tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

teateawhy · 2013-04-11 23:18:03

tmxgta, a new installer made for comfortably reading instructions alongside your terminal.
The included guide covers the complete archwiki page "Beginners' Guide/Installation".
Everything is written in bash, and is licensed under GNU Free Documentation License.

Instead of showing a wall-of-text information is split up into sections. Read helpful information about your setup like partition layout and mountpoints. There is no need to switch virtual consoles and remember long commands. This is achieved by splitting up a virtual console into two windows using tmux. If you are familiar with tiling window managers you will feel right at home.

Features:
* non-destructive, does not overwrite anything
* complete content of Beginners' Guide/Installation
* dialog for displaying text
* progressbar
* load keymap from menu
* colorful markup of commands
* reflector for sorting mirrors with one keypress
* shows network interface names
* shows partition layout and mountpoints
* list of timezones and keymaps
* guide for UEFI autodetection of kernels
* ~2000 lines for scrolling saved in terminal
* all archiso features

Screenshot:

More screenshots

Download:
Download the latest iso release from Sourceforge:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/tmxgta … rce=navbar

Architecture:
tmxgta.iso is now working on x86_64 and i686 architecture.

The image can be burned to a CD, mounted as an ISO file, or be directly written to a USB stick using a utility like `dd`.
See the following links.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Be … ion_medium
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/US … tion_Media

Keyboard shortcuts:
There are only two keyboard shortcuts you need to know:
control-a + control-a : switches from the terminal to the guide and back
control-a : go to copy mode for scrolling up and down with the arrowkeys
or pageup / pagedown

Run tmxgta:
There are two possibilities to run tmxgta, it is recommended to download the .iso file.
Or get the script on github.

Known limitations: Looks bad on very small screens as in 600x800 pixels. The script is set to run only if 120 columns or more are available. Check 'tput cols' in the kernel console.

Thanks for reading and testing. Please submit bugs and your ideas on github or in this thread.

Last edited by teateawhy (2013-06-01 13:48:08)

Rasi · 2013-04-11 23:24:19

awesome. this is actually a great idea. an installer that doesnt change the way arch installation works, but is still helpful. good work!

drcouzelis · 2013-04-12 00:15:26

teateawhy wrote:

* progressbar

This is a really cool idea.

Well, the entire project is a really cool idea, but this one stood out the most to me.

Sirsurthur · 2013-04-30 06:46:33

Great project ! I will try it next time I install archlinux !

Army · 2013-04-30 06:54:08

I might make a new installation soon, I'll definitely try this, really cool idea!

tomk · 2013-04-30 08:39:49

Yeah, nice idea, but I think it would be better to base it on the officially-maintained Installation Guide instead of the unofficial Beginners Guide.

teateawhy · 2013-05-01 21:20:54

The iso has been updated to include the newest scripts, also it is based on the new 05.01 iso now. Changes in the beginners guide have been updated in the script, for example netctl is used instead of netcfg.
@tomk:
Currently the beginners' guide is the better choice for this project, because it contains more information as text instead of wiki links. Using the Installation Guide as base can be achieved by deleting 90% of the current content

HalosGhost · 2013-05-01 21:26:17

Iiiiinteresting. I actually quite enjoy the init install scripts method of installation. But this looks more like a helpful system for new users to perform the installation with a lot of the wiki info locally.

I hope this project goes well. Congratulations on the work so far.

All the best,

-HG

Last edited by HalosGhost (2013-05-01 21:45:03)

teateawhy · 2013-05-01 21:37:35

HalosGhost wrote:

Iiiiinteresting. I actually quite enjoy the initscripts method of installation. But this looks more like a helpful system for new users to perform the installation with a lot of the wiki info locally.
I hope this project goes well. Congratulations on the work so far.
All the best,
-HG

You probably meant arch-install-scripts, right? They are used here as well.

HalosGhost · 2013-05-01 21:44:42

teateawhy wrote:

You probably meant arch-install-scripts, right? They are used here as well.

You're absolutely correct. My apologies for the typo. And yeah, I figured they would be

All the best,

-HG

teateawhy · 2013-05-02 21:37:57

Major update. Now supporting 32-bit as well. Moved to archiso scripts instead of remastering which is nice.
Also creating the installer with the 'dd' command is possible now. Please download the latest version.

HalosGhost · 2013-05-05 13:18:42

I have to say, you should really throw a PKGBUILD together for this. Obviously, this is just my opinion (and I have no idea what the Arch devs would think about this), but this may actually be a viable candidate to become a default installer.

All the best,

-HG

phubai · 2013-05-10 20:55:03

Most interesting I've seen so far...helpful, instructional and informational all at the same time. I hadn't seen this or I would have used it on this installation (re-purposed an unused winserver machine to Arch yesterday morning) but I think I'll do another installation on a little netbook I have just to see how it goes. Thanks for your efforts!

Spec-Chum · 2013-05-29 12:52:48

Installed Monday using this, very nice

Very, very helpful having the instructions on the screen at the same time, especially for a newbie like me. I did install Arch first using VBox under Mint with Firefox open in the background but used this when installing for real.

Very impressed (having netctl was a bonus too!).

Last edited by Spec-Chum (2013-05-29 12:53:23)

robotanarchy · 2013-05-30 19:34:23

When doing new arch installations, I usually use a second screen (mobile phone, pc, laptop, ...) which displays the arch wiki. but with tmxgta, this wouldn't be necessary anymore. Very nice project!

mhertz · 2013-05-30 23:32:13

Well, the standard iso dosen't have a problem either with you opening a new vt and firering up elinks on the arch wiki

Still, it's nice imho to have tmux available in the iso, which I also myself add to my own archiso-made rescue/install iso's... That and vim of course...

fakedrake · 2013-05-30 23:35:12

How far/realistic is the possibility of some of these features moving to the mainline iso?

tomk · 2013-05-31 06:53:30

Post feature requests, if they haven't already been posted.

teateawhy · 2013-06-02 15:04:45

The new iso 06-01 is released, including updates from the beginner's guide. There is now a menu to select from various options for wireless network configuration. ( wifi-menu, netctl-profiles, netctl-auto). Also you can use the mouse for copy-pasting commands (with gpm), if you have a usb-mouse.

HalosGhost wrote:

I have to say, you should really throw a PKGBUILD together for this.

I don't think a PKGBUILD is all that useful, because this is about arch installation, whereas the aur is primarily used after installation. That said, if somebody wants to create a PKGBUILD, you are welcome.

mhertz wrote:

Well, the standard iso dosen't have a problem either with you opening a new vt and firering up elinks on the arch wiki
Still, it's nice imho to have tmux available in the iso, which I also myself add to my own archiso-made rescue/install iso's... That and vim of course...

Only works with internet connection. With tmxgta it is no problem to read how to use netctl etc. without having internet connection.
I plan adding vim, if it does not take much space.

HalosGhost wrote:

Obviously, this is just my opinion (and I have no idea what the Arch devs would think about this), but this may actually be a viable candidate to become a default installer.

I think it is a good idea to keep both iso seperate for the moment, so i have more room for changes.

fakedrake wrote:

How far/realistic is the possibility of some of these features moving to the mainline iso?

I want to second tomk, please make a very specific bug report, or just use tmxgta instead.

Thank you for your ideas so far.

HalosGhost · 2013-06-02 15:23:55

teateawhy wrote:

I don't think a PKGBUILD is all that useful, because this is about arch installation, whereas the aur is primarily used after installation. That said, if somebody wants to create a PKGBUILD, you are welcome.

The argument there is that if this could be distributed as a particular package, it might make it easier for official inclusion if that ever is a possibility. I will be doing another Arch install in the next week, so I may very well throw together a PKGBUILD before then.

All the best,

-HG

Winston-Wolfe · 2013-06-03 21:34:54

This is great, I used it to install my first Arch setup last week. It was extremely helpful and made the installation process a lot easier for me. My first attempt was with Archboot, but I messed something up. I then stumbled upon this and actually found it to be easier as it holds your hand the whole way through.
A+ will use again.

Last edited by Winston-Wolfe (2013-06-03 21:42:38)

teateawhy · 2013-06-20 16:47:00

mhertz wrote:

Well, the standard iso dosen't have a problem either with you opening a new vt and firering up elinks on the arch wiki.

The new release has offline versions of both the installation guide, and the beginners guide in .html files on it. You can select from a menu on vt2 if you want to read beginners or installation guide. (Choose from lynx and elinks as browser). The menu allows you to read both offline and online versions of the wikipages.

Last edited by teateawhy (2013-06-20 16:48:16)

kenny3794 · 2013-06-29 04:58:29

teateawhy,

I started trying a new install of arch tonight and I saw your tmxgta script, and I have a few preliminary thoughts. As background, I'm running within an existing x86_64 Arch install. I found out by reviewing the tmxgta script that the script files *must* be placed in the user's home directory, ~, and not any where else. Seems that it should work within whichever directory the user places the two script files. Next, I noticed the warning about not being root does not seem to display correctly. If I place a character before the $NAME variable in the tmxgta_0.7.4 script, it seems to appear with no problem. Perhaps this is just a bash issue with gnome-terminal. Third, I noticed that when the script does exit due to not being root, it only exits a portion of the tmux display, it does not seem to exit fully until I enter a second "exit" command manually.

I will now copy the scripts to the root users ~ directory and try again .... I anticipate good results. Thanks for your efforts, this looks promising.

teateawhy · 2013-06-29 22:03:06

kenny3794 wrote:

I found out by reviewing the tmxgta script that the script files *must* be placed in the user's home directory, ~, and not any where else. Seems that it should work within whichever directory the user places the two script files.

Good catch! This is changed in version 0.7.5 on github by using ./ instead of home.

Next, I noticed the warning about not being root does not seem to display correctly. If I place a character before the $NAME variable in the tmxgta_0.7.4 script, it seems to appear with no problem. Perhaps this is just a bash issue with gnome-terminal.

This bug comes from using the "dialog" program from within Xorg. The text disappears after resizing the window. I am not sure what can be done about this besides using xdialog instead. (Also i removed the variable.)

Third, I noticed that when the script does exit due to not being root, it only exits a portion of the tmux display, it does not seem to exit fully until I enter a second "exit" command manually.

I added a check in the script before it is starting tmux, so this should be solved.

As background, I'm running within an existing x86_64 Arch install.

If you have Xorg, it is easier to start only the 'tmxgta_0.7.x' script instead of the 'tmxgta' script. Then start the terminal.

Good luck with your installation.

HalosGhost · 2013-08-14 20:53:27

Hey teateawhy, now that the repo has been cleaned up considerably, do you have any interest in maintaining a package on the AUR?

All the best,

-HG

Arch Linux

#1 2013-04-11 23:18:03

tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#2 2013-04-11 23:24:19

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#3 2013-04-12 00:15:26

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#4 2013-04-30 06:46:33

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#5 2013-04-30 06:54:08

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#6 2013-04-30 08:39:49

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#7 2013-05-01 21:20:54

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#8 2013-05-01 21:26:17

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#9 2013-05-01 21:37:35

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#10 2013-05-01 21:44:42

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#11 2013-05-02 21:37:57

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#12 2013-05-05 13:18:42

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#13 2013-05-10 20:55:03

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#14 2013-05-29 12:52:48

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#15 2013-05-30 19:34:23

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#16 2013-05-30 23:32:13

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#17 2013-05-30 23:35:12

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#18 2013-05-31 06:53:30

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#19 2013-06-02 15:04:45

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#20 2013-06-02 15:23:55

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#21 2013-06-03 21:34:54

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#22 2013-06-20 16:47:00

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#23 2013-06-29 04:58:29

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#24 2013-06-29 22:03:06

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

#25 2013-08-14 20:53:27

Re: tmxgta, a new installer including the guide in ncurses

Board footer