Trying Arch one more time, maybe

dunbar · 2007-02-26 19:20:28

My target system is:
ECS RC410L/800M mainboard (MadTux had Knoppix running on it, but was it 32 bit or 64? I dunno.)
EM64T Celeron D model 356 (uniprocessor);
1 Gig Ram shared at 128 meg to onboard ATI Radeon Xpress 200;
Happauge Win-TV-Go tuner card (untried, not supported in 64 bit XP);
BCM4306 based wireless NIC (works fine in 64 bit XP);
and I now have DSL internet instead of dialup.

I'd like to try 64 Bit Arch, first some history and then my questions....

My hard disks are roughly as follows:
/dev/hda1 = Windows XP64 bit (NTFS, cannot sacrifice)
/dev/hda2 = swap
/dev/hda3 = 64 Studio (can be sacrificed)
/dev/hda4 = spare
/dev/hdb1 = empty, to be used for MP3s when system is stable
/dev/hdc = DVD-ROM
/dev/hdd = DL-DVDRW (DVDROM, CDRW, CDR and CDROM all supported)

Some issues I had seen with prior Arch releases (0.3 to 0.5):
Installer reformatted /dev/hdb when /dev/hda# was the target of the installation.
Installer formatted drive as Reiser when I selected EXT3.
Reiser partition formatted by one distro was not properly configured by the Arch version of Reiser - massive corruption.
Bus errors on VIA based mainboard (knowledge acquired post Arch; current mainboard is Intel chipset).
Heavy dependency upon internet access (back then, a newer KDE was over 50 megs and Arch docs were only online, I was only using dialup).

Some issues I've seen with this current system and other Linux distros:
BCM4306 wireless nic - fwcutter and BCM43XX stuff may be needed, but I'm still quiteclueless about setting up any networking interface.
ATI onboard chipset 64 Studio (Debian 64 based) stuck at 640 x 480 (not pretty) - the current ATI drivers fail to install, then wipe out the readme files as the installer exits (lovely).

My questions:

Will the current-0.8-beta2-20070223-x86_64.iso serve to get me running at 1152x864?

I would really like to see the wireless nic work properly after installing Arch (I'd be happy to try setting up PPPoE but doing all the nic stuff worries me). I know the BCM43XX issue was partially addressed in kernel 2.6.17rc2, but does current-0.8-beta2-20070223-x86_64 leave BCM43XX stuff undone? If so, clues would be appreciated.

I cannot risk /dev/hda1; any known issues of the installer making unusually risky assumptions? Sorry, I have to ask that question somehow...

After booting but before installing, will I have access to a command prompt that will allow me to format the target partition with a version of EXT3 that the installed Arch will properly support (not saying Arch ever caused this, just asking based on my history)?

TIA.

EDIT: clarified the command prompt question.

Last edited by dunbar (2007-02-26 21:39:09)

kozaki · 2007-03-03 09:38:37

dunbar wrote:

Will the current-0.8-beta2-20070223-x86_64.iso serve to get me running at 1152x864?
I would really like to see the wireless nic work properly after installing Arch (I'd be happy to try setting up PPPoE but doing all the nic stuff worries me). I know the BCM43XX issue was partially addressed in kernel 2.6.17rc2, but does current-0.8-beta2-20070223-x86_64 leave BCM43XX stuff undone? If so, clues would be appreciated.
I cannot risk /dev/hda1; any known issues of the installer making unusually risky assumptions? Sorry, I have to ask that question somehow...
After booting but before installing, will I have access to a command prompt that will allow me to format the target partition with a version of EXT3 that the installed Arch will properly support (not saying Arch ever caused this, just asking based on my history)?

1st & 2nd question > dunno but let's try
3rd Q > have installed Arch several times on various Intel, Asrock mobos with total control of which partition(s) I format. Also I use ntfs-progs (ntfsclone) to ghost 2 ntfs partitions (win XP sp2 on a Dell laptop & win XP 64 bit on a Sata2 / Asrock mobo desktop) with perfect result ; it's fast and easy. backed up gziped image goes to an USB device or over the desktop without issue.
4th Q > You can use Arch installer to format partition(s), or you can do this before installing with whatever app you want, then just select the partition(s) you want to install Arch on it with the Installer (skipping then the format disk boot-install process)

My 2 cents.

dunbar · 2007-03-06 04:18:51

"Lets try"? Are you not sure about bcm43xx support in Arch?

Stalwart · 2007-03-06 14:46:28

bcm43xx works quite well in 2.6.20 kernel

dunbar · 2007-03-07 00:17:26

Thanks, Stalwart!

Arch Linux

#1 2007-02-26 19:20:28

Trying Arch one more time, maybe

#2 2007-03-03 09:38:37

Re: Trying Arch one more time, maybe

#3 2007-03-06 04:18:51

Re: Trying Arch one more time, maybe

#4 2007-03-06 14:46:28

Re: Trying Arch one more time, maybe

#5 2007-03-07 00:17:26

Re: Trying Arch one more time, maybe

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