating monsters and developing their characters' skills and abilities as is typical in role-playing games. Players can interact with others in many ways, such as through chatting, trading, and playing minigames. Groups of players can band together in parties to hunt monsters and share the rewards. Players can also join a guild to interact more easily with each other.
I am an avid mapler myself, however, I am also an avid archer! For some time, I have wanted to get MapleStory working on Arch Linux in some way, but nothing seemed to work. As you might have guessed by now, recently, while playing around with VirtualBox, I discovered a method to get MapleStory working on it! Though in this method you won't actually have MapleStory running on Arch Linux, you'll have it running on a VirtualBox Windows virtual machine, that is still pretty good compared to other people's experiences.
I hope there are at least a few maplers on this forum, and if there aren't, I hope that someone will port this post over to other Linux, or even MapleStory, forums. Anyways, let's begin.
1. Download and install a version of Virtual Box that is version 3.0+. The reason for this is that, only versions 3.0+ support an experimental DirectX Driver with 3D acceleration that is required for MapleStory to run.
2. Create a Windows Virtual Machine, add a hard disk to it, and install and update Windows on it(preferably Windows XP, as it uses less resources than other contemporary Windows installations).
3. Once you have done all you needed and wanted on that Windows installation, restart it, boot it into safe mode by holding F8 at the boot, and wait until the desktop is fully loaded.
4. After you are at the desktop, go to "Devices" at the top of the menu of the Windows virtual machine, and select "Install Guest Additions...". Wait until Guest Additions finishes installing, and when VirtualBox asks you if you want to mount the disk containing the Guest Additions on the virtual machine, say "Yes".
5. Run the main executable on the disk that doesn't have amd64 or x86 following its name. Follow the instructions it gives you, and when it asks you what components to install, make sure both of the boxes it shows you are checked.
6. After the install is completed, the virtual machine will restart. After it restarts, shut it down.
7. Congratulations! You now have DirectX installed on your VirtualBox virtual machine! Now you need to activate the "3D Acceleration", that enables it.
8. In the VirtualBox main window, make sure you have your machine with Windows selected. Then, click on "Machine", and then "Settings...", at the top. A new window should pop up. On the left hand side, click on the display panel, and in the new settings section, tick Enable 3D Acceleration. Click "OK", to save the settings.
9. Start your Windows virtual machine, install MapleStory just as you would on a normal windows computer, and run MapleStory.
Notes: This way of running MapleStory is slower than by running it normally, on a normal windows computer. Also, try to not interact with your Linux desktop while playing MapleStory, because this can cause HackShield to shut down MapleStory, due to the fact that it believes there is a hacking attempt.
If any of you port this guide to any other place on the web, please, credit me, neovaysburd5.
For any further questions or inquiries, this goes to all of you, please contact me at [email protected].
Last edited by neovaysburd5 (2009-08-19 16:51:31)

Alright, I've posted it in the wiki. I don't know if it meets the Arch Linux wiki standards, so if there is absolutely anything wrong with it, please fix it right away. Don't even ask my permission.
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/MapleStory

[SOLVED] New to Arch Linux, Need help in Installation.

Hi,
I am Ubuntu user for sometime, but I want to migrate to Arch Linux. I need some help. Please note that I am not Linux Expert but I have been using Ubuntu and OpenSUSE for quite sometime now. The reason for deciding to migrate to Arch Linux is with I need speed.
My laptop configuration is
Dell Vostro 1015 - Intel Dual Core 1.8 GHz with 2 GB RAM.
I was using Ubuntu 64 bit version.
Here in Arch Linux, I find there are 3 options to download i686 CPU, x86-64 CPU, Dual Architecture
Now which one should I download among x86-64 and Dual Architecture?
Thanks.
Last edited by sanjaydelhi (2011-11-16 15:11:14)

Thank you all for welcoming me at Arch Linux!
I was bit worried at the beginning because I tried Fedora before but it has one bug because of which it does not get installed on my laptop.
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=255943
I was bit disappointed being not able to use Fedora (both 14 and 15 ) because of this bug.
The reason I got worried because I am new to Arch, as I mentioned I am not Linux expert and Arch is not for beginners( though I consider myself intermediate in Linux but certainly not expert). So I thought if I do not get community support probably I will not be able to use Arch Linux. The reason I got interest in Arch Linux is http://lifehacker.com/5680453/build-a-k … he-process this article. I am not thinking of upgrading my laptop for speed anytime sooner. So I thought of trying Arch Linux.
The reason to post the topic was in most of Linux distros we see two options (x86, AMD_64). I found 3 options at Arch. I just wanted to make sure I am downloading right download.
So I hope I clarified it.
ANOKNUSA wrote:However, just for future reference: When engaging in any discussion with anyone anywhere on the internet at any time, it's often best to just leave experience and credentials out of the discussion. I don't mean any offense myself, but claiming to be "in software development" while appearing unfamiliar with hardware architecture comes of as a bit odd.
You are right. I should not have have brought experience and credentials in discussion. I used to follow hardware architectures but now I have so many other things to follow, so I can not keep up with hardware architectures. I still do not know exact architecture of i3,i5 or i7 processor or any of AMD processors. Thats how it is.
I thank you all for support.
Looking forward to trying Arch Linux.
Thanks

Need help with arch linux install!

Hello, let me start off by telling you about the predicament I'm in at the moment. I've been trying to install arch linux on with a cd-drive that has been failing for a little over a year now, so you can already see where my problem starts! The cd-drive, however will work with such cd's as Windows, Ubuntu, and Slackware, which I'm happy with. Yet, archlinux doesn't work so much.
And now maybe my solution. I've got a usb cd drive, that I've had laying around that works well, just not well enough for my bios to be able to boot from; which is horrible I know. I've searched the bios for loading a usb cd drive and everything else, including google so I don't think I'm going to get anywhere with that one. Anyways what I'm thinking of doing is that when archlinux is in the terminal right before you type the "/arch/setup" command, I would like to know if there is any command that allows you to change the cd it boots the cd from to go right into the installation. I'm still working on easying my out of the newbie stage of linux at the moment, but I've never run into a command like that, that would help me out. Hopefully there is one though, because I would very much like to archlinux to work, so please respond! Right now I'm running elinks through the terminal right before you type "/arch/setup". Thanks!

loosec wrote:
So you get through the boot process just fine then on your old CD drive. The only thing you should have to do after that is to throw your CD into the USB CD drive and proceed with the installation. The installer should then ask you what CD drive you would like to use when you choose install from CD.
Another way to do it would be to switch cd like above and then manually mount your /dev/[your_usb_cd_here] on /src. The installer then has to be pointed to this place as the source of your installation. To find out what your usb cd drive is called you should unplug it, then replug it and run: dmesg
The mount command might also need to be shown that this is a cd so:
mount -t iso9660 /dev/[usb_cd_device_name] /src
should do the trick.
If you really want to learn more of what the installer does (and fail installing a few times) you should also check out the command
/arch/quickinstall
If your Internet connection is up for it, it seems like you could just choose an FTP install instead.
Goodluck!
Once the CD is removed from the drive that it was booted from. the installation will not continue, as the arch install always goes back to the boot drive to continue read the neccessary information for the install. I do not think there is a way to fool the computer into booting from one cd drive and then continueing on with another. To do this you would have to tell the computer that you are switching drives.
If you can boot up the CD kernel and get to where you type in /arch/setup then the next thing I would od is FTP install. That would limit your CD rom drie usage.
There is also a way to install arch from within another distro, EVEN ANOTHER LIVECD! <-- this may be your best bet. Check the wiki, there is tons of information there.
Last edited by rooloo (2008-08-16 12:32:00)

Terminal --help (Arch Linux) equivalent?

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but as it's an operating system feature I'll give it a shot.
I am a big fan of Arch Linux especially using the unix commands within the terminal. One feature I love is being able to simple type '--help' after a command to get a full list of options. Such as 'ls --help' will bring up the options available for displaying the contents of the directory, like informing me '-a' shows hidden files.
What I would like to know is there a mac equivalent? So I can easily see options in terminal.
Thanks,
Steve.

There's really no consistancy. It depends on the command. Some actually do accept --help (e.g., gcc, grep -- probably all the gnu derived commands). Some may look for -? and/or -h. And some give you their general syntax if you make a syntax error on the command. But to get a full description (well, hopefully a more full description), as Reed said above use the man command.

Arch Linux review...help?

I'm working on putting together a review of AL .4 for possible web publication on any site that'll take it. But, as you may have noticed, I'm a bit of a newbie.
I'm planning on touching on the following things:
Arch's goals
Arch's install
ABS, package optimisations and pacman (maintaining an Arch system)
Running X in Arch
Then strengths, weaknesses
And a sort of verdict (ie, what Arch is best suited for, overall quality)
Now, my question for those here at the bbs: what have I left out or what do I need to touch on that I may overlook? Feel free to mention subjects that may be containted within the above headings, because I may not be grasping all the aspects of Arch's awesomeness.
The going may be a bit slow on my review, but I hope to draw a bit more attention Arch's way!

beniro wrote:I think it's gonna go up on Distrowatch, because they seem to be booming right now. I'm not totally decided on that site yet.
What I am noticing with Distrowatch, its only holding the first paragraph with a link to the full article (review) wherever you put it up. I suggest you contact Distrowatch once you decide.
Lets hope your review will help Arch Linux to rise higher on Distrowatch list. Maybe not competing Yoper, which became # 1 within two months, but to same level (or above) as CRUX Linux .
http://www.distrowatch.com/

[SOLVED]New Arch Linux ISO Installation Help.

Hi All,
I am trying to install Arch Linux using new ISO. For some reason I am unable to log into Arch Forums on Windows and I am writing this on my tablet. I will add more info (proper quote, etc.) as soon as I am able to log in a laptop browser. That being said I am trying to install Arch using new ISO. Here is what I did.
Partition using cfdisk /, /home , /swap and /boot.
Format all these in ext4.
Create folders in mnt - root, home, swap, boot.
mount partitions in mnt folders.
Pacstrap /mnt base base-devel
Error
ERROR: /mnt is not a mount point!
I install in /mnt/root which probably doesnt touch other partitions like home boot and swap.
I follow other steps on installation wiki and reboot takes me back to windows.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks.
Last edited by donniezazen (2012-07-24 22:49:01)

donniezazen wrote:Partition using cfdisk /, /home , /swap and /boot.
Format all these in ext4.
Create folders in mnt - root, home, swap, boot.
You don't need a root folder. /mnt is the root mount point. Before you mount boot and home:
mount /dev/sdax /mnt
where "x" is the number of your /root partition.
then
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sdax /mnt/boot
mkdir /mnt/home
mount /dev/sdax /mnt/home
(replace "x" in all the /dev/sdax with the correct partitions.)
Error
ERROR: /mnt is not a mount point!
you should have stopped here and posted or tried to figure out what you did wrong.
The edited Beginner's Guide is very clear about this. You should read it.
Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-07-24 20:09:24)

Arch Linux has helped me learn and I am grateful.

I am going to tell you what sparked this thread first: I was reading your wiki on installing a 32bit bundled system into a 64bit system. And NO, I did not know what the heck was going on as usual. The thing is I am always curious. That is why I end up learning. Here is what sparked me... I got to the 'sed' command and did NOT understand what was going on and I dove in! What a wonderful and amazingly, useful tool. Instead of just copying commands such as:
# sed -e 's/\$arch/i686/g' /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist > /opt/arch32/mirrorlist
# sed -e 's@/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist@/opt/arch32/mirrorlist@g' -e '/Architecture/ s,auto,i686,' /etc/pacman.conf > /opt/arch32/pacman.conf
I took the command apart, tried it in various ways, made test files and learned what it all meant. This type of thing is happening over and over again while using Arch. Arch was extremely overwhelming at first but, I really like it that way, I tend to learn really fast this way. In the beginning it is REALLY hard though.
i have read about said and I know about substitute and global (s///g) but what through me off was -e '/Architecture/ s,auto,i686,' So I made a test file with Architecture in it.
echo "Architecture = auto" > test
then ran
cat test | sed -e '/Architecture/ s,auto,i686,'
Wow! Guys, I was so excited when I finally figured out what was going on. Through trial and error, I just learned some really cool things about said and also got better at seeing that you can use any character as the separator - like @ instead of /. See this makes me happy, when I figure something out like this. It is SO rewarding. Im like a kid at Christmas
So what is happening is I am getting this phenominal understanding of Linux by diving deep into Arch Linux. I have now swithced over my only computer to Arch Linux. I only really cared about a few windows programs and with wine I have one of them running!!
I just want to thank you all for such a great experience. I didn't know how much I love this stuff until I started with Arch Linux. Thanks again!
Last edited by AcousticBruce (2015-05-21 16:21:18)

firekage wrote:
I wanted to learn too...so i have question.
Could somebody explain this? Also, what this is exacly
'/Architecture/ s,auto,i686,'
Let me show you by example...
echo "hello world" | sed 's/world/universe/'
echo "hello world" | sed 's,world,universe,'
echo "hello world" | sed 's@world@universe@'
Notice all of these are the same result. This is because you can use any character you like in place of the separator.
So when you look at this '/Architecture/ ***s.auto,i686,*** that is replacing the word 'auto' with 'i686'
The /Architecture/ is like using grep.
so if you have a file that looks like this
color1 = red
color2 = red
Easy way to make this in one command. Make sure and use $ and ' ' instead of " "
echo $'color1 = red\ncolor2 = red' > test
and run this
cat test | sed -e '/color1/ s,red,blue,'
same thing...
cat test | sed -e '/color1/ s@red@blue@'
also to prove its like grep
cat test | grep color2 | sed -e 's/red/black/'
sed is very powerful and awesome. There is WAY more than this.
Last edited by AcousticBruce (2015-05-21 18:39:28)

Installing Multiple Operating Systems with grub and Arch Linux

NOTE: Please keep in mind that there are many different ways to achieve this same result using various loop and ramdisk methods, read this with a separate window to jot down your comments and suggestions... this is ongoing for me so any help would be appreciated!
Read the full article at Install Multiple Os without cds
This is my first post and I plan on making this topic an official HOWTO with www.tldp.org.
I have been into the computer security scene since 1990, but I realized that I had very little experience with the various LInux, Unix, and alternative Operating systems out there.
I have a CD-RW drive but being a struggling computer security researcher I had no money for blank cd-recordables. What follows is how I managed to install various operating systems on my computer (1 hard drive) without having to burn to a CD the ISO and then boot from that.
I first partitioned my 120GB harddrive into 10 partitions, the 2nd partition is a small swap and the last partition is extra large because it holds all the ISO images..
I then wrote a small shell script to automatically download (I love wget!) the following.
OpenBSD
IpCOP
Libranet
Arch-Linux
Fire
Local Area Security
Packet Master
Devil-Linux
FreeBSD
Knoppix
Helix
Gentoo
Yoper-Linux
NetBSD
RedHat
Slackware
The script also downloaded Installation manuals and md5 checksums.. (let me know if I should post... its pretty unsophisticated
I installed Slackware (personal favorite) on hda1 using my last blank CD-R, note that I do not have a separate boot partitino. (Should I?). I also installed grub on the MBR. I love grub, if you read through the man pages and all info you can find about grub, you can learn a whole lot. Grub has much more features and capability than lilo, even though lilo comes installed by default with slack.
I organize my kernel situation as follows... In my /boot directory, I mkdir KERNEL, CONFIG, MAP, INITRD and that is a good way for me to keep my kernels and everything organized.. Another good way is a separate dir for each new kernel.
Since Arch-Linux is a solid distro, I'll use that as a first example.
Here is the Arch-Linux section of my shell script
goge Arch-Linux
$w http://puzzle.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/archlinux/arch-0.6.iso
$w http://unc.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/archlinux/arch-0.6.md5sum
$w http://www.archlinux.org/docs/en/guide/install/arch-install-guide.html
md55
cat arch-0.6.md5sum
md5sum arch-0.6.iso
md55
The first thing to do is to mount the downloaded ISO image so we can use it as if it were an actual CD.
mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop=/dev/loop0 cdimage /mnt/cdrom
Where cdimage= the ISO image. EX. /usr/local/src/ISO/Linux/Arch-Linux/arch-0.6.iso
This mounts the iso as /mnt/cdrom.
Next you need to copy /mnt/cdrom to a separate partition for the booting process. So mkfs.ext2 /dev/hda9. ( I prefer reiserfs or even XFS to ext but if you use something other than ext2 you could run into some problems because some of the installation kernels and initrds don't include support for reiserfs and so can't recognize the files. Although you could use mkinitrd to create a new initrd with reiserfs support, that might be pushin it IMO... I use the 9th partition consistently for this. I know there is a "right" way to copy the /mnt/cdrom files so everything stays the way it is supposed too, using tar or cpio, but I'm lazy so I just do cp -rp.
(What is the tar or cpio commands to copy with correct permissions etc??)
So you mount the 9th partition as whatever, say /mnt/hd and then copy the files. Now what?
Now edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst file to include the specific options to boot arch-linux installation.
A good idea is to find the isolinux.cfg file somewhere on the distro cd, this will tell you what to include in the menu.lst.
Here is the section in my menu.lst
title Arch Install
root (hd0,8)
kernel /isolinux/vmlinuz load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 root=/dev/rd/0
initrd=/isolinux/initrd.img
This should be self-explanatory. The root (hd0,8) is pointing to partition 9. So the rest of the commands start from partition 9.
When you experience problems, remember you can always edit the grub boot options by typing 'e' and then edit the section. Also, a good idea is to include several variations in your menu.lst so you can easily try other ways to boot efficiently. And, remember to read up on all the installation guides that come with your distro, specifically, hard-disk installs.
There are special cases, Gentoo, has a semi-new compressed filesystem called squashfs. BTW, this is AWESOME, so check it out. It has to be compiled into the kernel, so some work is in order, but use this recompile to optimize your kernel. You can get the squashfs patch for almost any kernel. I use the latest stable 2.6 kernel. Squashfs is incredible and although I don't think you need it to install from ISO, you do need it to expand the livecd.squashfs filesystem that comes with the cd.
Heres a sample Gentoo section from my menu.lst
title Gentoo Install
root (hd0,8)
kernel /isolinux/gentoo root=/dev/ram0
initrd=/isolinux/gentoo.igz init=/linuxrc acpi=off looptype=squashfs loop=/livecd.squashfs cdroot vga=791 splash=silent
A nother' tip is the shell that is provided if you experience problems, typically busybox or ash. The key tools to get you going from here is mount and chroot. Sometimes you will need to manually create a simulated file system and then chroot into it. For instance, you might have to create boot, etc, bin, directories on the target partition.
I generally install each OS onto the next partition (careful of the logical partition) and add it to my menu.lst after install. A good idea is after installation, copy the kernel and initrd(if there is one) to the slackware(or whatever) boot partition on hda1. I copy kernels to /boot/KERNEL/ and initrd's to /boot/INITRD, then menu.lst is more organized...
You then need to add an updated section to your menu.lst (just comment out the install section for later)
Here is the finished arch-linux section from menu.lst
title Arch Linux 6
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 ro root=/dev/hdc3
This doesn't use my convenient boot/KERNEL/vmlinuz26 as you can tell by setting the root to partition 3.
***NOTE: Make a backup of MBR using dd and save to floppy, also backup the partition table to floppy, using cfdisk or parted. And boot disks (I use 1 with grub, and 1 with slack, and tomsbootdisk) will invariably come in handy. Tomsbootdisk is recommended, and make the grub boot disk when you install grub. install to floppy.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The final result after some fun experimenting, is when I boot, I have a cool grub boot screen come up with the option to boot into whatever OS I want, this is handy for multiple reasons. One good thing to do after this is to port scan and vuln scan each OS, after you update of course. Write this stuff down and you will know the weaknesses/strengths of the various OS's.
I can boot a custom Firewall, snort, or multiple honeypots using this procedure, as well as a graphical kde environment with a kernel optimized for graphics and my processor/architecture, or an environment devoted to forensics or even an environment suitable for programming.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P.S. Some of the cooler alternative operating systems are BeOS 5, EOS, ER_OS, V2_OS, and my personal favorite Menuet. Menuet is 100% assembly graphical operating system that fits on a floppy. Its f'in money!
This should be a good enough example to get you started, this kind of thing should be learned and not just copied... Knowing how to do this stuff could prove to be exceptionally useful...

Start by reading all the articles built-in on your Mac - Help > Mac Help, search "printer sharing."
http://desk.stinkpot.org:8080/tricks/index.php/2008/04/how-to-print-to-a-cups-se rver-from-mac-os-x/
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080324224027152&query=share%2Bpri nter
http://members.cox.net/18james/osxprintersharing.html
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-56940.html

[SOLVED] Installing Windows XP after Arch Linux

I'm not sure at all where to post this, so I've decided to do it here since I have the problem on a laptop... Please move if it should be somewhere else.
I installed Arch Linux on my new laptop a month ago or so, and am very pleased to have found the very kind of distro I've been looking for. However, I'm having trouble with my graphics (either wine doesn't support it, or the drivers don't have 2D/3D acceleration), and now I want to install Windows XP next to Arch Linux.
Using a GParted LiveCD, I've repartitioned the harddrive as such: Unpartitioned Space (27GB), Linux (197GB), SWAP (5GB).
I've also removed the bootable flag from the Linux partition, just to be sure. However, when I try to install Windows XP, it gets stuck after unpacking a bunch of drivers, giving me a bluescreen that tells me to make sure the hardware isn't broken, check my harddrive with CHKDSK /F, or look for viruses. Ofcourse I know none of these are true, since I'm running Arch Linux just fine.
A friend suggested that maybe my hardware isn't supported by Windows XP, which sounds like the most reasonable explanation so far, but I can't find a list of supported hardware. The M$ homepage basicly says
"Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)"
for CPU, which doesn't help me at all.
My hardware is:
Processor: Intel Celeron 2.2 Ghz
Memory: 2GB DDR2
Graphics: Intel 4500MHD
And the laptop is called an "eMachines E525", though that doesn't say much since there are very, very many called this.
Can anyone give me any hints as to what I might be doing wrong?
Last edited by Noxic (2010-05-29 18:44:32)

Sounds like something I'll want to do. Where did you download the drivers? Do I have to follow some guide? Thanks for the tip
EDIT:
Indeed I will want to install AHCI drivers, otherwise Arch Linux fails to boot quite badly. There is also a problem preventing me from booting when I'm using AHCI though;
At boot, Arch Linux checks /dev/sda1 (NTFS) for errors, and expects to check an ext2 filesystem. Obviously, however, /dev/sda1 is an NTFS filesystem.
Since it tries to read the NTFS partition as an ext2 filesystem, it panics. Arch Linux then prompts me for the root password (or Ctrl+D to reboot), but I've disabled root login and can therefore do nothing at this point.
I have a GParted livecd and the Arch Linux livecd, so editing files on any of the filesystem isn't a problem at all, but I don't know what to do at this point. Help?
Last edited by Noxic (2010-05-29 12:40:33)

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