Questions before I install Arch

Hi everyone. I decide to try Arch after using Ubuntu for almost a year. After reading the installing guide, I find the wireless network is the big problem. I am using wireless, and I can easily get connected with it by wicd. But installing Arch needs a wireless under command line, so I try that in terminal:
# ifconfig wlan0 up
# iwlist wlan0 scan ( and I see my target wireless network is there)
# iwconfig wlan0 essid "My_Network" key 0123456789
# dhclient wlan0
But it did not work. What I was sure was I managed to connect to this network with this key in Ubuntu Network Manager, or wicd, if using GUI. I later searched for this problem and it seemed that iwconfig recognized the key as hex by default. If using ascii, it should be:
# iwconfig wlan0 essid "My_Network" key s:0123456789
But even that I failed too. So I am just wondering how to get a hex key out of it? Is there any algorithm for this...?
I have downloaded the core version of Arch. But I am wondering if I need the internet by installing X windows and fluxbox, using pacman... If not, I can go directly with it and grab a GUI network manage like wicd and I will have no problems.
Thank you very much.
Last edited by shva (2009-04-25 15:51:59)

Does it post the same error? Try messing about with the different combinations of quotation marks taking them off both the key and network name, and then try with them on both the key and the network name.
iwconfig wlan0 essid "My_Network" key "0123456789"
iwconfig wlan0 essid My_Network key 0123456789
Last edited by jack.mitchell (2009-04-25 17:25:30)

Similar Messages

Before I install Arch w/XFCE on my old computer...

I'm installing Arch on an older computer and I want to keep it kind of lean. The computer is a PIII @ 1Ghz w/512MB RAM, so it isn't old-old; but it's just old enough that I don't want a lot of extra junk, which is precisely why XFCE was my choice of DE.
I'm doing my homework and read the Arch XFCE wiki and saw a package called "xfce-goodies." What is in that package?
Also, this computer has a wireless internet connection, so two questions:
1: Will I be able to connect to the web before I need to install xorg and networkmanager?
2: Will nm-applet work on the xfce-panel, or will I have to do tricks to get it to work. I know it works in Xubuntu, but that doesn't mean it works in default xfce.

pogeymanz wrote:Actually, my #1 question was the other way around from how you answered it. I know that I need to be online to get xorg, but I was asking if I will be able to GET online without installing netcfg2/whatever. And now that I think about it, probably not... I will just need to plug into the network for a few hours and then move back to where it belongs I guess.
A package called wireless_tools is included in the install CD which allows you to use the CLI to configure a wireless network. See the 'connect manually' section in this gentoo wiki article: http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Wireless_C … nd_Startup
AFAIK this should be enough to get your wireless going.
[edit: Tigrmesh is right, the netcfg package is in core now, so get the new iso's]
Last edited by dyscoria (2008-03-27 23:39:43)

Some questions before I install Awesome WM

Hi,
I'm new to Arch and relatively new to Linux in general but I do enjoy tinkering with it.
Recently I have tried many different window managers, Gnome, KDE, Openbox and Fluxbox, each of which have their own little perks. However whilst browsing through the monthly screen shot threads I stumbled upon something new, something I haven't heard of; tiling window managers. I find the idea behind them to be innovative and would like to give them a try, particularly Awesome WM, before I do so I have a few questions outlined below.
1). I understand that a mouse is not needed, which can be a good thing but an obstacle as well depending on what I want to do. What I would like to ask is that can you keep the mouse functionality as well such as the cursor, left click, right click and possibly the scroll wheel? (Is this possible in both Xmonad and Awesome WM)
2). Can you have a panel so that you can either easily launch your applications or when you minimize say pidgin you can see its status icon?
3). Most of the screen shots I have seen show all these terminal windows running, I assume thats just for show. You can run gui based aps too such as something for burning cds, openoffice, firefox and other gtk aps?
4). If neither apply to Awesome WM, could you point me in the direction of a tiling window manager more tailored for my needs.
Please only leave helpful comments, I don't want to hear comments such as why do you want to use Awesome WM if your planning on running gui aps or don't want to run their terminal alternatives....Linux is about choice and I am entitled to my own as are you.
If you can help that would be "awesome".
PS: Please excuse the rather verbose post; its a problem of mine, hopefully one you come to find endearing.
Last edited by blackbird (2008-03-11 11:50:19)

blackbird wrote:
chimeric wrote:
blackbird wrote:Your response leads me to believe that I was asking if Awesome WM lets you assign shortcuts to the mouse, such as your very own example where a combination of mod4 and middle click would launch the terminal. What I intended to ask was whether you could use the mouse like you use it in other environments such as Gnome...where moving the mouse would move a cursor on your screen, left click would be used to select a window, move it around...etc.
Well I said "Yes." . The mouse behaves exactly like in other WMs and additionally you can add other functionality if you like. "Moving windows" is a little different in tiling window managers because windows aren't supposed to be moved around with the mouse, because the WM arranges them for you. However, in most tiling WMs, windows can have a special state named "floating", which means the WM isn't responsible how the window is placed on the screen and you can move it around freely (with the mouse). This is for example useful for applications like mplayer, vlc, gimp or gajim.
Brilliant; thanks for the clarification, I just hope nothing extra is required to obtain this functionality. Well if anything else is required that wont be a problem considering how good the Linux community is.
Thanks again
PS: There is a slight drawback to using Awesome WM though; whenever you google something about awesome wm you get results about people stating how awesome their window managers are, not specifically awesome wm lol. Everything comes at a price.
Nothing extra is required....just already preconfigured keystrokes do the job.
Last edited by ph0tios (2008-03-11 16:20:22)

Before I Install Arch on My Laptop...

I have a couple of questions. I have a Dell 1420 that I take onto campus for notes in class and something to do between classes. I've gotten Arch working beautifully on my Desktop with FVWM finally all set. But I'd like to be sure that everything (at least almost certainly) work before I go to the trouble of resizing the windows partition and setting everything up. So, here are my questions:
1) I know this question is kind of ridiculous, but my university has these instructions for XP (https://hdc.tamu.edu/reference/document … ion_id=729) for connecting to the on campus wireless network. I've had difficulty in the past connecting to those networks with Ubuntu and Fedora because of the need for a username and password. I've never really known how to configure everything to make things work. So, will wicd (which I really like) support the correct configuration? Or will I need to find a new wireless network tool?
2) I have an Intel 3945 wireless card in the laptop, and the on campus network is WPA2, are both of those pretty well supported?
3) Is suspend/resume supported pretty well on the laptop? I've had (unresolved) difficulties with it on my desktop, and it's much more important on the laptop.
thanks,
progrock

1) Check out netcfg (in core) http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Netcfg
2) The 3945 card works fine here.
3) http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Suspend_to_Disk shows you a couple options to try (pm-utils takes the least setup). I've had problems getting an ATI video card to work coming back from a suspend to disk on a desktop, but none of the laptops I've tried have problems suspending (I'm just lucky?)

Questions before I install Arch64...

I have read up on what programs work in 64-bit and what doesn't, etc. I plan on doing a chroot solution for 32-bit apps I want. These are the programs:
Wine
Zsnes
PSX
...there was another one, but I just lost my train of thought...
[EDIT] OpenOffice! [/EDIT]
Anyway, these will work fine in a 32-bit chroot? I've never 'chroot'ed before.
What about hardware? I heard some wireless cards and nvidia cards have trouble.
I have:
nVidia GeForce 8300GS 128MB
TP-Link TL-WN651G 32-bit PCI wireless adapter w/ atheros AR5212 chipset
Does anyone know if these are supported? What about the 32-bit PCI? Is that problematic? (I don't know too much about 32-bit vs. 64-bit)
Last edited by pogeymanz (2008-05-18 20:53:20)

Everything will work with a little care without a chroot environment. That's where all the lib32 stuff from community, or the bin32 stuff from AUR, come in. I have Skype, Flash, and Lightscribe working on this box without chroot. My current 32 bit bit setup is this:
[skottish@iasE ~]$ pacman -Qs | grep lib32
local/lib32-alsa-lib 1.0.16-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-atk 1.22.0-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-cairo 1.6.4-1.1 (lib32)
local/lib32-expat 2.0.1-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-fontconfig 2.5.0-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-freetype2 2.3.5-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-gcc-libs 4.3.0-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-glib2 2.16.3-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-glibc 2.7-9 (lib32)
local/lib32-gnutls 2.0.4-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-gtk2 2.12.9-2 (lib32)
local/lib32-libcups 1.3.7-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libgcrypt 1.4.0-1.2 (lib32)
local/lib32-libgpg-error 1.6-1.1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libice 1.0.4-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libjpeg 6b-4 (lib32)
local/lib32-libpng 1.2.28-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libsm 1.0.3-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libstdc++5 3.3.6-2 (lib32)
local/lib32-libtasn1 1.3-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libtiff 3.8.2-3 (lib32)
local/lib32-libx11 1.1.3-6.1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxau 1.0.3-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxcb 1.1-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxcomposite 0.4.0-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxcursor 1.1.9-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxdamage 1.1.1-1.1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxdmcp 1.0.2-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxext 1.0.4-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxfixes 4.0.3-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxft 2.1.12-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxi 1.1.3-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxinerama 1.0.2-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxmu 1.0.4-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxrandr 1.2.2-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxrender 0.9.4-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxss 1.1.1-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxt 1.0.5-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-libxv 1.0.3-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-lzo2 2.02-3 (lib32)
local/lib32-ncurses 5.6-6 (lib32)
local/lib32-opencdk 0.6.6-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-pango 1.20.2-2 (lib32)
local/lib32-pcre 7.7-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-pixman 0.10.0-1 (lib32)
local/lib32-readline 5.2-7 (lib32)
local/lib32-zlib 1.2.3-4 (lib32)
It only takes a few more libraries to get Wine running. They are available in AUR. The others will be just as easy.

Problems after installing Arch [SOLVED]

Hello,
I attempted to follow the installation instructions to install Arch Linux. I followed those since they are faster than the Beginners Guide and didn’t meet some of my needs.
For example, I was also wanting to install an LVM partition (and I'll backup and set up dm-crypt+LUKS later after I get this issue solved), which the Beginner Guide didn't mention and there were a few other minor tweaks I wanted.
In my partition layout I have a 400MB boot (extra room for other kernels). followed by an LVM volume, which has one volume group with 4 logical partitions, these are: /, /home, /tmp, and /var.
The problem:
GRUB is not working, or at least it's not installed and configured correctly. When I boot up my computer, it says exactly, "GRUB", in the top-left corner of my screen and nothing happens. I have a poor understanding of the init/bootloader process in computers, which I am trying to learn slowly but steadily. I was re-reading the instructions for GPT specific partitions, which is what I use, and it says here:
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual … stallation
That I'm supposed to have a "BIOS partition". This is interesting because I have no idea what this is for. Something came to mind when I was using cgdisk or gdisk, it would automatically allocate the first 2000-ish sectors (instead of 34 like the documentation was hinting), so this probably means something.... I don't know.
And then I read that the BIOS installation for GPT is supposed to be done before you install Arch Linux. Whoops! So can I fix this without having to reinstall Arch? I can probably mount all of my directories and chroot inside again after creating the BIOS partition so GRUB can be configured and reinstalled correctly. Maybe I can fix this. I don't know.
So I am trying to troubleshoot this problem, but is there anything I am understanding wrongly here? Is there some other reason why GRUB won't boot up? I tried Super GRUB 2 disk and that didn't work, there was just a blank screen when booting from grub.cfg. Any help or suggestions?
I am using x86_64 Arch Linux with the installed 3.6.4-1-ARCH Linux kernel.
Last edited by mrrhq (2012-11-08 22:31:49)

mrrhq wrote:In my partition layout I have a 400MB boot (extra room for other kernels). followed by an LVM volume, which has one volume group with 4 logical partitions, these are: /, /home, /tmp, and /var.
Be aware that logical partitions are a construct of the Master Boot Record (MBR) partitioning system; however, the title of your thread, and some of the specifics, suggest that you're using the GUID Partition Table (GPT) system, which doesn't use logical partitions. If you're certain you used gdisk or cgdisk, and not fdisk or cfdisk, then you're using GPT and I'd simply accept your use of the word "logical" as an error. If there's any doubt in your mind about this, though, you should investigate further, since some of the issues and solutions depend greatly on which partitioning system you used.
That I'm supposed to have a "BIOS partition". This is interesting because I have no idea what this is for.
The BIOS Boot Partition holds a portion of the GRUB code. It's used on GPT disks but not on MBR disks -- on MBR, the equivalent code goes in an officially-unallocated area immediately after the MBR. The BIOS Boot Partition can sometimes be just a few kibibytes in size, but it's usually either 1MiB or 2MiB. (I've seen reports that some configurations now require over 1MiB, but I haven't investigated this claim.)
Something came to mind when I was using cgdisk or gdisk, it would automatically allocate the first 2000-ish sectors (instead of 34 like the documentation was hinting), so this probably means something.... I don't know.
No, these are unrelated issues. Most partitioning tools today, including gdisk and its siblings, align all partitions on 2048-sector (1MiB) boundaries so as to avoid performance penalties that can be incurred on Advanced Format disks, SSDs, and some types of RAID arrays. See this article I wrote on the topic some time ago.
That said, if you have nowhere else to put it, you could try creating a BIOS Boot Partition in that space. You'd need to change the alignment policy in gdisk or cgdisk to align on 1-sector boundaries to do so, although an 8-sector alignment would be safer for future changes if you've got an Advanced Format disk. The BIOS Boot Partition isn't really greatly affected by the alignment issues, so I wouldn't worry about leaving it unaligned. OTOH, if GRUB wants more then 1MiB on your system, this space would be too small, so it might be better to resize a partition to make room for the BIOS Boot Partition.
WonderWoofy wrote:From what I understand (I have not tried this though) grub2 is actually lvm aware. So you can put all partitions within the lvm, including boot. If this is the case, I see no reason why you would not also be able to put the 2MB bios boot partition in there as well.
GRUB 2 is LVM-aware, and it is possible to put your Linux /boot directory inside the LVM. If you want to do this, though, there's really no point to split /boot off into a separate logical volume (the LVM equivalent of a partition); you might as well just make it a normal directory off of the root (/) filesystem. I'm pretty sure it is not possible to put the BIOS Boot Partition inside the LVM. That's because the code to parse the LVM data structures is contained within the BIOS Boot Partition, thus creating a chicken-and-egg situation if you were to attempt it. Furthermore, the code to write to the BIOS Boot Partition looks for the partition type code in the disk's partition table, and there's no equivalent to that in the LVM data structures. (All this said, in principle you might be able to get something like this to work, but the result would be something similar, but not identical, to a BIOS Boot Partition.)
Although GRUB 2 can read a kernel from within an LVM, I still prefer to keep a separate /boot partition. The reason is that you might not always use GRUB 2. If you wanted or needed to switch to another boot loader in the future, it might not be LVM-aware, and might need /boot to be on a true partition, not in an LVM. (This is true of every EFI boot loader except for GRUB 2, for instance.) In fact, I routinely create two or three smallish partitions on my computers so that I can create multiple /boot partitions for multi-boot configurations or to help transition to a new installation should the need arise. This can help simplify things when the time comes to start fresh.

I'm going to install Arch this weekend but I have some questions

Currently I use Linux Mint on my primary PC, but I've installed Arch on my older PC at my parents house. I like it a lot and I think I want a distro that is rolling release and also that I build myself (as opposed to installing all of the bloat on Mint). However, I do have some questions; Linux is pretty new to me (been using it since about November) so I don't know exactly how everything works.
1) How do I know what packages I have to have installed for building C/C++ programs? I know in Ubuntu install gcc/g++ by itself doesn't get the job done, you need build-essential to get all of the libraries. Also, what packages do I need for OpenGL and SDL? I'm a CS major and I'm in an OpenGL class so I need to be able to compile OpenGL programs; SDL is for my own purposes, but I'd still like to have it.
2) I use Amarok to transfer songs to my iPod. Amarok 1.48 and libgpod 0.6.0 are in the repos and I know both of those are compatible with my 6th gen. However, I do have a question about transferring album art. On Mint, Amarok transfers the album art as I transfer the album, but someone told me that Amarok doesn't do that by default; there must have been a setting changed somewhere to do that. I looked through Amarok's options and didn't see anything like that... anyone know if I can do that in Arch, and how? There's no real information about Amarok in the wiki.
3) I'm going to use Gnome environment but some KDE apps (like Amarok). Will there be any problems with that that I should know about in advance?
I'll probably have some more questions once I actually install Arch, but that will do for now Those are the important ones.

1) You know by seeing its dependencies on pacman or by the developer documentation. Unlike other distros, you don't need to install dev packages. Example: You have gcc and all the basic gnu tools installed, and you want to compile a program that is not in a arch linux package yet (if theres a package, you can build it using abs / makepkg and pacman will handle the dependencies) and requires, for example, a library called "xyz", you only need to download "xyz" from pacman, and all the dev stuff will come together (like header and etc).
I hope it helps.

Installed Arch KDEmod, have 2 questions

I just installed arch and have a few questions. When I installed openbox and tried to login in as kde/openbox, it just takes me back to the login screen. I can login as KDE or Openbox, but not as KDE/Openbox.
Also, Im trying to get conky to run on KDE and it will not work for some odd reason I've searched and followed the wikis for both of these issues, but I cant get either of these two things to work. Any help?

With a little more searching, I solved teh conky issue. Still stuck with trying to login in as KDE/Openbox. I keep getting a "Fatal Server Error: Server Is Already Active For Display 0" when I try to run it from the Konsole

Dual boot, installing arch before xp

Hi! I'm just wondering, how I can enable dualboot. I've heard that there is a way to enable dualboot even though I've installed archlinux before I installed xp. But now I cant choose whether I would like to use arch or xp. Any suggestions on how, or even an guide to enable dualboot?:P

well, if u have problem and for those who wonder what zenlord said...
boot to arch linux install CD.
when it loads and gives u a set of instructions. U wanna boot with this parameter.
root=/dev/sdxx
where xx is the partion of arch install. This will load the kernel from arch install CD and mount the file system on your HD. Once it loads u will have a CLI, login and then issue the command
grub-install /dev/sdx
x = the HD MBR u would want grub to be installed too.
then edit /boot/grub/menu.lst as u see fit to get windows working.
Last edited by jacko (2008-01-13 13:11:06)

Installing arch questions

My first official question on this forum is when I go to install arch it wants me to select the size of several partitons for swap, root, home, and boot. my question is how big do I make each one, Ubuntu just puts them all except swap on the same partition (I know Ubuntu has spoiled me ) So would anyone like to give me a run down on this, it would be much appreciated.

To give much advice we need to know more about what you want to setup. But to give you some perspective here's what I have:
/ 13 GB - with 7.3 being used, and I'm not particularly lean with what I have installed.
/boot - I have mine on the root partition. If you want it seperate it can be pretty small. My /boot is only ~7MB right now
/home - 6.8 GB with 3.2 being used, I also need to clean this up a little. It's pretty small for /home, but I keep all my personal data on another partion that I can mount from windows. If you won't be doing this you probably want /home big enough to hold all the personal data you might accumulate
swap - 1GB, what you need probably depends on your RAM. I rarely use much of this, but I kept it the same size as my memory so I can suspend to this space

Computer freezes before BIOS after arch linux install

This is my first time installing arch linux, I followed the beginners install guide word for word. However, after the install, my computer gets stuck before the BIOS. It identifies the RAM, GPU, and harddrive (all Diagnostic lights are ok on my MOBO). Before the install it booted fine, but now when I boot it up it wont go to the BIOS screen no matter how many times I press delete. However, when I remove the harddrive it boots to the arch linux install screen on my USB drive perfectly.
I know it is not my hardware because I did many different tests (mem-test, swapped out harddrives, tried 1 stick of RAM in different slots, etc). More importantly, my harddrive is brand new so I know it isn't dead because I could partition it when I was installing arch linux.
Computer specs:
AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3700+
DFI LANPARTY nf4-d
ATI Radeon x800
2 GB DDR RAM
160 GB SSD
I have no idea what the problem is, I must have screwed something up with the bootloader or something. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Try clearing the CMOS settings either by removing the motherboard battery for some minutes or by using the relevant jumper on the motherboard. Check the manual of your motherboard for details.
Last edited by Foucault (2013-07-03 16:19:41)

Just installed arch, openbox questions.

Hi,
I just installed arch, I'm ready to install openbox. I've used both kde and gnome before. I use programs for instance like pidgin, etc. How does this work, I install openbox through "pacman -S openbox" but like, do I have to install gnome/gtk or kde libaries, I see in the howto's just telling how to install openbox, but what happens if I install a gnome based program or kde based program? Is there an instant messaging client/web browser specifically for openbox. Thanks for all the help. Much appreciated.
-kenny

celthias wrote:
SomeGuyDude wrote:is a DE really anything other than a bunch of software?
Nope, not really. A Desktop Environment is just that, a suite of applications that all fit together, each serving a different purpose (Email Client, Web Browser, File Manager, Music Player, etc) that come together to create a functional desktop. Because of this cohesion, DEs tend to have branding (Gnome, KDE for example) and technically speaking usually share libs to provide better integration. Other than that..they really are just a bundle o' programs..
Exactly. And if you're still using all the same programs you did when you used Gnome, in a sense you're still using Gnome, but without its usual "face" of Metacity, Gnome-panel, etc. If you run gconf-editor from a terminal window, you'll find the whole GConf system works just as it did under "real" Gnome. (Assuming you knew that it did, of course. That's one of the things - a unified preferences system for the "bunch of software" - that makes a DE.)

Install Arch Before Windows?

My profession requires that I triple boot Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. I have purchased a Macbook Pro and know this is possible. I want to do anything possible to avoid Vista and have decided to download the Windows 7 RC this coming Tuesday. I would like to start making my Arch system right now, however. I know it is more than advised you install Windows first, but does anyone know how I could install Arch, then Windows, and not have a big mess on my hands?

If you want to dual/triple boot on a mac you need to boot from the EFI bootloader first, and most people install rEFIt. From there you can boot into your OS's. Remember your partition table will be a dual gpt/mbr, so you can only have four primary partitions.
Also, I don't see how the order of installing the OS's would matter at all.
Last edited by Stythys (2009-05-01 22:32:43)

The need to install Arch over network?

When I install Arch, I need to connect to network and use pacstrap to get the packages according to the relative wiki pages.
Could I install Arch without network connection? Which command I can use to do that, say, pacman?
Why don't we provide a CD such as Ubuntu did?
My previous questions:
pacman base base-dev returns ERROR: /mnt is not a mountpoint!
When install arch, how to avoid sleep or hibertate state
order question on language,internet connection and Mount the partition
wiki：
Beginners' Guide
Last edited by photon (2012-11-18 13:05:56)

Awebb wrote:
Max-P wrote:TL;DR: Just download the packages you need and put that on some media and install with pacman -U.
Which will break dependencies, unless you go all the way and install package by package with --asdeps.
Not if you install them all at once in one command. Also works if you install them in the correct order, but just dumping all the packages in the command line fixes it because pacman reads all the package first, check depencies afterward. That way, it will see you install 100 packages, all depencies met -> no problem.
Awebb wrote:And, err, if what you want to say can be said in one line, why all the text?
Because the longer text:
Explains why Arch can't have big disk images with all packages preinstalled on it
Explains why having the packages isn't that useful in most cases (example of the 1.2Gb update)
Offers multiple ways to store the packages:
Put extra packages on another media or network share
Expand the original CD image and put them directly on the Live CD
Tells where to go for the currently downloaded packages for easy access
Plus, finally, offers an alternative way to install the system: pre-build it in a VM or chroot and just untar on the target machine(s)
The one-line version doesn't talk about all that and suggest the direct way to do it quickly, but it acts more like a summary. Next time learn to read before complaining, thanks.

Installing Arch encrypted using LVM on top of LUKS

I just installed Arch following this this wiki page and this guide .
While booting, it gets to the point when it asks for the password. Once I provide the password, the whole process halts. No messages, nothing.
# fdisk -l /dev/sda
Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x66c02a9c
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1953327285 1953520064 96390 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 1952540100 1953327284 393592+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 63 1952540099 976270018+ 83 Linux
Partition table entries are not in disk order
/dev/sda2 contains information unrelated to my arch installation and is not to be mounted by the system
/dev/sda3 is the encrypted partition used as a physical volume and contains my volume group and all my logical volumes.
# pvscan
PV /dev/mapper/abierto VG grupito lvm2 [931.04 GiB / 867.04 GiB free]
Total: 1 [931.04 GiB] / in use: 1 [931.04 GiB] / in no VG: 0 [0 ]
# lvscan
ACTIVE '/dev/grupito/swap' [4.00 GiB] contiguous
ACTIVE '/dev/grupito/casa' [40.00 GiB] inherit
ACTIVE '/dev/grupito/raiz' [20.00 GiB] inherit
mkinitcpio.conf
mkinitcpio.conf wrote:
# vim:set ft=sh
# MODULES
# The following modules are loaded before any boot hooks are
# run. Advanced users may wish to specify all system modules
# in this array. For instance:
# MODULES="piix ide_disk reiserfs"
MODULES="dm-snapshot ext4"
# BINARIES
# This setting includes, into the CPIO image, and additional
# binaries a given user may wish. This is run first, so may
# be used to override the actual binaries used in a given hook.
# (Existing files are NOT overwritten is already added)
# BINARIES are dependancy parsed, so you may safely ignore libraries
BINARIES=""
# FILES
# This setting is similar to BINARIES above, however, files are added
# as-is and are not parsed in anyway. This is useful for config files.
# Some users may wish to include modprobe.conf for custom module options,
# like so:
# FILES="/etc/modprobe.conf"
FILES=""
# HOOKS
# This is the most important setting in this file. The HOOKS control the
# modules and scripts added to the image, and what happens at boot time.
# Order is important, and it is recommended that you do not change the
# order in which HOOKS are added. Run 'mkinitcpio -H <hook name>' for
# help on a given hook.
# 'base' is _required_ unless you know precisely what you are doing.
# 'udev' is _required_ in order to automatically load modules
# 'filesystems' is _required_ unless you specify your fs modules in MODULES
# Examples:
# This setup specifies all modules in the MODULES setting above.
# No raid, lvm2, or encrypted root is needed.
# HOOKS="base"
# This setup will autodetect all modules for your system and should
# work as a sane default
# HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata scsi sata filesystems"
# This is identical to the above, except the old ide subsystem is
# used for IDE devices instead of the new pata subsystem.
# HOOKS="base udev autodetect ide scsi sata filesystems"
# This setup will generate a 'full' image which supports most systems.
# No autodetection is done.
# HOOKS="base udev pata scsi sata usb filesystems"
# This setup assembles an pata raid array with an encrypted root FS.
# Note: See 'mkinitcpio -H raid' for more information on raid devices.
# HOOKS="base udev pata raid encrypt filesystems"
# This setup loads an lvm2 volume group on a usb device.
# HOOKS="base udev usb lvm2 filesystems"
HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata scsi sata usb encrypt lvm2 filesystems"
# COMPRESSION
# Use this to compress the initramfs image. With kernels earlier than
# 2.6.30, only gzip is supported, which is also the default. Newer kernels
# support gzip, bzip2 and lzma. Kernels 2.6.38 and later support xz
# compression.
#COMPRESSION="gzip"
#COMPRESSION="bzip2"
#COMPRESSION="lzma"
#COMPRESSION="xz"
# COMPRESSION_OPTIONS
# Additional options for the compressor
#COMPRESSION_OPTIONS=""
menu.lst
menu.lst wrote:
# Config file for GRUB - The GNU GRand Unified Bootloader
# /boot/grub/menu.lst
# DEVICE NAME CONVERSIONS
# Linux Grub
# /dev/fd0 (fd0)
# /dev/sda (hd0)
# /dev/sdb2 (hd1,1)
# /dev/sda3 (hd0,2)
# FRAMEBUFFER RESOLUTION SETTINGS
# +-------------------------------------------------+
# | 640x480 800x600 1024x768 1280x1024
# ----+--------------------------------------------
# 256 | 0x301=769 0x303=771 0x305=773 0x307=775
# 32K | 0x310=784 0x313=787 0x316=790 0x319=793
# 64K | 0x311=785 0x314=788 0x317=791 0x31A=794
# 16M | 0x312=786 0x315=789 0x318=792 0x31B=795
# +-------------------------------------------------+
# for more details and different resolutions see
# http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRU … Resolution
# general configuration:
timeout 5
default 0
color light-blue/black light-cyan/blue
# boot sections follow
# each is implicitly numbered from 0 in the order of appearance below
# TIP: If you want a 1024x768 framebuffer, add "vga=773" to your kernel line.
# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/mapper/grupito-raiz cryptdevice=/dev/sda3:grupito ro
initrd /kernel26.img
# (1) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux Fallback
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/mapper/grupito-raiz cryptdevice=/dev/sda3:grupito ro
initrd /kernel26-fallback.img
I would appreciate some hint here (where to look and what to try?).
Thanks.

Okay, so I don't understand though how containing fragmentation to a certain partition will lead to a benefit. What you are really trying to avoid are seek times, right? So if /var/log is on the same disk as everything else, you are still going to have those seeks occuring and therefore slowing everything else on that disk down, no? I think that this technique is beneficial if you actually have the fragmented filesystem on a separate disk. But the same disk will have the same problems.
I don't understand the question at the end... "wouldn't be the same, now with /"? What does that mean?
Also, if you want to defragment something, you can simply "cp -a" it from one place to another, or yu can use something like rsync. Linux is really neat in that it has everything as a file. So you can literally just copy all the relevant files from one place to another and have a working bootable system. No magic boot code or anything like that that is hidden from the user.
In reality though, it is not the /var/log that i think is acusing the problems. I was simply explaining to you why your logs show those errors. I think the real problem is having /usr on a separate partition. Though this is somewhat "supported" in Arch Linux, and I have used this in the past, it is not something I feel as though I could count on. So...
Me wrote:Is there a reason why you need to have a separate /usr? It would make your life far simpler if you just integrated it into your rootfs.

Questions before I install Arch

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