Dell With Arch

OK so I bought a dell precision workstation m3800 that came installed with Ubuntu. I want to switch out the hdd with a ssd and put Arch OS on there. It has no optical drive to install with a CD, so my question is if I can use a usb external optical device to install arch, and what problems might I run into?


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Configuring A Dual Boot Arch And Fedora Installation

I have setup a dual boot system with Fedora 21 and Arch Linux. The problem is that Fedora doesn't see my encrypted Arch installation. The installations are on separate partitions and do not share anything apart from hard disk space. I have run the following commands as root in Fedora:

Code:
grub2-install /dev/sda

Code:
os-prober

Code:
grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

When I rebooted, Fedora was the only OS entry showing in the GRUB menu.

There was a suggestion from one of the members of the Arch forums that I should write the entry myself into /etc/grub.d/40_custom and then re-build the grub configuration or take the Arch entry from Arch's /boot/grub/grub.cfg and just paste it into the 40_custom in Fedora and rebuild.

How do I boot from a live Arch USB stick into the installed Arch and do as stated above? How would it work? Thanks in advance for your replies.

Terminal Wont Load In Openbox On Arch

I've just installed Arch, and Installed and configured openbox and gnome terminal. Openbox starts, firefox works, but when I try to start gnome terminal, I curser spins for a moment and then it doesnt load.

I've tried to find a resolution to this but I'm not seeing much relevant to this specific scenerio. Also, this is my first time ever installing Arch, or any distro without a graphic installer or a kickstart script. My experience is pretty basic. I've used ubuntu/mint/centos for quite a while but figured this will be a good way to get me learning.

After I post this I am going to reboot to get back to command line and look at the installation and maybe install another terminal and see if this makes much a difference.

My Computer No Longer Boots Live Disks

A week ago, I realized that I could not boot live disks. At first, I thought that it was the optical drive not writing the disks correctly, but when I tried two live disks that I've used many times before nothing happened with those either.

I have CD/DVD drive listed first in my BIOS' boot order and I even tried selecting the optical drive in the menu when the computer started and it still does not boot a disk. Thankfully, my somewhat old hard drives are still chugging along but I need to be able to use a live disk, in case one or both die on me.

My question is, how can I know for sure what the problem is? Is there a way to test the optical drive (Samsung Super Writemaster - which has a bad rep)? Could it be my motherboard. It was bought new 2 years ago, and there are no other issues with it. Also, I have been able to create playable DVDs on my computer with the Optical drive that work perfectly on my Bluray player, yet I cannot play the movies or open a data disk in file manager on my computer. What does that mean?

I want to know that it's worth it to buy another burner, before shelling out the money when I'm already practically broke from Christmas gift purchases. Any suggestions on how to test the optical drive would be appreciated.

Can't Get Into Desktop (KDE)

Hello all,

I was screwin' around with Arch Linux. I'm interested in it but not more interested than my Kubuntu running KDStudio.

I didn't realize how much prep. their is and the fact that Arch does no prep. Anyway, I stopped trying to get it to run when I realized I had to pre-partition and set up a swap.

Now however grub does not boot into the KDE desktop. It boots into Kubuntu but with no desktop.

Does anyone know how to fix this, I would not like to have to re-install the whole system. I think there must be a fix, I'm not sure exactly what Arch did, gparted doesn't show anything.

Which Disk Is Ata1.00?

Hi! I have a failing disk and the kernel messages are the following:
Code:
Απρ 01 15:07:02 Arch kernel: ata1: lost interrupt (Status 0x50)
Απρ 01 15:07:03 Arch kernel: ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Απρ 01 15:07:03 Arch kernel: ata1.00: failed command: WRITE DMA
Απρ 01 15:07:03 Arch kernel: ata1.00: cmd ca/00:08:20:32:6a/00:00:00:00:00/e4 tag 0 dma 4096 out
                                         res 40/00:00:4b:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Απρ 01 15:07:03 Arch kernel: ata1.00: status: { DRDY }
Απρ 01 15:07:03 Arch kernel: ata1: soft resetting link
Απρ 01 15:07:03 Arch kernel: ata1.00: LPM support broken, forcing max_power
Απρ 01 15:07:03 Arch kernel: ata1.00: LPM support broken, forcing max_power
Απρ 01 15:07:03 Arch kernel: ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133
Απρ 01 15:07:03 Arch kernel: ata1.01: configured for UDMA/133
Απρ 01 15:07:03 Arch kernel: ata1: EH complete
Απρ 01 15:09:19 Arch kernel: ata1: lost interrupt (Status 0x50)
Απρ 01 15:09:20 Arch kernel: ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Απρ 01 15:09:20 Arch kernel: ata1.00: failed command: READ DMA EXT
Απρ 01 15:09:20 Arch kernel: ata1.00: cmd 25/00:20:e8:b2:fd/00:00:18:00:00/e0 tag 0 dma 16384 in
                                         res 40/00:00:4b:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Απρ 01 15:09:20 Arch kernel: ata1.00: status: { DRDY }
Απρ 01 15:09:20 Arch kernel: ata1: soft resetting link
Απρ 01 15:09:20 Arch kernel: ata1.00: LPM support broken, forcing max_power
Απρ 01 15:09:20 Arch kernel: ata1.00: LPM support broken, forcing max_power
Απρ 01 15:09:20 Arch kernel: ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133
Απρ 01 15:09:20 Arch kernel: ata1.01: configured for UDMA/133
Απρ 01 15:09:20 Arch kernel: ata1: EH complete

I have 2 disks: sda, sdb. Which disk is it referring to?

Thanks a lot

Arch Linux 2012 Does Not Boot From Flash Media

Hi.
I am trying to install archlinuxarm-13-06-2012.img on a micro SD card. I have followed the tutorial on http://www.instructables.com/id/Rasp...ing-ArchLinux/ to install the OS on the card however when i restarted my machine all i seen was a blinking cursor but that was it. No menu option no nothing.

Then I thought, maybe I didn't do it properly, so I have installed arch linux on a 8 GB usb stick but the result was the same as it was for the sd card. I have tried various software to install the OS on the USB stick : USBwrite and Win32Imager.

I have read some online stuff..but the information is quite varied and I'm running out of time.

Any help please?

Format A Hard Drive To Work On Machine (dell 32-bit). Have Installed New 1 TB Drive

Want to format a 1 TB Western Digital drive in an old dell 32 bit machine. Machine has Lubuntu installed and a Virtual machine on which which is loaded Windows 7 (32 bit).

Machine does not "see" the new 1 TB (SATA) drive after I physically install it in the machine.

I have other windows and Linux machines. I have some drive cradles in which I can connect to (windows) USB ports.

Is it possible to use the old Dell machine to format the new drive?

(It appears that this question has been answered before. So I will check those materials as well.)

Thanks for any assistance.

Geoffrey Wolfe

Installing Arch Linux ?

Hello, I have a laptop with no operating system and I want to put the Arch OS on it. How do I go about doing that? Do I just burn the ISO on a CD and stick it in while I boot up?

Thank you...

Help Me Choose Between 3 Distros. How Behind Are Packages Being Packaged In Ubuntu?

The general question is: How behind are packages being packaged in Ubuntu? I know that this depends on the package and a ton of things, but I just want to get a sense of (stable vs. cutting edge--is there a good balance of both?) Ultimately, I want a system that fast, reliable, up-to-date, and easy to maintain.

I find myself debating whether to go with minimal Ubuntu, Arch Linux, or Slackware. I did some reading and realize that Ubuntu and Slackware are considered stable while Arch Linux is considered bleeding edge (yes, I realize Arch and Slackware require more work to maintain) but never to what extent. For example, I don't mind at all spending a ton of time setting things up since it is a one-time process, but I don't want to spend more than say 10 minutes a month for maintenance and ensuring things to work. From what I've read, Arch actually doesn't require much.

I'm not sure how behind the packages in Ubuntu/Slackware are to warrant me switching to another distro. I'm also not sure how stable Arch Linux is to warrant me to switching to a cutting/bleeding-edge distro for up-to-date stable packages (NOT anything newer, I don't want bleeding edge). I know that Arch has tests its packages too, but people often say "expect breakage".

Thanks!

Some notes:

- Don't recommend Ubuntu simply because Arch/Slackware requires a higher level of understanding to make it work. I intend to read documentations.
- I get the sense that Canonical is in the direction of "my way or the highway" and I really align with the Arch Way, but these are just philosophies that shouldn't have too much say in choosing a distro.
- Package management is important to me in sense that the system is tidy. For now, I have avoided PPAs on Ubuntu for this reason (apt-pinning is a solution but I don't know if it's a complete solution--if it is, I would have no problems with PPAs and actually use them).
- I like a system where it is bloat-free and has what I want, perhaps building from the base up. I don't know if this would necessarily provide me better performance though. I think Slackware kind of goes against this, but it's not a big deal especially because I heard Slackware is quite optimized somehow.
- I was originally set on Arch, but there are people telling me "expect breakage", "never update before an important event because of this" , "too much work to maintain when I just want to get things done" , and highlighting the disadvantages of a rolling-distro. This while I read things like "the only time Arch has broken for me was cause of my mistake in 3 years of using it" , "maintaining Arch takes like 5 minutes a month" , "as long as you subscribe to Arch news and don't do crazy stuff, Arch is as stable as any distro".
- I intend on being a programmer/doing software engineering if that matters. Maybe it means I don't want to spend too much time maintaining (not setting) the OS when I've got other things to do.

Thanks once again.

Upgrade From 12.04 To 14.04 Freezes Mid-install

Hi.

I've just bought this spanking new Dell with Ubuntu Linux on it, but when I'm trying to upgrade from 12.02 to 14.04, it just freezes during installation when it's unpacking adium ubuntu theme.

What should I do?

Should I restore factory settings and try again? or should I just leave it at 12.02?

I've searched online already, but it's been fruitless.

EDIT: Of course, I've updated everything else before I did the switch.