10 easy steps to convert Manjaro Linux installation back to native Arch Linux

After my previous review of Manjaro Linux Manjaro KDE! An unpromised Release with promised breakages !! things have changed a lot on Manjaro side and it is a much mature project with a huge users numbers and many more release and different versions. The project is much stable and is getting better everyday. I installed the MATE version and used it for a couple of days and it was fun but then I decided to get back the base to native Arch Linux keeping the skeleton designed by Manjaro team as it is.

Here is how I did it and it worked for me perfectly.

1 . Before doing anything else just change the pacman.config settings as below, you can copy/paste these settings if you like to

#

# /etc/pacman.conf

#

#

# GENERAL OPTIONS

#

[options]

SigLevel = Never

LocalFileSigLevel = Optional

HoldPkg = pacman glibc

SyncFirst = pacman

Architecture = auto

Color

CheckSpace

ILoveCandy

#

# REPOSITORIES

#

[core]

Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[extra]

Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[community]

Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

2 . Change pacman mirrors to these, again you can copy/paste these settings if you like to keep these mirrors for you

# Arch Linux repository mirrorlist

Server = http://mirror.us.leaseweb.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch

Server = http://archlinux.polymorf.fr/$repo/os/$arch

Server = http://mirrors.kernel.org/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch

3. Open /etc/ with a file manager as root ( I did it as thunar root ) . Manually change these files contents and make one file back as given below

a ) /etc/manjaro-release.bak

b) pacman-mirrors.conf.bak

c) /etc/os-release : change conetnts to these

NAME="Arch Linux"

ID=arch

PRETTY_NAME="Arch Linux"

ANSI_COLOR="0;36"

HOME_URL="https://www.archlinux.org/"

SUPPORT_URL="https://bbs.archlinux.org/"

BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.archlinux.org/"

d) /etc/issue : change conetnts to these

change conetnts to these

Arch Linux \r (\l)

e ) /etc/lsb-release : change conetnts to these

LSB_VERSION=1.4

DISTRIB_ID=Arch

DISTRIB_RELEASE=rolling

DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Arch Linux"

4 . Do # pacman -Syu and deal with the dpendencies if any arise accordingly , I did not meet any so I did a full upgrade of all the packages without any issue.

5 . Install Arch Linux stock kernel and its headers files

# pacman -Sy linux linux-headers

You have to deal with any dependencies if arise manually yourself.

6 . Install nvidia and its dependencies if any if you are on Nvidia Graphic card like me. Again you would know how to deal with the dependencies if you get any issues.

# pacman -Sy nvidia nvidia-utils

7. Search manually for all Manjaro related packages and remove them.

8. Do # pacman -Syu once again and you will get warnings that some packages installed are newer than the available on mirrors/repositories , you can reinstall them or live with them , I personally removed all those packages and reinstalled them from Arch Linux repositories.

9. You might end up with your mouse freezing up , I tried to know the reason but could not find one but did find a fix which works

a ) Installing the tlp package

b ) $ sudo tlp usb

10 . Remove all Manjaro related wallpapers and eye-candy effects , icons,buttons and you are ready to reboot and enjoy your Manjaro Linux fully converted back to native Arch Linux.