Arch Linux

Change desktop language to English

localectl set-locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8

Reboot

How to add newly installed operating systems into GRUB2

1. If not already installed, install os-prober: pacman -S os-prober
2. Run: grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg or update-grub

More info: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB

Edit GRUB2 boot options

Edit /etc/default/grub and make intended changes

Then run:

# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Ethernet (optional)

Next, let’s make sure our wired network connection is automatically turned on when we start the machine:

First lets see what network adapters were working with via

ip link

Check for something like enp2s0, so we’re going to enable it via systemctl

sudo systemctl enable dhcpcd@enp2s0.service

Wifi with NetworkManager

(Optional: only if we enabled dhcpcd@enp2s0.service): Next we need to disable dhcpcd and netcl, as NetworkManager will replace both, and it can’t run if either dhcpcd or netctl are running:

sudo systemctl disable dhcpcd@enp2s0.service

sudo systemctl disable netctl-auto@wlp5s0.service

Volume control with xbindkeys

Install xbindkeys:

# pacman -S xbindkeys

Create a default xbindkey configuration file:

$ xbindkeys -d > ~/.xbindkeysrc

Edit the ~/.xbindkeysrc file:

uncomment #keystate_scrolllock= enable

add the following at the end of the file:

# Volume up

"pactl set-sink-mute 1 false ; pactl set-sink-volume 1 +10%"

        m:0x10 + c:127

        Mod2 + Pause

# Volume down

"pactl set-sink-mute 1 false ; pactl set-sink-volume 1 -10%"

        m:0x10 + c:78

        Mod2 + Scroll_Lock

# Mute sound

"pactl set-sink-mute 1 toggle"

        m:0x11 + c:78

        Shift+Mod2 + Scroll_Lock

In the code above; number 0 is for HDMI and number 1 is for analog. So you should use the correct number depending if your sound peripheral is connected to HDMI or analog.

Start xbindkeys:

$ xbindkeys -f ~/.xbindkeysrc

Now you can control the volume with the keys "Scroll_Lock", "Pause" and "Shift + Scroll_lock"

To make these changes permanent, create this file: ~/.xprofile and add:

xbindkeys &

If you start your Windows Manager with ~/.xinitrc, add this line before any line with a windows manager command:

xbindkeys &

Disk space maintenance

Check pkg cache files:

du -sh /var/cache/pacman/pkg/

Delete pkg cache files:

# pacman -Scc

Check cache in /home:

du -sh ~/.cache/

Clean cache in /home:

rm -rf ~/.cache/*

Check unused packages:

# pacman -Qtdq

Remove unused packages:

# pacman -R $(pacman -Qtdq)