CachyOS FAQ and Troubleshooting

Part of CachyOS Wiki Notes. From the official CachyOS wiki (last updated 2026-10-03).

Applies to CachyOS and Arch-based distros; explicitly not a replacement for the Arch Wiki (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Main_page). The page itself warns against trusting AI-model-generated commands unverified.

Reporting bugs

• GitHub CachyOS/distribution, forum discuss.cachyos.org/c/feedback/bugreports/10, Discord support channel, r/cachyos. Read the pinned support guidelines first.
• Simplified man pages:

tldr git
tldr git add

Log gathering

The one-command bug report (collects dmesg, journalctl, inxi, then offers to upload to the CachyOS paste site):

sudo cachyos-bugreport.sh

Run a failing GUI program from a terminal, or capture its output:

firefox &> firefox-log.txt

Press CTRL + C after it fails to start so the output gets written.

Recently upgraded packages:

grep "\[ALPM\] upgraded" /var/log/pacman.log | tail -n 50

• Priorities: debug, info, notice, warning, err, crit, alert, emerg; numeric 0=emerg, 1=alert, 2=crit, 3=err, 4=warning, 5=notice, 6=info, 7=debug.
• journalctl -k reads kernel messages from the systemd journal (persistent across reboots if configured); dmesg reads the volatile kernel ring buffer (lost after reboot).

Useful journalctl invocations (from the wiki page):

journalctl
journalctl -b
journalctl -u sshd -u polkit -b -0 | grep -i "fail\|error\|denied"
journalctl -f
journalctl -u adguardhome -f
journalctl --user -u pipewire -u pipewire-pulse -u wireplumber -b 0
journalctl -u bluetooth -b 0
journalctl -u bluetooth -b -1
journalctl --since "10 minutes ago"
journalctl --since "1 hour ago"
journalctl --since "2024-01-15 14:30:00"
journalctl --since "09:00" --until "10:00"
journalctl -p err..emerg
journalctl _PID=3344
journalctl /usr/bin/firefox

Kernel messages:

journalctl -k
journalctl -k -b 0
journalctl -k -b -1
journalctl -k -f
journalctl -k | grep -i "nvidia\|amd\|intel"
journalctl -k | grep -i "usb\|pci"
journalctl -k | grep -i "memory\|ram"
journalctl -k --since "1 hour ago"

dmesg equivalents:

dmesg
dmesg -T
dmesg | less
dmesg -l err,crit,alert,emerg

Installation and live environment

• The live ISO ships KDE Plasma only. It exists to install CachyOS or to run cachy-chroot for recovery — test other DEs in a VM.
• Installer slow to start after “Launch Installer” = it is running calamares-online.sh, which needs internet. The script: removes old keyring files → updates Arch + CachyOS keyring packages → initializes and populates the pacman keyring → enables network time sync → checks boot type (UEFI or BIOS/MBR) to prompt for the bootloader.
• Installer stuck at 33% = struggling to download packages (slow/unstable connection).

Bootloader recovery (e.g. entries gone after a BIOS update)

1. Boot the live ISO.

2. Chroot into the installed system:

   sudo cachy-chroot

   With BTRFS + the CachyOS preset, answer y at the prompt. For extra partitions type /boot for systemd-boot, Limine or rEFInd, or /boot/efi for GRUB. If /boot was deleted, recreate it per the install guide’s UEFI/GPT scheme. See cachy-chroot Recovery Helper.

3. Reinstall the bootloader (Limine example):

   sudo limine-install

4. Reinstall the CachyOS kernel:

   sudo pacman -Syu linux-cachyos linux-cachyos-headers

5. exit the chroot, then reboot.

Pacman troubleshooting

Error	Cause / fix
signature is invalid	Outdated mirror or broken keyring. Resync with sudo pacman -Syu, rate mirrors, or reset keyrings.
404 Not Found	Package not on the current mirror; local DB out of sync → sudo pacman -Syu, then retry.
could not remove	Unmanageable pacman cache file → CachyOS Hello → Troubleshooting → Clear package cache, or sudo rm -r /var/cache/pacman/pkg/*
File is corrupted (invalid or corrupted package (PGP signature))	Keyring problem.
unable to lock database	Another pacman holds the lock, or a crash left db.lck.
failed retrieving file … Connection timed out / Couldn't resolve host name / 526	Bad/slow mirrors → sudo cachyos-rate-mirrors then sudo pacman -Syu.
warning: local is newer than…	Stale mirror or downgrade in repo → sudo pacman -Syuu allows downgrades.
failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)	Files already exist from another source; remove the conflicting files manually, then re-run.
ERROR: module not found: 'nvidia', 'nvidia_modeset', …	chwd always enables Early Module Loading, and NVIDIA modules may be missing for other installed kernels → sudo pacman -S nvidia.

Keyring reset sequence:

sudo rm -rf /etc/pacman.d/gnupg/
sudo pacman-key --init
sudo pacman-key --populate
 
sudo pacman-key --recv-keys F3B607488DB35A47 --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com
sudo pacman-key --lsign-key F3B607488DB35A47
 
sudo rm -R /var/lib/pacman/sync

If that fails, the problem is mirrors, not the keyring:

sudo cachyos-rate-mirrors
sudo pacman -Scc

Remove a stale lock file:

sudo rm /var/lib/pacman/db.lck

Example conflicting-file fix:

sudo rm /usr/lib/environment.d/10-gsk.conf

Other answers

• Discord asks for an unavailable update — Discord self-updates ahead of the repos; follow the Arch Wiki’s Discord fix guide.

• Slow boot — systemd-analyze blame or systemd-analyze critical-chain. If cachyos-rate-mirrors.service is the culprit, stop it running at boot:

  systemctl mask cachyos-rate-mirrors
  systemctl mask cachyos-rate-mirrors.timer

• Name origin — after the “Cachy” scheduler, the original name of the cacULE CPU scheduler (github.com/hamadmarri/cacule-cpu-scheduler). The project started in 2020–2021 when ptr1337 was collaborating with Hamad on cacULE, and the x86-64-v3 optimized distro was named after that scheduler.

• -git packages — usually update once on Monday, with exceptions.

• -bin packages — precompiled binaries; they do not get the same performance optimizations as source-built CachyOS packages.

• Disable the Plymouth boot animation — add kernel parameters:

  plymouth.enable=0 disablehooks=plymouth
  

  Regenerate per bootloader: systemd-boot sudo sdboot-manage gen; GRUB sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg; Limine sudo limine-mkinitcpio. See CachyOS Boot Managers.

• Request a package — CachyOS ships many precompiled AUR packages; request more via GitHub CachyOS/distribution/issues, the forum’s repository category, or Discord.

Security and best practices

• AUR safety: understand the PKGBUILD (variables source, pkgname; functions build(), package()); verify source URLs point at official/trusted sites; review install steps and .install scripts; check the maintainer’s AUR history; verify checksums (SHA256, BLAKE2b) and PGP signatures (validpgpkeys); be extra cautious with -bin packages; read the AUR comments; never use --skipinteg or similar bypass flags; control your AUR helper (yay, paru) so it shows the PKGBUILD and diffs, or build manually with makepkg; ask whether you need the package at all; keep the system updated with sudo pacman -Syu.
• GUI package managers — Pamac is known to improperly handle tasks such as corrupting system package keyrings, causing PGP signature errors that block updates. Discover (KDE) and GNOME Software Center use PackageKit: generally safe for Flatpaks, risky for system packages, and can crash mid-transaction. Recommended: pacman on the CLI; if you want a GUI, Shelly or the CachyOS Package Installer (direct pacman wrappers).