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LainOS Layer 02 — Installation Guide(Nvidia instructions at bottom of page)

Version: 2026.06
Website: https://lainos.net
Downloads: https://lainos.net/download
Bug Reports: https://bugs.lainos.net

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Overview

LainOS Layer 02 is a privacy-hardened, rolling-release Arch Linux distribution running OpenRC instead of systemd. It uses a graphical installer (Calamares) and supports both UEFI and BIOS/legacy hardware.

This guide covers installation from a live USB to a single NVMe or SATA drive.

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Requirements

Component	Minimum
CPU	x86_64, 2+ cores
RAM	2 GB (4 GB recommended)
Storage	20 GB
Firmware	UEFI or BIOS/Legacy
Network	WiFi or Ethernet (optional during install)

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Step 1 — Download the ISO

Download the latest ISO from https://lainos.net/download

Verify the checksum before writing:

sha256sum lainOS-layer-02-*.iso

Compare against the checksum published on the download page.

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Step 2 — Write the USB

Linux:

doas dd if=lainOS-layer-02-*.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync

Replace /dev/sdX with your USB drive — double check with lsblk first. This will erase the drive.

Windows: Use Rufus in DD mode (not ISO mode).

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Step 3 — Boot the USB

UEFI Systems

1. Enter your firmware settings (usually F2, F12, Delete, or Escape during POST)
2. Disable Secure Boot — LainOS does not support Secure Boot
3. Disable CSM / Legacy Boot — set boot mode to UEFI only
4. Set the USB as the first boot device
5. Save and reboot

Verify UEFI mode: Once in the live session, open a terminal and run:

ls /sys/firmware/efi

If the directory exists, you are booted in UEFI mode. If not, go back and disable CSM.

BIOS / Libreboot Systems

Boot the USB normally. No special firmware settings required.

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Step 4 — Connect to the Internet (Optional)

The installer does not require internet. If you want to connect:

WiFi: First find your wireless interface name:

iwctl device list

Look for a device with Type station — the name is usually wlan0 but may differ (e.g. wlp2s0).

Tip: You can also use Tab completion inside iwctl to discover your interface name without typing it in full.

Option 1 — wifi-scan.sh (recommended): LainOS includes an interactive WiFi connection tool. Run it with your interface name:

wifi-scan.sh wlan0

It scans for networks, displays the list, prompts you to enter an SSID, then asks for your passphrase and connects automatically.

Option 2 — manual iwctl:

iwctl station wlan0 scan
iwctl station wlan0 get-networks
iwctl station wlan0 connect "Your Network Name"

Tip: Inside iwctl, you can use Tab completion to auto-complete interface names and network SSIDs instead of typing them manually.

Replace wlan0 with your actual interface name if different.

Ethernet: Should connect automatically.

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Step 5 — Launch the Installer

Press Super + Space to open the application launcher, type install, and press Enter. This launches the Calamares graphical installer.

Step 6 — Follow the Installer

Welcome

Select your language and click Next.

Location

Select your timezone. Click Next.

Keyboard

Select your keyboard layout. Click Next.

Partitions

Erase disk (recommended for new installs):

• Select Erase disk
• Select your target drive from the dropdown — double check this is the correct drive
• Leave filesystem as ext4
• Set swap as desired (None, Small, or Suspend)
• Click Next

Manual partitioning (advanced):

• Create a root partition (/) with ext4, minimum 20GB
• On UEFI: create a FAT32 EFI partition (/boot/efi), minimum 512MB, flag as ESP
• On BIOS: no EFI partition needed

Note on BTRFS: BTRFS is available in the filesystem dropdown but requires a separate /boot partition on ext4 for GRUB compatibility. If you select BTRFS without a separate /boot, the system will install but fail to boot.

Users

• Enter your full name, username, and password
• Set a root password
• Click Next

Summary

Review your selections carefully — especially the target drive. Click Install.

Installation

The installation takes 3–10 minutes depending on hardware. Do not power off during this time.

Finish

Click Done and reboot when prompted. Remove the USB drive when the screen goes dark.

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Step 7 — First Boot

On first boot you will see the OpenRC boot sequence followed by the tuigreet login prompt.

Log in with the username and password you set during installation. You will be dropped into a Sway Wayland desktop session.

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Default Software

Category	Application
Desktop	Sway (Wayland)
Terminal	Alacritty
Browser	LibreWolf
File Manager	Thunar
Text Editor	Mousepad
Password Manager	KeePassXC
Email	—
Media	mpv, VLC
Office	LibreOffice Fresh

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Post-Install Basics

Connect to WiFi

iwctl
station wlan0 scan
station wlan0 get-networks
station wlan0 connect "Your Network Name"

Update the System

doas pacman -Syu

Install Packages

doas pacman -S <packagename>

Privilege Escalation

LainOS uses doas instead of sudo:

doas <command>

Brightness Control

LainOS includes a brightness control script. Use it from a terminal:

brightness 7    # set brightness to 7
brightness 15   # maximum brightness
brightness 1    # minimum brightness

The maximum value depends on your hardware — check with:

cat /sys/class/backlight/$(ls /sys/class/backlight/ | head -1)/max_brightness

To bind brightness keys in Sway, add to ~/.config/sway/config:

bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp   exec brightness 10
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec brightness 5

Adjust the values to your preference.

Sway Keybinds (defaults)

Keybind	Action
Super + Enter	Open terminal
Super + D	Application launcher (rofi)
Super + Shift + Q	Close window
Super + Shift + C	Reload Sway config
Super + Shift + E	Exit Sway
Super + 1-9	Switch workspace
Super + Shift + 1-9	Move window to workspace

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Troubleshooting

System won't boot after install (UEFI)

The live USB must boot in UEFI mode for GRUB to install correctly. If you see GRUB errors like premature end of file, boot the live USB again and verify:

ls /sys/firmware/efi

If the directory doesn't exist, you booted in legacy/BIOS mode. Disable CSM in firmware and reinstall.

System won't boot after install (NVMe)

If you see VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0), the initramfs may not have loaded correctly. Boot the live USB and run:

lsblk
doas mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt   # adjust partition if needed
doas arch-chroot /mnt dracut --force --no-hostonly --no-compress --no-uefi /boot/initramfs-linux.img $(uname -r)
doas arch-chroot /mnt grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

No WiFi networks visible

doas rc-service iwd restart
wifi-scan.sh

Installer crashes or fails

Collect the session log and report at https://bugs.lainos.net:

doas grep -n "" /root/.cache/calamares/session.log | tail -100

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Privacy Notes

LainOS Layer 02 is privacy-hardened by default:

• MAC randomization enabled
• Ephemeral machine-id — regenerated on each boot, preventing hardware fingerprinting
• No telemetry of any kind
• LibreWolf as default browser — hardened Firefox fork
• KeePassXC for local password management
• Tor and torsocks included
• nftables firewall enabled by default
• No IPv6 by default

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Getting Help

• Website: https://lainos.net
• Bug reports: https://bugs.lainos.net
• Community: https://lainos.net/community
• PGP (Lead Architect): 456F 268D 14C9 ECCE 1A77 3558 03E8 F5B6 3BAC 3998

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Post installation:

Open a terminal, and issue the command sudo pacman -Syu to update the system, then nano to open and update LazyVim.

Thank You!

The LainOS Team

NVIDIA INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Install nvidia drivers: at the login screen, press Ctrl + Alt + F3, then login in and issue the following command:

sudo pacman -S nvidia-dkms nvidia-utils egl-wayland

2. Enable kernel mode setting by editing /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and adding the NVIDIA modules to the MODULES array(find and edit the 'MODULES' line to match the one below):

sudo nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

MODULES=(nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm)

3. Regenerate intramfs with:

sudo mkinitcpio -P

4. Launch sway with unsupported-GPU flag:

Open file to edit:

sudo nano /usr/share/wayland-sessions/sway.desktop

5. Change the line exec=sway to exec=sway --unsupported-gpu

ctrl+o then Enter to save, ctrl+x to Exit

6. Logout and log back in to test your GPU.

LainOS Layer 02 — どこに行ったって、人はつながっているのよ。