Arch Linux/Slackware Linux Install Notes

(Note: I first downloaded Arch Linux, and after doing that process noticed that much of the same below also applies to the install of Slackware. Also, more on Slackware install below starting with the “a” series section below.)

I downloaded the Arch Linux ISO image from the Arch download site.

Used “SHASUM” to verify.

Now in Terminal on Mac, I entered the following (after using Disk Utility to erase the USB device):

• $ diskutil list (This showed a list of storage devices including my 32GB USB drive, as /dev/disk2 (external, physical). I made sure to verify the name & size so as NOT to touch my main Mac storage drive!)

Next, I unmounted (not eject) the targeted USB device with:

• $ diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX (replacing “/diskX” with “/disk2”)

This command returned:

• “Unmount of all volumes on disk2 was successful”

Now that the USB device is unmounted I can block-write to it with “dd” command.

So now I copy the ISO image to the USB device.

I navigate to my Downloads folder where the ISO image file is located.

• cd Downloads/ (I used “ls” to list the file & verify it was there.)

Now to copy the ISO image to the device the Arch Linux Wiki documentation said to type the following:

• dd if=path/to/arch.iso of=/dev/rdisk2 bs=1m
• (Note: the “dd” command is similar to its Linux counterpart, but notice the ‘r’ before ‘disk’ for raw mode which makes the transfer much faster.

*This returned:

• dd: /dev/rdisk2: Permission denied

Now, because I got back the “Permission denied” I tried the same “dd” command again, but this time with “sudo”:

• $ sudo dd if=archlinux-2020.12.01-x86_64.iso of=/dev/rdisk2 bs=1m

This returned a prompt to enter my admin password, which I did.

Now, the USB device “lit up” and seemed to be running. According to the Arch Wiki page, (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/USB_flash_installation_medium#in_macOS), it says this command will run silently, which it seemed to do, as I saw nothing happening on the terminal screen. After a minute or two, the USB drive device stopped blinking red and the terminal returned:

• 682+1 records in
• 682+1 records out
• 715468800 bytes transferred in 100.966253 secs (7086217 bytes/sec)
• And I was returned to my normal command prompt.

Note: The command did run silently & it finished on its own, but the Wiki Arch page said “to view progress, send SIGINFO by pressing ‘Ctrl+t’. “Also that the ‘diskX’ here should not include the ‘s1’ suffix, or else the USB device will only be bootable in UEFI mode and not legacy. After completion, macOS may complain that “The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer”. Select ‘Ignore’. The USB device will be bootable.”

I did not get that message, however.

OK, so now I’ve “acquired an installation image” from the Arch Linux download page, I believe I verified the signature correctly using “Shasum” from the mac terminal. I’ve prepared an installation medium via a USB flash drive, and I’m ready to boot the live environment to finish the pre-installation process.

“a” series

Note: I selected the “newbie” install method at the “Select Prompting Mode” screen. This method installs all the required packages, then prompts you individually for every other package. The big advantage here is that is pauses & gives you a brief overview of the package contents. For a new user, this intro into what is include with Slackware can be informative.

Slackware ‘Newbie’ Install Info

1). aaa_terminfo (a basic collection of terminfo entries)

• This is a starter set of files from the ‘terminfo’ database, which should be enough in most cases. The complete set (from which this is derived) can be found in the ‘ncurses’ package. The terminfo database describes the characteristics of terminals, so don’t try to log in without this package ( 0 :
• Size: Compressed: 45.5k; uncompressed: 790k
• Package Name: aaa_terminfo-5.9-x86_64-1

2). …

…

After installing all the packages, the screen read:

“Done installing packages. Preparing to configure your new Linux system…”

Continue to “Configuring Slackware After Installation”

Sources:

https://archlinux.org/

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/USB_flash_installation_medium#in_macOS