ArchLinux Deployment on ASUS ExpertBook B9400CEA.

In short, if the screen shows a dollar sign ($) or hash (#) on the left of the blinking cursor, you are in a command-line environment. $, #, % symbols indicate the user account type you are logged in to.

• Dollar sign ($) means you are a normal user.
• hash (#) means you are the system administrator (root).
• In the C shell, the prompt ends with a percentage sign (%).

sudo wipefs -fa /dev/sdX
sudo fdisk /dev/sdX
sudo partprobe /dev/sdX
sudo mkfs.vfat -n 'LABEL' /dev/sdX1
sudo dd bs=4M if=/target/archlinux.iso of=/dev/sdX status=progress && sync

Ensure your network interface is listed and enabled.

# ip link

Make sure the wireless card is not blocked with rfkill.

# rfkill list

Connect to the wireless network using iwctl.

# iwctl
[iwd]# station wlan0 get-networks
[iwd]# station wlan0 connect <network name> [security]
Type the network passphrase for <network name> psk.
Passphrase: ********
[iwd]# station wlan0 show

The connection may be verified with ping.

# ping archlinux.org

# timedatectl set-ntp true

SATA:

If you run into trouble with a pre-existing disk signature, you can delete it using wipefs.

# wipefs --force --all /dev/sdX

NVMe Secure Erase

# pacman -S nvme-cli
# nvme format /dev/nvme0 -s 1 -n 1
# nvme format /dev/nvme0 -r -n 1
# nvme format /dev/nvme1 -s 1 -n 1
# nvme format /dev/nvme1 -r -n 1
# reboot

# lsblk

Note: ef00 EFI system partition, 8e00 Linux LVM partition

# gdisk /dev/nvme0n1
# gdisk /dev/nvme1n1

or

# fdisk /dev/nvme0n1
# fdisk /dev/nvme1n1
# fdisk -l

or

# cfdisk /dev/nvme0n1 --zero
# cfdisk /dev/nvme1n1 --zero
# parted -l

Re-read The Partition Table Without Rebooting Linux System:

After the fdisk or gdisk command session (which makes changes to partition table) just type the following command:

# partprobe /dev/nvme0n1
# partprobe /dev/nvme1n1

# lvmdiskscan

Note: If using a SSD without partitioning it first, use

# pvcreate --dataalignment 1m /dev/nvme0n1p2 /dev/nvme1n1p1 (for erase block size < 1 MiB),
# pvdisplay
# pvscan

# vgcreate vgarch /dev/nvme0n1p2 /dev/nvme1n1p1
# vgdisplay

# lvcreate -n lvroot -i 2 -L 100G vgarch
# lvcreate -n lvhome -i 2 -l 100%FREE vgarch
# lvdisplay

You may need to load the device-mapper kernel module (modprobe dm_mod) for the above commands to succeed. Your logical volumes should now be located in /dev/YourVolumeGroupName/. If you cannot find them, use the next commands to bring up the module for creating device nodes and to make volume groups available:

# modprobe dm_mod
# cat /proc/modules | grep dm_mod
# vgscan
# vgchange -ay

# mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1
# mkfs.ext4  /dev/vgarch/lvroot
# mkfs.ext4  /dev/vgarch/lvhome

verification

# file -sL /dev/nvme[01]n1*
# file -sL /dev/vgarch/lvroot
# file -sL /dev/vgarch/lvhome

# mount /dev/vgarch/lvroot /mnt
# mkdir /mnt/boot
# mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot
# mkdir /mnt/home
# mount /dev/vgarch/lvhome /mnt/home
# mount | tail -n 3

Note: [package] - this is optional.

# pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware man-db man-pages vim \
intel-ucode [lvm2] efibootmgr networkmanager

# genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
# cat /mnt/etc/fstab

verification

# blkid -s UUID -o value /dev/vgarch/lvroot
# blkid -s UUID -o value /dev/vgarch/lvhome
# blkid -s UUID -o value /dev/nvme0n1p1 or # blkid /dev/nvme[01]n1*

# arch-chroot /mnt

# dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=8192 status=progress
# chmod 600 /swapfile
# mkswap /swapfile
# swapon /swapfile
# vim /etc/fstab
/swapfile none swap defaults 0 0

# ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Moscow /etc/localtime
# hwclock --systohc

# vim /etc/locale.gen
en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
# locale-gen
# echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 >> /etc/locale.conf

# vim /etc/hostname
arch
# vim /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1   localhost
::1         localhost
127.0.1.1   arch.localdomain    arch

In case your root filesystem is on LVM, you will need to enable the appropriate mkinitcpio hooks, otherwise your system might not boot:

• udev and lvm2 for the default busybox-based initramfs
• systemd and lvm2 for systemd-based initramfs

udev is there by default. Edit the file and insert lvm2 between block and filesystems like so:

# vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
...
HOOKS=(base udev ... block lvm2 filesystems)

Note: You do not have to turn off VMD in BIOS as long as you have vmd module enabled in your initram image

# vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
...
MODULES=(vmd)
# mkinitcpio -P

Note: vmd is included in the default block hook since mkinitcpio v31.

# systemctl enable NetworkManager

# bootctl --path=/boot install
# bootctl update
# bootctl list
# bootctl status
# bootctl is-installed

# vim /boot/loader/loader.conf
timeout 3
#console-mode keep
default arch-*
editor no

# vim /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /intel-ucode.img
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
# blkid -s UUID -o value /dev/nvme0n1p2 >> /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
options root=UUID=... rw quiet splash

Place the following pacman hook in the /etc/pacman.d/hooks/ directory:

# mkdir /etc/pacman.d/hooks
# vim /etc/pacman.d/hooks/100-systemd-boot.hook
[Trigger]
Type = Package
Operation = Upgrade
Target = systemd

[Action]
Description = Updating systemd-boot
When = PostTransaction
Exec = /usr/bin/bootctl update

# passwd

Note: visudo — edit the sudoers file. visudo belongs to sudo package belongs to base-devel meta package.

# useradd -mG wheel user
# EDITOR=vim visudo
# passwd user

# exit
# umount -a
# reboot

nmtui

Note: The i3-gaps project has been merged with i3. All i3-gaps features will become available with i3 4.22

sudo pacman -S mesa xorg-server xorg-xinit xorg-xrandr xorg-xprop \
terminator i3-wm i3lock polybar feh picom rofi firefox git neofetch \
sof-firmware pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa bluez bluez-utils \
[network-manager-applet]

$ vim ~/.xinitrc
exec i3
$ startx

Make sure that startx is properly configured. Place the following in your login shell initialization file (e.g. ~/.bash_profile for Bash or ~/.zprofile for Zsh):

$ vim ~/.bash_profile

if [ -z "${DISPLAY}" ] && [ "${XDG_VTNR}" -eq 1 ]; then
  exec startx
fi

Note: /etc/profile

Upon login, all Bourne-compatible shells source /etc/profile, which in turn sources any readable *.sh files in /etc/profile.d/: these scripts do not require an interpreter directive, nor do they need to be executable. They are used to set up an environment and define application-specific settings.

sudo pacman -S lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings
sudo systemctl enable lightdm
reboot
sudo vim /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
ls /usr/share/xsessions/

$ vim /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/base.lst
/grp
$ sudo localectl --no-convert set-x11-keymap us,ru asus_laptop "" grp:win_space_toggle
$ sudo localectl --no-convert set-x11-keymap us,ru asus_laptop dvorak grp:win_space_toggle
$ reboot

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay-bin.git
cd yay-bin/
less PKGBUILD
makepkg -si
yay -S package

Apply --aur flag to target only aur packages.

yay -Sc --aur

rofi -show run
rofi-theme-selector

Note: Avoid doing partial upgrades. In other words, never run pacman -Sy; instead, always use pacman -Syu.

Upgrading the system regularly prevents most signing errors. If delay is unavoidable and system upgrade gets delayed for an extended period:

1. pacman-key depends on system time. If your system clock is not synchronized, system installation/upgrade may fail with invalid signature errors. If using ntpd (the ntp package), correct the system time (as root) with:

   # ntpd -qg && hwclock -w

2. Manually sync the package database and upgrade the archlinux-keyring package before system upgrade:

   # pacman -Sy archlinux-keyring && pacman -Su

   This command is not considered a partial upgrade since it syncs the package database and upgrades the keyring package first. Both must be processed just before starting system upgrade to ensure signatures of all upgraded packages can be properly verified.

3. Perform the full system upgrade:

   # pacman -Syu

The alsa-firmware package contains firmware that may be required for certain sound cards (e.g. Creative SB0400 Audigy2). sof-firmware and alsa-ucm-conf are required for few newer laptop models (end of 2019/2020) which implement their drivers with firmware provided by the Sound Open Firmware project.

Installing Miniconda

1. Download the installer

2. Verify your installer hashes

   shasum -a 256 /target/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh

3. In your terminal window, run

   bash Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh
   source .bashrc or .zshrc
   conda config --set auto_activate_base false
   source $HOME/miniconda3/bin/activate

   Note: An alias can be created

   $ vim .zshrc
   alias ca='source ~/miniconda3/bin/activate'

Updating Miniconda:

conda update conda

Uninstalling Miniconda:

rm -rf ~/miniconda3

OPTIONAL: Edit ~/.bash_profile or .zprofile to remove the Miniconda directory from your PATH environment variable.

OPTIONAL: Remove the following hidden file and folders that may have been created in the home directory:

rm -rf ~/.condarc ~/.conda ~/.continuum

Managing environments and packages:

conda create --name new python=3.11 numpy pandas matplotlib notebook qtconsole
conda activate new
conda info --envs

Jupyter Themes:

• Notebook

  jupyterthemes package:

  conda install -c conda-forge jupyterthemes && conda update jupyterthemes
  conda install -c conda-forge gcc
  jt -l
  jt -t gruvboxd

• QtConsole

  pygments package:

  conda install -c conda-forge pygments
  jupyter qtconsole --style gruvbox-dark

  or change Jupyter QtConsole settings permanently

  $ vim ~/.jupyter/jupyter_qtconsole_config.py
  c.JupyterWidget.syntax_style = 'gruvbox-dark'