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CachyOS

CachyOS Installation Desktop/Laptop

Before you begin

Section titled “Before you begin”

Installation Methods

Section titled “Installation Methods”

Manual Partitioning

Section titled “Manual Partitioning”

UEFI/GPT

Section titled “UEFI/GPT”

The partition table for each boot manager varies. Please follow the correct instructions for each.

  1. Boot into the ISO and click the Launch Installer button

  2. Set the preferred Language and Region/Timezone

  3. Configure Keyboard Layout

  4. Select Manual partitioning

  5. Create a new partition with the following:

  6. Create another partition for root:

  7. Double check that Install boot loader on: is pointing to /boot

  8. Select the Desktop Environment of choice, see Desktop Environments.

  9. Customize which packages should or should not be installed during the installation process.

  10. Setup login credentials.

  11. Review the installation summary on the Overview Page carefully. Proceed with the installation by clicking on Install Now if everything looks correct. Otherwise, go back and make any necessary changes.

MBR/BIOS

Section titled “MBR/BIOS”

  1. Boot into the ISO and click the Launch Installer button

  2. Set your preferred Language and Region/Timezone

  3. Configure your Keyboard Layout

  4. Select Manual partitioning

  5. Create a new partition with the following:

  6. Double check that Install boot loader on: is pointing to your boot drive e.g: /dev/sda

  7. Pick the Desktop Environment you’d like to use, see Desktop Environments.

  8. Select the specific packages you wish to install from the provided list, and deselect any that you do not require.

  9. Setup your login credentials.

  10. Review the installation summary on the Overview Page carefully. If all the settings look correct for you, proceed with the installation by clicking on Install Now. Otherwise, go back and make any necessary changes.

Erase Disk

Section titled “Erase Disk”

The “Erase Disk” Option in Calamares will wipe the selected disk and install CachyOS to the target.

  1. Boot into the ISO and click on Launch Installer

  2. Select the preferred Boot Manager. Check the Boot Managers section for more information.

  3. Set the preferred Language and Region/Timezone

  4. Configure Keyboard Layout

  5. Select Erase Disk and choose a Filesystem.

  6. Select the Desktop Environment of choice, see Desktop Environments.

  7. Customize which packages should or should not be installed during the installation process.

  8. Setup login credentials.

  9. Review the installation summary on the Overview Page carefully. Proceed with the installation by clicking on Install Now if everything looks correct. Otherwise, go back and make any necessary changes.

Dual Booting Windows and CachyOS

Section titled “Dual Booting Windows and CachyOS”

  • Prerequisites

  • Disable Windows Fast Startup and Hibernation

    • Open Windows Powershell as Administrator and execute the following command:
      Terminal window
      powercfg /H off
      Reboot the system to make sure the changes take effect.

  • Windows BitLocker must be disabled

    • Checking if BitLocker is enabled:
      Open a Command Prompt as administrator and execute the following command
      manage-bde -status

    If Encryption Method shows as None, then BitLocker is disabled.

  • Secure Boot must be disabled.

  • A +30GB empty partition

    • Guide on how to shrink a Windows partition:
      • Press Win + R, type diskmgmt.msc, and press Enter to open Disk Management.
      • Identify your main Windows partition (usually C:) and right-click on it.
      • Click on Shrink Volume... and specify at least 30720MB (30GB) and click on Shrink.

  • Booteable USB with CachyOS

We need to copy the Windows EFI binaries to the Linux EFI partition so that the boot manager can recognize them.

  1. Locate the Windows EFI partition with lsblk

    Execute this command in the terminal
    lsblk -o NAME,FSTYPE,SIZE,MOUNTPOINT
    Example output
                NAME        FSTYPE   SIZE MOUNTPOINT
    zram0               15.3G [SWAP]
    nvme0n1            476.9G
    ├─nvme0n1p1 vfat     100M
    ├─nvme0n1p2           16M
    ├─nvme0n1p3 ntfs   234.4G
    ├─nvme0n1p4 ntfs     830M
    ├─nvme0n1p5 vfat       2G /boot
    └─nvme0n1p6 btrfs  239.6G /var/tmp

    EFI partitions are almost always formatted as FAT32/vfat. Since nvme0n1p1 does not have a Linux mount point, we can assume that this partition is the Windows EFI partition.

  2. Temporarily mount the Windows EFI partition

    Terminal window
    sudo mkdir /mnt/WinBoot
    sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/WinBoot # Replace `nvme0n1p1` with the name of the Windows EFI partition.

  3. Copy the EFI binaries from the Windows EFI partition to the Linux EFI partition:

    Terminal window
    sudo cp -r /mnt/WinBoot/EFI/Microsoft/ /boot/EFI

  4. Unmount the previously mounted partition, and Windows should appear in the boot menu on the next startup.

    Terminal window
    sudo umount /mnt/WinBoot
    sudo rm -r /mnt/WinBoot