Setting up internet connection

Admiral Yi · 2009-05-17 16:57:25

Hello,
Im new to arch, but not to linux. I've been using Ubuntu for about 4 months now, and after a lot of tinkering i'd consider myself a fairly skilled user. I started using Arch so I could learn a bit more about how the OS works, but i've hit a brick wall. Whenever I try a 'pacman -S <insert package name here>' command, all I get is a message saying the package could not be found in the repos. I suspect this is due to my failure to st up an internet connecting in the installation stage. I left all of the config files alone in the install process (apart from changing a few grub things, which barely counts). Could some one show me a guide or talk be through a way to get the internet workng? Or if its not the internet causing this issue, what am I doing wrong?

Sorry if this a stupid question, but i'd really like to get this working so I can get a desktop .

kumyco · 2009-05-17 17:04:06

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman and http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Configuring_network
it sounds more like you haven't got the proper repo setup .. and/or the package (by that name) really doesn't exist
to search use pacman -Ss , don't forget to do a pacman -Sy and/or pacman -Syu to upgrade the system once your network is up
if you still have issues, as a general tip. post error message(copy/paste)

Berticus · 2009-05-17 17:07:29

kumyco is correct. You want to

# pacman -Sy

Possibly update (add the u flag) if you installed from CD/USB instead of FTP.

Admiral Yi · 2009-05-17 17:15:19

Ah! Thanks for the prompt replys. I have never used the 'pacman -Sy' command, that must be the problem. Thanks again.

Admiral Yi · 2009-05-18 06:21:01

Just tried this out this morning, and it didn't work. When I run 'pacman -Sy' I get a long line of errors:

error: failed retrieving file community.db.tar.gc from (mirror)
Transient resolver failure

Each time it was trying a different mirror and still getting the error. Im pretty sure this is down to me forgetting to put Eth0 in some config file, waht do I do now?

dmartins · 2009-05-18 06:33:47

Did you read the configuring network wiki article kumyco linked to?

If you only need DHCP working to get an IP address from a router then you need the following in your /etc/rc.conf

eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(eth0)

If your computer has more than one Ethernet interface or has WiFi and Ethernet, replace eth0 with the appropriate interface name. You can get a list of all detected interfaces by running ifconfig -a. After setting up /etc/rc.conf you can run /etc/rc.d/network restart to try and get an IP address.

If things still aren't working, we need some more information on how your network is set up! What type of Internet connection do you have? Do you have a router or is your PC connected directly to a modem?

kumyco · 2009-05-18 06:36:22

configuration for that can be done in /etc/rc.conf

eth0="eth0 192.168.1.18 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.1.255"
# or .. comment one of them out
eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(eth0)
# ...
gateway="default gw 192.168.1.1"
ROUTES=(gateway)

you want it in that fashion, i.e without ! in front of gateway inside ROUTES as well as eth0 inside INTERFACES
you can use either dhcp or static ip whichever you want/your router supprorts
after than, add network to the DAEMONS array at the bottom of the file, that will make it start at boot
to start it immediately, in a terminal do

/etc/rc.d/network start

and that should get you up and running, hopefully.

sorry if that's already in the wiki.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-05-17 16:57:25

Setting up internet connection

#2 2009-05-17 17:04:06

Re: Setting up internet connection

#3 2009-05-17 17:07:29

Re: Setting up internet connection

#4 2009-05-17 17:15:19

Re: Setting up internet connection

#5 2009-05-18 06:21:01

Re: Setting up internet connection

#6 2009-05-18 06:33:47

Re: Setting up internet connection

#7 2009-05-18 06:36:22

Re: Setting up internet connection

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