2018 . 11 . 22 update

I lost my MacBook Pro, so I won’t be able to test, and thus update these notes anymore. :(

Introduction

I have laid my eyes on a new distribution that bakes in i3 with it: Manjaro Linux i3 Community Edition.

What I can say is that Manjaro Linux feels nimble and agile in my hands, meanwhile Ubuntu has started to feel bloated and sluggish.

So, what follows is a very opinionated guide for installing Manjaro Linux on a MacBook Pro from Mid 2014, and leave it in a perfect state for desktop and software development usage —kind of what I had before with Ubuntu.

Still on the quest for the perfect OS.
Let’s start!

Download

• Manjaro Linux all versions: here.
• Manjaro Linux i3: here.

Preparing the live USB

You need another Linux machine, or a way to make a Manjaro Linux live USB stick.

Once you have downloaded the .iso image you can follow these instructions to prepare the USB drive.

Booting from USB

Turn off your machine, insert the USB drive, then turn it on, and as you hear the distinctive sound when it starts, press and hold the alt key until a boot menu appears. Select the one that says EFI.

You’ll be presented with a preconfiguration screen. Select your timezone, keyboard distribution, language, free drivers, then: Boot: manjaro.x86…

Installation

You’ll be presented with a dialog with many buttons, click on the one that says: Launch installer.

You might see a couple of warnings, they usually are about:

• The machine is not connected to a power source.
• The machine is not connected to the Internet.

When you get to Partitions select Erase disk to get rid of everything on that Mac. Don’t worry you’ll always be able to recover OSX if you really want to —but not your data though, so be careful!

While still there, you can enable FDE (Full Disk Encryption) by clicking on the Encrypt system checkbox and picking a nice and long passphrase for it.

Then just click through the install wizard and wait for it to finish the installation process.

Configuration

Fix your High-DPI screen

The first thing to do is to improve our ability to read that super small text on the terminal.

Check the supported modes —AKA resolutions— for your screen with:

xrandr

If the initial DPI is too much for you —as it is for me— try a couple of other resolutions and see what you feel comfortable with. In my case I usually settle with 1680x1050 or 1400x900.

Try them out like this:

xrandr --output eDP1 --mode 1400x900

To make this permanent, edit ~/.i3/config and add this line at the end:

exec --no-startup-id xrandr --output eDP1 --mode 1400x900

Network

Setup your DNSs to Google Public DNS:

• IPV4: 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4.
• IPV6: 2001:4860:4860::8888, 2001:4860:4860::8844.

i3 config file

If you don’t want to have an i3 binding that opens a PDF help file, then comment out this line in ~/.i3/config:

# bindsym $mod+Shift+h exec xdg-open /usr/share/doc/manjaro/i3_help.pdf

I think these are better values for gaps:

gaps inner 2
gaps outer 0

You can modify the auto-lock time on this line —it’s expressed in minutes:

exec --no-startup-id xautolock -time 10 -locker blurlock

I usually change that to 30 or 60 minutes.

UFW

Activate the firewall service at boot with:

sudo ufw enable
sudo systemctl enable --now ufw.service

Browsers

At this point you probably want to get into a browser to read / follow some configuration guides.

This distro comes with the Pale Moon browser. I tried it out, didn’t like it.
To get rid of it:

sudo pacman -Rns palemoon-bin

Now, to install anything, first we need to generate a ranked mirror list then update the package databases:

sudo pacman-mirrors --geoip
sudo pacman -Syy

If you want to tweak the ranked mirror list, you can find it here: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.

If you feel the --geoip option takes too much time, you can get a list of the available countries it checks on with:

pacman-mirrors -l

Let’s say you are interested in mirrors from United_States and Canada only:

sudo pacman-mirrors -c United_States,Canada

To upgrade your installed packages:

sudo pacman -Su

Now, to install the big two —Firefox and Google Chrome:

sudo pacman -S firefox namcap
yaourt -S google-chrome

.bashrc

In a terminal:

# convenient ll list command
echo -e '\nalias ll="ls -lhF"' >> ~/.bashrc
# convenient la list command
# same as before, but show hidden files
echo -e '\nalias la="ls -lahF"' >> ~/.bashrc

# Let calibre know it should use the system theme (usually dark)
echo -e '\nexport CALIBRE_USE_SYSTEM_THEME=1' >> ~/.bashrc

Keyboard

Second on the list of annoyances is the keyboard, since I like to move fast on my i3 desktop environment, swapped out keys don’t help, let’s fix that.

Swap Alt and Cmd keys

Let’s swap the Alt and Cmd keys out.
With immediate effect:

echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/module/hid_apple/parameters/swap_opt_cmd

To make it permanent:

echo options hid_apple swap_opt_cmd=1 | \
sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf

Swap Multimedia keys and Function keys

Let’s enable function keys (f1, f2, f3…) by default —instead of default multimedia keys.
With immediate effect:

echo 2 | sudo tee /sys/module/hid_apple/parameters/fnmode

To make it permanent:

echo options hid_apple fnmode=2 | \
sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf

GRUB

I usually remove the quiet option from grub in /etc/default/grub.
I like my startup process noisy.

If you edit the grub file, don’t forget to:

sudo update-grub

Change Linux kernel version

Do you want to try out the 4.17.9-1 kernel version?
Then, execute:

manjaro-settings-manager

Click on Kernel, then click Install on the version you want to try out.
Restart.

Trim SSD storage

If you have an SSD and you didn’t enable FDE (Full Disk Encryption) when installing, you can activate a periodic TRIM operation that’ll run by default on a weekly basis with:

sudo systemctl enable --now fstrim.timer

It’s based on the timestamp of: /var/lib/systemd/timers/stamp-fstrim.timer.

dm-crypt + TRIM

Before enabling TRIM on a drive, you should make sure you SSD supports it, otherwise data loss can occur. Check this out: Solid State Drives#TRIM

To check if your drive supports it:

sudo hdparm -I /dev/sda | grep TRIM

You should see something like:

* Data Set Management TRIM supported (limit 8 blocks)

You can also check with:

lsblk --discard

And see if the DISC-GRAN and DISC-MAX are not 0B.

So, if you have read the security implications of activating TRIM for encrypted devices and still want to do it, this is how you do it:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

Add the :allow-discards like this: cryptdevice=UUID=SOME-ID:luks-SOME-ID:allow-discards root=/dev...

So you end up with a line that looks like this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="cryptdevice=UUID=SOME-ID:luks-SOME-ID:allow-discards root=/dev/mapper/luks-SOME-ID resume=/dev/mapper/luks-SOME-ID"

After changing the /etc/default/grub file, run:

sudo update-grub

Restart, and now you can try the sudo fstrim / -v command, and should see an output like:

/: 439.1 GiB (471479136256 bytes) trimmed

If everything works well, don’t forget to activate the weekly service with:

sudo systemctl enable --now fstrim.timer

If you want to see the service status:

sudo systemctl status fstrim.service

To run the service immediately:

sudo systemctl start fstrim

Generate a new SSH key

If you don’t have an SSH key in ~/.ssh, you can create one with:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -o -C "user@some-place"

SSH service

If you want to allow incoming SSH connections through the firewall, try with this:

sudo ufw allow SSH

Enable the SSH service:

sudo systemctl enable --now sshd.service

You can now ssh-copy-id a key from another machine.

After that initial setup, harden your security by uncommenting and modifying the following lines in /etc/ssh/sshd_config:

PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no

If you ever modify the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file, restart the SSH service with:

sudo systemctl restart sshd.service

WiFi

I solved this by first connecting through an USB-Ethernet adapter cable —this one has worked great so far.

Find out which kernel version you have installed with uname -a.

Then let’s install the appropriate headers and driver:

sudo pacman -S linux-headers broadcom-wl-dkms

In my case, I selected the linux414-headers.

Let’s restart to try out our configs so far!

You should be able to use WiFi now.

If you don’t, and you see something like this in your journalctl -b logs:

kernel: wl: version magic '4.14.15-1-MANJARO SMP preempt mod_unload modversions retpoline ' should be '4.14.15-1-MANJARO SMP preempt mod_unload modversions '

You might be able to force WiFi activation with this:

sudo modprobe wl --force-vermagic

It worked just fine over here.

Sound

This came as a surprise, sound is not working out of the box.
The good news is: It only requires some tweaking and it’ll be good to go.

Edit this file:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

And put inside:

options snd_hda_intel enable=1 index=0
options snd_hda_intel enable=1 index=1

Install pulseaudio and pavucontrol:

sudo pacman -S pulseaudio pavucontrol

Also, the mute key works OK for muting, but pressing it again won’t un-mute your sound card.
To fix it, add this at the end of your ~/.i3/config:

bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id amixer -D pulse sset Master toggle

This one requires a system restart.

After rebooting, you should have sound coming out from your computer, and a working set of multimedia keys.

Day-to-day activities

Copy & paste

You can paste stuff using a 3-finger touch/click on the trackpad.

Or, since the default terminal is Urxvt, you can copy with Ctrl+Shift+C and paste with Ctrl+Shift+V.

Change desktop appearance

Maybe you don’t like the dark theme stuff from the default installation. No problem.
Try with this:

lxappearance

Desktop software

If you miss the cozy space of a file manager, you can get a good one with Thunar.

sudo pacman -S inkscape libreoffice-fresh gnote calibre openshot \
thunar clementine simple-scan redshift python-gobject python-xdg \
youtube-dl feh cups unzip colordiff

To execute redshift on init, edit ~/.i3/config and add this line at the end:

exec --no-startup-id redshift

Don’t know what redshift is? Have a look here.

Printing

To enable CUPS and access to http://localhost:631:

sudo systemctl enable --now org.cups.cupsd.service

Network service discovery

This is useful if you have a network printer:

sudo systemctl enable --now avahi-daemon.service

Now CUPS should detect it without problems.
Go to this URL http://localhost:631, and add your network printer over there!

Software development

Here are some links to tools I use on a daily basis to write software:

• Basic Git configuration
• How to install PostgreSQL
• How to install Node.js
• How to install Elixir

Increase the amount of inotify watchers

This is needed so Visual Studio Code can manage projects with a lot of files:

echo fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288 | sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/40-max-user-watches.conf && sudo sysctl --system

Setup z

Now that we have Git installed, let’s intall z to easily navigate directories on the CLI:

git clone https://github.com/rupa/z ~/z
echo ". ~/z/z.sh" >> ~/.bashrc
exec $SHELL

Usage

After cding into various directories, for example:

cd ~/development/web/project1
cd ~/development/mobile/client33

You can now cd into those directories from anywhere on the CLI with:

z project1
z client33

You can use TAB for autocompletion too!

Code editor

One code editor to rule them all…
Visual Studio Code is fast, nimble, agile and beautiful.

yaourt -S visual-studio-code-bin

Visual Studio Code extensions

This is the list of extensions that I use the most:

• ElixirLS: Elixir language support.
• gettext: Gettext files support.
• GitLens: Amazing Git support inside your editor.
• language-stylus: Stylus syntax highlighting.
• markdownlint: Markdown language support.
• Sass: Sass syntax highlighting.
• Vetur: Vue.js files support.
• vscode-icons: File icon theme.

Color themes:

• Dracula Official: Color theme.
• Monokai Pro: Color theme.
• Night Owl: Color theme.
• Palenight Theme: Color theme.

settings.json

You can open your settings with CTRL + ,:

{
  "editor.detectIndentation": false,
  "editor.insertSpaces": true,
  "editor.formatOnSave": false,
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "editor.renderWhitespace": "boundary",
  "files.autoSave": "onFocusChange",
  "files.insertFinalNewline": true,
  "files.trimFinalNewlines": true,
  "gitlens.defaultDateStyle": "absolute",
  "markdownlint.config": {
    "MD012": false, // MD012 no-multiple-blanks - Multiple consecutive blank lines
    "MD025": false, // MD025 single-h1 - Multiple top level headers in the same document
    "MD033": false // MD033 no-inline-html - Inline HTML
  },
  "window.titleBarStyle": "custom",
  "window.zoomLevel": 0.5,
  "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
    "editorCursor.foreground": "#ff00ff",
    "editorWhitespace.foreground": "#ff00ff"
  },
  "workbench.colorTheme": "Monokai Pro",
  "workbench.iconTheme": "vscode-icons"
}

Developer utils

Miscellaneous stuff I require in my day-to-day developer activities…

sudo pacman -S hugo inotify-tools wxgtk ansible

HTML to PDF

Somehow wkhtmltopdf has failed to install on latest Manjaro versions. But I have found a perfect —and way better— substitute: Headless Chrome!

You can save an HTML page as a PDF with the following command:

google-chrome-stable --headless --disable-gpu --print-to-pdf=some-pdf-name.pdf http://some.page/url

Git diff colors

Default terminal colors for Git diffs sucks:

To fix them, and upgrade Urxvt‘s default behavior add these lines at the end of your ~/.Xresources file:

! CUSTOM STUFF

! do not scroll with output
URxvt*scrollTtyOutput: false

! scroll in relation to buffer (with mouse scroll or Shift+Page Up)
URxvt*scrollWithBuffer: true

! scroll back to the bottom on keypress
URxvt*scrollTtyKeypress: true

! scrollback buffer in secondary screen
URxvt.secondaryScreen: true
URxvt.secondaryScroll: false

! magenta cursor color
URxvt.cursorColor: magenta

! load solarized dark theme
#include "Xresources.dark"

! working home end keys
URxvt.keysym.Home: \033[1~
URxvt.keysym.End: \033[4~
URxvt.keysym.KP_Home: \033[1~
URxvt.keysym.KP_End:  \033[4~

Now, download Xresources.dark from here and put it in your $HOME directory.
Then modify these lines in it:

!! black dark/light
*color0:                S_base02
*color8:                magenta !!S_base03 => this is commented out!

To make changes effective:

xrdb ~/.Xresources

Finally, close your current terminal and open a new one.
Now your Git diffs will look like this:

Much better! If you ask me… ;)

Daily workflow ready?

Definitely yes!

Chromecast & Videostream

This are the rules you’ll need if you have a Chromecast and want to try to cast a video from your laptop:

For a specific IP

sudo ufw allow from 192.168.0.66 to any port 5556
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.0.66 to any port 5558

For any IP in the subnet 192.168.1.x

sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.0/24 to any port 5556
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.0/24 to any port 5558

Here are other examples of how these rules apply:

192.168.1.0/24 => 192.168.1.x
192.168.0.0/16 => 192.168.x.x

Links

• ArchWiki – MacBookPro11,x
• How to make Alsa pick a preferred sound device automatically?
• Visual Studio Code
• Font Awesome 5 Free’s cheatsheet
• Font Awesome 4 cheatsheet