Arch Linux XFCE Installation Guide

# Before continuing, make sure Arch is installed fully:
#
# 1. Make sure Internet is working with ping archlinux.org (CTRL+C to stop.)
# 2. Use cfdisk to remove all the Windows Partitions and Make new ones. (Use gpt label type if needed.)
#    Make sure to use it on the correct drive so said partitions appear. Use lsblk to find drives/partitions.
#    Make three partitions: 1G, 16G and the final one with the remaining free space.
# 3. Confirm all the blocks are right with lsblk
# 4. Format the drive blocks.
#    mkfs.ext4 /dev/[Largest Block]
#    mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/[1G Block]
#    mkswap /dev/[16G Block]
# 5. Mount the largest partition.
#    mount /dev/[Largest Block] /mnt
# 6. Make the Boot Directory.
#    mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
# 7. Mount the boot partition and turn on swap.
#    mount /dev/[1G Block] /mnt/boot/efi
#    swapon /dev/[16G Block]
# 8. Base Package Installation
#    pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware sof-firmware base-devel grub efibootmgr nano networkmanager
#    Make sure to clear the terminal with CTRL+L afterward.
# 9. Generate fstab
#    genfstab -U /mnt > /mnt/etc/fstab
#    Make sure that swap is set in it.
#    Find UUIDs by running lsblk -f
#      nano /mnt/etc/fstab
#    Insert the swap partition as such if not found:
#      UUID=########-####-####-####-############ none swap defaults 0 0
#      CTRL+O then Enter, then CTRL+X to exit.
# A. Enter the installed system.
#    arch-chroot /mnt
# B. Set up Time-zone and Localization. (Check the zoneinfo directory for your specific time.)
#    ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Chicago /etc/localtime
#    Confirm with date
#    hwclock --systohc
#    nano /etc/locale.gen
#      Find
#         #en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
#         #ja_JP.UTF-8 UTF-8
#      Uncomment them by hitting DEL on the hash/pound symbol.
#      CTRL+O then Enter, then CTRL+X to exit.
#    locale-gen
#    nano /etc/locale.conf
#      LANG=en_US.UTF-8
#      CTRL+O then Enter, then CTRL+X to exit.
# C. hostname (Note: DO NOT put a trailing space/new line in this file.)
#    nano /etc/hostname
#      localhost
#      CTRL+O then Enter, then CTRL+X to exit.
# D. Root password, Users and sudoers.
#    passwd
#      Enter in the password for root.
#    useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash ian
#    passwd ian
#      Enter in the password for ian.
#    EDITOR=nano visudo
#      Find and uncomment %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL
#      CTRL+O then Enter, then CTRL+X to exit.
# E. Enabling Core Services
#    systemctl enable NetworkManager
# F. Install microcode and setup GRUB. Substitute intel-ucode if using that.
#    pacman -S amd-ucode
#    grub-install /dev/sda
#    grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
# G. Exit the mounted install, unmount and reboot.
#    exit
#    umount -a
#    reboot

# Packages to install after arch:
#
# sudo pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies seahorse blueman system-config-printer cups-pk-helper vlc gimp simple-scan discord firefox qt5ct qt6ct pipewire-alsa pipewire-pulse pipewire-jack transmission-gtk pavucontrol ntfs-3g lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings light-locker geany noto-fonts noto-fonts-cjk noto-fonts-emoji noto-fonts-extra ttf-liberation ttf-droid ttf-dejavu unzip zip unrar p7zip nss-mdns cups cups-pdf gst-plugins-good gst-plugins-bad gst-plugins-ugly ffmpeg imagemagick gvfs ffmpegthumbnailer webp-pixbuf-loader poppler-glib libappindicator-gtk3

# Enable services for booting:
#    sudo systemctl enable lightdm
#    sudo systemctl enable cups
#    sudo systemctl enable avahi-daemon

# Enable mdns in nsswitch (if sudoedit does nothing, use sudo nano instead.)
#    sudoedit /etc/nsswitch.conf
#    On the hosts line,
#        Add mdns_minimal to just before [!UNAVAIL=return]
#        Add mdns to the end of the line

# Enable LightDM's Greeter
#    sudoedit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
#    Change #greeter-session= to greeter-session=lightdm-gtk-greeter
#    CTRL+O then Enter, then CTRL+X to exit.

# Configure bashrc for qt5ct / qt6ct so it syncs to GTK.
# nano ~/.bashrc
#    add QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=qt5ct:qt6ct
#    CTRL+O then Enter, then CTRL+X to exit.

# Open /etc/pacman.conf and uncomment the multilib section.
#    Do sudo pacman -Syu after
#    Then, if you have an nvidia GPU, do
#        sudo pacman -S lib32-nvidia-utils lib32-opencl-nvidia opencl-nvidia nvidia-open-dkms nvidia-utils nvidia-settings steam mangohud
#    If you instead have an AMD GPU, use
#        sudo pacman -S vulkan-radeon lib32-vulkan-radeon lib32-mesa lib32-vulkan-icd-loader vulkan-tools llvm lib32-llvm lib32-llvm-libs llvm-libs corectrl steam mangohud

# Configure MangoHud.
# 1. Get the MangoHud Configuration File
#    mkdir -p ~/.config/MangoHud/
#    curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flightlessmango/MangoHud/master/data/MangoHud.conf --output MangoHud.conf --output-dir ~/.config/MangoHud/
# 2. Environment Variable (This starts mangohud when games run.)
#    mkdir -p ~/.config/environment.d/
#    echo 'MANGOHUD=1' | tee ~/.config/environment.d/mangohud.conf
# 3. Change the FPS Limit and enable no overlay.
#    nano ~/.config/MangoHud/MangoHud.conf
#    CTRL+O then Enter, then CTRL+X to exit once edited.

# Get the yay AUR Helper:
#
# sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel && git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay-bin.git && cd yay-bin && makepkg -si

# Install some of the AUR packages you want.
#     Octopi is a graphical package manager that acts similar to old Synaptic.
#     mugshot is needed for the XFCE Whisker Menu to fully function.
#
# yay -S octopi mugshot geany-themes ttf-ms-fonts
#
# If you need Java, use jdk-temurin (Latest), or jdk##-temurin (EG: jdk8-temurin) from the AUR.