Install Arch Linux, saving /home?

I have my /home partition, with crucial data on it, and need to preserve it through an Arch installation. The problem is, I have not been able to find, anywhere, any clear instructions to install Arch, saving /home during installation.
I keep thinking it must be here somewhere, or in the installation and beginner's guide, or online, but I have not been able to find clear instructions on how to do this anywhere - and it's certainly not obvious in the installer. Where in the installer do I tell it NOT to format /home, or to mount the partition as /home but not format it? I have not seen anything clear in the installer where to find these things. I've installed Arch many times, but always did a clean installation, due to this issue, and was always able to backup /home first. This time I can't.
My /home is reiserfs, and for several reasons, I do not use LVM. I do want to format / (root, the one that is there, same size). /home is on its own partition.
Is there anyone that can give me good, precise, step-by-step instructions on how to do this? Or can you point me to a link that does have a clear way to do it? This is very frustrating for me, trying to find a straightforward, clear way to do it, and to find things I need to in the installer to do it. It's a first for me, and I love Arch, but have misgivings about the installer. It may take a video or something, not sure.
Thanks.
Last edited by dedanna1029 (2012-11-27 22:42:54)

dedanna1029 wrote:Where in the installer do I tell it NOT to format /home, or to mount the partition as /home but not format it?
There are no installer anymore. Now you have to cfdisk by hand, mkfs by hand, etc.
Just don't touch your /home/ partition and you will be fine, but a backup is highly advisable. All you need is to mistype the device number and poof it's gone. Be careful.
As already said, just format your / and swap, pacstrap into it, install your stuff and mount /home/ when needed.
Edit: Oh, forgot to mention, I'm installing an early version of Arch, to avoid Gnome3.
Install media have nothing to do with Gnome. It only includes [base] and [base-devel]. Plus, older install medias are outdated and you will have trouble getting it updating (there were the glibc update, a filesystem update, bsd-init->systemd and a few other big updates). Anyway, next time you will update, you will get Gnome3 anyway. If you really want Gnome 2, use MATE from the AUR.
Last edited by Max-P (2012-11-27 23:34:12)

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Recovering earlier installed Windows 7 after installing Arch Linux

I'm trying to boot windows on my ASUS notebook.
There was windows 7 from the very beginning (disks C:\ and D:\), then I divided disk D:\ on several partitions and installed Arch Linux. I overwrited Windows boot information by boot part of Linux. Now I want to recover windows, that I still have on hard drive. It doesn's matter what there will be: dualboot or only windows (but dualboot is prefered).
Disk info:
[jhon@fckrsns ~]$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 698.7 GiB, 750156374016 bytes, 1465149168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 1AFC9DFF-CD3B-4CE1-8CAF-41C3E5B75772
Device Start End Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 411647 200M EFI System
/dev/sda2 411648 673791 128M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sda3 673792 586731519 279.5G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda4 586731520 691589119 50G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda5 1412718592 1465147391 25G Windows recovery environment
/dev/sda6 691589120 901304319 100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda7 901304320 1412718591 243.9G Microsoft basic data
[jhon@fckrsns ~]$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 698.7G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 200M 0 part /boot
├─sda2 8:2 0 128M 0 part
├─sda3 8:3 0 279.5G 0 part
├─sda4 8:4 0 50G 0 part /
├─sda5 8:5 0 25G 0 part
├─sda6 8:6 0 100G 0 part /home
└─sda7 8:7 0 243.9G 0 part
sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom
[jhon@fckrsns ~]$ lsblk -f
NAME FSTYPE LABEL UUID MOUNTPOINT
sda
├─sda1 vfat 4DEB-D6D2 /boot
├─sda2
├─sda3 ntfs OS 62364BE9364BBCB3
├─sda4 ext4 c4da4683-871a-49fa-96a3-4da11387d31d /
├─sda5 ntfs Recovery 8ECE4F50CE4F2FAF
├─sda6 ext4 3eba01c6-e422-4542-8442-16064c74a563 /home
└─sda7 ntfs 3B29E7794F6CD932
sr0
OS partition (/dev/sda3):
[jhon@fckrsns /]$ ls /run/media/jhon/OS
altera Boot djvureader DrWeb Quarantine eSupport hiberfil.sys MSOCache N56VM.BIN pagefile.sys Program Files Recovery SecurityScanner.dll VisualCLibs
AsusVibeData bootmgr Documents and Settings eclipse Games Intel MS.Office.2007.Portable.micro.v.1.16 N56VZ.BIN PerfLogs Program Files (x86) $Recycle.Bin System Volume Information Windows
AVScanner.ini BOOTSECT.BAK DOSBox_SIM END gcc Keil_v5 mtd NVIDIA ProgramData Qt R.G. Catalyst Users
I tried to recover MBR with different ways:
with syslinux:
[jhon@fckrsns /]$ sudo dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda
0+1 records in
0+1 records out
440 bytes (440 B) copied, 0.0226394 s, 19.4 kB/s
with ms-sys:
[jhon@fckrsns /]$ sudo ms-sys --partition /dev/sda1
Start sector 2048 (nr of hidden sectors) successfully written to /dev/sda1
Physical disk drive id 0x80 (C:) successfully written to /dev/sda1
Number of heads (255) successfully written to /dev/sda1
[jhon@fckrsns /]$ sudo ms-sys --mbr7 /dev/sda
Windows 7 master boot record successfully written to /dev/sda
But there is still no way to boot windows.
I run grub-mkconfig before and after these manipulations with MBR:
[jhon@fckrsns ~]$ sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-linux
Found initrd image: /boot/initramfs-linux.img
Found fallback initramfs image: /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img
No volume groups found
done
[jhon@fckrsns /]$ sudo os-prober
/dev/cdrom: open failed: No medium found
No volume groups found
I installed rEFInd, now I have two choices on boot screen: vmlinuz-linux, which it founded, and my earlier installed grub bootloader.
Maybe I missed something, but i don't know what exactly.
Last edited by Jhon (2014-09-28 16:45:38)

Now I know that I don't need MBR at all (but google told me that recovering windows = recovering MBR..)
Are there any ways to recover boot information on EFI system partition from Linux without using Windows Live CD and it's bootrec.exe?
I have bootmgr and bootmgfw.efi files on /dev/sda3 (partition with windows installed), what else I need? Simple copy of bootmgfw.efi to /boot/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi and addition of custom menu item to /etc/grub.d/40_custom does'nt work. There is Windows now in rEFInd and GRUB menus, but there is error on loading.

Archwiz Script for installing Arch Linux

I created a new Bash Script Project called Archwiz, located on github flesh/archwiz ,
its still in Beta for a few reasons, I never figured out how to get computer translations working in the script so I can Localize it, and I never figured out all the details to get an AUR custom repo working and lastly I didn't get the Asynchronous downloads to work right, so there are all disabled in this script.
This script was a fork of another script found here Archlinux Ultimate Install Script.
The Script itself has several files, the wizard.sh is a library, that allow programmers to use this library as an API for writing scripts, so its usefully to anyone that wants an API to write Bash Scripts, but the script itself scripts a script that is saved as configuration files, then executes the script inside itself, so you can look at all the configuration files before running it.
The script was written for use by anyone, but mostly targets programmers like myself who need to setup a machine to use as a work station and want it set up a certain way every time, although this script is far from finished, I have a lot of tweaking to do to it before it would be completely there, but as it is, I can get up and running on a machine with little effort, so this make it ideal for a Linux Administrator who has to install thousands of OS's and have them configured all the same way, but works great for someone just wanting to install Arch Linux.
The Project is Self Documenting and Self Localizing, although currently only English works, but the po files are there, so it would be easy enough if you wanted to localize it; but the computer translation function I started would be the correct way to do this.
The scripts makes use of a custom repo, so remove it when finished, the script should do this for you, but just to let you know, it downloads the core to the flash drive, this way it can install very fast, once you install it one, it has all the files on it to install on another computer without an Internet connection, well at least that was my thinking, I never did get the AUR custom repo to work, but the idea is to have all the files on the flash so you do not need to use up bandwidth installing Arch Linux on a new machine, just install it, then run pacman updates.
The Idea of a Wizard is to make the life of those installing an OS, much easier, they have the Option to do a Custom install, or a Wizard install, even an Automatic install to pre-configure machines.
The script determines if you have UEFI Bios or not, and formats and configures the Hard Drive correctly, and gives you full control over the partitioning of the drive, within the bounds of the tools used, so its very flexible, it uses systemd, so boot time on my machine is 10 seconds flat, and that's because I mount a lot of network drives and map them at boot time, I got 2 seconds boot time with mounting, so the packages are not perfect, but they do work.
I only tested GDM, since I installed every Desktop Manager and configuration for my needs, this was the only one I got to work for all of them, but I normally use KDE or Mate, but I ran into issues with Mate and went back to KDE, so I could get back to work.
This script was designed to Format the Drive you install it to, so do not use this on a Partitioned Drive, it will format the hard drive, so you are warned once more during the install, but this could be fixed, I had to abandon the project to finish another, so the script is as it is, but could give someone a great start if they want to folk it and finish it, so fork me.
See the help.html for details.
Last edited by Flesh (2013-02-28 00:31:54)

Moving to Community Contributions...

The Arch Linux Folding@Home team breaks 3 million points

The Arch Linux Folding@Home team breaks 3 million points and is ranked 318 out of 81,260 teams.
http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/ … s=&t=45032
Not bad for a team that averages between 20 and 25 active folders!
Thanks and Congrats to everyone who has folded for Arch.
Pudge

alexmat wrote:
Please post your results, I would be very interested in getting the SMP client setup.
Also, a nice package wouldn't hurt
In my case, I run all my folding computers at home, and it's just me and my wife. So the computers are running in a trusted environment. As such, I just manually start the client in a Gnome terminal window on desktop #4 and leave my computer logged in all the time. When I need to log out of my Gnome session, reboot, or stop my computer, I get into Desktop #4 and enter Ctrl-C to stop the client. This is the simplest way to run the client and works for me. When you use the client like this, a package isn't necessary.
Just download the Linux x86-64 only SMP client version 6.0 Beta 1 http://folding.stanford.edu/release/FAH … -Linux.tgz into a folder in your home directory. Use the tar command to untar the file, and you end up with two files named "fah6" and "mpiexec". This is the first Linux client that requires a passkey. Go to http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/getpasskey.py to get a passkey E-mailed to you. Once you get the passkey, get into your folding directory and as a user enter:
$ ./fah6 -configonly -smp
Answer the questions to configure how your client will run. If you have never run folding at home before, you need to choose a user name. Go to http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/mai … =userstats and using the "is exactly" option or the "is like" option enter your chosen user name in the search box and see if someone else is already using that name. Keep trying user names until you find one not in use. Enter your user name. The Arch Linux team number is 45032 so enter that for the team number. Enter the passkey that Stanford E-mailed you. I recommend the following for these questions:
User name [Anonymous]? Your_user_name
Team Number [0]? 45032
Passkey []? XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ask before fetching/sending work (no/yes) [no]? no
Use proxy (yes/no) [no]? no
Acceptable size of work assignment and work result packets (bigger units may have large memory demands)
-- 'small' is <5MB, 'normal' is <10MB, and 'big' is >10MB (small/normal/big) [normal]? big
Change advanced options (yes/no) [no]? yes
Core Priority (idle/low) [idle]? idle
Disable highly optimized assembly code (no/yes) [no]? no
Interval, in minutes, between checkpoints (3-30) [15]? 15
Memory, in MB, to indicate (1885 available) [1885]? 1885
Set -advmethods flag always, requesting new advanced
scientific cores and/or work units if available (no/yes) [no]? yes
Ignore any deadline information (mainly useful if
system clock frequently has errors) (no/yes) [no]? no
Machine ID (1-16) [1]? 1
That's it, you are now configured. Now that it is configured, enter:
$ ./fah6 -smp
and you are off and running. Just remember to use the -smp flag when starting the client, and remember to use Ctrl-C to stop it.
dmartins wrote:I have noticed that the SMP client works much better on a linux dual core system than it does on a windows system with similar specs.
I agree totally with that.
Btw, Pudge: You seem to be way out in front of everyone else in points per day. I was wondering what machines you have churning away. Perhaps a PS3 in the mix? I have read they can pump out some serious GFLOPS.
No, I don't have a PS3. Here's what I have churning away.
Four SMP clients on AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processors running Arch 64 bit.
One SMP client on an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor running Windows XP
Three regular clients (non SMP) on AMD Athlon XP single core processors running i686 Arch
One regular client (non SMP) on an AMD Athlon XP single core processor running Windows XP
The vast majority of my points come from the 5 SMP clients. It's absolutely amazing how fast the SMP client can finish the work units!
If you have a dual core processor, I highly recommend running a single SMP client as opposed to running two regular clients.
EDIT: I forgot to mention. To run the Linux X86_64 SMP client Version 5 beta, you needed some 32 bit libraries loaded. I just loaded all the 32 bit libraries listed in the installing Flash on Arch64 Wiki and it worked. When I went to the Linux X86_64 SMP client Version 6 beta 1, I just left the 32 bit libraries in place as I am using them for nspluginwrapper anyway. So, I have not tested whether the Linux X86_64 SMP client Version 6 beta 1 still needs the 32 bit libraries or not.
Pudge
Last edited by Pudge (2007-09-29 04:54:05)

Is it suitable install Arch Linux on a USB key?

I want to install Arch Linux on a USB key following the wiki https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … _a_USB_key
But I now heard that Arch Linux will be very very slow than LiveUSB because of USB's bad I/O speed. Is it real?
Forgive my poor English, thank you!

Actually I spent some times to study USB, and I concluded out that it is relate with USB's performance, as example, USB 3.0 is better than USB 2.0, SLC is better than MLC.
So the better performance of USB the more suitable to install Arch Linux. However, it will costs me much money to buy expensive USB:)
@Mr Green What's your blog? Is this http://archbang.org/?

How to partition a USB flash-drive to install Arch Linux?

Good afternoon,
Could anyone please guide me in the right direction, how would I go about partitioning my USB flash-drive in order to install Arch Linux onto my Acer Aspire One? I've found guides, but none of them are specific enough - the static assumption being that the OS is already partitioned onto your flash-drive, and that is not the case for me.
Much appreciated,
A Swiftly Tilting Planet

assuming your usb key is /dev/sdz
# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdz
//cleans the usb drive
# fdisk /dev/sdz
// press m and read the help, make a partition, make it bootable
// you have to press (double check anyway):
// n, p, 1, <enter>, <enter>, a, 1, t, b, w
# mkfs.vfat /dev/sdz1
// formatting
The first passage can actually replaced to something more modest, like:
# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdz bs=1024 count=1
Last edited by ezzetabi (2009-01-03 16:37:04)

Failure to install Arch Linux via netinstall AIF; PGP key issues

Hello,
I'm am attempting a fresh install Arch Linux on a clean machine: Dell 1420, 4GB RAM. I am using the archlinux-2012.02.09_04-00-01-netinstall-dual.iso installer.
Installation progresses nicely through the package selection (I choose core, core-dev, xfce, and xorg packages only, to keep it simple for now). The packages download quickly, and then the installation fails during installation indicating that none of the PGP keys are known for any of the downloaded files. The process essentially aborts and I press 'Continue' returning me to the main menu. I have repeated this process several times.
What needs to be done to install Arch Linux?
Thanks.

Hi,
Thanks, I have been through the Beginners Guide. I just want to get Arch Linux to "start" with a very basic GUI. during one of my installation iterations I did install only 'core' files, but the same failure occurred. so I'm at a loss as to how to get even a basic installation to take hold. Thoughts on the pgp key issues?
Thanks.
Update: I've switched to using the default net installer (2011.08.19) and the installation succeeded!
Last edited by zaleksf (2012-02-12 05:12:32)

Trying to install Arch Linux on a HP-dv2000 laptop

I am able to start up from, the CD no problem. I get the Arch Linux menu. What I think is the problem is maybe a resolution issue because as I go to install it, the screen looks wonky and I can't see the command line properly. I know when I install Ubuntu for example, the installation screen looks off to one side. Only after installing the nvidia driver after successfully installing Ubuntu does the screen look the way it supposed to.
I think the same think is happening here when trying to install Arch Linux. Any suggestions on how I can resolve this? This is a big deal for me because for the first time, I think I am going to learn a ton of stuff about Arch Linux. I am willing to take the plunge following the beginner's guide along the way.
Thanks for the help!!

ArchLinux is designed to run whether in VirtualBox or on a real machine.
If you have a TV connector plugged in it will chop some regular lines at the bottom to make up for the difference in TV resolution.
There are a couple of packages related to nvidia hardware, nouveau is one of them. Just do a pacman -Ss nvidia for possibilities of things you might need to install. Your nvidia hardware is a little newer, so probably nvidia is the package you'll need instead of nouveau.
Are you using X? When you install the proper xf86-video-* driver it shouldn't have any problems with X. If modesetting is turned off, then some resolutions may not be made available (especially in Gnome), so it is best to keep it turned on if at all possible (kernel default).
Last edited by nomorewindows (2012-03-12 17:19:55)

Resize Windows XP to install Arch Linux

Me again! Hi! Well my Dad finally gave me permission to install Arch on our computer (hes a bit paranoid..) But I need some help.. I boot archlive and when I go into Cdisk to setup the partitions, Windows Controls the ENTIRE partition on the Hard drive.. How can I resize it so I can install Arch Linux onto the system?

skottish wrote:
arch0r wrote:first of all defragment windows
+100000000000000000000
Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeefinitely. (Emphasis on the "Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeefinitely")
If you're not careful, it's very easy to lose data from Windows partitions due to fragmentation.
Not to discourage or anything. Just be careful.

Keyboard and mouse not working when installing arch linux 2014.01.05

trying to install arch linux 2014.01.05 dual iso but when I boot the live cd my keyboard and mouse (both wired) arent detected.
please help

I am from australia > melbourne victoria and usually type in english us or english australian (which keymap do I use in the arch linux install process?) arch linux still does not detect my kb and mouse when on desktop (usb keyboard)...stumped.
Last edited by yoshiserry (2014-01-27 07:44:05)

Can I install Arch Linux without Internet connection ?

It sounds noobish but my friends like to know if they can install Arch Linux without Internet connection ?

mcmillan wrote:
The core iso should be all you need, just boot off that to start the installation. It's been a while since I did an install, but somewhere along the way it gives you an option to install off the cd or do a net install. You just need to choose the cd installation.
That being said, all you'll have without internet will be what's on the cd, so you'll be left with a pretty minimal install. If you want to update and install additional software then you'll either need to get the computer temporarily connected, or download the packages on a different computer and transfer them.
I am looking to do something similar. I have the core system installed on an older laptop, but I cannot get the wireless working (it has no ethernet). I've tried downloading the libgl packagesfrom a mirror to a thumbdrive, but it's a dependency nightmare. Is there a better way to do this?

Installing Arch Linux after Windows 7 64bit dual boot

Total noob here ^^
Im trying to install Arch Linux after my installation of Windows 7, without fucking up that one...
I freed up 50GB and removed it from my Windows boot partition, so Arch can be installed there, I have almost absolutely no experience with this kind of stuff since I've only used Ubuntu and Kali Linux before.
I've got a working arch image on my usb stick and i somehow can't figure out, how to install it without touching the existing partitions.
Is it possible to create a working dual boot, without changing my windows configuration?

yes its possible. What research have you done in order to install Arch. We do not hand hold here in this community. Go read up the appropriate wiki pages and ask specific questions with details in case you get stuck.
Start with the Beginners Guide.

[SOLVED] Install Arch Linux on USB Stick!

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

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

Install Arch Linux with UEFI and GPT

Hi, I purchased a new laptop and I created a partition with Windows 8 (default OS on laptop) and another partition where I want to install Arch Linux.
When I tried to install Arch Linux not boot from CD. After searching in Google I downloaded the latest Arch Linux ISO (2012-12-01) and tried again.
This time CD started without problems but when I used cfdisk showed an error with GPT partition. I went back to search in Google and I read about gdisk and gfdisk and I try it but when I partitioning to install Arch Linux partition show that may cause damage. I searched and searched without success and I wonder if there is a Arch Linux GPT install guide or if someone knows how to install Arch Linux with GPT and a Windows 8 partition in UEFI.
Thanks and regards.

Hi again, finally I got "install" Arch Linux but when I reboot the follow message appears:
"No Booteable Device, Hit any key."
I don't know if I broke Windows Boot Manager, UEFI or both...
I tried to reinstall GRUB but was unsuccessful.
Can anyone help me?
Thanks and regards.

Install Arch Linux lenovo e330 only [SOLVED]

Hello,
I am starting a second install of Arch Linux on a Lenovo Laptop E330 13.3" Windows 8 I3-3110 NZSE9IV *(spec 2.4 Ghz Intel Core i3-3110M CPU, Intel HD graphic 4000, 500GB 7200RPM 4GB upgraded to 8GB DDR3 EEE)
I disabled in the BIOS the secure boot.
I m now partitionning the harddrive with cgdisk. I want to partition only with Linux Arch. My goad is to have three partitions / for root /home and /boot. I want to parition the /root and /home in ext4 and /boot in ext2. So I delelted all the partitions that were before including the EFi partition and started to parition the new ones. I chosed Write in the Ncurse interface of cgdisk and I got the following error : Problem Saving data ! Your parition may be damaged ! "I quited rebooted again using the USB hardrive with Arch Linux on it, and went back to cgdisk. I can see the paritition I made on /dev/sda but when I want to write the same parition scheme i get the same error.
I m wondering if it s something that I should pay attention to or not, before I continue to install Arch.
Thanks for your help
Last edited by maxarsys (2013-10-30 16:15:23)

How do i create a new partition table ? With cgdisk as well ?
EDIT : I am having a look at https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/partitioning I had to use gdisk first ot overwrite existing parition scheme and then went back to cgdisk and now no more error thank you for the hint.
Last edited by maxarsys (2013-10-29 14:50:50)

Install Arch Linux, saving /home?

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