(SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

Google · 2010-06-03 03:55:50

I plan to store Chromium's cache and some other temp files in there. My Chrome generally has 600mb to 1gb of Flash files and other temp files. I want to keep my computer clean and I have a habit of deleting the cache often but I don't like the way Chromium handles the cache.. it always seems to leave a lot of stuff untouched that should have been deleted. Storing them in tmp will flush them at shut down and avoid fragmenting the main partitions. That should be possible, right?

I can extend Drive D without changing it or losing any data, right? I have never made logical partitions before so I am not familiar with the process.

Last edited by Google (2010-06-03 03:56:33)

Fungyo · 2010-06-03 03:56:42

One other thing. Careful not to get confused with / and /root. / is the top level directory of the whole system and /root is the Root(administrator) user account home directory.

Google · 2010-06-03 03:58:41

Ahh-- I planned to partition it for '/' not as /root, I just called '/' root. The top level should be fine around 25gb, right?

Fungyo · 2010-06-03 04:09:19

I personally haven't had any issues resizing partitions including NTFS partitions but as a rule I expect the worst so I always backup my data to an ext. HDD first, just to be safe.
As mentioned GParted is a live distro for partitioning. It has a nice easy GUI. Another partitioning tool is Parted Magic
GParted
Parted Magic

Making logical partitions are easy. Depending on which tool you choose to partition, it will have the option to create a primary or logical. Choose logical and the tool should automatically do what is necessary for everything to be setup correctly.

Fungyo · 2010-06-03 04:10:51

25G should be good.

Fungyo · 2010-06-03 04:14:31

Google wrote:

Ahh-- I planned to partition it for '/' not as /root, I just called '/' root.

hehe, hope I didn't insult your intelligence there. It's hard for me to know what you know.

Google · 2010-06-03 05:04:56

No worries

I was using some Window's partitioning software to resize and create 100gb of unused space for Linux. I used Paragon Partition Manager. I plan to use the cfdisk on the Arch installer to turn the unused space into Linux partitions. I just hope, this time, I don't see strange partitions and data in the cfdisk menu.

Google · 2010-06-03 13:04:48

Update:

I successfully installed the base with logical partitions, and I managed to fix Grub to show Windows 7 and boot it as well.

Now I am off to begin building things step by step! I will most likely be back with a problem, not too long from now!--

Google · 2010-06-03 15:20:53

As promised, I'm back!

I went through the entire install guide--

I have x working (xterm loads and runs, I can move my mouse and type in the terminal, though it's small and in the corner)

I installed LXDE.

I have hal starting as a daemon, I have 'exec startlxde' in my user's xinitrc. However when I start up and login, I am still at the command line. Shouldn't it be loading the WM and DE once I log in? What is going on? or, am I missing something?

Fungyo · 2010-06-03 15:23:48

first lets see if lxde is working.
Try at the command line, while logged in as your normal user

startx

Last edited by Fungyo (2010-06-03 15:25:17)

Google · 2010-06-03 15:31:38

Yep, it is working when I type startx manually. How can I get it to launch when I login?

toad · 2010-06-03 15:33:21

Have you read the beginner's guide?

Fungyo · 2010-06-03 15:33:51

do you want a login screen to be displayed on boot i.e. you need to enter username/password
or
would you like to boot straight into lxde without the need for a username/password?

Google · 2010-06-03 15:37:25

I want to add slim's login manager and then login to LXDE with my user name.

I have read the beginner's guide and followed every step.

Inxsible · 2010-06-03 15:43:20

Adding this to your .bash_profile(note the dot before the file name) file under your /home will start X the moment you login at CLI (tty1 only). If you don't already have the file, you can create it. This is what I use

if [[ -z "$DISPLAY" ]] && [[ $(tty) = /dev/tty1 ]]; then
  xinit
  logout
fi

Start X at boot

I do that because I don't see the point in having a GUI login manager. A login is just a login. I might as well just to it at tty1 and have X start directly. This way, if I only want to go to CLI for some reason (lets say my X got whacked due to some upate)...all i have to do is hit Ctrl + Alt + F2-F6 to get another tty and there i can login without going to X. This helps in rectifying any errors that X might have and then start X later.

I am not 100% about SLIM, but if you use GDM or KDM, you will have to place them in the DAEMONS array.

Yet another option is to NOT have to login at all and still start X directly. This can be achieved thru inittab and mingetty

Auto login to X

Last edited by Inxsible (2010-06-03 15:52:14)

Fungyo · 2010-06-03 15:48:34

To have Slim auto load at boot...
If you haven't already done so:

# pacman -S slim

then:

# nano /etc/inittab

comment out:

#id:3:initdefault:

uncomment:

id:5:initdefault:

comment (if not already):

#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon

uncomment:

x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/slim >& /dev/null

only the slim respawn line should be uncommented

Fungyo · 2010-06-03 15:53:08

Oh yeah, I think an easier way is to just add slim to the end of your /etc/rc.conf DAEMONS section
It's been awhile since i've used a Display Manager to log in.
I just log in at the command line and type startx, it's how I like it.

Last edited by Fungyo (2010-06-03 15:53:35)

Google · 2010-06-03 15:59:50

Thanks~ I am in my LXDE environment and surfing with Chromium. I can't believe it's nearly twice as fast as my Windows 7 install.

I feel like I have a lot to do-- install some applications I need, customize some things, and fix some permissions level for my user. Is there a simple way to enable my user to download and install things? I feel silly logging out to the root every time I want to install something or edit some configs. I know it's a security thing and probably best to keep user permissions low, but it's incredibly inconvenient when I am trying to do a lot.

I am really glad I made it and couldn't have done it without you guys! I think this thread is basically SOLVED, now I am up and running and only have tweaking to do! Thanks a bunch!

Inxsible · 2010-06-03 16:01:40

Here's the SliM writeup from our very own wiki

If you switch to using GDM or KDM (why would anyone -- if they have LXDE like you have) look up their pages in our wiki.

Inxsible · 2010-06-03 16:03:36

Google wrote:

Is there a simple way to enable my user to download and install things? I feel silly logging out to the root every time I want to install something or edit some configs. I know it's a security thing and probably best to keep user permissions low, but it's incredibly inconvenient when I am trying to do a lot.

Yes absolutely there is. Search for sudo in the wiki and you shall get what you desire. In short, you have to be careful when using sudo. If you haven't already do a

pacman -S sudo

Then from the CLI type

visudo

and hit enter Add your username below the line root (ALL)= ALL ALL like so

USER_NAME   ALL=(ALL) ALL

Change USER_NAME to whatever your username is. Finally make sure your username belongs to the group wheel. To do this type in as your user (not as root)

groups

and it will list all your groups

Google wrote:

I am really glad I made it and couldn't have done it without you guys! I think this thread is basically SOLVED, now I am up and running and only have tweaking to do! Thanks a bunch!

You are very welcome. Keep at it.

Last edited by Inxsible (2010-06-03 16:08:14)

Fungyo · 2010-06-03 16:25:14

You don't need to log out to go to root.
open a terminal within LXDE, the default is lxterminal. I think it should be installed with LXDE by default and somewhere in your applications menu.
then type:

su -

to go to root under the /root directory.

Google · 2010-06-03 16:33:42

Worked, thanks a lot!

Fungyo · 2010-06-03 16:45:35

Happy to help
Arch is an awesome distro if you don't mind getting your hands dirty. I personally enjoy the hands on approach of Arch. I've learn't heaps and enjoy using the cli. The cli line offers a ridiculous amount of flexibility that Windows (without third-party apps) can't match.
I can believe the speed difference of Windows vs Arch, with Arch the clear leader. For work purposes, I have Windows XP installed in Virtualbox. I tried W7 (in a VM of course) out of curiosity and found it just didn't capture my interest for more than 5 minutes, it's now deleted. My laptop was completely bleached of Windows Vista (including hidden recovery partition) and no Windows version has touched it since.
I couldn't imagine/handle a world without Linux, I think i'd just give up on computers if that happened.
You'll also notice the little HDD space Arch needs compared to W7 and yet I ask myself, why is W7 so bloated but feels so outdated and lacking?

schen · 2010-06-03 16:47:20

You can also use lxdm for your login manager. It's built for lxde and is light and fast.

http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=36869

Google · 2010-06-04 06:03:14

You are all very helpful

I was installing some light applications and I ran into a little bump,

I uninstalled the application because it didn't work correctly. I uninstalled it with pacman -R, I didn't think to do -Rns, and I know there are a bunch of dependencies installed for that program (somewhere around 100mb, I don't know how that's light!). Is there a way for me to delete dependencies that are no longer being used? Or, do I need to reinstall the application and then -Rns the sucker? Also, will -Rns uninstall dependencies that may be used by another application if they share a dependency?

Arch Linux

#26 2010-06-03 03:55:50

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#27 2010-06-03 03:56:42

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#28 2010-06-03 03:58:41

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#29 2010-06-03 04:09:19

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#30 2010-06-03 04:10:51

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#31 2010-06-03 04:14:31

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#32 2010-06-03 05:04:56

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#33 2010-06-03 13:04:48

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#34 2010-06-03 15:20:53

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#35 2010-06-03 15:23:48

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#36 2010-06-03 15:31:38

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#37 2010-06-03 15:33:21

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#38 2010-06-03 15:33:51

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#39 2010-06-03 15:37:25

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#40 2010-06-03 15:43:20

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#41 2010-06-03 15:48:34

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#42 2010-06-03 15:53:08

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#43 2010-06-03 15:59:50

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#44 2010-06-03 16:01:40

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#45 2010-06-03 16:03:36

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#46 2010-06-03 16:25:14

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#47 2010-06-03 16:33:42

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#48 2010-06-03 16:45:35

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#49 2010-06-03 16:47:20

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

#50 2010-06-04 06:03:14

Re: (SOLVED) Setting up my first Arch install! (Almost there!!!)

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