Arch Linux

jjanderson5

Member

Registered: 2017-05-21

Posts: 43

[RESOLVED] Installation errors

I'm making my first attempt to install Arch Linux and using the installation guide to work off.  The steps I have taken are:

1) run the arch linux DVD and select the option to run live
2) ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars   [Note: efi does not exist, so using a traditional boot]
3) ip address add 192.168.0.232/32 broadcast + dev eno1
4) ip add del 192.168.0.43/24 dev eno1
5) ip route show – verify that 192.168.0.1 is the default router [Note: It is and I have a network connection.]
6) fdisk -l  [Note: The needed file systems are displayed]
7) mount -t ext4 /dev/sda1 /mnt
8) pacstrap /mnt base [Note: shown below]

I have tried to do the install process 3 times and have received errors each time when running pacstrap. The first two times I did not capture there errors, but on the third try I captured the errors and present them below in an abbreviated version of the output, starting with "START OUTPUT" and ending with "END OUTPUT". I have broken up the output such that most output is displayed in 'code' sections and the error messages are in bold print. I have deleted a couple of thousand lines from the out and show elipses (...) where the omissions were made.

My questions are about the errors:

Question 1

Regarding the conflicting files error: Why would there be conflicting files on a new install where everything is being downloaded as part of the package installation?

Question 2

Again regarding the conflicting files error: How do I determine what the conflicts are?

Question 3

Regarding the failed to install packages error: I'm assuming this error message came about because of the conflicting files error, i.e. pacstrap will not install packages if there are errors reported. Is this correct?

START OUTPUT

==> Creating install root at /mnt
==> Installing packages to /mnt
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core is up to date
 extra is up to date
 community is up to date
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Packages (111) acl-2.2.53-2  archlinux-keyring-20200108-1  argon2-20190702-2  attr-2.4.48-2  audit-2.8.5-6  bash-5.0.016-1  bzip2-1.0.8-3  ca-certificates-20181109-3  ca-certificates-mozilla-3.50-1  ca-certificates-utils-20181109-3  coreutils-8.31-3  cracklib-2.9.7-2  cryptsetup-2.3.0-1  curl-7.68.0-1  db-5.3.28-5  dbus-1.12.16-5  device-mapper-2.02.186-5  e2fsprogs-1.45.5-1  expat-2.2.9-3  file-5.38-3  filesystem-2019.10-2  findutils-4.7.0-2  gawk-5.0.1-2  gcc-libs-9.2.1+20200130-2  gdbm-1.18.1-3  gettext-0.20.1-3  glib2-2.62.5-1  glibc-2.31-1  gmp-6.2.0-1  gnupg-2.2.19-1  gnutls-3.6.12-1  gpgme-1.13.1-3  grep-3.4-1  gzip-1.10-3  hwids-20200204-1  iana-etc-20200224-1  icu-65.1-3  iproute2-5.5.0-1  iptables-1:1.8.4-1  iputils-20190709-2  json-c-0.13.1-3  kbd-2.2.0-5  keyutils-1.6.1-3  kmod-26-3  krb5-1.17.1-1  less-551-3  libarchive-3.4.2-1  libassuan-2.5.3-2  libcap-2.31-1  libcap-ng-0.7.10-1  libcroco-0.6.13-1  libelf-0.177-2  libffi-3.2.1-4  libgcrypt-1.8.5-2  libgpg-error-1.37-1  libidn2-2.3.0-1  libksba-1.3.5-2  libldap-2.4.49-1  libmnl-1.0.4-3  libnetfilter_conntrack-1.0.7-1  libnfnetlink-1.0.1-3  libnftnl-1.1.5-1  libnghttp2-1.39.2-2  libnl-3.5.0-2  libpcap-1.9.1-2  libpsl-0.21.0-2  libsasl-2.1.27-2  libseccomp-2.4.2-1  libsecret-0.20.1-1  libssh2-1.9.0-2  libtasn1-4.16.0-1  libtirpc-1.2.5-1  libunistring-0.9.10-2  libusb-1.0.23-2  libutil-linux-2.35.1-1  libxml2-2.9.10-1  licenses-20191011-2  linux-api-headers-5.4.17-1  lz4-1:1.9.2-2  mpfr-4.0.2-2  ncurses-6.2-1  nettle-3.5.1-2  npth-1.6-2  openssl-1.1.1.d-2  p11-kit-0.23.20-2  pacman-5.2.1-4  pacman-mirrorlist-20200207-1  pam-1.3.1-2  pambase-20190105.1-2  pciutils-3.6.4-1  pcre-8.43-2  pcre2-10.34-3  perl-5.30.1-1  pinentry-1.1.0-5  popt-1.16-12  procps-ng-3.3.15-2  psmisc-23.3-2  readline-8.0.004-1  sed-4.8-1  shadow-4.8.1-1  sqlite-3.31.1-1  systemd-244.3-1  systemd-libs-244.3-1  systemd-sysvcompat-244.3-1  tar-1.32-3  tzdata-2019c-3  util-linux-2.35.1-1  xz-5.2.4-2  zlib-1:1.2.11-4  zstd-1.4.4-1  base-2-2
Total Installed Size:  532.10 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n]
checking keyring...
checking package integrity...
loading package files...
checking for file conflicts...

error: failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)

filesystem: /mnt/bin exists in filesystem
filesystem: /mnt/etc/mtab exists in filesystem
...
tzdata: /mnt/usr/bin/zdump exists in filesystem
...
iproute2: /mnt/usr/share/man/man8/tipc.8.gz exists in filesystem

Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded.

==> ERROR: Failed to install packages to new root

END OUTPUT

Last edited by jjanderson5 (2020-02-29 13:31:11)

sevendogs

Member

From: Texas

Registered: 2016-01-24

Posts: 201

Re: [RESOLVED] Installation errors

Maybe I am missing something but there are installation steps missing in your post, like formatting the partition(s). Are you following the official Arch install guide step by step?

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"Give a man a truth and he will think for a day. Teach a man to reason and he will think for a lifetime"

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 17,369

Re: [RESOLVED] Installation errors

On the first attempt did something else fail that the left package contents installed to /mnt but not the pacman databases?
If you unmount /mnt,  format /dev/sda1 again,  remout it to /mnt then run pacstrap again can you reproduce the issue?

WorMzy

Forum Moderator

From: Scotland

Registered: 2010-06-16

Posts: 11,858

Website

Re: [RESOLVED] Installation errors

Mod note: Moving to Installation Issues.

As an aside:

8) pacstrap /mnt base

This is not what is recommended by the installation guide. Why are you deviating from it?

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jjanderson5

Member

Registered: 2017-05-21

Posts: 43

Re: [RESOLVED] Installation errors

@sevendogs

This PC has a harddrive that has been partitioned previously and each partition has been formatted for ext4 previously.

Jim A.

jjanderson5

Member

Registered: 2017-05-21

Posts: 43

Re: [RESOLVED] Installation errors

@loqs

That really makes sense to me. I will give it a try as soon as I can and I will reply again regardless of success or failure. I'm betting that will work.

Jim A.

sevendogs

Member

From: Texas

Registered: 2016-01-24

Posts: 201

Re: [RESOLVED] Installation errors

@sevendogs

This PC has a harddrive that has been partitioned previously and each partition has been formatted for ext4 previously.

Jim A.

Understood, I just wanted to know if it was formatted every time you tried the install.

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"Give a man a truth and he will think for a day. Teach a man to reason and he will think for a lifetime"

jjanderson5

Member

Registered: 2017-05-21

Posts: 43

Re: [RESOLVED] Installation errors

@WorMzy

I looked at the part of the instructions that said:

# pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware

and read some of the following instructions. The short answer to your question is that I did not know what to insert for linux or for linux-firmware so I thought I would give it shot leaving it blank. After reading your comment I went back to the instruction guidelines and found a link that described what to put in for the linux kernel. So next time, I will experiment with 'stable', 'hardoned' or one of the other possibilities. As yet, I have not found a good set of 'linux-firmware' to choose from, so I will probably leave that as blank on the next go-round.

If you have a recommendation, or can point me to a link which addresses the linux-firmware, I will be glad to include that too. I will also try digging further and see if I can find a link that explains what valid entries for 'linux-firmware' are.

A side comment - I have lots of UNIX/Linux experience,  but coming to a new distribution like Arch Linux really does throw me back into the newbie class. There ia a TON of material to read about Arch Linux, and I am trying.

I do appreciate your taking the time to look at my problem and respond.

Jim

jasonwryan

Anarchist

From: .nz

Registered: 2009-05-09

Posts: 30,424

Website

Re: [RESOLVED] Installation errors

So next time, I will experiment with 'stable', 'hardoned' or one of the other possibilities.

Keep reading. There is no "stable", or "hardened" in the Arch repos.

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Arch + dwm   •   Mercurial repos  •   Surfraw

Registered Linux User #482438

sevendogs

Member

From: Texas

Registered: 2016-01-24

Posts: 201

Re: [RESOLVED] Installation errors

Just “linux” and “linux-firmware” is all that is needed, verbatim. At least on my desktop, which is working perfectly.

Last edited by sevendogs (2020-02-29 02:01:02)

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"Give a man a truth and he will think for a day. Teach a man to reason and he will think for a lifetime"

jjanderson5

Member

Registered: 2017-05-21

Posts: 43

Re: [RESOLVED] Installation errors

@all

I ran pacstrap this morning and everything in the log logged good.

No errors, but a few warnings. I checked the warnings on the Arch wiki and I learned there that these warnings can be ignored.

Thank you for the help.

I will continue on with the installation and mark this as resolved.