Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

ix · 2009-10-09 16:15:28

Greetings!

I like my Arch, but it gives me a lot of warnings and does some crashing too!
It wasn't always like this. Probably my own fault for updating without thinking...

So my request is this: I'll post whatever logs and information about my case and the community helps me to gain skills and hopefully someone else finds this thread useful too.

This Arch install has never been complete (no auto mount, no auto dhcp,...). And it is somewhat messy, for I needed gnome for it was familiar. Now i'm trying AwesomeWM, but it was updated too making my old scripts unusable...

I'm not a complete newbie, but when it comes to 'debugging' linux (ie. finding what is wrong), I have to rely on google searches.

deej · 2009-10-09 17:02:09

I suspect your heart may be in the right place but, with all due respect, you will
not get the Arch community as your personal tutor !

So, if you have a problem may I suggest opening a thread; detailing the problem,
with any error messages you get - *after*, of course, you search the forums for
an answer and have received none.

Deej

ix · 2009-10-09 17:24:27

Thanks for the reply.

Well the thing is. I'm not sure where to start. Well I'd guess the warnings during the boot-up could be targeted first, but the text runs quite fast and I can't read the warinings. Do they get stored into a logfile somewhere?

deej · 2009-10-09 17:30:50

You'll find all [ most ? ] of what you need located in the /var/log/ directory.
In there you'll see 'dmesg.log'. This will [ should ] contain the errors you
speak of. All of the others are relevant too. Some, if you open them as
your normal user, will appear to be empty. These need to be opened as
the root user.

Deej

[EDIT]

Re-reading your first post: "This Arch install has never been complete (no auto mount, no auto dhcp,...)"; it
would seem to be a good idea to maybe re-install the base-system first. You say you are not a complete noob,
so I take it that partitioning and formatting of your drive is something you are OK with. With the install
itself, as long as you install 'Base' and 'Base-devel', that will be OK. Automatic DCHP should be chosen
during the install: "Would you like to automatically start...." etc...
Automounting... what ? CD/DVD ? That easy enough, just un-comment the "/dev/dvd/" line in your 'fstab'
file during the install, and add 'hal' to yur daemon list in rc.conf.

If these last comments are confusing for you, a trip to the WIKI may be the order of the day, just to brush
up on what needs to be adjusted during the install [ it's not difficult ]

Deej

Last edited by deej (2009-10-09 17:40:48)

Ghost1227 · 2009-10-09 17:48:01

I would (in part) agree with deej. If you believe that your system has never been 'complete', than perhaps your time could be best spent rebuilding, this time with a focus on learning how/why things work. The wiki is definitely your friend (read the beginners guide, don't just reference it), as are google and the #archlinux channel on freenode. Good luck!

ix · 2009-10-09 18:12:12

I'll go and check /var/log/

And what I meant with 'complete' was that it still needs some configurations. Arch is properly installed +few applications, but I haven't configured those usability things (hal, etc). To think of it, it's actually a bit offtopic. I just wanted to clarify the state of my machine.

As for partitioning. I'm able, but I must keep my dual-boot intact, so no go.

And trust me I've actually read the wikipages you mention twice or more. Without them I wouldn't be able to install arch in the firstplace.

deej · 2009-10-09 18:30:37

[OFF_TOPIC]

Hey Ghost, your ScriptWiki's dead

Deej

ix · 2009-10-10 00:46:59

I checked the /var/log/ and there were hundreds of log files. I'm not sure is it normal. I deleted them all and rebooted. After that I went through the logs and cleaned some of unneeded junk. As a result: a lot less warnings. Howewer I still managed to crash KDE when I tried to install new theme.

Some new questiens arose during my journey:
1. I have no need for bluetooth. Where can I disable it? (that and other services i might not need.)
2. Is there a way to test that my arch is using ati displaydrivers properly? (I think it is working because KDE has all those cube's and wobbly-windowses. and transparency)

I have to say that I was surprised of the performance of KDE. I don't know it it's arch or KDE's development, but KDE4.3 it's actually usable.

*david_a* · 2009-10-10 03:57:07

You should be able to down-grade Awesome to the older version, allowing your old scripts & configs to work again. Or spend some time learning the new configuration language, or choose to go back to Gnome, or try whatever else you may fancy.

Using Google to search on the errors and warnings you find in your log files can be very helpful as well, including how to fix common problems, the fact that there are a few warnings that can safely be ignored, etc etc. Once in a while, I find an error message that's so obvious even I can just fix it myself without any web searches.

Assume first that your problem is common and well-known, because that often turns out to be the case.

*david_a* · 2009-10-10 03:59:34

Deleting your log files means you've thrown away all the information that could have helped you figure out what went wrong. Oh well. Just don't do that again - they're there for a reason! (And they're just text, they take up very little space.)

sHyLoCk · 2009-10-10 04:00:47

Does anyone else do this?
pacman -S arch-wiki-docs

deej · 2009-10-10 06:24:25

ix wrote:

I checked the /var/log/ and there were hundreds of log files. I'm not sure is it normal. I deleted them all and rebooted. After that I went through the logs and cleaned some of unneeded junk. As a result: a lot less warnings. Howewer I still managed to crash KDE when I tried to install new theme.
Some new questiens arose during my journey:
1. I have no need for bluetooth. Where can I disable it? (that and other services i might not need.)
2. Is there a way to test that my arch is using ati displaydrivers properly? (I think it is working because KDE has all those cube's and wobbly-windowses. and transparency)
I have to say that I was surprised of the performance of KDE. I don't know it it's arch or KDE's development, but KDE4.3 it's actually usable.

1. http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=18099
For other services, check Main Menu -> System Settings -> Advanced -> Service Manager.

2. A forum search will bring up the ATI threads. This one may interest you: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=81183. I don't
use ATI so I can't vouch for it

Deej

quarkup · 2009-10-10 08:05:23

how to be a poweruser:

learn to learn. (yup, that's all !!)

get rid of vista:
well this step you'll do it by yourself, you can do it because you are now a poweruser !!

notice: getting rid of vista may be hard. I would hire a MS-licensed tech to remove personally lol !!

fogobogo · 2009-10-11 21:25:56

getting a poweruser? well, i can't remember to have had any book in my hands for a year or so, though i still remember some titles. it was: "Wikipedia" and "manpage".

seriously though. understand whats going on. how do things work. why does it do what it does and probably important: why does it do that?!

you dont have to learn a programming language or anything for that. its merely about understanding how all the gears fit together. in my opinion you should first find out what X/GTK/Qt actually do. its the most visible part of your system and you can venture up/down from there.

edit: typo

Last edited by fogobogo (2009-10-11 21:28:33)

ix · 2009-10-12 12:34:18

I have to say the archwiki has improved a lot since i last was tweaking my pc.
Now it has guide how to avoid that damn X lock when x fails to load display drivers.

*david_a* wrote:

Deleting your log files means you've thrown away all the information that could have helped you figure out what went wrong. Oh well. Just don't do that again - they're there for a reason! (And they're just text, they take up very little space.)

I believe that what I did was right. Because instead of searching stuff from 100's of files I ended up with just a handful of logs. Then I fixed many warnings. I don't underestand why I should not delete the logs, it's not a server that i'm running.

deej wrote:

1. http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=18099
For other services, check Main Menu -> System Settings -> Advanced -> Service Manager.
Deej

I don't think that bluetooth is a KDE program. Or is it? I mean, bluetooth-light (on my laptop) lights up even before i start x.

OK:
- wm: Awesome
- boots into slim

next:
- Audio, I started with something called pulseaudio.
- Wine, (I need fooobar2k)
- Flash
- Video

keenerd · 2009-10-12 13:58:47

Power user hint number one:
As everyone else said, research.

Power user hint number two:
Never do anything irreversible. Accept that things might go wrong and always have a way to undo your last few actions.

Case in point: don't delete system files. Ever. I can understand why you did it. The laser like focus of only seeing logs generated by your current set of problems sounds appealing.

But this was the only wrong thing you did. Your insistence that it was a good idea is a little alarming. I will reiterate:

Never.
Delete.
System.
Files.

If you are going to change something, back up the old version. If you want to wipe all your logs, move the log files somewhere safe. Storage is cheap, much cheaper than the time to fix poor foresight.

ix wrote:

I must keep my dual-boot intact, so no go.

If that is your stance, then why are you asking for help getting rid of Vista? What won't change can't be helped. You might want to fix the thread title.

Last edited by keenerd (2009-10-12 14:02:16)

ngoonee · 2009-10-12 14:37:46

Bluetooth can be totally disabled by blacklisting the appropriate module(s). Finding out how to do that and which modules exactly are an exercise left up to the reader. lsmod may help.

fsckd · 2009-10-12 20:40:16

ix wrote:

I have to say the archwiki has improved a lot since i last was tweaking my pc.
Now it has guide how to avoid that damn X lock when x fails to load display drivers.
*david_a* wrote:
Deleting your log files means you've thrown away all the information that could have helped you figure out what went wrong. Oh well. Just don't do that again - they're there for a reason! (And they're just text, they take up very little space.)
I believe that what I did was right. Because instead of searching stuff from 100's of files I ended up with just a handful of logs. Then I fixed many warnings. I don't underestand why I should not delete the logs, it's not a server that i'm running.

I get where you're coming from but as many others are saying, you shouldn't delete system files unless you know what you're doing. Log files are an important trouble shooting tool. They give a history of your system and can let people trace back errors to when they first appeared. Fortunately, you're not the first person to have to scrounge through logs searching for errors and many tools have been made for this task. One such tool that can help you tremendously is grep. Example: 'grep -l arch *' searches through all the files in the current directory and lists those containing the string 'arch'. fyi.

opothehippo · 2009-10-12 23:39:38

My suggestion is to start over clean. A fresh install, following the (excellent) beginners guide step by step. This is the best way to learn arch IMO.

That way you can solve any problems as they appear, instead of trying to fix a million after they've accumulated over a while.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-10-09 16:15:28

Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#2 2009-10-09 17:02:09

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#3 2009-10-09 17:24:27

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#4 2009-10-09 17:30:50

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#5 2009-10-09 17:48:01

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#6 2009-10-09 18:12:12

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#7 2009-10-09 18:30:37

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#8 2009-10-10 00:46:59

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#9 2009-10-10 03:57:07

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#10 2009-10-10 03:59:34

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#11 2009-10-10 04:00:47

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#12 2009-10-10 06:24:25

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#13 2009-10-10 08:05:23

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#14 2009-10-11 21:25:56

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#15 2009-10-12 12:34:18

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#16 2009-10-12 13:58:47

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#17 2009-10-12 14:37:46

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#18 2009-10-12 20:40:16

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

#19 2009-10-12 23:39:38

Re: Make me an Arch-poweruser (& help me get rid of vista).

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