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Archbox Build Reference

System: archbox
Built: January 31 – February 1, 2026
OS: Arch Linux with Hyprland
Inspired by: Chris Titus Tech's minimal gaming setup

Hardware

Component Details
CPU AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (12C/24T, no iGPU)
GPU AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT (Navi 31, amdgpu driver)
RAM 32 GB
NVMe 1 1 TB — Arch Linux (Btrfs) — /dev/nvme0n1
NVMe 2 NTFS — GameVault — /dev/nvme1n1p1
NVMe 3 NTFS — GameVault2 — /dev/nvme2n1p1
WiFi 5 GHz (TheNoisyNetwork5, channel 149)
Mic Blue Yeti USB (vendor 046d, product 0ab7)
Webcam Logitech C925e (backup mic)
Audio Out DisplayPort audio via Navi 31 HDMI/DP
Monitor 1 ASUS 2560×1440 @ 165 Hz (DP-1, main, landscape)
Monitor 2 LG 3840×2160 (DP-3, portrait mode, scaled to 2560×1440)

Partition Layout (nvme0n1)

nvme0n1p1  — EFI System Partition — /boot (FAT32)
nvme0n1p2  — Arch Linux root (Btrfs)

Btrfs Subvolumes

Subvolume Mount Point Purpose
@ / Root filesystem
@home /home User data
@log /var/log System logs
@cache /var/cache Package cache
@snapshots /.snapshots Snapper snapshots

Bootloader: GRUB with grub-btrfs for snapshot booting

Key Configuration Files

Hyprland

  • Main config: ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf
  • Startup script: start-hyprland (wrapper, launched from ~/.bash_profile)

Monitor Configuration (in hyprland.conf)

monitor = DP-1, 2560x1440@165, 0x0, 1
monitor = DP-3, 3840x2160, -1440x-560, 1, transform, 1
  • DP-1 (ASUS): Main display at origin
  • DP-3 (LG): Portrait mode (transform,1), positioned left of main, offset -560px vertically

Keybindings (in hyprland.conf)

Key Action
Super + Return foot terminal
Super + D Wofi app launcher
Super + Arrow Move focus
Super + 1-9 Switch workspace
Super + Shift + 1-9 Move window to workspace
Super + Shift + < / > Move window between monitors
Super + < / > Focus other monitor
Super + Shift + Arrow Move window directionally
Print Screenshot (selection with slurp)
Shift + Print Screenshot (full screen)

Desktop Environment

  • Status bar: Waybar
  • App launcher: Wofi
  • Terminal: foot
  • File manager: Thunar
  • Wallpaper: swww (exec-once in hyprland.conf, set to solid black via swww clear 000000)

GTK Dark Theme

  • ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini
  • ~/.config/gtk-4.0/settings.ini
[Settings]
gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=1
gtk-theme-name=Adwaita-dark

Screenshots

  • Scripts: ~/Pictures/Screenshots/screenshot.sh and screenshot-full.sh
  • Output: ~/Pictures/Screenshots/YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.png
  • Tools: grim (capture) + slurp (selection)

Claude Desktop Scaling Fix

  • ~/.local/share/applications/claude-desktop.desktop
  • Exec line: claude --force-device-scale-factor=1 %U

Storage Mounts

Game Drives (/etc/fstab)

UUID=1EAE64BBAE648D59  /mnt/GameVault   ntfs-3g  defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=000  0 0
UUID=849AB7AD9AB799DE  /mnt/GameVault2  ntfs-3g  defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=000  0 0

Contents of GameVault:

  • SteamLibrary
  • Modded XWA (X-Wing Alliance)
  • GOG games
  • Blizzard
  • Minecraft
  • NexusMods / SatisfactoryMods
  • Skyrim Special Edition
  • GBA ROMs
  • Shared Books

Contents of GameVault2:

  • SteamLibrary

NAS Shares (Systemd Automount)

NAS: Unraid server at 192.168.1.152 (tower.local)
Credentials: /etc/samba/credentials (chmod 600)

username=<unraid_username>
password=<unraid_password>

Working mount/automount unit pairs in /etc/systemd/system/:

Share Mount Point Unit Files Notes
Media /mnt/nas/media mnt-nas-media.mount / .automount
Photos /mnt/nas/photos mnt-nas-photos.mount / .automount
Backups /mnt/nas/backups mnt-nas-backups.mount / .automount
Clayton - Data /mnt/nas/clayton_data mnt-nas-clayton_data.mount / .automount Requires vers=3.0 in mount options

Mount unit template:

[Unit]
Description=NAS <Share> Share
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Mount]
What=//192.168.1.152/<Share>
Where=/mnt/nas/<share>
Type=cifs
Options=credentials=/etc/samba/credentials,uid=1000,gid=1000,_netdev

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Automount unit template:

[Unit]
Description=Automount NAS <Share> Share

[Automount]
Where=/mnt/nas/<share>
TimeoutIdleSec=300

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable with: sudo systemctl enable --now mnt-nas-<share>.automount

Clayton - Data Share Fix

The Clayton - Data share has spaces in its name, which caused mount.cifs to fail with "cannot mount read-only" errors. The root cause was an SMB protocol version negotiation issue — the fix was adding vers=3.0 to the mount options. The share name with spaces works fine in the What= line without escaping.

Mount unit: /etc/systemd/system/mnt-nas-clayton_data.mount

[Unit]
Description=NAS Clayton-Data Share
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Mount]
What=//192.168.1.152/Clayton - Data
Where=/mnt/nas/clayton_data
Type=cifs
Options=credentials=/etc/samba/credentials,uid=1000,gid=1000,_netdev,vers=3.0

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Diagnostic tool: smbclient (installed via pacman -S smbclient) — useful for listing and testing NAS shares:

sudo smbclient -L //192.168.1.152 -A /etc/samba/credentials   # List shares
sudo smbclient "//192.168.1.152/Clayton - Data" -A /etc/samba/credentials  # Connect interactively

Audio Configuration

  • Stack: PipeWire with WirePlumber
  • Output: Navi 31 HDMI/DP (wpctl set-default 34)
  • Input: Blue Yeti (wpctl set-default 65)
  • GUI: pavucontrol
  • CLI: wpctl, pw-play, arecord

Blue Yeti USB Autosuspend Fix

The Blue Yeti gets I/O errors from USB autosuspend. Fixed with a udev rule:

File: /etc/udev/rules.d/50-usb-autosuspend.rules

ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="046d", ATTR{idProduct}=="0ab7", ATTR{power/autosuspend}="-1"

Manual override (temporary):

echo -1 | sudo tee /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/autosuspend

Network Configuration

  • WiFi: NetworkManager, connected to TheNoisyNetwork5 (5 GHz)
  • Speed: ~212 Mbit/s down, ~85 Mbit/s up
  • mDNS: avahi-daemon enabled for .local resolution

/etc/nsswitch.conf (hosts line)

hosts: mymachines mdns_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] resolve [!UNAVAIL=return] files myhostname dns

Enabled Systemd Services

Service Purpose
NetworkManager WiFi/network management
fstrim.timer Periodic SSD TRIM
avahi-daemon mDNS / .local resolution
mnt-nas-media.automount NAS Media on-demand mount
mnt-nas-photos.automount NAS Photos on-demand mount
mnt-nas-backups.automount NAS Backups on-demand mount
mnt-nas-clayton_data.automount NAS Clayton-Data on-demand mount

Gaming Setup

  • Steam: Installed, libraries at /mnt/GameVault/SteamLibrary and /mnt/GameVault2/SteamLibrary
  • AUR helper: paru
  • Proton: Native Steam Proton (Proton-GE pending via protonup-qt)
  • Locale: en_US.UTF-8 (fixed for Steam)

Personal Bash Resources

Repo: https://github.com/TheTechChild/personal-bash-resources

Modular framework with platform detection (macOS/Arch). Key Arch gaming modules in modules/arch/gaming.sh:

  • arch-setup-base — Core system packages
  • arch-setup-shell — Shell environment (zsh, starship)
  • arch-setup-desktop — Hyprland/DWM desktop
  • arch-setup-gaming — Gaming tools (Steam, Proton, etc.)
  • arch-setup-vm — VM passthrough setup (VFIO)
  • arch-setup-apps — Applications
  • arch-setup-all — Run everything

Includes encrypted backup system with manifest for SSH keys/configs.

Backup

Original Windows system backed up via Clonezilla to Unraid NAS before Arch installation. Full disk image preserved.

Pending / Unresolved

🎮 Proton-GE

Run protonup-qt to download Proton-GE for better game compatibility.

🔑 Bitwarden

paru -S bitwarden

✈� X-Wing Alliance VM (Single-GPU Passthrough)

Full VM passthrough setup still needed for X-Wing Alliance with HOTAS:

  1. Run arch-setup-vm from personal-bash-resources
  2. Configure VFIO kernel parameters for single-GPU passthrough
  3. Dump 7900 XT GPU ROM (may need to disable Resizable BAR in BIOS)
  4. Set up libvirt/QEMU Windows VM
  5. Configure USB passthrough for HOTAS (flight stick + throttle)
  6. Install xwaupgrade (https://xwaupgrade.com/) in VM
  7. This is the only game requiring a VM — everything else runs via Proton

� NAS IP Stability

Currently using DHCP IP 192.168.1.152 for the NAS. Consider setting a DHCP reservation on the router or a static IP on Unraid for reliability.

🎮 Test Gaming

Test Steam library games under Proton to verify everything works.

Quick Reference Commands

# Restart Hyprland (reload config)
hyprctl reload

# Check monitor setup
hyprctl monitors

# Audio defaults
wpctl set-default 34    # Output (Navi 31)
wpctl set-default 65    # Input (Blue Yeti)
wpctl status            # Show all audio devices

# Mount NAS shares manually
sudo systemctl start mnt-nas-media.mount

# Check NAS mount status
systemctl status mnt-nas-media.automount

# WiFi
nmcli device wifi list
nmcli device wifi connect "TheNoisyNetwork5" password "..."

# Speed test
speedtest-cli

# Screenshot
grim -g "$(slurp)" ~/Pictures/Screenshots/$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).png

# System update
sudo pacman -Syu
paru -Syu

# Btrfs snapshot (via snapper)
sudo snapper create --description "pre-update"