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I was wondering what is the easiest way to prepare a system for installation on a computer? Normally I'd boot up the installation disk and set things up, select basic packages etc. Then I'd set up the sound, X, and a desktop environment. But this takes time... Is there an easy way to prepare a system with drivers for my nvidia card, X and alsa set up with users before installing it on my computer? I have Arch installed on my laptop the normal way but I want to reinstall (I have since switched to Kubuntu on my desktop) on my desktop without having a time consuming process having the system out of service.
God I hope this makes sense... If you need clarification on what I'm asking please just ask.
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A lot of people have put in many hours making this sweet wiki. They will tell you need.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners'_Guide
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Installation_Guide
I usually have problems installing things on my laptop and Arch was almost too easy. It's the first one that has ever picked up my wifi card on installation.
Last edited by MagicSkyFairy (2013-03-23 03:01:55)
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The install itself is quite a simple, quick process. What I find takes time is setting up all the other software.
You could expedite this by exporting a list of all the stuff you have installed on your laptop, editing out the laptop specific applications, and then install it in one fell swoop: the pacman wiki page has details.
Keeping all your configs in source control also means that, once you are in your new install, it is just a matter of `{git,hg} clone $repo` and you are good to go.
Not really an Installation question, moving to Newbie Corner.
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I think I understand what you mean... You want a way to prepare an Arch Linux installation process so that, when it comes time to format your drive, you can be back up and fully running with the shortest amount of downtime possible. Is that correct?
There's probably a way to do it, with "archiso" something something or something, but I think taking the time to learn that entire process wouldn't be worth the effort. You're already experienced at installing Arch Linux. I think if you read through the current Beginner's Guide (including the "after the installation" section) before touching your computer, you'll be quite ready for a fresh installation.
I find that the part that takes the longest is downloading the packages. If you already have an Arch Linux installation that's up to date, you could copy the packages from it (from "/var/cache/pacman/pkg/") and save a ton of time.
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It does indeed sound like you want to create a customized installation disk with archiso.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Archiso
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