[gpt/grub2: gdisk make 2 MB partition of type ef02 (BIOS boot partition) make other partitions ] mkfs.(your fs) /your/device mount /your/device /mnt mount ... /mnt/var mkdir -pv /mnt/var/lib/pacman ntpdate time.nrc.ca [should only be needed if your system clock was way off on boot: pacman-key --init pacman-key --populate archlinux ] pacman --cachedir /mnt/var/cache/pacman/pkg -r /mnt -Sy pacman --cachedir /mnt/var/cache/pacman/pkg -r /mnt -S filesystem mount ... /mnt/boot (and home, etc. ...) mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev mount -o bind /proc /mnt/proc mount -o bind /sys /mnt/sys pacman --cachedir /mnt/var/cache/pacman/pkg -r /mnt -S base net-tools openssh [grub2: chroot /mnt pacman -S grub2-bios grub-install --directory=/usr/lib/grub/i386-pc --target=i386-pc --boot-directory=/boot --no-floppy --recheck /dev/sda grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg (or make your own grub.cfg) ] then install grub: chroot /mnt cp /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/* /boot/grub/ (if needed) edit menu.lst grub grub> root (hd0,?) (the boot partition) grub> setup (hd0) edit /mnt/etc/mkinitcpio.conf if needed (remove unused hooks or add special ones) and re-run "mkinitcpio -p linux" edit /etc/fstab man archlinux and edit everything needed (also, man any config files mentioned in "man archlinux" to get their format) locale-gen leave chroot, unmount, reboot.