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| author | Francis Rowe <info@gluglug.org.uk> | 2014-11-05 20:52:36 (EST) |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Francis Rowe <info@gluglug.org.uk> | 2014-11-05 20:52:36 (EST) |
| commit | 8b2219bfa2da36e7809588ef723a10483a6e137f (patch) | |
| tree | 8c4d74b9efbdabc1a2604b8cbd508c006c225241 /docs/howtos/configuring_parabola.html | |
| parent | 7429bdcdbb4fc51c61897115112468642afeecfc (diff) | |
| download | libreboot-8b2219bfa2da36e7809588ef723a10483a6e137f.zip libreboot-8b2219bfa2da36e7809588ef723a10483a6e137f.tar.gz libreboot-8b2219bfa2da36e7809588ef723a10483a6e137f.tar.bz2 | |
Documentation: *major* cleanup.
Cleanup was long overdue. Old structure was messy and inefficient.
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/howtos/configuring_parabola.html')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/howtos/configuring_parabola.html | 784 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 784 deletions
diff --git a/docs/howtos/configuring_parabola.html b/docs/howtos/configuring_parabola.html deleted file mode 100644 index 56c5420..0000000 --- a/docs/howtos/configuring_parabola.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,784 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html> -<html> -<head> - <meta charset="utf-8"> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> - - <style type="text/css"> - body { - background:#fff; - color:#000; - font-family:sans-serif; - font-size:1em; - } - div.important { - background-color:#ccc; - } - </style> - - <title>Configuring Parabola (post-install)</title> -</head> - -<body> - <header> - <h1 id="pagetop">Configuring Parabola (post-install)</h1> - <aside>Or <a href="../index.html">back to main index</a></aside> - </header> - -<hr/> - - <h2>Table of Contents</h2> - <ul> - <li> - <a href="#pacman_configure">Configuring pacman</a> - <ul> - <li><a href="#pacman_update">Updating Parabola</a></li> - <li> - <a href="#pacman_maintain">Maintaining Parabola during system updates</a> - <ul> - <li><a href="#pacman_cacheclean">Clearing package cache after updating</a></li> - <li><a href="#pacman_commandequiv">Pacman command equivalents (compared to other package managers)</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li><a href="#yourfreedom">your-freedom</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li><a href="#useradd">Add a user account</a></li> - <li><a href="#systemd">System D</a></li> - <li><a href="#interesting_repos">Interesting repositories</a></li> - <li> - <a href="#network">Setup a network connection in Parabola</a> - <ul> - <li><a href="#network_hostname">Setting hostname</a></li> - <li><a href="#network_status">Network status</a></li> - <li><a href="#network_devicenames">Network interface names</a></li> - <li><a href="#network_setup">Network setup</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li><a href="#system_maintain">System maintenance</a> - important!</li> - <li> - <a href="#desktop">Configuring the desktop</a> - <ul> - <li><a href="#desktop_xorg">Install Xorg</a></li> - <li><a href="#desktop_kblayout">Xorg keyboard layout</a></li> - <li><a href="#desktop_lxde">Install LXDE</a></li> - <li><a href="#lxde_clock">LXDE - clock</a></li> - <li><a href="#lxde_font">LXDE - font</a></li> - <li><a href="#lxde_screenlock">LXDE - screenlock</a></li> - <li><a href="#lxde_automount">LXDE - automounting</a></li> - <li><a href="#lxde_suspend">LXDE - disable suspend</a></li> - <li><a href="#lxde_battery">LXDE - battery monitor</a></li> - <li><a href="#lxde_network">LXDE - network manager</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - </ul> - -<hr/> - - <p> - While not strictly related to the libreboot project, this guide - is intended to be useful for those interested in installing - Parabola on their libreboot machine. This is also beneficial because development - is now being done on Parabola, where Trisquel is no longer used by the maintainer - at the time of writing. - </p> - - <p> - It details configuration steps that I took after installing the base system, - as a follow up to <a href="encrypted_parabola.html">encrypted_parabola.html</a>. - This guide is likely to become obsolete at a later date (due to the volatile - 'rolling-release' model that Arch/Parabola both use), but attempts will be made to maintain it. - </p> - - <p> - <b> - This guide was valid on 2014-09-21. If you see any changes that should to be made at the present date, please get in touch - with the libreboot project! - </b> - </p> - - <p> - You do not necessarily have to follow this guide word-for-word; <i>parabola</i> is extremely flexible. - The aim here is to provide a common setup that most users will be happy with. While Parabola - can seem daunting at first glance (especially for new GNU/Linux users), with a simple guide it can provide - all of the same usability as Trisquel, without hiding any details from the user. - </p> - - <p> - Paradoxically, as you get more advanced Parabola can actually become <i>easier to use</i> - when you want to setup your machine in a special way compared to what most distributions provide. - You will find over time that other distributions tend to <i>get in your way</i>. - </p> - - <p> - <b> - This guide assumes that you already have Parabola installed. If you have not yet installed Parabola, - then <a href="encrypted_parabola.html">this guide</a> is highly recommended! - </b> - </p> - - <p> - A lot of the steps in this guide will refer to the Arch wiki. Arch is the upstream distribution that Parabola uses. - Most of this guide will also tell you to read wiki articles, other pages, manuals, and so on. In general it tries - to cherry pick the most useful information but nonetheless you are encouraged to learn as much as possible. - <b>It might take you a few days to fully install your system how you like, depending on how much you need to read. Patience is key, - especially for new users</b>. - </p> - - <p> - The Arch wiki will sometimes use bad language, such as calling the whole system Linux, using the term open-source (or closed-source), - and it will sometimes recommend the use of proprietary software. You need to be careful about this when reading anything on the - Arch wiki. - </p> - - <p> - Some of these steps require internet access. I'll go into networking later but for now, I just connected - my machine to a switch and did:<br/> - # <b>systemctl start dhcpcd.service</b><br/> - You can stop it later by running:<br/> - # <b>systemctl stop dhcpcd.service</b><br/> - For most people this should be enough, but if you don't have DHCP on your network then you should setup your network connection first:<br/> - <a href="#network">Setup network connection in Parabola</a> - </p> - -<hr/> - - <h2 id="pacman_configure">Configure pacman</h2> - <p> - pacman (<b>pac</b>kage <b>man</b>ager) is the name of the package management system in Arch, which Parabola - (as a deblobbed parallel effort) also uses. Like with 'apt-get' on debian-based systems like Trisquel, - this can be used to add/remove and update the software on your computer. - </p> - <p> - Based on <a href="https://wiki.parabolagnulinux.org/Installation_Guide#Configure_pacman">https://wiki.parabolagnulinux.org/Installation_Guide#Configure_pacman</a> - and from reading <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman</a> (make sure to read and understand this, - it's very important) and - <a href="https://wiki.parabolagnulinux.org/Official_Repositories">https://wiki.parabolagnulinux.org/Official_Repositories</a> - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - <h3 id="pacman_update">Updating Parabola</h3> - <p> - In the end, I didn't change my configuration for pacman. When you are updating, resync with the latest package names/versions:<br/> - # <b>pacman -Syy</b><br/> - (according to the wiki, -Syy is better than Sy because it refreshes the package list even if it appears to be up to date, - which can be useful when switching to another mirror).<br/> - Then, update the system:<br/> - # <b>pacman -Syu</b> - </p> - <p> - <b> - Before installing packages with 'pacman -S', always update first, using the notes above. - </b> - </p> - <p> - Keep an eye out on the output, or read it in /var/log/pacman.log. Sometimes, pacman will show messages - about maintenance steps that you will need to perform with certain files (typically configurations) - after the update. Also, you should check both the Parabola and Arch home pages to see if they mention any issues. - If a new kernel is installed, you should also update to be able to use it (the currently running kernel will - also be fine). It's generally good enough to update Parabola once every week, or maybe twice. As a - rolling release distribution, it's a good idea never to leave your install too outdated; update regularly. This - is simply because of the way the project works; old packages are deleted from the repositories quickly, once they are updated. - A system that hasn't been updated for quite a while will mean potentially more reading of previous posts through the website, - and more maintenance work. - </p> - <p> - The Arch forum can also be useful, if others have the same issue as you (if you encounter issues, that is). Parabola's - IRC channel (#parabola on freenode) can also help you. - </p> - <p> - Due to this and the volatile nature of Parabola/Arch, you should only update when you have at least a couple hours of spare time - in case of issues that need to be resolved. You should never update, for example, if you need your system for an important event, - like a presentation or sending an email to an important person before an allocated deadline, and so on. - </p> - <p> - Relax - packages are well-tested regularly when new updates are made to the repositories. Separate 'testing' repositories - exist for this exact reason. Despite what many people will tell you, Parabola is fairly stable and trouble-free, - so long as you are aware of how to check for issues, and are willing to spend some time fixing issues in - the rare event that they do occur. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - <h3 id="pacman_maintain">Maintaining Parabola</h3> - <p> - Parabola is a very simple distro, in the sense that you are in full control - and everything is made transparent to you. One consequence is - that you also need to know what you are doing, and what you have done before. In general, keeping notes (such as what I have done - with this page) can be very useful as a reference in the future (if you wanted to re-install it or install the distro - on another computer, for example). - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - <h4 id="pacman_cacheclean">Cleaning the package cache</h4> - <p> - <b> - The following is very important as you continue to use, update and maintain your Parabola system:<br/> - <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman#Cleaning_the_package_cache">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman#Cleaning_the_package_cache</a>. - Essentially, this guide talks about a directory that has to be cleaned once in a while, to prevent it from growing too big (it's a cache - of old package information, updated automatically when you do anything in pacman). - </b> - </p> - <p> - To clean out all old packages that are cached:<br/> - # <b>pacman -Sc</b> - </p> - <p> - The wiki cautions that this should be used with care. For example, since older packages are deleted from the repo, - if you encounter issues and want to revert back to an older package then it's useful to have the caches available. - Only do this if you are sure that you won't need it. - </p> - <p> - The wiki also mentions this method for removing everything from the cache, including currently installed packages that are cached:<br/> - # <b>pacman -Scc</b><br/> - This is inadvisable, since it means re-downloading the package again if you wanted to quickly re-install it. This should only be used - when disk space is at a premium. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - <h4 id="pacman_commandequiv">pacman command equivalents</h4> - <p> - The following table lists other distro package manager commands, and their equivalent in pacman:<br/> - <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman_Rosetta">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman_Rosetta</a> - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - - <h3 id="yourfreedom">your-freedom</h3> - <p> - your-freedom is a package specific to Parabola, and it is installed by default. What it does is conflict with packages - from Arch that are known to be non-free (proprietary) software. When migrating from Arch (there is a guide on the Parabola - wiki for migrating - converting - an existing Arch system to a Parabola system), installing - your-freedom will also fail if these packages are installed, citing them as conflicts; the recommended solution - is then to delete the offending packages, and continue installing <i>your-freedom</i>. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - -<hr/> - - <h2 id="useradd">Add a user</h2> - <p> - Based on <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Users_and_Groups">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Users_and_Groups</a>. - </p> - <p> - It is important (for security reasons) to create and use a non-root (non-admin) user account for every day use. The default 'root' account is intended - only for critical administrative work, since it has complete access to the entire operating system. - </p> - <p> - Read the entire document linked to above, and then continue. - </p> - <p> - Add your user:<br/> - # <b>useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash <i>yourusername</i></b><br/> - Set a password:<br/> - # <b>passwd <i>yourusername</i></b> - </p> - - <p><a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page</a></p> - -<hr/> - - <h2 id="systemd">systemd</h2> - <p> - This is the name of the system used for managing services in Parabola. It is a good idea to become familiar with it. - Read <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/systemd">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/systemd</a> - and <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/systemd#Basic_systemctl_usage">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/systemd#Basic_systemctl_usage</a> - to gain a full understanding. <b>This is very important! Make sure to read them.</b> - </p> - <p> - An example of a 'service' could be a webserver (such as lighttpd), or sshd (openssh), dhcp, etc. There are countless others. - </p> - <p> - <a href="https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1149530#p1149530">https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1149530#p1149530</a> explains - the background behind the decision by Arch (Parabola's upstream supplier) to use systemd. - </p> - - <p> - The manpage should also help:<br/> - # <b>man systemd</b><br/> - The section on 'unit types' is especially useful. - </p> - - <p> - According to the wiki, systemd 'journal' keeps logs of a size up to 10% of the total size your / partition takes up. - on a 60GB root this would mean 6GB. That's not exactly practical, and can have performance implications later when the - log gets too big. Based on instructions from the wiki, I will reduce the total size of the journal to 50MiB (the wiki - recommends 50MiB). - </p> - <p> - Open /etc/systemd/journald.conf and find the line that says:<br/> - <i>#SystemMaxUse=</i><br/> - Change it to say:<br/> - <i>SystemMaxUse=50M</i> - </p> - <p> - The wiki also recommended a method for forwarding journal output to TTY 12 (accessible by pressing ctrl+alt+f12, - and you use ctrl+alt+[F1-F12] to switch between terminals). I decided not to enable it. - </p> - <p> - Restart journald:<br/> - # <b>systemctl restart systemd-journald</b> - </p> - - <p> - The wiki recommends that if the journal gets too large, you can also simply delete (rm -rf) everything inside /var/log/journald/* - but recommends backing it up. This shouldn't be necessary, since you already set the size limit above and systemd will automatically - start to delete older records when the journal size reaches it's limit (according to systemd developers). - </p> - - <p> - Finally, the wiki mentions 'temporary' files and the utility for managing them.<br/> - # <b>man systemd-tmpfiles</b><br/> - The command for 'clean' is:<br/> - # <b>systemd-tmpfiles --clean</b><br/> - According to the manpage, this <i>"cleans all files and directories with an age parameter"</i>. - According to the Arch wiki, this reads information in /etc/tmpfiles.d/ and /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/ - to know what actions to perform. Therefore, it is a good idea to read what's stored in these locations - to get a better understanding. - </p> - <p> - I looked in /etc/tmpfiles.d/ and found that it was empty on my system. However, /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/ contained some files. - The first one was etc.conf, containing information and a reference to this manpage:<br/> - # <b>man tmpfiles.d</b><br/> - Read that manpage, and then continue studying all of the files. - </p> - <p> - The systemd developers tell me that it usually isn't necessary to touch the systemd-tmpfiles utility manually at all. - </p> - - <p><a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page</a></p> - -<hr/> - - <h2 id="interesting_repos">Interesting repositories</h2> - <p> - Parabola wiki at <a href="https://wiki.parabolagnulinux.org/Repositories#kernels">https://wiki.parabolagnulinux.org/Repositories#kernels</a> - mentions about a repository called [kernels] for custom kernels that aren't in the default base. It might be worth looking into what is available - there, depending on your use case. - </p> - <p> - I enabled it on my system, to see what was in it. Edit /etc/pacman.conf and below the 'extra' section add:<br/> - <i> - [kernels]<br/> - Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist - </i> - </p> - <p> - Now sync with the repository:<br/> - # <b>pacman -Syy</b> - </p> - <p> - List all available packages in this repository:<br/> - # <b>pacman -Sl kernels</b> - </p> - <p> - In the end, I decided not to install anything from it but I kept the repository enabled regardless. - </p> - <p><a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a></p> - -<hr/> - - <h2 id="network">Setup a network connection in Parabola</h2> - <p> - Read <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Configuring_Network">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Configuring_Network</a>. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - <h3 id="network_hostname">Set the hostname</h3> - <p> - This should be the same as the hostname that you set in /etc/hostname when installing Parabola. You can also do it with systemd (do so now, if you like):<br/> - # <b>hostnamectl set-hostname <i>yourhostname</i></b><br/> - This writes the specified hostname to /etc/hostname. More information can be found in these manpages:<br/> - # <b>man hostname</b><br/> - # <b>info hostname</b><br/> - # <b>man hostnamectl</b> - </p> - <p> - Add the same hostname to /etc/hosts, on each line. Example:<br/> - <i> - 127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost <u>myhostname</u><br/> - ::1 localhost.localdomain localhost <u>myhostname</u> - </i> - </p> - <p> - You'll note that I set both lines; the 2nd line is for IPv6. More and more ISP's are providing this now (mine does) - so it's good to be forward-thinking here. - </p> - <p> - The <i>hostname</i> utility is part of the <i>inetutils</i> package and is in core/, installed by default (as part of <i>base</i>). - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - <h3 id="network_status">Network Status</h3> - <p> - According to the Arch wiki, <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Udev">udev</a> should already detect the ethernet chipset - and load the driver for it automatically at boot time. You can check this in the <i>"Ethernet controller"</i> section - when running this command:<br/> - # <b>lspci -v</b> - </p> - <p> - Look at the remaining sections <i>'Kernel driver in use'</i> and <i>'Kernel modules'</i>. In my case it was as follows:<br/> - <i> - Kernel driver in use: e1000e<br/> - Kernel modules: e1000e - </i> - </p> - <p> - Check that the driver was loaded by issuing <i>dmesg | grep module_name</i>. In my case, I did:<br/> - # <b>dmesg | grep e1000e</b> - </p> - <h3 id="network_devicenames">Network device names</h3> - <p> - According to <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Configuring_Network#Device_names">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Configuring_Network#Device_names</a>, - it is important to note that the old interface names like eth0, wlan0, wwan0 and so on no longer apply. Instead, <i>systemd</i> - creates device names starting with en (for enternet), wl (for wifi) and ww (for wwan) with a fixed identifier that systemd automatically generates. - An example device name for your ethernet chipset would be <i>enp0s25</i>, where it is never supposed to change. - </p> - <p> - If you want to enable the old names (eth0, wlan0, wwan0, etc), the Arch wiki recommends - adding <i>net.ifnames=0</i> to your kernel parameters (in libreboot context, this would be accomplished by following the - instructions in <a href="grub_cbfs.html">grub_cbfs.html</a>). - </p> - <p> - For background information, - read <a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/PredictableNetworkInterfaceNames/">Predictable Network Interface Names</a> - </p> - <p> - Show device names:<br/> - # <b>ls /sys/class/net</b> - </p> - <p> - Changing the device names is possible (I chose not to do it):<br/> - <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Configuring_Network#Change_device_name">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Configuring_Network#Change_device_name</a> - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - <h3 id="network_setup">Network setup</h3> - <p> - I actually chose to ignore most of Networking section on the wiki. Instead, I plan to setup LXDE desktop with the graphical - network-manager client. Here is a list of network managers:<br/> - <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/List_of_applications/Internet#Network_managers">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/List_of_applications/Internet#Network_managers</a>. - If you need to, set a static IP address (temporarily) using the networking guide an the Arch wiki, or start the dhcpcd service in systemd. - NetworkManager will be setup later, after installing LXDE. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - -<hr/> - - <h2 id="system_maintain">System Maintenance</h2> - <p> - Read <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/System_maintenance">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/System_maintenance</a> before continuing. - Also read <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Enhance_system_stability">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Enhance_system_stability</a>. - <b>This is important, so make sure to read them!</b> - </p> - <p> - Install smartmontools (can be used to check smart data - note: HDD's use non-free firmware inside, it's transparent to you - but the smart data comes from it. Therefore, don't rely on it too much):<br/> - # <b>pacman -S smartmontools</b><br/> - Read <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/S.M.A.R.T.">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/S.M.A.R.T.</a> to learn how to use it. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - -<hr/> - - <h2 id="desktop">Configuring the desktop</h2> - <p> - Based on steps from - <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/General_recommendations#Graphical_user_interface">General Recommendations</a> on the Arch wiki. - The plan is to use LXDE and LXDM/LightDM, along with everything else that you would expect on other distributions that provide LXDE - by default. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - - <h3 id="desktop_xorg">Installing Xorg</h3> - <p> - Based on <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xorg">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xorg</a>. - </p> - <p> - Firstly, install it!<br/> - # <b>pacman -S xorg-server</b><br/> - I also recommend installing this (contains lots of useful tools, including <i>xrandr</i>):<br/> - # <b>pacman -S xorg-server-utils</b> - </p> - <p> - Install the driver. For me this was <i>xf86-video-intel</i> on the ThinkPad X60. T60 and macbook11/21 should be the same.<br/> - # <b>pacman -S xf86-video-intel</b><br/> - For other systems you can try:<br/> - # <b>pacman -Ss xf86-video- | less</b><br/> - Combined with looking at your <i>lspci</i> output, you can determine which driver is needed. - By default, Xorg will revert to xf86-video-vesa which is a generic driver and doesn't provide true hardware acceleration. - </p> - <p> - Other drivers (not just video) can be found by looking at the <i>xorg-drivers</i> group:<br/> - # <b>pacman -Sg xorg-drivers</b><br/> - </p> - <p> - Mostly you will rely on a display manager, but in case you ever want to start X without one:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S xorg-xinit</b> - </p> - <p> - <optional><br/> - Arch wiki recommends installing these, for testing that X works:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S xorg-twm xorg-xclock xterm</b><br/> - Refer to <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinitrc">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinitrc</a>. - and test X:<br/> - # <b>startx</b><br/> - When you are satisfied, type <b><i>exit</i></b> in xterm, inside the X session.<br/> - Uninstall them (clutter. eww): # <b>pacman -S xorg-xinit xorg-twm xorg-xclock xterm</b><br/> - </optional> - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - - <h3 id="desktop_kblayout">Xorg keyboard layout</h3> - <p> - Refer to <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Keyboard_configuration_in_Xorg">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Keyboard_configuration_in_Xorg</a>. - </p> - <p> - Xorg uses a different configuration method for keyboard layouts, so you will notice that the layout you - set in /etc/vconsole.conf earlier might not actually be the same in X. - </p> - <p> - To see what layout you currently use, try this on a terminal emulator in X:<br/> - # <b>setxkbmap -print -verbose 10</b> - </p> - <p> - In my case, I wanted to use the Dvorak (UK) keyboard which is quite different from Xorg's default Qwerty (US) layout. - </p> - <p> - I'll just say it now: <i>XkbModel</i> can be <i>pc105</i> in this case (ThinkPad X60, with a 105-key UK keyboard). - If you use an American keyboard (typically 104 keys) you will want to use <i>pc104</i>. - </p> - <p> - <i>XkbLayout</i> in my case would be <i>gb</i>, and <i>XkbVariant</i> would be <i>dvorak</i>. - </p> - <p> - The Arch wiki recommends two different methods for setting the keyboard layout:<br/> - <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Keyboard_configuration_in_Xorg#Using_X_configuration_files">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Keyboard_configuration_in_Xorg#Using_X_configuration_files</a> and<br/> - <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Keyboard_configuration_in_Xorg#Using_localectl">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Keyboard_configuration_in_Xorg#Using_localectl</a>. - </p> - <p> - In my case, I chose to use the <i>configuration file</i> method:<br/> - Create the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-keyboard.conf and put this inside:<br/> - <i> - Section "InputClass"<br/> - Identifier "system-keyboard"<br/> - MatchIsKeyboard "on"<br/> - Option "XkbLayout" "gb"<br/> - Option "XkbModel" "pc105"<br/> - Option "XkbVariant" "dvorak"<br/> - EndSection - </i> - </p> - <p> - For you, the steps above may differ if you have a different layout. If you use a US Qwerty keyboard, then - you don't even need to do anything (though it might help, for the sake of being explicit). - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - - <h3 id="desktop_lxde">Install LXDE</h3> - <p> - Desktop choice isn't that important to me, so for simplicity I decided to use LXDE. It's lightweight - and does everything that I need. - If you would like to try something different, refer to - <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Desktop_environment">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Desktop_environment</a> - </p> - <p> - Refer to <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LXDE">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LXDE</a>. - </p> - <p> - Install it, choosing 'all' when asked for the default package list:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S lxde obconf</b> - </p> - <p> - I didn't want the following, so I removed them:<br/> - # <b>pacman -R lxmusic lxtask</b> - </p> - <p> - I also lazily installed all fonts:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S $(pacman -Ssq ttf-)</b> - </p> - <p> - LXDE comes with a terminal. You probably want a browser to go with that; I choose GNU IceCat, part of the <i><a href="https://gnu.org/">GNU project</a></i>:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S icecat</b><br/> - And a mail client:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S icedove</b> - </p> - <p> - In IceCat, go to <i>Preferences :: Advanced</i> and disable <i>GNU IceCat Health Report</i>. - </p> - <p> - I also like to install these:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S xsensors stress htop</b> - </p> - <p> - Enable LXDM (the default display manager, providing a graphical login):<br/> - # <b>systemctl enable lxdm.service</b><br/> - It will start when you boot up the machine. To start it now, do:<br/> - # <b>systemctl start lxdm.service</b> - </p> - <p> - Log in with your standard (non-root) user that you created earlier. - It is advisable to also create an xinitrc rule in case you ever want to start lxde without lxdm. - Read <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinitrc">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinitrc</a>. - </p> - <p> - Open LXterminal:<br/> - $ <b>cp /etc/skel/.xinitrc ~</b><br/> - Open .xinitrc and add the following plus a line break at the bottom of the file.<br/> - <i> - # Probably not needed. The same locale info that we set before<br/> - # Based on advice from the LXDE wiki - export LC_ALL=en_GB.UTF-8<br/> - export LANGUAGE=en_GB.UTF-8<br/> - export LANG=en_GB.UTF-8<br/> - <br/> - # Start lxde desktop<br/> - exec startlxde<br/> - </i> - Now make sure that it is executable:<br/> - $ <b>chmod +x .xinitrc</b> - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - - <h3 id="lxde_clock">LXDE - clock</h3> - <p> - In <b>Digital Clock Settings</b> (right click the clock) I set the Clock Format to <i>%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S</i> - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - - <h3 id="lxde_font">LXDE - font</h3> - <p> - NOTE TO SELF: come back to this later. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - - <h3 id="lxde_screenlock">LXDE - screenlock</h3> - <p> - Arch wiki recommends to use <i>xscreensaver</i>:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S xscreensaver</b> - </p> - <p> - Under <i>Preferences :: Screensaver</i> in the LXDE menu, I chose <i>Mode: Blank Screen Only</i>, - setting <i>Blank After</i>, <i>Cycle After</i> and <i>Lock Screen After</i> (checked) to 10 minutes. - </p> - <p> - You can now lock the screen with <i>Logout :: Lock Screen</i> in the LXDE menu. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - - <h3 id="lxde_automount">LXDE - automounting</h3> - <p> - Refer to <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/File_manager_functionality">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/File_manager_functionality</a>. - </p> - <p> - I chose to ignore this for now. NOTE TO SELF: come back to this later. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - <h3 id="lxde_suspend">LXDE - disable suspend</h3> - <p> - When closing the laptop lid, the machine suspends. This is annoying at least to me. - NOTE TO SELF: disable it, then document the steps here. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - <h3 id="lxde_battery">LXDE - battery monitor</h3> - <p> - Right click lxde panel and <i>Add/Remove Panel Items</i>. Click <i>Add</i> and select <i>Battery Monitor</i>, then click <i>Add</i>. - Close and then right-click the applet and go to <i>Battery Monitor Settings</i>, check the box that says <i>Show Extended Information</i>. - Now click <i>Close</i>. When you hover the cursor over it, it'll show information about the battery. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - <h3 id="lxde_network">LXDE - Network Manager</h3> - <p> - Refer to <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LXDE#Network_Management">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LXDE#Network_Management</a>. - Then I read: <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NetworkManager">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NetworkManager</a>. - </p> - <p> - Install Network Manager:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S networkmanager</b> - </p> - <p> - You will also want the graphical applet:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S network-manager-applet</b><br/> - Arch wiki says that an autostart rule will be written at <i>/etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop</i> - </p> - <p> - I want to be able to use a VPN at some point, so the wiki tells me to do:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S networkmanager-openvpn</b> - </p> - <p> - LXDE uses openbox, so I refer to:<br/> - <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NetworkManager#Openbox">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NetworkManager#Openbox</a>. - </p> - <p> - It tells me for the applet I need:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S xfce4-notifyd gnome-icon-theme</b><br/> - Also, for storing authentication details (wifi) I need:<br/> - # <b>pacman -S gnome-keyring</b> - </p> - <p> - I wanted to quickly enable networkmanager:<br/> - # <b>systemctl stop dhcpcd</b><br/> - # <b>systemctl start NetworkManager</b><br/> - Enable NetworkManager at boot time:<br/> - # <b>systemctl enable NetworkManager</b> - </p> - <p> - Restart LXDE (log out, and then log back in). - </p> - <p> - I added the volume control applet to the panel (right click panel, and add a new applet). - I also later changed the icons to use the gnome icon theme, in <i>lxappearance</i>. - </p> - <p> - <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a> - </p> - -<hr/> - - <p> - Copyright © 2014 Francis Rowe <info@gluglug.org.uk><br/> - This document is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License and all future versions. - A copy of the license can be found at <a href="../license.txt">../license.txt</a>. - </p> - - <p> - This document is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, - but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of - MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See <a href="../license.txt">../license.txt</a> for more information. - </p> - -</body> -</html> |