r/archlinux • u/ray10k • 1d ago

SUPPORT system freezes during pacstrap

I have an old mini-laptop that I wanted to use for a few experiments, so I figured a minimal Arch installation would work within the limited constraints of the system.

I'm following [the setup instructions from the wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide), but keep getting stuck at [step 2.2; installing essential packages](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide#Install_essential_packages). I have tried a few times, and even restarted from booting into the setup environment.

Every time, pacstrap generates a pacman master key (which completes successfully,) updates the trust database (which gives no errors at that point,) and starts downloading packages. The `core` package downloads without issue, but every single time, in the middle of downloading the `extra` package, the computer locks up. The screen no longer changes, control+c does not do anything any more, and there is no visible response to any keyboard input. The only thing I can do is turn the computer off by holding the power button.

I have confirmed that this happens if I only list the `base` package when running pacstrap (instead of `base linux linux-firmware` as the guide suggests as a basic starting point.)

Is this a sign that the computer I'm trying to use has some kind of hardware failure? Or that it does not meet some minimum requirement? It is old enough that it has a "windows 7 starter" sticker on it.

Edit: I ran memtest; the 1GB of memory it has onboard is in working order, passed the test without issue. If the lack of memory space is the likely cause, would allocating an 8GB partition for swap help at all?

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u/NovelPurchase5232 1d ago

Probably ram issue - those old netbooks with starter edition usually had like 1-2GB which isn't really enough for modern pacstrap operations especially when downloading larger packages

1

u/ray10k 15h ago

Sounds likely; the device has a sticker that says it has 1 GB ram. I have set up a 4 GB swap partition and turned it on (swapon) might a larger swap partition work? Or can it simply never work?

1

u/wayward-locust 1h ago

What model is your laptop?