User:Solitary Scar

From ArchWiki

Arch Linux Installation Guide

This is going to be my attempt at a newbies installation guide for Arch Linux. This will be a "take you by the hand and lead you through it step by step" approach. Unlike most lead you by the hand guides that tell you to do this, and do that, I intend to also tell you WHY you are doing what you're doing. Hopefully this will be a combination of an installation guide, an Arch Linux guide, and maybe a general Linux guide.

As you delve into Linux, you will find it is TOTALLY flexible and customizable. You can make it anything you want. Well, almost. This total flexibility is the greatest thing about Linux, and it's the worst thing about Linux. When you get to the point that you understand Linux, that flexibility is great. For the Linux newbie however, the myriad of choices and options are overwhelming. This guide will help you install what I think is the best Arch Linux personal desktop solution for a beginner that's coming from a Windows environment

So why Arch Linux?

1. It is an i686 optimized binary based distribution, so it is fast without having to compile everything. Arch runs good even on old hardware.

2. The developers use the Keep It Simple approach.

3. You start with a base GNU/Linux system, then add what you want. You end up with with exactly what YOU want, not what someone else thinks you want.

4. Arch is a rolling distribution. You install it once and keep it updated with pacman.

5. Pacman, it's the best package management program that I have used.

What are the hardware requirements?

Due to the greater instance of installation problems on Lap Tops, I recommend that Linux beginners start by installing on a desk top. After you become more familiar with Linux, you can try installing on a Lap Top if you wish. Arch Linux will install smoothly on most hardware. In my humble opinion, as a company Nvidia is probably the best at supporting the Linux community. I find that Nvidia chip sets, and Nvidia Graphics cards or Nvidia integrated graphics have the best Linux compatibility. Intel chipsets and Intel integrated graphics are also very good with Linux. At the other end of the scale, SIS doesn't support Linux at all. I have Arch installed on an ASRock mother board with a SIS chipset and SIS integrated graphics. It installed with no problems and runs great. However, SIS does not offer a Linux version of their accelerated graphics drivers. So I am stuck with non-accelerated graphics. This is fine for general use, such as surfing the net, E-mail, general office type stuff, and 2-D games. However, it doesn't work very well for playing back DVDs and any 3-D games. The best thing to do is try Linux on your hardware and see what happens. The vast majority of the time it will install just fine with no or few problems.

Since Arch Linux is i686 optimized, the one thing you WILL need is an i686-based computer such as PPro, Pentium 2 or higher, AMD Athlon/Duron, etc. The other option you can use is a 64 bit computer that is x86_64 compatible. Note that AMD K6, Transmeta Crusoe, CyrixIII, and VIA-C3 are NOT supported.

You will also need a CD ROM drive, and I strongly suggest installing Arch Linux on it's own hard drive. To be absolutely safe, it should be the only hard drive connected to the computer during installation. As a beginner, it is too easy to partition the wrong hard drive and completely wipe out your Windows installation. You can add your Windows hard drive back after installation and dual boot if you want to. However, in my opinion, if you want to use both Linux and Windows, it is best to have two computers, and switch between them using a KVM. Then you can switch from Windows to Linux and back by simply hitting some hot keys. I have had very good results using a PS2 KVM with a PS2 keyboard and mouse, very mixed results when using a USB KVM with a usb keyboard and mouse.

To insure success, I suggest keeping the installation as simple as possible. So I suggest you use an internal hard drive connected to either the mother board's IDE connector or the SATA connector. Stay away from RAID arrays, trying to boot from a USB drive, etc. for now. You have to learn how to walk before you can run. Once you have mastered the simple setups, you can then go on to try some of the more exotic things you can do.

I would also recommend you have a broadband internet connection. You could do this with dial-up 56K, but it would take a LONG time. Unless you have a separate phone line for your computer, people would have a hard time calling you for a long while.

The first step is obtaining a copy of Arch Linux. Go to:

ftp://locke.suu.edu/linux/dist/archlinux/iso/2007.05-Linuxtag2007/i686/

and download the i686 base iso:

Archlinux-i686-2007.05-Duke-Linuxtag2007.base.iso

Or, for Arch 64 bit, go to

ftp://locke.suu.edu/linux/dist/archlinux/iso/2007.05-Linuxtag2007/x86_64/

and download the x86_64 base iso:

Archlinux-x86_64-2007.05-Duke-Linuxtag2007.base.iso

Or visit http://www.archlinux.org/download/ to start a bit torrent or choose a mirror closest to you.

You can use this guide to install either the i686 version or the x86_64 version, the installation procedure is the same for both. You can install the i686 or x86_64 version on a 64 bit machine, just remember that there is still no flash player or Java Runtime Environment plugins available for 64 bit.

Now use a CD burning program and use the "Burn iso" function to create an installation CD. If you look at your newly created CD with a file browser, you should see two folders named arch and isolinux. You should be able to open these folders and see more files and/or folders. If you only see one file named Archlinux-i686-2007.05-Duke-Linuxtag2007.base.iso then you didn't burn the CD properly.