Just installed Arch on bare metal for the first time. In the process of making the switch from Ubuntu. I have faced some issues.

[AAVVIronAlex]

Hello guys,

I am changing to Arch and I have placed a deadline of November 4 2024. My main reason for changing is the AUR and how it integrates a lot of packages, and to top it out has a web based interface too, which will come in handy when I think of searching for something using my mobile phone.

Just installed Arch into a spare HDD I had laying around, the installation went kind of smooth, though I did run into some issues:

1. There was this error, which went like this after the "bootctl install".

2. There was a LoaderSystemToken error too, in that same message.

3. Also, and this is kind of unrelated, I have been experimenting with KDE, as I would like to use it as my main DE on Arch. I am using GNOME on Ubuntu, but it has been failing me, to the point that I am using Wayland for it's smoothness. Xorg is what I want to stick to when I move to Arch as I use Nvidia and it is kind of hard to use Nvidia with Wayland.

I run a multi-monitor setup, so X11's weakness will show, especially in this case. I will like to run a multi-GPU setup, which again is not a smooth setup experience on X11 and last but not least I want to disable the annoying "feature" high resolution scrolling on my Logitech mouse.

What do you think of these issues, and what shall I do to fix them?

I used Ventoy to install it and CSM was on Auto.

In case you need other details, tell me, I would be more than happy.

Thanks for reading.

 

Reddit post: 

 

[Ralphred]

I've always used grub, so no feedback on your bootloader.

On 1/15/2024 at 9:14 PM, AAVVIronAlex said:

I run a multi-monitor setup, so X11's weakness will show, especially in this case. I will like to run a multi-GPU setup, which again is not a smooth setup experience on X11

Yeah, "man xorg.conf" is one of the best man pages ever written TBH, but the automation added with the XRANDR extension can be a PITA to work around if it doesn't automagically work. The KDE kscreen2 daemon that is supposed to do post login set-up of monitors is pretty good, but has caused me issues in the past post screensaver activation or resuming from sleep states, so I tend to sidestep it and do things manually with X. I've not used nv driver for a very long time on a multi GPU system, but it should behave.

Running "Xorg -configure" as root should be a good starting point for an xorg.conf, post that and we can start "tinkering".

[AAVVIronAlex]

On 1/18/2024 at 11:15 PM, Ralphred said:

I've always used grub, so no feedback on your bootloader.

Yeah, "man xorg.conf" is one of the best man pages ever written TBH, but the automation added with the XRANDR extension can be a PITA to work around if it doesn't automagically work. The KDE kscreen2 daemon that is supposed to do post login set-up of monitors is pretty good, but has caused me issues in the past post screensaver activation or resuming from sleep states, so I tend to sidestep it and do things manually with X. I've not used nv driver for a very long time on a multi GPU system, but it should behave.

Running "Xorg -configure" as root should be a good starting point for an xorg.conf, post that and we can start "tinkering".

I do all the things you mentioned here, but nothing really changes to the better. xorg is just whack for multi-monitor mixed refresh rate, I am now using Wayland on both installations, Xorg does not work for me, at all.

[ID0]

I use GRUB, Sway with Wayland and Pipewire.
Trust me once you start using a Tiling Manager like Sway or i3 (xorg) then you will get annoyed that the windows don't arrange themselves.
I often open new windows with ctrl+n and it's so unnecessary to move the windows around.

[Ralphred]

23 minutes ago, AAVVIronAlex said:

Xorg does not work for me, at all.

It needs a config file. xf86confg crafting used to be the bread and butter of UI linux users, a skill lost to time because of XRANDR...

[AAVVIronAlex]

On 1/22/2024 at 2:11 PM, ID0 said:

I use GRUB, Sway with Wayland and Pipewire.
Trust me once you start using a Tiling Manager like Sway or i3 (xorg) then you will get annoyed that the windows don't arrange themselves.
I often open new windows with ctrl+n and it's so unnecessary to move the windows around.

I use systemd-boot, Wayland and Pipewire on Arch and GRUB + the same on Ubuntu. I do not like Sway or i3, I would rather use a mouse, because not all things can be used without a mouse easily.

[AAVVIronAlex]

20 minutes ago, Ralphred said:

It needs a config file. xf86confg crafting used to be the bread and butter of UI linux users, a skill lost to time because of XRANDR...

I would rather opt for Wayland, it just works. (in some cases)

[ID0]

On 1/22/2024 at 11:33 AM, AAVVIronAlex said:

I use systemd-boot, Wayland and Pipewire on Arch and GRUB + the same on Ubuntu. I do not like Sway or i3, I would rather use a mous, because not all things can be used without a mouse easily.

I'm also using a mouse when lets say browsing websites etc. But most things I've realized, I can do an alias or my own little macros that are 99% faster than doing it with a mouse. If you then do everything like that, you will take 10-20s to do something and on sway with macros it would be like 1-2s and as you work etc it will add up and you will save some time.

But what I love about Linux is that everyone can choose what they like the most, so if you Like Gnome, go for it, if it wasn't Sway or i3 I would have gone with gnome too.

  

On 1/22/2024 at 11:12 AM, Ralphred said:

It needs a config file. xf86confg crafting used to be the bread and butter of UI linux users, a skill lost to time because of XRANDR...

Also XRANDR is a xorg thing, you need to config it in a file. For me it was adding this to my sway config:

output DP-2 mode 3840x1600@143.998Hz

and then to confirm I do ctrl+shift+c

[user@archPC ~]$ swaymsg -t get_outputs
Output DP-2 'Dell Inc. Dell AW3821DW #GrMYMxgwAAR4' (focused)
  Current mode: 3840x1600 @ 143.998 Hz

 

[Ralphred]

4 hours ago, ID0 said:

Also XRANDR is a xorg thing

XRANDR is the xorg extension that changed (some of) the nomenclature of config files and allows userland alteration beyond pre-defined modelines, it's the backbone of "modern automagical" configurations, which is fine when it works, but as I said a PITA to deal with when it doesn't.

output DP-2 mode 3840x1600@143.998Hz

can be fixed in xorg.conf (as it should be), but (like I said, again) only people who read man xorg.conf and old school admins know how to do it.

[AAVVIronAlex]

Guys I chose the easy path for multi-mixed-refresh-rate monitors: Wayland. It works really well, I am not going back.