Arch Linux on Magazine

Arclinux diffusion in Italy.
Rome, 4th of June 2004 14:30
I was out for lunch 30 minutes ago and at the newspaper shop I found a Linux magazine with a CD of Archlinux 0.6.
On the front page there was "Archlinux 0.6 a very tiny and fast linux distribution i686 optimized"
Unfortunatly I forgot to see the name of the Magazine

If you go back there, would you mind purchasing one and shipping it to me?  I can give you my shipping address in email.
Maybe I'll start a collection of Archlinux memorabilia...

Similar Messages

  • Arch Linux Magazine, February 2010

    Another month, another issue!
    As promised, we are slowly working back towards releasing the monthly copy of Arch Linux Magazine on the first. This month I was only a few short hours off from my target time. On the flip side, this month we have a few new features (and one noticeably missing, sorry... it'll be back next month). Hopefully we'll be able to keep doing the new features and, over time, build ALM up to what I know it can be.
    My sincerest thanks to those of you who continue to contribute, and for those of you who are interested in contributing in the future (or translating), we now have a wiki page designed specifically for you! As for those who are waiting for sources for translation, I haven't forgotten you and will be sending you the link in the morning... it's long past my bedtime.
    And so, without further ado...
    http://www.archlinux.org/static/magazine

    Dieter@be wrote:whose desktop is it? maybe mention it in the article. and frankly i don't see the point of the desktop item but maybe that's just me.
    If you're referring to the Desk Shot, it's my desk.  The PDF has my name, but the text version doesn't seem to.
    As for why...I always find it interesting to see what kind of environment people work in, simply because it can often make me feel better about mine   Besides that, probably isn't much else to say for/against it.  Similar to the Desk Shot thread on the forums, not too many people posted in it, but there were a few who were interested in it.

  • Arch Linux Reviewed in Argentinian Magazine

    Im happy to announce that after some work and evangelization, Arch Linux was reviewed in a local and quite popular Linux magazine here in Argentina. The magazine is called USERS Linux and its in Spanish. The review was followed by some questions they made me as admin of ww.archlinux.com.ar, if there is enough interest i will translate the article.
    I collaborated on the article, so i cant say its "objective", its quite centred in the distribution and community, touching point by point the pluses and differences with others, we mention Arch64 and Archie as they had some good reasons to be on the article, the first being for those with 64bit procesors and want the best out of them, and the second for those who didnt want to risk to install Arch without trying it out first.
    Congrats to Judd and all the developers, and i hope this gets us some more Spanish Talking users!
    You can find a scan of each page here:
    http://www.archlinux.com.ar/blog/2006/0 … ers-linux/
    edit:
    Changed the URL as the site changed hosting and I moved the whole system.

    Hi,
    im going to start translating the articles, but i will go slow unless there is a bit more interest, either way, sooner or later it will be translated.
    brain0:
    Yes, your are right, i missed that. I will write them so they can print an "errata" on the next issue, there is also a typo, they printed CRUZ instead of CRUX.
    On the other hand, although it has been talked to death, no-one actually tried Arch on a K6-2, so we dont know for sure if it works or not. According to several posts here and some sites found via google, AMDs K6-2 are missing a couple of functions necesary to be fully i686 compliant. They are pretty common in this latitudes, so maybe someone gives it a shot and we will know for sure once and for all!

  • Arch Linux Newsletter December 2009?

    For those of you who didn't see my email on the Arch General mailing list, here's the situation with the Arch Linux Newsletter/Arch Linux Magazine. As many of you know, Kensai recently moved and got married and I recently moved and have been trying to find a job. My situation led to me having difficulty finding the time to dedicate to the Newsletter/Magazine that I have in the past. Combined with Kensai's absence (and as such, our inability to post anything even if we had a completed issue), this caused the lack of our great publication for the last few months. Thankfully, the situation has been rectified and we are now preparing for our next issue. Unfortunately, this solution has come at a cost. Our fearless leader has decided to step down from his position in order to dedicate more time to his new-found family and I can't say I blame him. As such, we wish Kensai the best and hope that once his life calms down him start contributing again, even if in just a small way.
    After much deliberation (alright, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit), the Arch Linux development team has graciously decided that they want to keep me on as editor of our official publication. As such, I am preparing for the release of our next issue! I would like to see us make a comeback to where we left off and then some. I want to see more community contributions and writers, and I want to get the Schwag report back. I want more sections and special features and I even have a few surprises in store for you all down the road a bit.
    This improvement is going to be a big project and I can't do it alone. If any of you, our loyal readers, are willing to contribute please step up and say so. Leave a message here, join me in #archlinux-magazine on freenode, or send me an email at [email protected]. You don't have to have a mass media background or immense technical knowledge, I can find a way for anyone to contribute. Help us make the new Arch Linux Newsletter/Arch Linux Magazine the best one yet!

    kensai wrote:Is so hard to say good bye, guys thanks for all the support you have given me all this time, without this wonderful community I would have never done all I did. I hope one day I will come back, when things get more stable, cause you know, when starting something new the start is a mess most of the time until things settle down.
    Don't think of it as a "good bye", but as a "See you soon".  I'll bet you'll be back once you're settled in (which may or may not happen faster than you expect).  Either way, best of luck for now and the future, and don't sweat the small things, chances are time will fix most of the small messes.
    and to ghost: Do you have a rough estimate of when we might be getting started on the newsletter and such?

  • [Fake News] Arch Linux to change its release cycle

    Today the Arch Linux community proclaimed that Arch Linux will change its release cycle and version numbering, as this was requested by billions of corporate goonies, Freemasons and Illuminati throughout the universe.
    Releases will henceforth be scheduled in intervals deemed posh by the GNU/Linux community at the particular moment. The version numbering will be based on year the a new release is being published. Arch Linux "2016" will be released in early 2006. All following releases will have an offset of at least 10 years to underline how much more pure dead brilliant Arch Linux is compared to Mandrake.
    To achieve a smooth transition, an transitional release will be made at once, named "Useless Marketing Edition". The Arch Linux FTP server will be configured allow one download of the iso image only. This will also be an experiment to find out how the community will be able to spread such a limited edition.
    An Arch Linux user who wishes to remain nameless said in an exclusive interview with the almighty incinerator: "This is a great opportunity for Arch Linux, the new release numbering will confuse and divert computer illiterate lusers from installing our beloved Arch Linux, freeing us from answering stupid support requests. Now we can finally start to work towards our ultimate goal: To become the only GNU/Linux community being as elitist as OpenBSD's."

    Ach guys, you don't get it :-(
    The version numbering scheme was supposed to mock the fact Mandrake plans to release their "2006" version in 2005. That reminds of old times, when (computer) magazines were trying to beat each other releasing the most up-to-date issue to the market. The whole affair became absolutely silly, there were magazines that had the "April" issue hitting the shelves at the end of January. These "issue number wars" occur every now and then.
    The funny scenario I can imagine is that other (GNU/Linux) vendors could jump onto that train and "predating" their releases further and further.
    The rest is just various mockery about lusers and other things found in the Mandrake's press release. And of course the arrogantly elitist OpenBSD community always deserves getting their arses whipped ;-)

  • Dual boot Windows 7 (64) and Arch Linux (64) problems

    Hello:
    I am new to Arch Linux and just finished installing the 64bit on my laptop. It had a prebuilt Windows 7 (64) installed which I kept but split the hdd from 160Gb to 80Gb and 80Gb. I installed Arch there and set 4 partitions, all of them as Logical - a 64 MB ext2 /boot partition; a 512 MB swap partition; a 15 GB root partition; and the rest as my /home partition. My partitions look like this:
    Disk Drive: /dev/sda
    Size: 160041885696 bytes, 160.0 GB
    Heads: 255 Sectors per Track: 63 Cylinders: 19457
    Name Flags Part Type FS Type [Label] Size (MB)
    sda1 Primary Unknown (27) 12889.02
    sda2 Boot Primary NTFS 106.93
    sda3 Primary NTFS [] 73915.11*
    sda5 Logical Linux ext2 65.81*
    sda6 Logical Linux 509.97*
    sda7 Logical Linux ext2 15002.92*
    sda8 Logical Linux ext2 57549.55*
    The install was succesful(this was running from the core install cd) and I installed GRUB to my /boot but when I restarted it loaded Windows 7. I have used Knoppix USB disc to boot and see my Arch Linux install files and edited the /boot/gur/menu.lst file.
    In Windows I installed EasyBCD 1.7.2 and tried to get NeoGrub bootloader working as a dual boot. I tried getting rid of the boot flag for Windows with cfdisk and setting it to my (Logical) sda5. That did not work. So far the only way I have booted into my Arch Linux install has been by going to the Live CD, choosing "Boot from Existing Linux Install" and editing the command files there.
    root (hd0,4)
    kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda3 ro
    initrd /kernel26.img
    My goal is to get a dual boot working for Windows 7 and Arch Linux 64 and continue installing the Xorg and KDE to Arch. I just don't know what the problem is here. I don't mind reinstalling Arch if something went wrong, but I would like to keep my Windows running in order and add Arch on.
    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    I ran the LiveCD and chose "Install to MBR hd0". I ended up with this:
    setup hd(0,1)
    Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists.....yes
    Checking if "/boot/grub/iso9660_stage1_5" exists.....yes
    Running "embed /boot/grub/iso9660_stage1_5 (hd0,1)".....failed(this is not fatal)
    Running "embed /boot/grub/iso9660_stage1_5 (hd16)".....failed(this is not fatal)
    Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 d (hd0,1) /boot/grub/stage2 p (hd0,1) boot/grub/menu.lst".....failed
    Error 31: File is not sector aligned
    My entry for Windows into the menu.lst looks like this:
    # (0) Arch Linux x64
    title Arch Linux x64
    root (hd0,4)
    kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/3841273c-d91e-41d6-9dbf-716a15d03a01 ro
    initrd /kernel26.img
    # (1) Arch Linux x64
    title Arch Linux x64 Fallback
    root (hd0,4)
    kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/3841273c-d91e-41d6-9dbf-716a15d03a01 ro
    initrd /kernel26-fallback.img
    # (2) Windows 7
    title Windows 7
    rootnoverify (hd0,0)
    makeactive
    chainloader +1

  • [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] Arch linux access point with multiple interfaces for the NAT

    Hi, I have a router running Arch linux. It is connected via LAN (let's call it eth0) to the internet. It has a second LAN interface, eth1, and a wireless interface in master mode, wlan0.
    Now, Everything works perfectly except providing network connectivity on eth1 and wlan0 simultaneously. I followed the guide in the "Internet share" wiki article and use dnsmasq/hostapd for the AP. It appears as if all traffic from the router is sent to the wlan0 interface, even if it came in through eth1 (for example, dhcp requests). I cannot really find information how to solve this. The words "bonding" and "iptables" are floating around, but there is not really an easy to understand tutorial for this.
    What do I need to do to use both the eth1 and wlan0 interface (for different clients!) on my router?
    Best regards, and thank you in advance
    Jan Oliver
    /e: This seems to be my problem: http://www.novell.com/support/kb/doc.php?id=7000318 How do I solve this using the usual iptables? (The way described in the article doesn't work: "RTNETLINK answers: No such process" errors.)
    Last edited by janoliver (2013-09-25 22:24:53)

    Or you could bridge eth1 and wlan0, and make dnsmasq bind/listen on that bridge...

  • [SOLVED] (U)EFI dualboot Win7 Arch Linux - partitions gone - recovery?

    Hi everybody,
    I have a slight problem with my (U)EFI dualboot system (Windows 7 and Arch Linux) which used to be configured using rEFInd like it is described in my previous post:
    https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 6#p1300356
    <EFI PARTITION> is /dev/sda1 and I used to boot via <EFI PARTITION>\EFI\Boot\Bootx64.efi which then successfully either loaded Windows or Linux kernel.
    Thanks to my own stupidity and a recent update of refind I decided to copy the new driver, font and icon folders to the <EFI PARTITION> in order to be up-to-date.
    After doing so, the rEFInd boot menu had a third icon which said "Boot via \EFI\Boot\Bootx64.efi" and if I clicked on it a second rEFInd boot menu appeared with only the two icons for Windows 7 and Arch.
    So I figured I could delete Bootx64.efi and ultimately did so, unfortunately. Afterwards I couldn't boot neither Windows nor Linux anymore.
    Following this I went through my noumerous USB boot sticks in order to be able to recover the Bootx64.efi. Unfortunately the first USB stick was a Windows XP one which has the plop bootloader alongside:
    http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager/thebootmanager.html
    Out of couriousity I entered this bootloader and found HDA and HDB (I assume resembling my SSD and my USB stick).
    To my knowledge I didn't change anything but after entering the bootloader again I just found HDA left, HDB seemed to be gone. But I didn't think of anything bad happening yet.
    Then I found a working Archiso which I booted and using blkid I couldn't find the partitions of my earlier system anymore, only its device and the USB stick:
    /dev/sda: PTUUID="..." PTTYPE="gpt"
    /dev/sdb1: UUID="..." LABEL="ARCH_201312" TYPE="..." and so on
    /dev/sdb2: SEC_TYPE="msdos" and so on
    Even within the EFI shell I could not detect any internal drive anymore (only fs0: which is the USB stick)
    Using Archiso onboard tool testdisk I could find the old partitions. The correct result of the GPT from testdisk is:
    Fri Jul 4 08:45:25 2014
    Command line: TestDisk
    TestDisk 6.14, Data Recovery Utility, July 2013
    Christophe GRENIER <[email protected]>
    http://www.cgsecurity.org
    OS: Linux, kernel 3.12.1-3-ARCH (#1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Nov 26 11:17:02 CET 2013) x86_64
    Compiler: GCC 4.8
    Compilation date: 2013-08-06T08:42:31
    ext2fs lib: 1.42.8, ntfs lib: libntfs-3g, reiserfs lib: 0.3.0.5, ewf lib: none
    /dev/sda: LBA, HPA, LBA48, DCO support
    /dev/sda: size 500118192 sectors
    /dev/sda: user_max 500118192 sectors
    /dev/sda: native_max 500118192 sectors
    /dev/sda: dco 500118192 sectors
    Warning: can't get size for Disk /dev/mapper/control - 0 B - 1 sectors, sector size=512
    Hard disk list
    Disk /dev/sda - 256 GB / 238 GiB - CHS 31130 255 63, sector size=512 - Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series, S/N:S12RNEAD322171L, FW:DXM04B0Q
    Disk /dev/sdb - 2013 MB / 1920 MiB - CHS 1022 62 62, sector size=512 - SMI USB DISK, FW:1100
    Disk /dev/sdc - 4210 MB / 4015 MiB - CHS 1020 130 62, sector size=512 - Generic Flash Disk, FW:8.07
    Disk /dev/mapper/arch_root-image - 1478 MB / 1410 MiB - 2887680 sectors, sector size=512
    Disk /dev/dm-0 - 1478 MB / 1410 MiB - 2887680 sectors, sector size=512
    Partition table type (auto): Intel
    Disk /dev/sda - 256 GB / 238 GiB - Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series
    Partition table type: EFI GPT
    New options :
    Dump : No
    Align partition: Yes
    Expert mode : Yes
    Analyse Disk /dev/sda - 256 GB / 238 GiB - CHS 31130 255 63
    hdr_size=92
    hdr_lba_self=1
    hdr_lba_alt=500118191 (expected 500118191)
    hdr_lba_start=34
    hdr_lba_end=500118158
    hdr_lba_table=2
    hdr_entries=128
    hdr_entsz=128
    hdr_size=92
    hdr_lba_self=500118191
    hdr_lba_alt=1 (expected 1)
    hdr_lba_start=34
    hdr_lba_end=500118158
    hdr_lba_table=500118159
    hdr_entries=128
    hdr_entsz=128
    Trying alternate GPT
    Current partition structure:
    Trying alternate GPT
    search_part()
    Disk /dev/sda - 256 GB / 238 GiB - CHS 31130 255 63
    FAT32 at 0/32/33
    FAT1 : 4110-6150
    FAT2 : 6151-8191
    start_rootdir : 8192 root cluster : 2
    Data : 8192-2097151
    sectors : 2097152
    cluster_size : 8
    no_of_cluster : 261120 (2 - 261121)
    fat_length 2041 calculated 2041
    set_FAT_info: name from BS used
    FAT32 at 0/32/33
    MS Data 2048 2099199 2097152 [NO NAME]
    FAT32, blocksize=4096, 1073 MB / 1024 MiB
    NTFS at 146/251/42
    filesystem size 249593856
    sectors_per_cluster 8
    mft_lcn 786432
    mftmirr_lcn 2
    clusters_per_mft_record -10
    clusters_per_index_record 1
    NTFS part_offset=1209008128, part_size=127792054272, sector_size=512
    NTFS partition cannot be added (part_offset<part_size).
    NTFS at 146/251/42
    filesystem size 249593856
    sectors_per_cluster 8
    mft_lcn 786432
    mftmirr_lcn 2
    clusters_per_mft_record -10
    clusters_per_index_record 1
    MS Data 2361344 251955199 249593856
    NTFS, blocksize=4096, 127 GB / 119 GiB
    recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/160, s_mnt_count=1318/4294967295, s_blocks_per_group=32768, s_inodes_per_group=8192
    recover_EXT2: s_blocksize=4096
    recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 5242880
    recover_EXT2: part_size 41943040
    MS Data 251955200 293898239 41943040
    ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 21 GB / 20 GiB
    recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/80, s_mnt_count=1317/4294967295, s_blocks_per_group=32768, s_inodes_per_group=8192
    recover_EXT2: s_blocksize=4096
    recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 2621440
    recover_EXT2: part_size 20971520
    MS Data 293898240 314869759 20971520
    ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 10 GB / 10 GiB
    recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/706, s_mnt_count=1317/4294967295, s_blocks_per_group=32768, s_inodes_per_group=8192
    recover_EXT2: s_blocksize=4096
    recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 23156049
    recover_EXT2: part_size 185248392
    MS Data 314869760 500118151 185248392
    ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 94 GB / 88 GiB
    Results
    P MS Data 2048 2099199 2097152 [NO NAME]
    FAT32, blocksize=4096, 1073 MB / 1024 MiB
    P MS Data 2361344 251955199 249593856
    NTFS, blocksize=4096, 127 GB / 119 GiB
    P MS Data 251955200 293898239 41943040
    ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 21 GB / 20 GiB
    P MS Data 293898240 314869759 20971520
    ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 10 GB / 10 GiB
    P MS Data 314869760 500118151 185248392
    ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 94 GB / 88 GiB
    interface_write()
    1 P MS Data 2048 2099199 2097152 [NO NAME]
    2 P MS Data 2361344 251955199 249593856
    3 P MS Data 251955200 293898239 41943040
    4 P MS Data 293898240 314869759 20971520
    5 P MS Data 314869760 500118151 185248392
    simulate write!
    TestDisk exited normally.
    ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 94 GB / 88 GiB
    Now the question is: Can I - using testdisk or any other tool - recover those partitions successfully so I will be able to boot again afterwards? I tested and I could mark them as:
    P Primary
    Any help will be greately appreciated.
    Best regards
    Last edited by blablubb1234 (2014-07-08 09:20:08)

    Issue resolved If you care to know how, read on:
    Looking at the disk using gdisk was doing no good. Neither of the recovery options in gdisk did the trick.
    I then returned to testdisk and restored the partitions (successfully). However, afterwards I was greeted by shell telling me the root device was not found (seems like UUIDs get changed when one restores them using testdisk). Adjusting the PARTUUID for root in <EFI SYSTEM PARTIITION>/boot/refind_linux.conf did the trick and I could boot up Archlinux again.
    Windows 7 still didn't boot telling me the required device was inaccessible (probably wrong UUID, too). I could however not restore/edit Windows' BCD using bcdedit, see my post Status: 0xc0000225 boot selection failed; required device inaccessible:
    To make a long story short: Removing bcd and running autorecovery from withing Windows RE successfully created a new bcd. Unfortunately, Windows writes its backup bootloader at <EFI SYSTEM PARTITION>/boot/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi. This file originally was a copy of refind_x64.efi which I need to put at that location to be able to dualboot. After chrooting to my Arch system I could restore bootx64.efi, create a new fstab and everything is running fine now again.
    Best regards and thanks for the help.

  • 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]System Hang in Arch Linux

    I have tried distributions like ubuntu and fedora in hope for finding a stable system . So I move on to Arch Linux
    But this problem also exist on Arch. While using my Arch Linux (including ubuntu and fedora) my system hangs with a black screen with something written on the whole screen which cannot be pasted here as my system hangs and I have to push power button to restart.
    So I check my errors.log file and found these errors
    Jul  8 22:59:24 localhost kernel: [    1.680013] ata3: softreset failed (device not ready)
    Jul  8 22:59:24 localhost kernel: [    7.298612] SP5100 TCO timer: mmio address 0xfec000f0 already in use
    Jul  8 22:59:31 localhost kdm_greet[792]: Cannot load /usr/share/apps/kdm/faces/.default.face: No such file or directory
    I have a HCL K21 pdc notebook
    Note: In Ubuntu my notebook start with ata1: softreset failed error at boot time
    Most often this error occur while watching videos or listening music with VLC
    Last edited by Manuj19 (2011-07-09 10:13:24)

    ewaller wrote:It might be better to just post the output of lspci -nn  It will tell us a great deal more about the hardware related to the PCI bus, including specific chip set identifiers.
    Thanks for suggestion
    Here is output of lspci -nn
    00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: ATI Technologies Inc Device [1002:5a31] (rev 01)
    00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge [1002:5a3f]
    00:04.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge [1002:5a36]
    00:05.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge [1002:5a37]
    00:06.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge [1002:5a38]
    00:07.0 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge [1002:5a39]
    00:12.0 SATA controller [0106]: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 Non-Raid-5 SATA [1002:4380]
    00:13.0 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI0) [1002:4387]
    00:13.1 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI1) [1002:4388]
    00:13.2 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI2) [1002:4389]
    00:13.3 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI3) [1002:438a]
    00:13.4 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI4) [1002:438b]
    00:13.5 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB Controller (EHCI) [1002:4386]
    00:14.0 SMBus [0c05]: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller [1002:4385] (rev 13)
    00:14.1 IDE interface [0101]: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 IDE [1002:438c]
    00:14.2 Audio device [0403]: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) [1002:4383]
    00:14.3 ISA bridge [0601]: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 PCI to LPC Bridge [1002:438d]
    00:14.4 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge [1002:4384]
    01:05.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc RC410 [Radeon Xpress 200M] [1002:5a62]
    02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter [168c:001c] (rev 01)
    08:01.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II [1180:0476] (rev b3)
    08:01.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0552] (rev 08)
    08:01.2 SD Host controller [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 17)
    08:01.3 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter [1180:0592] (rev 08)
    08:07.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ [10ec:8139] (rev 10)
    Last edited by Manuj19 (2011-07-09 07:20:08)

  • Arch linux resolution

    Hello,
    Im having a problem with resolution at arch linux. I can't put anything else than 800x600 or 640x480. I installed ati drivers and I still have the same problem.
    Here is the output of xrandr
    [root@myhost ~]# xrandr
    Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 800 x 600, maximum 800 x 600
    default connected 800x600+0+0 0mm x 0mm
       800x600        61.0*
       640x480        60.0
    I tried to edit xorg.conf and I edited it like this but it didn't help
    ection "ServerLayout"
            Identifier     "X.org Configured"
            Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
            InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
            InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    EndSection
    Section "Files"
            ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
            FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
            FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
            FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
            FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
            FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
    EndSection
    Section "Module"
            Load  "dri"
            Load  "extmod"
           Load  "glx"
            Load  "record"
            Load  "dbe"
            Load  "dri2"
    EndSection
    Section "InputDevice"
            Identifier  "Keyboard0"
            Driver      "kbd"
    EndSection
    Section "InputDevice"
            Identifier  "Mouse0"
            Driver      "mouse"
            Option      "Protocol" "auto"
            Option      "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
            Option      "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
    EndSection
    Section "Device"
            ### Available Driver options are:-
            ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
            ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
            ### [arg]: arg optional
            #Option     "ShadowFB"                  # [<bool>]
            #Option     "DefaultRefresh"            # [<bool>]
            #Option     "ModeSetClearScreen"        # [<bool>]
            Identifier  "Card0"
            Driver      "vesa"
            VendorName  "ATI Technologies Inc"        BoardName   "RV730 PRO [Radeon HD 4650]"
            BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
    EndSection
    Section "Screen"
            Identifier "Screen0"
            Device     "Card0"
            Monitor    "Monitor0"
            DefaultDepth 24
            Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
            SubSection "Display"
            Depth 24
            EndSubSection
    EndSection
    I want to use 1280x1024 resolution, my graphic card and monitor should support it since I'm using this resolution on windows XP(dual boot)
    Don't link me to wiki because I already searched it and tried everything provided there but it didn't help.
    THANKS

    Hmm... here is my xorg.conf that just works...
    $ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
    Section "ServerFlags"
    Option "DontZap" "off"
    EndSection
    Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "X.org Configured"
    Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    EndSection
    Section "Files"
    ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
    EndSection
    Section "Module"
    # Load "record"
    # Load "dri2"
    Load "dbe"
    Load "extmod"
    Load "type1"
    Load "freetype"
    Load "glx"
    EndSection
    Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Keyboard0"
    Driver "kbd"
    EndSection
    Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Mouse0"
    Driver "mouse"
    Option "Protocol" "auto"
    Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
    EndSection
    Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Monitor0"
    VendorName "Samsung"
    ModelName "SyncMaster T220"
    Option "DPI" "96x96"
    EndSection
    Section "Device"
    Identifier "Card0"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "nVidia Corporation"
    BoardName "GeForce 8400 GS"
    BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
    EndSection
    Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device "Card0"
    Monitor "Monitor0"
    SubSection "Display"
    Viewport 0 0
    Depth 1
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
    Viewport 0 0
    Depth 4
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
    Viewport 0 0
    Depth 8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
    Viewport 0 0
    Depth 15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
    Viewport 0 0
    Depth 16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
    Viewport 0 0
    Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
    Depth 24
    EndSubSection
    EndSection

  • [SOLVED] Using a NETGEAR WN111v2 USB network adapter with Arch Linux

    Hello!
    I just recently bought the adapter mentioned in the subject, and hoped to get it working with my lovely Arch Linux OS. (I had read somewhere online that it should work some way or another; ndiswrapper or a kernel driver). However, I've yet to get it working. I tried the tips I found:
    Here:http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php? … ht=WN111v2
    which links to here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=885520
    Basically, it tells me that I should use ndiswrapper with the arusb_xp drivers provided by NETGEAR. So I place the three files arusb_xp.inf, arusb_xp.sys and arusb_xp.cab in a folder, and run:
    sudo ndiswrapper -i arusb_xp.inf
    ndiswrapper -l
    arusb_xp : driver installed
    device (0846:9001) present
    sudo ndiswrapper -m
    sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
    This should install my drivers, add an alias in modprobe.d/ndiswrapper saying "alias wlan0 ndiswrapper" and load ndiswrapper in itself... right?
    But after a iwconfig I can still see only eth0 and lo, no wireless interfaces at all. I checked lsmod, but couldn't find any conflicting drivers loaded.
    Anybody got an idea why it worked for the people with Ubuntu and not me? Any and all help greatly appreciated!
    Cheers
    EDIT: For some magical reason, the drivers that came with my adapter did NOT work, while the drivers on the second link, named the same, DID. I have not inspected how they differ, but luckily, they work. Yey!
    Last edited by mariusmeyer (2009-05-07 08:52:21)

    i have the same computer and the same os, and i want to do the same thing. have you figured out if this works yet?
    i was told that the new airport extreme cards wont work in older computers. and that id have to find an older airport card on ebay because they dont make them anymore
    Message was edited by: xacharias

  • [SOLVED] Ndiswrapper, NetworkManager 0.7 and 64-bit Arch Linux

    Hi there!
    I am having problems configuring my wireless card. I know I have to use Ndiswrapper, and this is what I have tried to do; however, it didn't go quite well.
    This is rather odd because it worked perfectly in the 32-bit version of Arch Linux, but now it doesn't work.
    So, here comes the code.
    valandil ~ $ lspci | grep Network
    0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN (rev 01)
    I really use ndiswrapper and have already installed what I think is the proper driver (it seems that the list the official ndiswrapper site had has somehow disappeared.
    sudo ndiswrapper -l
    Password:
    bcmwl5 : driver installed
    device (14E4:4311) present (alternate driver: ssb)
    Here's iwconfig:
    valandil ~ $ iwconfig
    lo no wireless extensions.
    eth0 no wireless extensions.
    wmaster0 no wireless extensions.
    wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:""
    Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
    Tx-Power=0 dBm
    Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
    Power Management:off
    Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
    Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
    Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
    I use NetworkManager 0.7 and have configured properly:
    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"
    # USEDIRECTISA: use direct I/O requests instead of /dev/rtc for hwclock
    # 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"
    USEDIRECTISA="no"
    TIMEZONE="America/Vancouver"
    KEYMAP="cf"
    CONSOLEFONT=
    CONSOLEMAP=
    USECOLOR="yes"
    # HARDWARE
    # MOD_AUTOLOAD: Allow autoloading of modules at boot and when needed
    # MOD_BLACKLIST: Prevent udev from loading these modules
    # MODULES: Modules to load at boot-up. Prefix with a ! to blacklist.
    # NOTE: Use of 'MOD_BLACKLIST' is deprecated. Please use ! in the MODULES array.
    MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes"
    #MOD_BLACKLIST=() #deprecated
    MODULES=(fuse ndiswrapper fglrx !b44 !mii bcm43xx !snd_pcsp snd-mixer-oss snd-pcm-oss snd-hwdep snd-page-alloc snd-pcm snd-timer snd snd-hda-intel soundcore !pcspkr)
    # Scan for LVM volume groups at startup, required if you use LVM
    USELVM="no"
    # NETWORKING
    # HOSTNAME: Hostname of machine. Should also be put in /etc/hosts
    HOSTNAME="cipher"
    # 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
    # DHCP: Set your interface to "dhcp" (eth0="dhcp")
    # Wireless: See network profiles below
    #eth0="eth0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255"
    eth0="dhcp"
    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 192.168.1.1"
    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.d
    # This now requires the netcfg package
    #NETWORKS=(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=(@stbd httpd !network syslog-ng netfs crond alsa hal dhcdbd networkmanager fam gdm)
    hosts file :
    # /etc/hosts: static lookup table for host names
    #<ip-address> <hostname.domain.org> <hostname>
    127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost cipher
    # End of file
    /etc/NetworkManager/nm-system-settings.conf:
    GNU nano 2.0.9 File: /etc/NetworkManager/nm-system-settings.conf
    [main]
    plugins=keyfile
    [keyfile]
    hostname=cipher
    I hope you can solve this problem; wireless is really crucial.
    Thanks for any help,
    Last edited by valandil (2012-05-02 18:27:09)

    Alleluia!!!
    I think I will write a new rule for myself to follow :
    Thou shalt never use ndiswrapper again.
    Thanks a lot, wonder, and thanks to you too, Xyne.
    FYI, I tried to use something else than ndiswrapper before, but it didn't yield satisfying results. Anyway, thanks.

  • [SOLVED]Arch Linux / UEFI / BTRFS using Grub2 & Windows 8 in a 2nd HDD

    PROBLEM:
    ====================================================================================
    Dear fellas
    I just purchased an new HP TouchSmart 17.3" laptop that comes with Windows 8.1 pro (1 tb HDD + small SSD for cache only ) and still have space for one more HDD or SSD.
    I Google a lot and read a lot but many questions emerged since seems that no one has the same scenario (maybe I pick the wrong choices) like me.
    The problem is.. I didn't wish to re-install Windows 8.1 since it came with from factory.. so I purchased a 750 gb hdd and put it into the free slot to install Arch Linux in a different HDD.
    As I am not familiar with UEFI what I did was to reorder the hdds. I just put the Windows HDD as second disk and the new disk (For Arch Linux) as primary and changed into Bios from UEFI to compatibility mode and installed Arch Linux into the primary one.
    I reaaaally need help to add to grub the correct "path" to Windows 8.1 disk that came with UEFI..
    Anyone could please help me?
    Thanks in advance!
    ====================================================================================
    SOLUTION:
    A huge thanks to @TheSaint and other users for their help and assistance!
    More sources:
    http://www.kossboss.com/linux---arch-in … -grub-boot
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=METZCp_JCec#t=146
    https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 1#p1390741
    Step by Step Summary:
    Use gdisk to create partitions on /dev/sda:
        - 512MB - EF02 type partition (for EFI boot)
        - 690GB - Linux partition for the BTRFS.
    - Create an EF00 (ESP) with 512mb
    - Create a Linux System partition with the rest of space
    Make the FAT 32 system for EFI boot:
    # mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/sda1
    Make the BTRFS partition. If it complains about existing filesystems just add a "-f":
    # mkfs.btrfs -L arch -f /dev/sda2
    We will make out a root subvolume for sda1, this will be a folder called root located at the root of sda2. The way we will design this is that When the system boots we will not see /root, we will be inside root. Inside root you will have all of your etc,sys,proc,whatever folders etc.
    # mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
    # cd /mnt
    # btrfs subvolume create /mnt/root
    This should show you your root
    # btrfs subvolume list -a /mnt
    Something like this: ID 256 gen 5 top level 5 path root
    # cd /
    # umount /dev/sda2
    Now we will mount sda2 root subvolume as /mnt and we will dump the arch system into there with pacman. We will also enable compress to utilize btrfs compress feature.
    # mount -o defaults,compress=lzo,subvol=root /dev/sda2 /mnt
    NOTE: the command "mount" will not show which subvolume is mounted, to see how subvolumes are mounted you need to look inside proc (cat /proc/self/mountinfo):
    # cat /proc/self/mountinfo | egrep sda2
    The line for the mount of sda2 looks like this:
    43 21 0:34 /root /mnt rw,relatime shared:30 - btrfs /dev/sda2 rw,compress=zlib,ssd,space_cache
    We can see that the subvolume /root is mounted to /mnt from the device /dev/sda3
    Notice how with regular mount command its missing:
    # mount | egrep sda2
    /dev/sda3 on /mnt type btrfs (rw,relatime,compress=zlib,ssd,space_cache)
    Pacman will dump stuff into a boot folder, so we better mount our sda1 EFI boot partition to it. Or else all of the boot stuff will go to sda3 instead of sda1:
    # cd /
    # pacstrap -i /mnt base base-devel
    Let us create the directory and mount the EFI partition
    # cd /mnt
    # mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
    # mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi
    Let us generate the FSTAB:
    # genfstab -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
    Let us chroot into the arch installation:
    # arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash
    Change password:
    # passwd
    Then pick the right one like this and associate it with a link to /etc/localtime
    # ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Pacific /etc/localtime
    Let us generate the initial RAM disk
    # mkinitcpio -p linux
    Let us setup the bootloader (GRUB)
    # pacman -Syu grub efibootmgr
    Let us generate the grub configuration
    # grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
    Let us install grub into the HDD
    # grub-install /dev/sda
    # umount -R /mnt
    # umount /mnt
    # reboot
    From this step you can go straight and forward with the https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_guide
    Last edited by erickwill (2014-11-21 20:41:06)

    TheSaint wrote:As UEFI BIOS is a boot loader itself. You should make on each HDD an ESP.
    When you want to start win8 you go to BIOS and chose its entry, so will do for Arch the same.
    For this way I suggest you write to boot the kernel directly from the BIOS. It just take some reading on this topic
    Other option you set on you second ESP the boot loader of your liking and it will try to find win8 partition.
    Thanks for your reply.
    For the second option, may I use the compatibility mode and install the booloader into the first partition along with Arch?
    Or in case the first option is still the better option, could you pleaaaase give me some directions from the scratch? Do you have Google Hangout?
    Thanks in advance.
    Last edited by erickwill (2014-11-18 19:54:26)

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