arch installation note on DELL r320

arch_install_basic.txt

Schema:
1. pxe boot
2. partition: GRUB + GPT, vfat - boot partition, ext4

Guide:

Round#1: mini text mode

1. pxe boot from a tftp/dhcpc server. TBD.

2. into arch install shell with BIOS mode(now default for r320)

3. partition: sda1 for GRUB boot partition, and sda2 for root
sgdisk -Z /dev/sda
sgdisk -a 2048 -o /dev/sda
 
sgdisk -n 1:0:+1M /dev/sda
sgdisk -n 2:0:0 /dev/sda
 
sgdisk -t 1:ef02 /dev/sda
sgdisk -t 2:8300 /dev/sda
 
sgdisk -c 1:boot /dev/sda
sgdisk -c 2:root /dev/sda

4. format and mount
mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt

5. follow the official installation guide
(https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation_guide)
  5a. enable network. TBD.
  5b. pick fast mirror: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
  5c. pacstrap /mnt base base-devel grub
  5d. genfstab -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
  5e. arch-chroot /mnt
  5f. echo computer_name > /etc/hostname
  5g. ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Chongqing /etc/localtime
  5h. modify /etc/locale.gen and run "locale-gen"
  5i. echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
  5j. mkinitcpio -p linux
  5k. root: passwd
  5l. new user: "groupadd XXX" "useradd -m -g XXX new_user_name", passwd
  5m. install grub into GBP(GRUB Boot Partition)
# grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck --debug /dev/sda
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
  5n. exit
  5o. umount -R /mnt
  5p. reboot

Round#2: GUI
1. install right video drivers for r320
pacman -S xorg-server xorg-utils xorg-apps xf86-video-mga xf86-video-fbdev xf86-video-vesa xf86-video-modesetting gnome gdm
2. systemctl enable gdm
3. reboot


References:
[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation_guide
[2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB