Arch Linux on Asus EeePC 904HD. Part one, installation.

To begin, I will explain why and for whom this article appeared.
It all started with the release of Ubuntu 8.10. I waited for him for a long time. And here he is. Upgraded from 8.04, and ... My frustration knew no bounds. The terrible brakes on my EeePC 904 left no chance for HIM to stay. It's a shame I have always loved this product. And staying at 8.04 was already so depressing ...
Especially since I wanted to install a “managed” distribution for a long time. So my eyes fell on Arch Linux .

And if there are people here who are ready to donate their time now to enjoy later, as well as knowing what a “console” is and communicating with a “console” at a level more than an ubuntu_user, then this article is for you.
Well, the experimenters (like me :)) will also be satisfied.


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1. To begin with we prepare the distribution kit and the carrier.

There are two installation options: simple (using the .img file) or more complicated (using the .iso image).
Consider the first option, as it is much faster and does not require a pre-installed Linux system.
To begin, download, for example, offsite, the latest distribution of archlinux-2008.06-core-i686.img ( Here you will find mirrors for download and torrent links. )
You need to download the core version, the ftp version because of the lack of network card modules will not work.

A flash drive we need at least 512 MB, as the distrib weighs ~ 300 MB.
Installing a system image from under Windows is most convenient with the Flashnul utility.
First we look with the command “flashnul -p” under which index we have a USB flash drive. For example:

C:\>flashnul -p

Avaible [sic] physical drives:
0 size = 200048565760 (186 Gb)
1 size = 400088457216 (372 Gb)
2 size = 400088457216 (372 Gb)
3 size = 4060086272 (3872 Mb)

The team gives us that the flash drive has an index of 3 and we will work with this index further.
"Fill" the image on the flash drive with the command C:\>flashnul 3 -L path/to/arch/usb.img

For Linux users, all this is done with the dd command if = image.img of = / dev / sd [x]
Where / dev / sd [x] is a link to a flash drive (Attention! If you have a flash drive, for example, / dev / sdb1, then you need to write / dev / sdb (without an index)).

Read more about preparing a flash drive with the distribution in ArchWiki .

2. Installing the distribution.

So, our image is ready. Getting started.
We expose in the BIOS boot from a flash drive ( F2->Boot->Hard Disk Drives->1st Drive expose our flash drive). Save the config and reboot.
When booting, the GRUB menu has now come out. Run the first item - Boot ArchLive .
In the login prompt, enter "root". Password will not ask. Further we do as it will be written ( To begin installation, run /arch/setup , ie we enter into the console / arch / setup ).
A welcome window will pop up, click OK. Ask for where to install - select the first item (CD-ROM or OTHER SOURCE). And so the installation began point by point:

1. Prepare Hard Drive.
We divide the disk by an automatic method ( Auto-Prepare ). Choose / dev / sda . Further, the configurator will request how much space to allocate under / boot, swap, / (root directory), / home .
I broke it so - / boot (64 MB), swap (512 MB), / (7500 MB), / home (all remaining space).
We select as FS - ext3. Use it for / and / home. We agree with the complete removal of data.

2. Select Packages.
Select packages to install. After the info windows it will ask the configurator to save the packages in the cache. I think it does not matter and you can answer “No”. Select the "base-devel" to install. Further in the list of packages packages from core and base-devel will be already marked, the rest is up to you. I did not choose anything further, since everything can be put later.

3. Install Packages.
The actual installation of the packages will start. Nothing special.

4. Configure System.
Initial configuration Requests to use hwdetect to make adjustments to the equipment in the configuration files - click "No". Next, edit the files for your needs. I will not begin to describe what exactly to edit. Read in detail in ArchWiki . Do not forget to set the root password.

5. Install Bootloader.
Install the bootloader. This is for whom it is more convenient. For me, GRUB and only GRUB;)
Install it on /dev/sda . Next, answer "No".

And the last item is Exit Install . Click and type in console " reboot ".

Everything! The beginning of the way is laid!
If it became interesting to someone, in the second part I will tell you how to configure the network, upgrade, install the “correct” core, configure the “hot keys” and much more. :)
If then it will be interesting to someone, then it's time for X. :)