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CachyOS Tools Guide

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Mattscreative edited this page Dec 5, 2025 · 2 revisions

CachyOS Tools Guide

This guide covers the custom tools provided by CachyOS to help you manage your system, configure hardware, and customize your experience.

Table of Contents

  1. CachyOS Hello
  2. chwd (CachyOS Hardware Detection)
  3. cachy-chroot
  4. CachyOS Settings Packages
  5. CachyOS Package Installer
  6. Kernel Manager
  7. CachyOS Settings Application

CachyOS Hello

What is CachyOS Hello?

CachyOS Hello is a graphical application that provides an easy way to:

  • Configure system settings
  • Install additional packages
  • Apply system tweaks
  • Access documentation and help

Launching CachyOS Hello

Method 1: Application Menu

  • Open your application menu
  • Search for "CachyOS Hello" or "Hello"
  • Click to launch

Method 2: Terminal

cachyos-hello

Features

CachyOS Hello typically includes:

  1. System Information
  • Hardware details
  • System configuration
  • Installed packages
  1. Package Installation
  • Browse available packages
  • Install software easily
  • Category-based browsing
  1. System Tweaks
  • Performance optimizations
  • Configuration options
  • System adjustments
  1. Documentation
  • Links to guides
  • Help resources
  • Community links

Using CachyOS Hello

To install packages:

  1. Launch CachyOS Hello
  2. Navigate to "Packages" or "Software"
  3. Browse categories or search
  4. Select packages to install
  5. Click "Install"

To apply tweaks:

  1. Navigate to "Tweaks" or "Settings"
  2. Browse available tweaks
  3. Enable/disable options
  4. Apply changes

chwd (CachyOS Hardware Detection)

What is chwd?

chwd stands for "CachyOS Hardware Detection". It's a tool that automatically detects your hardware and helps you install the correct drivers, especially for graphics cards.

Why Use chwd?

Manual driver installation can be:

  • Confusing for beginners
  • Error-prone
  • Time-consuming

chwd makes it:

  • Automatic
  • Easy
  • Reliable

Installing chwd

chwd is usually pre-installed, but if not:

sudo pacman -S chwd

What this command does:

  • sudo: Runs the command with administrator privileges (needed to install software)
  • pacman: The package manager for Arch Linux and CachyOS (like an app store for Linux)
  • -S: Means "synchronize" or "install" - tells pacman to install a package
  • chwd: The name of the package we want to install

If chwd is already installed, you'll see a message like:

warning: chwd-1.2.3-1 is already installed

If chwd is not installed, pacman will:

  1. Download the chwd package from the internet
  2. Install it on your system
  3. Show you what was installed

Using chwd

Detect Hardware

Detect your hardware:

sudo chwd -h

What this command does:

  • sudo: Needed because hardware detection requires administrator access
  • chwd: The command to run
  • -h: The "hardware" flag - tells chwd to detect hardware

Step-by-step what happens:

  1. chwd scans your computer's hardware
  2. It looks at your graphics card, network card, audio card, etc.
  3. It identifies what hardware you have
  4. It suggests which drivers you need

Example output you might see:

Detected hardware:
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
- Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200
- Realtek Audio

Recommended drivers:
- nvidia
- linux-firmware

Understanding the output:

  • Detected hardware: Shows what hardware chwd found in your computer
  • Recommended drivers: Lists the driver packages you should install
  • nvidia: The driver package for NVIDIA graphics cards
  • linux-firmware: Additional firmware files that some hardware needs

If you see an error:

  • Make sure you used sudo (administrator privileges)
  • Check that chwd is installed: pacman -Q chwd
  • Try running the command again

Install Graphics Drivers

For NVIDIA graphics:

# Detect and install NVIDIA drivers
sudo chwd -h -a nvidia

What this command does:

  • sudo: Administrator privileges (needed to install drivers)
  • chwd -h: Detect hardware
  • -a nvidia: The "apply" flag with "nvidia" - tells chwd to install NVIDIA drivers

What happens when you run this:

  1. chwd detects your NVIDIA graphics card
  2. It downloads the NVIDIA driver packages from the internet
  3. It installs the drivers on your system
  4. It configures your system to use the drivers
  5. You may need to reboot for changes to take effect

Example output you might see:

Detected: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
Installing: nvidia nvidia-utils nvidia-settings
Configuring system...
Done! Please reboot for changes to take effect.

After installation:

  • You'll need to reboot your computer: sudo reboot
  • After reboot, your NVIDIA graphics card will be fully functional
  • You can verify it's working with: nvidia-smi (should show your GPU information)

For AMD graphics:

# AMD drivers usually work out of box
# But you can verify with:
sudo chwd -h

What this does:

  • AMD graphics cards usually work automatically with Linux (no additional drivers needed)
  • Running chwd -h will show you what hardware is detected
  • If AMD drivers are needed, chwd will suggest them

If chwd suggests AMD drivers:

# Install AMD drivers if needed
sudo chwd -h -a amd

For Intel graphics:

# Intel graphics usually work out of box
# No additional drivers needed

What this means:

  • Intel integrated graphics (built into the CPU) usually work automatically
  • Linux includes Intel graphics drivers by default
  • You typically don't need to install anything extra

If Intel graphics aren't working:

# Install Intel graphics packages if needed
sudo pacman -S mesa vulkan-intel lib32-mesa lib32-vulkan-intel

What these packages do:

  • mesa: Open-source graphics driver (works with Intel, AMD, and some NVIDIA)
  • vulkan-intel: Vulkan API support for Intel graphics (for gaming and 3D applications)
  • lib32-mesa: 32-bit version (needed for some applications like Steam)
  • lib32-vulkan-intel: 32-bit Vulkan support (for 32-bit games and applications)

Switch Between GPUs

If you have multiple GPUs (e.g., NVIDIA + Intel):

# List available GPU configurations
sudo chwd -h

# Switch to NVIDIA
sudo chwd -h -a nvidia

# Switch to Intel (integrated)
sudo chwd -h -a intel

What happens:

  • Appropriate drivers are installed
  • Configuration files are updated
  • System may need reboot

Update Drivers

Update graphics drivers:

# Check for driver updates
sudo chwd -h -u

Or manually:

# Update all packages (includes drivers)
sudo pacman -Syu

Common chwd Commands

# Detect hardware
sudo chwd -h

# Install specific driver
sudo chwd -h -a driver-name

# Update drivers
sudo chwd -h -u

# Show help
chwd --help

Troubleshooting chwd

Problem: chwd doesn't detect hardware

Solutions:

  1. Run with sudo:

    sudo chwd -h

  2. Check hardware manually:

    lspci | grep -i vga

  3. Install chwd if missing:

    sudo pacman -S chwd

Problem: Driver installation fails

Solutions:

  1. Update system first:

    sudo pacman -Syu

  2. Check internet connection

  3. Try manual installation:

    # For NVIDIA
sudo pacman -S nvidia

cachy-chroot

What is cachy-chroot?

cachy-chroot is a helper tool for working with chroot environments. A chroot is a way to run a command or shell in an isolated directory tree.

When to Use cachy-chroot

Common use cases:

  • System recovery
  • Installing packages in a different environment
  • Building packages
  • System maintenance
  • Troubleshooting

Using cachy-chroot

Basic Usage

Enter a chroot environment:

# Mount and enter chroot
sudo cachy-chroot /path/to/root

What this does:

  • Mounts necessary filesystems
  • Changes root directory
  • Provides isolated environment

Common Scenarios

System recovery:

# Boot from USB/live environment
# Mount your installed system
sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt  # Root partition
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi  # EFI partition (if UEFI)

# Enter chroot
sudo cachy-chroot /mnt

# Now you're in your installed system
# Can run commands, install packages, etc.

Building packages:

# Create build environment
# Enter chroot
sudo cachy-chroot /path/to/build-root

# Build packages in isolated environment

cachy-chroot Commands

# Enter chroot
sudo cachy-chroot /path/to/root

# Exit chroot
exit

# Show help
cachy-chroot --help

Important Notes

** Warning:**

  • chroot requires root privileges
  • Be careful - you're working on your actual system
  • Always backup before making changes
  • Understand what you're doing

Best practices:

  • Use for system recovery or maintenance
  • Don't use unnecessarily
  • Understand the commands you run
  • Have backups

CachyOS Settings Packages

What are Settings Packages?

CachyOS Settings Packages provide pre-configured setups for desktop environments and window managers.

What they include:

  • Themes and icons
  • Wallpapers
  • Configuration files
  • Additional applications
  • Optimized settings

Available Settings Packages

Desktop Environments:

  • cachyos-kde-settings - KDE Plasma
  • cachyos-gnome-settings - GNOME (archived)

Window Managers:

  • cachyos-i3wm-settings - i3 window manager
  • cachyos-qtile-settings - Qtile
  • cachyos-niri-settings - Niri compositor
  • cachyos-wayfire-settings - Wayfire compositor

Installing Settings Packages

During installation:

  • Select desktop environment
  • Settings package installs automatically

After installation:

# Install settings package
sudo pacman -S cachyos-i3wm-settings

# Copy configuration files
cp -r /etc/skel/. ~/

See Switching Desktop Environments guide for detailed instructions.

CachyOS Package Installer

What is CachyOS Package Installer?

CachyOS Package Installer is a graphical tool for installing packages easily.

Features

  • Browse packages by category
  • Search for packages
  • Install/remove packages
  • View package information

Using Package Installer

Launch:

  • From application menu
  • Or command: cachyos-package-installer

Install packages:

  1. Browse or search
  2. Select packages
  3. Click "Install"
  4. Enter password when prompted

Remove packages:

  1. Find installed packages
  2. Select packages to remove
  3. Click "Remove"

Kernel Manager

What is Kernel Manager?

Kernel Manager helps you manage different kernel versions and schedulers.

Features

  • View installed kernels
  • Install/remove kernels
  • Switch between kernels
  • Change scheduler

Using Kernel Manager

View kernels:

# List installed kernels
pacman -Q | grep linux

# Check current kernel
uname -r

Install kernel:

# Install different kernel variant
sudo pacman -S linux-cachyos-eevdf

Remove kernel:

# Remove kernel (be careful!)
sudo pacman -R linux-cachyos-old-version

Switch kernel:

  • Reboot and select from boot menu
  • Or set default in bootloader

CachyOS Settings Application

What is CachyOS Settings?

CachyOS Settings is a graphical application for configuring CachyOS-specific settings.

Features

  • System configuration
  • Performance settings
  • Hardware management
  • System tweaks

Launching

From application menu:

  • Search for "CachyOS Settings"

From terminal:

cachyos-settings

Using CachyOS Settings

Navigate categories:

  • System
  • Performance
  • Hardware
  • Appearance
  • Applications

Apply changes:

  • Modify settings
  • Click "Apply" or "Save"
  • Some changes may require reboot

Additional Resources

Summary

This guide covered:

  1. CachyOS Hello - System configuration and package installation
  2. chwd - Hardware detection and driver management
  3. cachy-chroot - Chroot environment helper
  4. Settings Packages - Pre-configured DE/WM setups
  5. Package Installer - Graphical package management
  6. Kernel Manager - Kernel management
  7. CachyOS Settings - System configuration

Key Takeaways:

  • CachyOS provides user-friendly tools for system management
  • chwd simplifies graphics driver installation
  • Settings packages provide ready-to-use configurations
  • Use tools appropriate for your experience level
  • Always understand what tools do before using them

This guide is based on the CachyOS Wiki and expanded with detailed explanations for beginners. For the most up-to-date tool information, always refer to the official CachyOS documentation.

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