the Arch Linux thread

nims11

BIOS Terminator
i facing problems with usb_modeswitch (to run USB 3g modems in linux) in ARCH.
after installing it through pacman and then executing it, i get the following error -:
usb_modeswitch: error while loading shared libraries: libusb-0.1.so.4
i get this same error after uninstalling it and then building source of a newer version (which is not in the repository yet). googled about it and found no help.
 

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
Is your USB blacklisted? If not then blacklist it & if yes then vice-versa.. try this.. moreover, have you tried building via AUR?
 

nims11

BIOS Terminator
^^
1. i installed through pacman. it installed but it threw the shared library error when i started it.
2. i removed it and downloaded the source. but it gave the same error when i tried to compile it.

even if the USB is not plugged in, the above errors should not be there as they are not dependent on USB.

okay its working now. removed usbutils, reinstalled it, reinstalled usb_modeswitch and then used networkmanager-applet to connect. network manager applet had a preconfigured profile for my MTS MBLAZE!!
 

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
So that was the problem with your outdated stuff from AUR i guess.. use this command to update AUR as well as the system..
yaourt -Syu --aur
 

Ishu Gupta

Manchester United
Finally I decided to switch to Linux as Gaming on this laptop (sig) isn't possible anymore.
I decided to go with Arch because I liked "The Arch Way".

It took me the whole day to personalize it (Getting wifi to work was a PITA :mad:).

Boot time (Grub to login) : 18 sec
Resume from Hibernate : 4-5 sec
Its awesome. :D

*img820.imageshack.us/img820/3366/201107162322251280x800s.png

Fonts in Firefox are really F'ed up. How do I fix those?
 

nims11

BIOS Terminator
^^did you did this?
pacman -S ttf-ms-fonts ttf-dejavu
i don't know if they will solve your problem but i do this during customization phase and i don't face any probs.

some guy also had this problem in arch forum and he solved it by disabling bitmap fonts.
*wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Font_Configuration#Disable_bitmap_fonts

btw which Desktop Environment?KDE? (EDIT: got it from the screenshot thread. Xfce)
 
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hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
Query :- Are you guys experiencing random freezing of GNOME 3 desktop with NVIDIA's proprietary drivers?

My desktop was freezing multiple times, so I uninstalled it and switched to KDE for the time being.. Will get back to GNOME 3 once 3.1 gets released..

I'm also pasting the output of my rc.conf file to help new users.. Mods , please move it to the front page for the benefit of all.. this file is with a static ip address..

PHP:
#
# /etc/rc.conf - Main Configuration for Arch Linux
#

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# LOCALIZATION
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# LOCALE: available languages can be listed with the 'locale -a' command
# DAEMON_LOCALE: If set to 'yes', use $LOCALE as the locale during daemon
# startup and during the boot process. If set to 'no', the C locale is used.
# HARDWARECLOCK: set to "UTC" or "localtime", any other value will result
#   in the hardware clock being left untouched (useful for virtualization)
#   Note: Using "localtime" is discouraged.
# TIMEZONE: timezones are found in /usr/share/zoneinfo
# KEYMAP: keymaps are found in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps
# CONSOLEFONT: found in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts (only needed for non-US)
# CONSOLEMAP: found in /usr/share/kbd/consoletrans
# USECOLOR: use ANSI color sequences in startup messages
# VERBOSE: Verbose level (from 1 to 8). man 3 syslog for level info
#
LOCALE="en_US.UTF-8"
DAEMON_LOCALE="no"
HARDWARECLOCK="localtime"
TIMEZONE="Asia/Kolkata"
KEYMAP="us"
CONSOLEFONT=
CONSOLEMAP=
USECOLOR="yes"
VERBOSE="3"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# HARDWARE
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# MODULES: Modules to load at boot-up. Blacklisting is no longer supported.
#   Replace every !module by an entry as on the following line in a file in
#   /etc/modprobe.d:
#     blacklist module
#   See "man modprobe.conf" for details.
#
MODULES=(powernow-k8 cpufreq_ondemand cpufreq_powersave vboxdrv vboxnetflt )
# Udev settle timeout (default to 30)
UDEV_TIMEOUT=30

# Scan for FakeRAID (dmraid) Volumes at startup
USEDMRAID="no"

# Scan for BTRFS volumes at startup
USEBTRFS="no"

# Scan for LVM volume groups at startup, required if you use LVM
USELVM="no"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# NETWORKING
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# HOSTNAME: Hostname of machine. Should also be put in /etc/hosts
#
HOSTNAME="AX-64"

# Use 'ip addr' or 'ls /sys/class/net/' to see all available interfaces.
#
# Wired network setup
#   - interface: name of device (required)
#   - address: IP address (leave blank for DHCP)
#   - netmask: subnet mask (ignored for DHCP)
#   - gateway: default route (ignored for DHCP)
# 
# Static IP example
# interface=eth0
# address=192.168.0.2
# netmask=255.255.255.0
# gateway=192.168.0.1
#
# DHCP example
# interface=eth0
# address=
# netmask=
# gateway=

interface=eth0
address=192.168.1.2
netmask=255.255.255.0
gateway=192.168.1.1

# Setting this to "yes" will skip network shutdown.
# This is required if your root device is on NFS.
NETWORK_PERSIST="no"

# Enable these netcfg profiles at boot-up. These are useful if you happen to
# need more advanced network features than the simple network service
# supports, such as multiple network configurations (ie, laptop users)
#   - set to 'menu' to present a menu during boot-up (dialog package required)
#   - prefix an entry with a ! to disable it
#
# Network profiles are found in /etc/network.d
#
# This requires the netcfg package
#
#NETWORKS=(main)

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# DAEMONS
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order)
#   - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it
#   - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background
#
# If something other takes care of your hardware clock (ntpd, dual-boot...)
# you should disable 'hwclock' here.
#
DAEMONS=(hwclock @acpid syslog-ng network netfs dkms_autoinstaller sshd @crond @alsa dbus kdm @cupsd @cpufreq)
So here's the explanation.. I'll start it with sections..

HARDWARECLOCK="localtime" /* Keep it localtime if you've dual boot, keep it to UTC if you're using Arch only */
TIMEZONE="Asia/Kolkata" /* This is the timezone where I live in. Change it according to your needs */
KEYMAP="us" /* The keymap of your keyboard layout. */
USECOLOR="yes" /* Implies if you want to use color in the terminal/konsole */


Modules section

Here you can load the modules you want. Some of them are automatically detected these ones were not, so I loaded them here in the file

MODULES=(powernow-k8 cpufreq_ondemand cpufreq_powersave vboxdrv vboxnetflt)

/*Explanation of the above modules*/

powernow-k8 = For AMD K8 & K10 power management. Don't know about Zacate, Llano & Bulldozer series
cpufreq_ondemand = On demand cpu frequency management. It is used for giving applications the necessary processing power
cpu_powersave = Power saving profile for CPU. A must for laptop users
vboxdrv = Virtualbox driver. Only if you've installed Virtualbox.
vboxnetflt = Virtualbox net driver. Only if you've installed Virtualbox.

USEMRAID="no" /*Yes if you've RAID*/
USEBTRFS="no" /*Yes if you're using Btrfs file system*/
USELVM="no" /*Yes if you're using Logical Volume Manager (learn about it, it is very helpful though) */

NETWORKING Section

HOSTNAME="AX-64" /* This is the hostname of my machine. */

/*For DHCP */

interface=eth0
address=
netmask=
gateway=


/*For static IP */ (boots quickly, if you set it to static IP)

interface=eth0
address=192.168.1.2
/* Change it to the desired one. This is my PCs address */
netmask=255.255.255.0
gateway=192.168.1.1
/* This is my router's address. Your's can be 192.168.0.1 too. (Issue ifconfig in the terminal to look what's yours) */

Daemons Section

DAEMONS=(hwclock @acpid syslog-ng network netfs dkms_autoinstaller sshd @crond @alsa dbus hal kdm @cups @cpufreq)


/*Explanation*/
hwclock = system set to hardware clock
acpid = Advance configuration & power interface daemon. For power-management
syslog-ng = For starting system log daemon
network = To start the network
netfs = Network file systems such as SMB, NFS etc. If you don't require it, remove it.
dkms_autoinstaller = Dynamic Kernel Module Support. It automatically compiles modules when a new kernel is installed. A must have for everyone.
sshd = Secure shell daemon. For ssh login. Optional
crond = Cron daemon. A must have
alsa, dbus = Two very important daemon. Required or else no sound, graphics etc.
kdm = K Desktop Manager req for KDE. GDM for GNOME.
cupsd = For printing. Optional.
cpufreq = for CPU frequency scaling.
 
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Liverpool_fan

Sami Hyypiä, LFC legend
Query :- Are you guys experiencing random freezing of GNOME 3 desktop with NVIDIA's proprietary drivers?
Nope.

I'm also pasting the output of my rc.conf file to help new users.. Mods , please move it to the front page for the benefit of all.. this file is with a static ip address..
Can you do some explaining about rc.conf above your file? Need some context to it in the OP. Try to explain as much as possible.
 

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
OK.. will do that.. so that means, there's some kind of problem with my installation.. even KDE crashed.. what can it be..
 

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
Thanks.. I was also thinking of reverting to xf86-video-nouveau.. But Internet's been acting up today..

Update 1 :- I think that I may have found the culprit for the system freeze under Arch & BSOD in Windows.

The problem is with the current NVIDIA drivers I think. Because, I got BSOD in dxgmms1.sys file under Windows 7 and when I tried to research it I found out that the error is of drivers. I even took out my RAM, Graphics card, cleaned them and then re-inserted them, but still no use.

I'll wait for the new drivers.

Update 2 :- Speaking of drivers, I'm installing the latest NVIDIA drivers, 275.19-1 on Arch Linux. They're being pushed to the system as I'm typing this. Will keep you guys update.

Btw, It is about time, we should change the thread title to , The Bright Side :- Arch Linux :p

Update 3 :- Installed the new drivers, now I can boot in to tty when it crashes. I'm posting the output of my xorg.conf file :-

PHP:
# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 260.19.21  (buildmeister@builder101)  Thu Nov  4 21:47:28 PDT 2010

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    ModulePath      "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/TTF/"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/OTF/"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/Type1/"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load           "extmod"
    Load           "dbe"
    Load           "dri2"
    Load           "glx"
    Load           "record"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "AOC"
    ModelName      "F22"
    Option	   "DPI" "96 x 96"
EndSection

Section "Device"

        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
        ### <percent>: "<f>%"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "ShadowFB"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DefaultRefresh"     	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ModeSetClearScreen" 	# [<bool>]
    Identifier     "Card0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Card0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       4
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
	Option "AutoAddDevices" "False"
EndSection
 
To everyone who experiences random crashes, have you tried the LTS kernel ? Me been using it since the main kernel hates my laptop. Anyway, the 2.6.32-series LTS kernel *just works*.
 

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
Found the fault.. It was a RAM module that caused freezes & BSODs.. Kingston KVR800D2N6/2G to be precise.. Glad that its covered with lifetime warranty, will claim the warranty tomorrow..
 

docfido86

Right off the assembly line
Hey there fellas!

I'm a newbie to the Linux world (introduced to Ubuntu 2 months back). I've been fascinated by this open-source community (all you guys).

I read that Arch Linux is not for newbies and that drove me to try it. I've learnt more about linux in a weekend than I've learnt in 2 months (Well! It ain't a whole lot actually, but still :) ).

I've gotten so far as
1. Installing the base system.
2. Configuring my wireless network (I'm still having trouble figuring out how to configure my ethernet broadband, although I'm able to access the same connection through the wireless network).
3. Updating the base system.
4. Installing X and the video drivers.
5. Installing Fluxbox (I had to choose between going for a Window Manager and a Desktop Environment. I thought it would be more fun this way).
6. ......

Now I'm stuck at a point where I'm not sure what I have to do next. I'm actually able to get fluxbox running from the CLI.

I'm having trouble finding a page which can give me instructions about
1. How to go about installing the programs that go best with fluxbox.
(a list of 'program categories' most used by an average desktop user, so that I don't miss out on essential programs).
2. Finetune the startup process.

I'd appreciate any good and clear links on the above topics. Can someone also answer 2 more questions for me?
1. I have also downloaded LXDE and am able to start it up on my Arch setup. Now, suppose I build a desktop environment on top of the Fluxbox WM, will it interfere with the LXDE? Can I have the choice of loading either of the two DE's?
2. I have a 'broadband' account with BSNL where I connect with a username and password. Is this a static IP address or is it a dynamic address (DHCP?) ? How do I setup the wired ethernet connection?

Thanks and cheers!
 

hellknight

BSD init pwns System V
The answers are as under :-

1. Go to the Fluxbox site, there you can find which packages work well with it. But, I think that GTK packages should work well.
2. Read the first page of the thread. I've posted details of rc.conf file. Just edit it to your needs

On to the second sets of questions.

1. LXDE will work fine. You just need to choose which DE you want to load from the login screen. I have both KDE & GNOME installed and both work well.
2. BSNL gives a dynamic account. But if you dial from the system i.e. your computer, you need to install pppoe package which will help your regarding BSNL account. Moreover, it is better if you keep the settings in the router in the 'always on' mode. Then you can go either DHCP or static IP. Go for static IP for fast startup. DHCP, if you have other devices in your household.
 
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nims11

BIOS Terminator
1. I have also downloaded LXDE and am able to start it up on my Arch setup. Now, suppose I build a desktop environment on top of the Fluxbox WM, will it interfere with the LXDE? Can I have the choice of loading either of the two DE's?

no it won't interfere. i suggest you to first install a display manager (GDM,KDM,LXDM,etc) to enable graphical login and to get the benefit of graphically choosing your desired desktop environment.

all your other questions are answered convincingly by hellknight
 

Ishu Gupta

Manchester United
1. How to go about installing the programs that go best with fluxbox.
(a list of 'program categories' most used by an average desktop user, so that I don't miss out on essential programs).
*wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Lightweight_Applications
*bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=88515

2. Finetune the startup process.
*wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Speed-up_Boot
 
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