How to: Install base ArchLinux, made simple

**I won't describe how to boot from usb/cd - just keep using another OS mate, :p

create partitions:
cfdisk /dev/sda
confirm partition:
fdisk -l /dev/sda
format partition:
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1 -L rootfs
mkswap /dev/sda2 -L swapfs
mount the first partition:
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
check if you have internet connectivity using dhcp:
ip a
ip r
or else add static:
ip addr add 10.0.0.10/24 dev eth0
ip route add default via 10.0.0.200 dev eth0
confirm networking:
ip a
ip r
prepare rootfs:
mkdir -pv /mnt/var/lib/pacman
and install arch:
mkdir -pv /mnt//var/cache/pacman/pkg/
pacman -r /mnt --cachedir /mnt//var/cache/pacman/pkg/ -Sy base
sign keys:
rsync -rav /etc/pacman.d/gnupg/ /mnt/etc/pacman.d/gnupg/
bind mnt and change root:
mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
chroot /mnt /bin/bash
edit fstab or use blkid:
nano /etc/fstab
/dev/sda1    /       ext4     defaults    0    1
/dev/sda2    none swap   defaults    0    1
change hostname:
echo ArchLinux > /etc/hostname
timezone and locale:
ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Athens /etc/localtime
nano /etc/locale.gen and uncomment el_GR.UTF-8 etc...
locale-gen
create initramfs:
mkinitcpio -p linux
install grub:
grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sda
create grub.cfg:
grub-mkconfig -o /mnt/boot/grub/grub.cfg
add a menuentry:
nano /mnt/boot/grub/grub.cfg
eg:
menuentry "ArchLinux" {
    set root=(hd0,1)
    linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda1
    initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
}
reboot!
login and change root pwd:
passwd
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Up to here you should have a system running, if not please refer to Begginer's Guide.
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Some problems during installation:

1. eth0 renames to some sort of enp2s1 or so - it's a bug (search tracker):
   You should rename enp2s1 to lan or something, how?
   nano /etc/udev/rules.d/10-network.rules
   then add:
    SUBSYSTEM=="net", ATTR{address}=="00:00:00:00:00:00", NAME="lan"
   then go at your network.service file to inform yor net svc to hold until it has been renamed:
   Requires=systemd-udev-settle.service
   After=systemd-udev-settle.service
   reboot - now you should see that eth0 dhpcd service failed to start:rm /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/dhcpcd@eth0.service
   to remove eth0 svc from starting upon boot.
2. Key signatures bypass:
   nano /etc/pacman.d/gnupg/gpg.conf
   change keyserver to:
   hkp://pgp.mit.edu:11371
   then hit this down to get keys:curl https://www.archlinux.org/{developers,trustedusers}/ |awk -F\" '(/pgp.mit.edu/) {sub(/.*search=0x/,"");print $1}' |xargs pacman-key --recv-keys
   after this:
   nano /etc/pacman.conf
   and change SigLevel to TrustAll or else untrusted source will occur.

---------
Up to here you should have a stable but somehow unsecure system running.
---------

Now install xorg:
pacman -Sy xorg
then kde:
pacman -Sy kde
reboot and start kde:
kdm

:) hf.

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BSoD Resolution #1: Driver Power State Failure

0x000009F is the error code after you see the DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE message ruining your work at 3am in the morning with a blue screen.

Straight to the minidump folder, we grab the minidump.dmp file and head to WinDbg to investigate the fact at a closer look. In my case i'll be using a dumpfile i had stored some time ago when i was asked to identify crash problem in an office.
So i loaded the file into windbg and used !analyze -v to see some more details of the problem.

The result is shown below:

Do we need to say something more? I immediately called the guys at the office to update their drivers.... which actually were from the following link.

This conclues #1 resolution. Thanks for reading, more to come.

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BSoD Resolution #0: How to setup your environment

Today i'm feeling like starting a series of windows blue screen of death resolutions, maybe later on this will include some sort of video...

So, yesterday night while i was working, my cellphone rings - "Alex i can't work" that's all he knew though he demanded it to be done asap.

-Ok, give me access to your machine.

While we were talking he said that the problem was happening every ten minutes or so, his screen turned blue and the computer restarted. What had to be done? As soon as i heard the word blue i ran into C:\windows\Minidump to check for the dump files but minidump folder was empty! By default this option is enabled but if your computer is sort of tweaked, then this could be disabled for some pesky reasons.

In Advanced System Protection under Start-up and Recovery settings you will find the system failure options that can deal with such things.

Though, if this is already enabled then you should take a look at the pagefile options because if you have pagefile disabled - you won't be able to get minidump files.

Now we had to reproduce the fact to get a dump file - simply wait.
*Theres also another method of reproducing BSoDs but that's not in our list at the moment HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters
DWORD -> CrashOnCtrlScroll with value of 1.
Then hold rCtrl and hit ScrLk twice.


As soon as the system is crashed and a dump file has been written in the directory you've set up, grab that .dmp file and open it using WinDbg.

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Open files with unknown file extension

You recently downloaded a file which seems to be 'unreadable' by your system. How are you gonna solve the problem? Let's say it's an exercise from your university in xqt format... what's the program to read such files? How about a software that integrates into context menu and shows you how to open files?

Here comes OpenWith to deal with those things, for almost any file on your computer, the OpenWith.org Desktop Tool will tell you what type of file it is, and show you free programs that will open the file. It will even download them for you!

Download OpenWith

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Disable Skype sound reduction when a call occurs.

This is so simple, though many people tend to ask for it. Whenever your Skype rings you notice every sound of your system to reduce by 80%, that's a Windows OS option which you can easily change. Follow the steps below:



Start Run and type mmsys.cpl.
Go to Communications tab and select 'Do nothing'.

From now on your windows will not reduce sound whenever a call is happening on Skype or any other communication software.

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Windows 8 lies when you shutdown

Qualitatively, people say they prefer to shut down because they want to have their PC completely “off” so that it uses no power – either to preserve battery life or to reduce their energy use. Hibernate is also a good option for this since it similarly has no power draw, and many people really like it. However, it’s clearly not for everyone, since one of the other things we’ve heard is that many people want to turn their PCs on and have it be a “fresh start” rather than running all of the stuff from their previous session. Sleep/resume is the best option for fast on/off transitions on today’s PCs, but it still consumes some power in order to preserve the contents of RAM, which means battery drain – even if it’s only a little bit on a well optimized system. All of this is happening with the backdrop of how we all use our mobile phones today, which is almost never restarting them, and always using what feels closest to a sleep-like state.

This is what they actually did, they turned 'Hibernation' into 'Shutdown' in the menu - in very few words.




But if you really want to make a proper shutdown of your system to change hardware? What can you do?
There's a new command in shutdown executable that lets you add full shutdown in your sessions by applying the /full command.
Fire up a terminal and type shutdown /s /full /t 0 then check what actually happens.

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How to: Disable UAC in Windows 8

It started back when i wanted to launch lineage on my brand new install of windows 8 enterprise N edition, tried to launch then got an error of l2.exe stopped working.., first thing i thought was UAC, where i tried to disable it but unfortunately it was unsuccessful.

How am i going to be aware that lineage will not play on Windows 8 ( talking about h5 or earlier ) before searching online.., so i played a bit with UAC in the latest windows version in order to disable it completely.

Let me explain.., 

1. You start off by typing 'UserAccountControlSettings' in Run in order to go into UAC's menu then set it to 'Never Notify'.
2. then, you move into registry editor by typing 'regedit' in Run again and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System. There's a DWORD there named 'EnableLUA' which we must set to 0.
3. now we have to restart our computer to reload registry.
4. By default, windows 8 is not granting user with administrator rights so we have to take ownership or the files of the entire C:\ drive, to do that you got to have a custom patch installed on your system for easier implementation. 
5. Download Ownership and run InstallTakeOwnership.reg and head to C:\ drive
6. select all folders, right click & hit Take ownership. After that, 
7. right click on Windows dir and Properties.
8. Security tab, advanced and Enable Inheritance.
9. Search for Owner name then Change, Advanced, Find Now and select your account that you're currently logged in and press ok. Back on the
10. advanced security settings, click Add, Select a Principal, Advanced, Find and select your account again, hit ok, again ok, Full Control, Show Advanced Permission and apply it to: This folder, subfolders and files, hit ok and apply, yes and continue.
11. Back into Regedit again at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System and revert 'EnableLUA' back to 1.
12. Restart your computer, 
13. navigate to C:\ and Take Ownership again,
14. lastly, run RemoveTakeOwnership.reg file to make system as it was in the beginning.

After these steps, you should have disabled UAC completely from your Windows 8 system.

Cheers. :)

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