Getting Started

tesseract36 · 2007-04-24 04:58:26

Well im using linux for the first time. Ive learned everything i know about the computer on my own and i do a fair amount of programing but im really new to linux and i cant even get it to open the GUI all i can do is log in as root and and the equivilant of command promt sitting here. help Pls. I just want to get to something that resembles a desktop.

Last edited by tesseract36 (2007-04-24 05:05:12)

hacosta · 2007-04-24 05:05:50

you'll find that linux is not so hard if you read HINT: wiki.archlinux.org
that said, to configure X, read this http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xorg7 and then choose a desktop enviroment you'll probably want gnome or kde, do a coin flip, try them both, you decide..

btw, if you are new to linux maybe it's worth a look to start with other distro, may i suggest ubuntu.. anyways.. good luck

Pajaro · 2007-04-24 05:50:22

tesseract36,

i started in linux with archlinux. I found that in one month i knew more linux than what other people knows when they uses another distro after after one year.

Also, archlinux is simple and easy. In all other distros you have to run "make, make install", messing up your system because that package got out of the package manager. In arch it is so easy to create packages that you will always be able to create your own packages.

But the best thing is aur. I almost never have to make, "make install", because i can install almost everything with "yaourt [package]", even if it isn't in the official repositories.

So everything is easier in arch, except from the point that you are enforced to learn linux to install and setup it.

Snowman · 2007-04-24 05:59:03

The Beginner's guide : http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners_Guide might also be helpful in getting you started.

tesseract36 · 2007-04-24 21:22:32

I tryed reading the Wiki and follow the information and loged in as root.. then entered

pacman -S Xorg

and got nothing the message im getting is

error: could not open sync database :extra
have you used --refresh yet?

tryed entering --refresh and some other stuff but right now im guessing. (tryed some ctrl+alt+backspace thing)

can anyone tell me what my error is about

i also tryed

pacman -Sy xorg

that didnt do anything

Jansson · 2007-04-24 21:29:22

Try:
pacman -Sy
Then you should be fine

tesseract36 · 2007-04-24 22:26:27

I tryed the pacman -Sy and this is what it said :

error: could not open sync database: extra
have you used --refresh yet?

and above that were a bunch of

gethostbyname: Resource temporarily unavailable
error: cannot connect to cncmirror.vxmatrix.net

and the same message for about 15 other URLs

.:B:. · 2007-04-24 23:03:59

Check your network settings.

tesseract36 · 2007-04-26 18:30:44

i tryed checking my ifconfig and it said this :

eth0
Link encap:Ethernet HWadder 00:40:CA:65:21:51
inet addr:192.168.0.1 Bcast:192.168.0.225 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 METRIC:1
RX packets:10788 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:676377 (660.5kb) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:17 Base address:0xe000
lo
Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
Up LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 METRIC:1
RX packets:1248 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1248 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:96928 (94.6 kb) TX bytes:96928 (94.6kb)

and i read some artical i found that told me to enter

ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

but i still can use

pacman -S xorg

and i tryed

pacman -Sy

what im trying to do is :

pacman -S xorg

but that returns with

errot: could not open sync database: extra
have you used --refresh yet?

and ideas or help?

Last edited by tesseract36 (2007-04-26 18:31:50)

test1000 · 2007-04-26 18:44:40

you must run pacman as root (or sudo) if that wasn't obvious.

so as root:

pacman -Sy

pacman -S xorg

if that doesnt work you might want to take a look at /etc/pacman.conf and if the mirrors are up & functional

Last edited by test1000 (2007-04-26 18:44:56)

pauldonnelly · 2007-04-26 19:02:18

You haven't got your Internet access working yet. Pacman can't connect to any of the servers, and so it can't get a list of current packages. That's why it keeps telling you that it could not open the database. Check your network settings and try to ping some web sites. Until that succeeds, you won't be able to update.

tesseract36 · 2007-04-26 19:14:16

i tryed to ping some site and it didnt work and for test1000 yes im loged in a root...
but yeah i can ping anythign, i have roadrunner and i use ethernet cables. i every tryed reseting my modum a few times, no luck.
so how do i configure my internet so it works becase the problem is pacman cant update anything.

junglepeanut · 2007-04-26 19:33:40

You need to do a lot of reading.

but to get your internet up fast if the other stuff you have done for ifconfig was correct for your settings then just

dhcpcd -d eth0

the best thing you could do would be to fix your rc.conf as said in the beginners guide.

The thing that will make things work the most would be to read.

insane · 2007-04-26 19:44:22

I'm guessing that you dual boot the same box with windows and linux. So the line

ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

should contain values that apply to your configuration. Go to TCP/IP settings of your network device in windows and get these values from there.

You need:

ip address
netmask
default getaway
DNS servers.

Then you can edit /etc/rc.conf and find the section networking and make it something like this

#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# NETWORKING
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
HOSTNAME="arch"
#
# 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
#
# Note: to use DHCP, set your interface to be "dhcp" (eth0="dhcp")
#
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
eth0="eth0 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.1.255"
INTERFACES=(lo eth0)
#
# 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-profiles
#
#NET_PROFILES=(main)

If all these settings are set to auto in windows then you can change the line

eth0="eth0 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.1.255"

in the example abowe with

eth0="dhcp"

and then you should edit /etc/resolv.conf and add there your DNS servers. It must contain something like

domain localdomain
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx DNS servers IP addresses provided by your ISP.

finaly do

/etc/rc.d/network restart

to apply the new settings and try pinging websites

Last edited by insane (2007-04-26 19:48:10)

Arch Linux

#1 2007-04-24 04:58:26

Getting Started

#2 2007-04-24 05:05:50

Re: Getting Started

#3 2007-04-24 05:50:22

Re: Getting Started

#4 2007-04-24 05:59:03

Re: Getting Started

#5 2007-04-24 21:22:32

Re: Getting Started

#6 2007-04-24 21:29:22

Re: Getting Started

#7 2007-04-24 22:26:27

Re: Getting Started

#8 2007-04-24 23:03:59

Re: Getting Started

#9 2007-04-26 18:30:44

Re: Getting Started

#10 2007-04-26 18:44:40

Re: Getting Started

#11 2007-04-26 19:02:18

Re: Getting Started

#12 2007-04-26 19:14:16

Re: Getting Started

#13 2007-04-26 19:33:40

Re: Getting Started

#14 2007-04-26 19:44:22

Re: Getting Started

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