Installing different kernels

Getting the required modules

We will need to install the kernel itself.

sudo pacman -S linux-zen linux-zen-headers

If you are using a nvidia graphics card, replace your nvidia (drivers) package with nvidia-dkms package.

sudo pacman -S dkms nvidia-dkms

Modifying GRUB

Now we are gonna change the grub config to make it easier to use with multiple kernels. Lets open the grub config file using sudo vim /etc/default/grub. Now modify the following properties (GRUB_DEFAULT=saved needs to added, isn't already present)

GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_SAVEDDEFAULT=true
GRUB_DISABLE_SUBMENU=y

Then to apply the changes regenerate your grub config using:

sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

The location of your grub config might vary!

Now you should be able to restart your computer and boot into your machine with the linux-zen kernel! Souce engine based games seem to run much better now and the zen-kernel is supposed to better for day to day use.

Issues

• booting/logging in to a black screen: run mkinitcpio -P