🐧 Minimal Arch Post-Install Setup

Just personal notes for my own reference. Might help others too.

🕒 Fix Dual Boot Time Drift (Windows ↔ Linux)

Windows and Linux handle hardware clocks differently. To prevent Windows from showing the wrong time:

timedatectl set-local-rtc 1

📶 Connect to WiFi via `nmcli`

If you’re using NetworkManager, connect to WiFi like this:

nmcli device wifi connect "WiFi Name" --ask

📦 Install Essential Packages

sudo pacman -S neovim git base-devel fastfetch

🎨 Enable Pacman Color Output

Edit /etc/pacman.conf and uncomment this line:

Color

🚀 Install AUR Helper (Yay)

Using Yay to manage AUR packages:

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
cd yay
makepkg -si

🧭 Setup GRUB Bootloader

# Optional theme
sudo pacman -S breeze-grub os-prober

# From AUR
yay -S update-grub

breeze-grub: Optional GRUB theme
os-prober: Detects other OSes
update-grub: Wrapper for grub-mkconfig

Configure GRUB

Edit /etc/default/grub:

# No countdown
GRUB_TIMEOUT=-1

# Enable OS detection
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false

# Set the theme (Optional)
GRUB_THEME="/usr/share/grub/themes/breeze/theme.txt"

Mount Windows EFI Partition

To detect Windows in GRUB:

# List all available drives and partitions
sudo fdisk -l

# Find the Windows EFI partition and mount it
sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt

# Update grub config
sudo update-grub

# Unmount Windows EFI partition
sudo umount /mnt

# Reboot the system
sudo reboot

🖥️ Install Display Manager (Ly)

Ly is a lightweight TUI display manager:

sudo pacman -S ly
sudo systemctl enable --now ly.service

You’ll be redirected to Ly’s login screen after enabling.

🎮 Install NVIDIA Drivers

sudo pacman -S nvidia-dkms nvidia-utils egl-wayland linux-headers

More info: Hyprland NVIDIA Setup

After reboot:

nvidia-smi                                     # Check GPU info
cat /sys/module/nvidia_drm/parameters/modeset  # Should return Y

🧙 Additional Setup: Zsh + Oh-My-Zsh

Install Zsh

sudo pacman -S zsh

# Set default shell to Zsh
chsh -s $(which zsh)

Logout and log back in. Confirm with:

# Should return /bin/zsh or similar
echo $SHELL

Install Oh-My-Zsh

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Customize .zshrc as needed. Edit the theme and I like to replace the arrow prompt with a $.

✨ Final Touch

Run fastfetch to enjoy a cozy system info splash.