FAQ
Short answers with links to the full page, for anything longer than a sentence.
What desktop is this?
Hyprland, themed as one piece; see Menu System and Theming.
Why isn't there an AUR helper?
An AUR helper can build arbitrary, unreviewed packages on demand, which cuts against sobarch's minimalism and security goals. Everything non-official is vendored, reviewed, and built the same way instead; see AUR & Custom Packages.
How do I update everything?
Super → Sobarch → Update System, or sobarch update in a terminal. It runs pacman -Syu, rebuilds any vendored package that's behind, and merges config updates, asking before it touches anything you've edited. A plain pacman -Syu also works; the vendored packages are then updated in the background afterward. See Installing & Updating.
How do I install something that isn't installed?
Optional software is in Super → Sobarch → Install Apps, which lists every profile package, the ones you don't have yet first. Anything else in the official repositories is a normal pacman -S. There's no AUR helper, so other AUR packages are yours to build by hand.
How do I update my laptop's firmware?
fwupd is part of every install. Use Super → System → Firmware or Super+Shift+F to check for updates, install them, or see each device's firmware version; the same actions are available from a terminal through fwupdmgr. See Menu System.
What about battery life and power tuning?
On a laptop, tlp, tlp-rdw, and tlp-pd are installed and enabled automatically, so power tuning works without any setup. The installer detects a laptop from the firmware's chassis type, so desktops and virtual machines don't get these packages or the menu entry below.
tlp.serviceapplies the power settings at boot and switches between AC and battery settings when you plug or unplug the charger.tlp-rdwreacts to NetworkManager events to manage radios.systemd-rfkillis masked because it competes with TLP for radio state.- Run
tlp-stat -sto check that TLP is active. - To pick Performance, Balanced, or Power Saver, click the battery module in waybar or use Super → System → Power Profile.
tlp-pdprovides the profile interface andtlpctlis its command-line client.
If the chassis type is reported wrongly (some firmware does this), add the packages by hand with sudo pacman -S tlp tlp-rdw tlp-pd, then enable tlp.service and tlp-pd.service.
For other tools, the System Tuning profile adds lact, nvtop (per-process GPU usage, which the default system monitor, btop, doesn't show), smartmontools, ethtool, and sobarch-via-udev (a udev rule that lets the VIA keyboard configurator at usevia.app reach your keyboard without root); see Software Profiles.
Can I dual-boot with Windows or another OS?
Yes, if you free up disk space for it yourself first (the installer never shrinks an existing partition for you). See Dual-Boot.
Is my disk encrypted?
Optionally. The installer's Disk step has a toggle that LUKS-encrypts the root partition, unlocked with a passphrase at boot; it's off by default. See Security for what is and isn't covered.
Why bash instead of zsh or fish?
Plain bash plus ble.sh gets most of the fish/zsh conveniences (autosuggestions, syntax highlighting, history search) without swapping the default shell. Nothing stops you from switching to zsh or fish yourself; it's just not what ships or gets reconciled by Updating Your Config.
Is there a command-line tool?
Yes, a small one: sobarch, for update, config-conflict review, package sync, snapshot restore, and rescue ISO refresh. See The sobarch Command.
I'm stuck. Where do I get help?
Check Troubleshooting first, then open an issue on GitHub.