Personal Arch Wiki

This is a collection of useful references, snippets, and information that I found useful when tinkering with Arch Linux.

Network

Wi-Fi Connection

Using iwd

1. Make sure that iwd is running:

   $ sudo systemctl status iwd

   If not, start the service by running:

   $ sudo systemctl enable iwd
   $ sudo systemctl start iwd

2. Start the interactive prompt:

   $ sudo iwctl

3. Find the name of the wireless device by listing all devices:

   [iwd]# device list

   If the device is turned off, turn it on:

   [iwd]# device [DEVICE_NAME] set-property Powered on

4. Initiate a scan for networks:

   [iwd]# station [DEVICE_NAME] scan

   then list all available networks:

   [iwd]# station [DEVICE_NAME] get-networks

5. Connect to the desired network:

   [iwd]# station [DEVICE_NAME] connect [SSID]

   Enter the passphrase (if prompted) to the network.

Using NetworkManager(nmcli)

1. Install networkmanager package if NetworkManager is not installed.

   $ sudo pacman -S networkmanager

2. Start / enable NetworkManager.service.

   $ sudo systemctl start NetworkManager.service
   $ sudo systemctl enable NetworkManager.service

3. List nearby Wi-Fi networks:

   $ nmcli device wifi list

   Connect to a Wi-Fi network:

   $ nmcli device wifi connect [SSID] password [PASSWORD]

   Connet to a Wi-Fi network (input password through STDIN):

   $ nmcli device wifi connect [SSID] --ask

   Disconnect an interface:

   $ nmcli device disconnect ifname [INTERFACE]

   Get a list of connections with their names, UUIDs, types and backing devices:

   $ nmcli connection show

   Turn of Wi-Fi:

   $ nmcli radio wifi off

Using iwd as the Wi-Fi Backend

1. Install iwd.

   $ sudo pacman -S iwd

2. Create the following configuration file:

   /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/wifi_backend.conf

   [device]
   wifi.backend=iwd

Battery

Check Battery Status

1. Install tlp.

   $ sudo pacman -S tlp

2. Run the following command.

   $ sudo tlp-stat -b

Input Devices

Keyboard Input Remapping

Dual Function Keys

1. Run the following command and find out the name of the keyboard.

   $ libinput list-devices | grep "^Device"

2. Create a new configuration:

   /etc/interception/udevmon.d/[KEYBOARD_NAME].yaml

   - JOB: "intercept -g $DEVNODE | dual-function-keys -c </path/to/dual-function-keys.yaml> | uinput -d $DEVNODE"
     DEVICE:
       NAME: <keyboard name>

   When using a wireless keyboard however, setting the name sometimes does not work. In this case, set the name to .*, which processes every input.

3. Create a yaml file (conventionally resides in /etc/interception/dual-function-keys) that contains the configuration for Dual Function Keys itself. I use the following configuration:

   /etc/interception/dual-function-keys

   TIMING:
     TAP_MILLISEC: 1000
     DOUBLE_TAP_MILLISEC: 0
     SYNTHETIC_KEYS_PAUSE_MILLISEC: 0
   MAPPINGS:
     # Esc and LCtrl with CapsLock
     - KEY: KEY_CAPSLOCK
       TAP: KEY_ESC
       HOLD: KEY_LEFTCTRL

   However, pressing the key will still send the original key on press, and this may interfere with programs such as (neo)vim. To prevent this, add HOLD_START: BEFORE_CONSUME_OR_RELEASE.

Using evremap

1. Install evremap from AUR:

   $ paru -S evremap-git

2. Enable / start the system service:

   $ sudo systemctl enable evremap.service
   $ sudo systemctl start evremap.service

3. Edit the service file to point to your config. First check the path of the service:

   $ systemctl status evremap.service

   Then edit the file to point to your config:

   /usr/lib/systemd/system/evremap.service

   ...
   ExecStart=bash -c "/usr/bin/evremap remap /etc/evremap.toml -d 0"
   ...

4. Configure remapping to your taste:

   # The name of the device to remap.
   # Run `sudo evremap list-devices` to see the devices available
   # on your system.
   device_name = "[DEVICE_NAME]"
    
   # If you have multiple devices with the same name, you can optionally
   # specify the `phys` value that is printed by the `list-devices` subcommand
   # phys = "usb-0000:07:00.3-2.1.1/input0"
    
   # Configure CAPSLOCK as a Dual Role key.
   [[dual_role]]
   input = "KEY_CAPSLOCK"
   hold = ["KEY_LEFTCTRL"]
   tap = ["KEY_ESC"]
    
   [[remap]]
   input = ["KEY_LEFTMETA"]
   output = ["KEY_LEFTALT"]
    
   [[remap]]
   input = ["KEY_LEFTALT"]
   output = ["KEY_LEFTMETA"]
    
   [[remap]]
   input = ["KEY_RIGHTMETA", "KEY_K"]
   output = ["KEY_UP"]
    
   [[remap]]
   input = ["KEY_RIGHTMETA", "KEY_L"]
   output = ["KEY_RIGHT"]

Korean (Hangul) Input

This only works for hyprland. Source

1. Install kime from AUR.

   $ paru -S kime-bin

2. Add the following configuration:

   hyprland.conf

   # Execute kime
   exec-once = kime
    
   # Set envvars for kime
   env = XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP,Hyprland
   env =GTK_IM_MODULE,kime
   env = QT_IM_MODULE,kime
   env = XMODIFIERS,@im=kime
    
   # Set ralt, rctrl to hangul and hanja
   input {
       ...
       kb_options = korean:ralt_hangul,korean:rctrl_hanja
   }

Miscellaneous

Run Fetch Script on Terminal Launch

$ function fish_greeting
    neofetch
end
$ funcsave fish_greeting

Source

According to the official docs, fish_greeting is executed only when an interactive fish starts.

OBS Virtual Camera

1. Install the v4l2loopback-dkms package.

   $ sudo pacman -S v4l2loopback-dkms

2. Load the kernel module.

   $ sudo modprobe v4l2loopback

3. To reload the module, first unload the module.

   $ sudo modprobe -r v4l2loopback

4. For Chromium / WebRTC based applications, set option exclusive_caps=1.

   $ sudo modprobe v4l2loopback exclusive_caps=1

GPG waiting for lock ... Error

1. Locate all files with .lock or .lck extension inside ~/.gnupg.

   $ ls -l ~/.gnupg/*/*.l{o,}ck

2. Remove any lock files found.

Changing the default browser

1. To get the current default web browser:

   xdg-settings get default-web-browser

2. To set the default web browser:

   xdg-settings set default-web-browser [BROWSER]

   for example,

   xdg-settings set default-web-browser librewolf.desktop

   Source

Keyboard Backlight / Brightness

1. Install brightnessctl:

   $ sudo pacman -S brightnessctl

Keyboard Backlight

2. Get the maximum brightness level (obtain the vendor name using ls in the directory):

   $ cat /sys/class/leds/[VENDOR]::kbd_backlight/max_brightness

   Or alternatively:

   $ brightnessctl --device='[VENDOR]::kbd_backlight' info

   Then set the brightness using brightnessctl:

   $ brightnessctl --device='[VENDOR]::kbd_backlight' set [BRIGHTNESS]

   Make sure to set the brightness level below the max level.

Brightness

2. Same process as keyboard backlight, but use the path

   $ cat /sys/class/backlight/[VENDOR]/max_brightness

   instead.

Clipboard

Piping Command Outputs to Clipboard

Wayland

1. Install wl-clipboard:

   $ sudo pacman -S wl-clipboard

2. To copy:

   $ echo foo | wl-copy

3. To paste:

   $ wl-paste
   foo

X Window System

1. Install xclip:

   $ sudo pacman -S xclip

2. Add aliases. In bash:

   .bash_aliases

   ...
   alias setclip="xclip -selection c"
   alias getclip="xclip -selection c -o"
   ...

   In fish:

   config.fish

   ...
   abbr setclip "xclip -selection c"
   abbr getclip "xclip -selection c -o"
   ...

3. To copy:

   $ echo foo | setclip

4. To paste:

   $ getclip
   foo

Source

MacOS

1. To copy:

   $ echo foo | pbcopy

   To copy the contents of a file, this also works (so that you don’t have to use cat):

   $ pbcopy < file.txt

2. To paste:

   $ pbpaste
   foo

Access System Clipboard in (Neo)Vim

I use hyprland, so this only works for Wayland.

1. Install wl-clipboard:

   $ sudo pacman -S wl-clipboard

2. Add the following line to init.vim:

   set clipboard+=unnamedplus

   Or to init.lua for neovim:

   vim.opt.clipboard:append("unnamedplus")

Change Acceleration Profile for ThinkPad Trackpoints

Change libinput acceleration profile for ThinkPad’s trackpoint from adaptive to flat. This only works for hyprland. Source

hyprland.conf

device {
    name = tpps/2-ibm-trackpoint
    accel_profile = flat
}

Extract data.tar.gz(or .xz) from .deb

Use ar from binutils. binutils is in the base-devel group, so it should be already installed. Source

$ ar x <deb-file$ data.tar.gz

Desktop Entries

Desktop entries for applications (.desktop files) usually reside in /usr/share/applications/ or /usr/local/share/applications/.

Modify environment variables

To set environment variables, edit the Exec= line to first use env. For example:

/usr/share/applications/steam.desktop

...
Exec=env GDK_SCALE=2 /usr/bin/steam-runtime %U
...