Contents
Sun, Mar 03, 2024
ARCH LINUX
Keyboard
$ loadkeys us
Partition
# List block devices
$ lsblk
# To partition /dev/nvme0n1
$ gdisk /dev/nvme0n1
# Either new or start over
$ o
# Accept
$ y
# Create new partition
$ n
# Accept default partition number
$ Enter
# Accept default first sector
$ Enter
# Allocated 512MB for boot partition
$ +512M
# Set type of partition or L to list
$ EF00
# Create new partition
$ n
# Accept default partition number
$ Enter
# Accept default first sector
$ Enter
# Accept default last sector
$ Enter
# Set partition type to LVM
$ 8300
# Write change
$ w
# Accept
$ y
# Create encrypted container
$ cryptsetup luksFormat --type luks2 /dev/nvme0n1p2
# Open container
$ cryptsetup open /dev/nvme0n1p2 cryptolvm
# Create physical volume
$ pvcreate /dev/mapper/cryptolvm
# Create MyVol volume group
$ vgcreate MyVol /dev/mapper/cryptolvm
# Allocated 2GB for swap
$ lvcreate -L 2G MyVol -n swap
# Allocated remaining for root
$ lvcreate -l 100%FREE MyVol -n root
# Format swap
$ mkswap /dev/mapper/MyVol-swap
# Format root
$ mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/MyVol-root
# Mount swap
$ swapon /dev/mapper/MyVol-swap
# Mount root
$ mount /dev/mapper/MyVol-root /mnt
# Format boot
$ mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1
# Create boot directory
$ mkdir /mnt/boot
# Mount boot
$ mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot
Dual Boot Option
# Mac's EFI partition; shared with Linux
sda1 EFI /boot
sad2 Mac
# Left blank
sda3 EFI
sda4 LUKS
|-MyVol
|- MyVol-swap [SWAP]
|- MyVol-root /
Wireless
Use Ethernet or with Ethernet, install netctl
$ pacman -S netctl
$ wifi-menu
Install Base System
$ pacstrap /mnt base base-devel
Edit /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist so that the preferred mirror is on top of the list
$ pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware mkinitcpio lvm2 netctl dhcpcd
Configure System
# Generate fstab
$ genfstab -pU /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
Edit /mnt/etc/fstab; change relatime to noatime for non-boot partitions
# chroot
$ arch-chroot /mnt
Add hostname to /etc/hostname and /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.1 hostname.subdomain.domain hostname
Set time zone
$ ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Pacific/Auckland /etc/localtime
Uncomment locale in /etc/locale.gen
$ locale-gen
Set locale preference by adding LANG=”en_NZ.UTF-8” to /etc/locale.conf
Configure mkinitcpio
Add ext4 to MODULES and encrypt lvm2 resume hooks to /etc/mkinitcpio.conf before filesystems and after udev
HOOKS=(base udev autodetect modconf block encrypt lvm2 resume filesystems keyboard fsck)
mkinitcpio and set root password
$ mkinitcpio -p linux
$ passwd
Install Boot Loader
$ bootctl --path=/boot install
Edit /boot/loader/loader.conf
default lts.conf
timeout 5
editor 0
Use blkid to find the UUID for /dev/nvme0n1p2 and replace the <UUID> below without the bracket
Edit /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options cryptdevice=UUID=<UUID>:MyVol root=/dev/mapper/MyVol-root resume=/dev/mapper/MyVol-swap rw
Edit /boot/loader/entries/lts.conf
title LTS
linux /vmlinuz-linux-lts
initrd /initramfs-linux-lts.img
options cryptdevice=UUID=<UUID>:MyVol root=/dev/mapper/MyVol-root resume=/dev/mapper/MyVol-swap rw
Wireless
$ pacman -S dialog wpa_supplicant
Umount and Reboot
# Exit from chroot environment
$ exit
$ umount -R /mnt
$ reboot
Create New User
Creates a new user with home directory, change password and add user to additional groups
$ useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash daniel
$ passwd daniel
$ usermod -a -G audio,network,power,scanner,storage,systemd-journal,video daniel
Wireless
$ wifi-menu
# Find the wifi profile
$ ls /etc/netctl/
# profile-name as obtained above
$ netctl enable profile-name
A better approach is as follows rather than enabling profile
# Wired
$ sudo pacman -S ifplugd
# substitute interface with the value obtained from ip a
$ sudo systemctl enable netctl-ifplugd@interface.service
# substitute interface with the value obtained from ip a
$ sudo systemctl enable netctl-auto@interface.service
Sudo
$ pacman -S sudo
Run visudo, edit it to restrict sudo to specific group or user
Additional Install / Extra Configuration
Yay
Install yay from AUR
Extract; run makepkg -s followed by pacman -U against the generated pkg.tar.xz package to install it
Audio
$ sudo pacman -S alsa-utils
# ALSA comes muted by default
$ amixer sset Master unmute
Create /etc/modprobe.d/disablePower.conf
options snd_hda_intel power_save=0
Mesa
Edit /etc/enviroment
MESA_LOADER_DRIVER_OVERRIDE=i965
Restore
Restore home from GFS backup; SYS backup is available for configuration reference if needed but do not restore straight from it since that will wipe newer configurations for fresh build
# Install all packages from backup list
$ sudo pacman -S - < pkglist.txt
Do the same for AUR packages with yay
Bluetooth
Edit /etc/bluetooth/main.conf and add the following line
AutoEnable=true
$ sudo systemctl enable bluetooth.service
Enable bluetooth service then pair devices
CUPS
Install, enable and start CUPS
$ sudo pacman -S cups
$ sudo systemctl enable org.cups.cupsd.service
$ sudo systemctl start org.cups.cupsd.service
Run sudo usermod -a -G lp daniel to add to lp group Run sudo usermod -a -G cups daniel to add to cups group
Append wheel to SystemGroup sys root in /etc/cups/cups-files.conf
At this point, re-logon for the permission to be effective
$ yay -S brother-mfc-l2713dw
$ yay -S brscan4
Install printer and scanner drivers
Browse to http://localhost:631, go to Administration -> Add Printer Select LPD/LPR Host or Printer Enter lpd://(Your printer’s IP address)/binary_p1 Select Brother Select the CUPS printer driver version (if not already automatically selected) Name the printer
Then go to Printers Select the printer Drop down Administration Select Set Default Options Set to the following A4 Plain Paper 600dpi Tray1 DuplexNoTumble Toner Save to Off
Drop down Administration Select Set As Server Default
For scanning
$ brsaneconfig4 -a name=(name your device) model=(model name) ip=xx.xx.xx.xx
Use gscan2pdf
Untick OCR scanned pages Select All pages Leave Mode as default Change Geometry from Manual to A4
gscan2pdf will need yay -S pdftk-bin
Even though org.cups.cupsd.service has been enabled, it won’t auto start on boot Just do a test print, that will activate the auto start on boot
NTP
$ sudo systemctl enable ntpd.service
Power Management
power-profile-daemon simplifies power management
$ pacman -S thermald power-profiles-daemon upower
$ sudo systemctl enable thermald.service
$ sudo systemctl enable power-profiles-daemon.service
$ sudo systemctl enable upower.service
Nvidia
$ pacman -S nvidia nvidia-lts nvidia-utils nvidia-settings nvidia-prime mesa-utils virtualgl
Use nvidia-smi to check offloading and wattage Use prime-run if need to explicitly use nvidia Some programs will do that automatically such as mpv Otherwise, they default to the integrated GPU For Intel, that’s i915
Slock
Create /etc/systemd/system/slock@.service
[Unit]
Description=Lock X session using slock for user %i
Before=sleep.target
[Service]
User=%i
Environment=DISPLAY=:0
ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/xset dpms force suspend
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/slock
[Install]
WantedBy=sleep.target
$ sudo systemctl enable slock@user.service
Substitute user with value from echo $USER
Macbook Air Mid-2013
It has BCM4360 wireless network adapter
For Arch LInux, install broadcom-wl-dkms and linux-headers Then reboot before trying wifi-menu
For Debian, follow installation instruction for wl
Deprecated
Section kept for reference only
PulseAudio (Replaced by PipeWire)
Edit /etc/pulse/system.pa and add the following lines
load-module module-bluetooth-policy
load-module module-bluetooth-discover
Edit /etc/pulse/default.pa and add the following line
load-module module-switch-on-connect
If cookie not found then cp ~/.pulse-cookie ~/.config/pulse/cookie
iOS
$ usbmuxd -f -v
$ idevice_id -l
$ ideviceinfo
$ ideviceinstaller -l
$ ifuse ~/iPhone
$ umount ~/iPhone
Reference
Broadcom wireless Mid 2013 Suspend WiFi netctl: Enabling a profile netctl: Special systemd units: wired / wireless
DEBIAN
Network Setup
Edit /etc/network/interfaces
source /etc/network/interfaces.d/*
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
# The primary network interface
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
# iface wlan0 inet dhcp
# Omit the following 5 lines if using dhcp; or 7 lines if using eno1
address <address>
netmask <netmask>
network <network>
broadcast <broadcast>
gateway <gateway>
wpa-ssid <wpa-ssid>
wpa-psk <wpa-psk>
To get wpa-psk
$ wpa_passphrase Your-WiFi-Name-SSID <passphrase>
RASPBERRY PI
Backup
# Backup
$ sudo dd bs=4M if=/dev/sde of=raspbian.img
# Or with compression
$ sudo dd bs=4M if=/dev/sde | gzip > rasbian.img.gz
# Restore
$ sudo dd bs=4M if=raspbian.img of=/dev/sde
# Or with compression
$ gunzip --stdout rasbian.img.gz | sudo dd bs=4M of=/dev/sde
Consistency Check
$ lsblk
$ sudo fdisk -l
$ sudo fsck -a /dev/sde2
$ sudo dosfsck -a /dev/sde1