--- title1: Installing GNOME2 title2: on Arch Linux break:

--- # %(title1)% # %(title2)% %(break)% ## Introduction With the recent release of [GNOME3](http://www.gnome3.org/), it has become virtually impossible to productively use the GNOME desktop. Forcing the netbook interface upon the desktop computer isn't a smart decision in my opinion, so I am one of the few who has chosen not to upgrade to the sleek yet unproductive GNOME3 interface: ![GNOME3: upgrading aesthetics, downgrading everything else.](images/gnome3.png) %(break)% ## Installing Xorg Since the Arch repos are all hosting only GNOME3 now, you can use the Arch Rollback Machine (ARM) and work with a snapshot of the main repository. I've found that the last non-GNOME3 snapshot was from April 30, 2011. No other mirrors exists as far as I can tell, so that's the only mirror you can safely use for now. Overwrite your `/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist` with this single line to use the ARM as your one and only mirror: # Replace "x86_64" with "i686" if you are running 32-bit Arch. Server = http://arm.konnichi.com/2011/04/30/$repo/os/x86_64/ Now that you've switched repositories, update your Pacman package database to reflect those changes: pacman -Syy Install Xorg to get started: pacman -S xorg-server xorg-xinit xorg-utils xorg-server-utils Xorg might need some more packages to actually work with your hardware: # If you're using a laptop with a trackpad: pacman -S xf86-input-synaptics # Video drivers for ATI cards: pacman -S xf86-video-ati # Video drivers for Intel cards: pacman -S xf86-video-intel # Video drivers for newer Nvidia cards: pacman -S nvidia nvidia-utils # Video drivers for older Nvidia cards (Geforce FX series): pacman -S nvidia-173xx nvidia-173xx-utils # Video drivers for ancient Nvidia cards: pacman -S nvidia-96xx nvidia-96xx-utils %(break)% ## Installing GNOME2 ### The Core Now, time to install the full GNOME2 experience: pacman -S gnome gnome-extra gnome-system-tools gksu gamin consolekit %(break)% ### GDM To start GNOME upon boot with GNOME Display Manager (GDM), the login screen for GNOME, edit your `/etc/rc.conf`. The last line of the file should look somewhat like this: # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # DAEMONS # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # # Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order) # - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it # - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background # DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus hal netfs crond cups alsa) Add GDM at the end of the `DAEMONS` list: # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # DAEMONS # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # # Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order) # - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it # - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background # DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus hal netfs crond cups alsa gdm) Now, when you reboot, the login manager should greet you. %(break)% ### User Directories I'm not sure why GNOME doesn't create the default user folders automatically, but it's quite simple to do manually: pacman -S xdg-user-dirs xdg-user-dirs-update Now the Downloads, Documents, Music, etc. folders should be created with the appropriate icons. %(break)% ### Network Manager When dealing with internet connections, Networkmanager is a nice graphical network configuration tool, used in Ubuntu and almost every other GNOME-based Linux distro. You can install it with Pacman: pacman -S networkmanager network-manager-applet You'll have to configure it similarly to GDM, by adding the daemon to `/etc/rc.conf`. The last line of the file looks somewhat like this: # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # DAEMONS # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # # Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order) # - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it # - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background # DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus hal netfs crond cups alsa gdm) Add networkmanager in between `dbus` and `hal` in the `DAEMONS` list: # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # DAEMONS # ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # # Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order) # - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it # - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background # DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus networkmanager hal netfs crond cups alsa gdm) Once you reboot, Networkmanager should kick in (you might have to add the applet to your panel). If nothing happens, run it through the `ALT + F2` dialog: # After hitting ALT + F2 nm-applet %(break)% ### Sound If you want to play sound on your new GNOME2 install, you'll need a sound backend. I recommend `gstreamer`, as it works. Install gstreamer, the audio decoders, pulseaudio (a nice audio backend, used in Ubuntu), and the GNOME configuration utilities with Pacman: pacman -S pulseaudio-alsa paprefs pavucontrol pulseaudio-gnome gstreamer0.10 gstreamer0.10-bad gstreamer0.10-bad-plugins gstreamer0.10-base gstreamer0.10-base-plugins gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-good gstreamer0.10-good-plugins gstreamer0.10-python gstreamer0.10-ugly gstreamer0.10-ugly-plugins For a nice music player, I recommend Rhythmbox. It's GNOME software and does what you'd expect a music player to do. ![Rhythmbox, how I adore thee](images/rhythmbox.png "Rhythmbox, how I adore thee") To install it, run Pacman: pacman -S rhythmbox %(break)% ## Lazy Installer As you can see, GNOME is pretty modular, so not everything comes pre-installed and configured. For the extremely lazy **clever**, I've made a bash script to do it all. It's available for download [right over here](files/gnome2.sh "GNOME2 Lazy Installer"). It's more or less a huge Pacman download list: #!/bin/sh ##################################### ### ### ### THIS DOES NOT ADD THE DAEMONS ### ### YOU MUST DO THAT MANUALLY ### ### OR GNOME WON'T WORK ### ### ### ##################################### # Deletes the mirrorlist rm /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist # Replaces it with ARM snapshot echo "Server = http://arm.konnichi.com/2011/04/30/\$repo/os/`uname -m`/" > /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist # Updates package database pacman -Syy # Installs (forcibly) GNOME, tons of tiny video drivers, and all the other goodies described above pacman -Sf xorg-server xorg-xinit xorg-utils xorg-server-utils xf86-input-acecad xf86-input-aiptek xf86-input-evdev xf86-input-joystick xf86-input-keyboard xf86-input-mouse xf86-input-synaptics xf86-input-vmmouse xf86-input-void xf86-video-apm xf86-video-ark xf86-video-ast xf86-video-ati xf86-video-chips xf86-video-cirrus xf86-video-dummy xf86-video-fbdev xf86-video-glint xf86-video-i128 xf86-video-i740 xf86-video-intel xf86-video-neomagic xf86-video-nv xf86-video-rendition xf86-video-s3 xf86-video-s3virge xf86-video-siliconmotion xf86-video-sisusb xf86-video-trident xf86-video-tseng xf86-video-v4l xf86-video-vesa xf86-video-vmware xf86-video-voodoo xf86-video-xgi xf86-video-xgixp gnome gnome-extra gnome-system-tools gksu gamin consolekit gdm networkmanager network-manager-applet nvidia xdg-user-dirs pulseaudio-alsa paprefs pavucontrol pulseaudio-gnome gstreamer0.10 gstreamer0.10-bad gstreamer0.10-bad-plugins gstreamer0.10-base gstreamer0.10-base-plugins gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-good gstreamer0.10-good-plugins gstreamer0.10-python gstreamer0.10-ugly gstreamer0.10-ugly-plugins rhythmbox So to download and run it all at once, you use `wget` and `sh`: sh ./gnome.sh Now was that so complicated?