/ArchLinux-ARM-Raspberry-Pi

Setup a Raspberry Pi (1, 2, 3 and 4, model B and B+) with Arch Linux, from scratch.

ArchLinuxARM installation on Raspberry Pi (from an Arch Linux)

Setup a Raspberry Pi with Arch Linux, from scratch - Support RPI 1, 2, 3, 3B+, 4, 4B, Zero 2 W
All steps described below should be done in a terminal (command line interface), either from Mac OS or your favorite Linux distribution.

1) Micro SD Card Partition Table and File System Creation

Open a terminal and type 'df -h' to identify your micro SD card.

Replace sdX in the following instructions with the device identifier for the micro SD card as it appears on your computer (eg. sda, sdb, sdc, sdd...).

Start fdisk (as root or with sudo) to start partitioning :
fdisk /dev/sdX
At the fdisk prompt, delete old partitions (if there is any) and create a new one:

Type 'o'. This will clear out any partitions on the drive.
Type 'p' to list partitions. There should be no partitions left.

1.1 Boot partition

Type 'n', then 'p' for primary, '1' (Default) for the first partition on the drive, press ENTER to accept the default first sector, then type '+100M' for the last sector.
Type 't', press ENTER, then type 'c' to set the first partition as W95 FAT32 (LBA). Changed type of partition 'Linux' to 'W95 FAT32 (LBA)'. Type 'a', default partition number should be '1', press ENTER to toggle bootable flag on boot partition. The bootable flag on partition 1 is enabled now.

1.2 Root partition

Type 'n', then 'p' for primary, '2' (Default) should be the next partition on the drive, press ENTER to accept the default first sector, then '+49G' (eg: this will create a 49gb partition) for root partition size.

1.3 Swap partition

Type 'n' : then 'p' for primary, '3' (Default) should be the next partition on the drive, press ENTER to accept default first sector, then ENTER again for default last sector (it will take all the available space left).
Type 't', default partition number should be '3', press ENTER, then '82' to set the second logical partition to type Linux Swap.

1.4 Check partition table

Type 'p' to check how partition table is looking, if everything looks good, write the partition table and exit by typing 'w'.

Creating file system operations (must be done as a root user)

1.5 Create and mount the FAT file system (-n is for FAT label option):

mkfs.vfat /dev/sdX1 -n boot
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/boot

1.6 Create and mount the extfile system (-L is for label option):

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX2 -L root
mkdir /mnt/root
mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt/root

1.7 Create and mount Swap file system (-L is for label option):

mkswap /dev/sdX3 -L swap
swapon /dev/sdX3

1.8 Download with 'wget' and extract the appropriate root filesystem :

For Raspberry Pi B+
wget http://archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-rpi-latest.tar.gz
For Raspberry Pi 2
wget http://archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-rpi-2-latest.tar.gz
For Raspberry Pi 3
wget http://archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-rpi-3-latest.tar.gz
For Raspberry Pi 4
wget http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-rpi-4-latest.tar.gz
To extract, run as root (not via sudo):
bsdtar -xpf ArchLinuxARM-rpi*.tar.gz -C /mnt/root && sync
Move boot files to the first partition (still as root):
mv /mnt/root/boot/* /mnt/boot

1.9 Unmount the two partitions:

umount /mnt/boot /mnt/root

2 Installation from the Pi

Insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi, connect ethernet and power supply (at least 2.5A power for rpi3, 2A for rpi2).
Use the serial console or SSH to the IP address given to the board by your router.

If you don't know your IP yet, you can use 'arp -a' or 'netstat -r' commands to retrieve devices connected to your network.

Login as the default user alarm with the password alarm. The default root password is root.

2.1 Update the system with pacman

First update PGP signatures
pacman-key --init && pacman-key --populate archlinuxarm

then type 'pacman -Syyu'

2.2 Install desktop UI (I use xfce4) and basic tools (I use slim as greeter, despite being discontinued, it is easy and fast to set up)

pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies sudo xorg alsa-utils slim wget bluez bluez-utils blueman baobab wireless_tools mlocate binutils synapse firefox p7zip xarchiver networkmanager ffmpeg tinc
Optionnally, add some developer tools:
pacman -S base-devel openssh python2 qt5 pygtk mono libva-mesa-driver python2-dbus gvfs python-setuptools python-pip pcmanfm --needed

2.3 Create a new user and enable sudo rights if necessary. Replace 'username' by a name of your choice.

useradd -m -g users -G storage,power,wheel -s /bin/bash "username"
nano /etc/sudoers and uncomment _%wheel_ line by removing the "#" sign
passwd "username" to define a password and su "username" to login as newly created user

2.4 Configure Xfce

Create .xinitrc by typing :
nano ~/.xinitrc

Type 'starxfce4' then save (ctrl+o) and exit (ctrl+x)

2.5 Edit slim.conf (as root or with sudo)

Type 'sudo nano /etc/slim.conf' then uncomment default_user line and replace simone with your default username If you want the session to start automatically, uncomment autologin line and replace no by 'yes'.

3 Raspberry Pi configuration and tweaks

Reboot and login with username credentials (if you did not chose autologin)

If xfce4 desktop does not start after a first reboot, type 'startxfce4' to start it manually.

3.1 Optimize Display

Edit /boot/config.txt according to current display. I use the following for HD (1080px). More info on raspberrypi.org

As root or with sudo, type 'sudo nano /boot/config.txt'

Then uncomment following lines to force a specific HDMI mode (for example, this will force VGA) hdmi_group=2 hdmi_mode=82

Uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in some cases.
hdmi_drive=1
Avoid warnings at boot for lower power supply (only if you understand the risks):
avoid_warnings=1

OR

To avoid even more warnings and allow turbo when low-voltage is present.
avoid_warnings=2

Setup a wireless network

We will use systemd network control (netctl). All commands must be run as root or with sudo.

Create a network profile; /etc/netctl/examples/ contains some examples.

To setup a WPA2-PSK network, copy over the example file and start editing:

# cd /etc/netctl
/etc/netctl# install -m640 examples/wireless-wpa wireless-home
/etc/netctl# cat wireless-home
	Description='A simple WPA encrypted wireless connection'
	Interface=wlan0
	Connection=wireless
	Security=wpa

	IP=dhcp

	ESSID='MyNetwork'
	# Prepend hexadecimal keys with \"
	# If your key starts with ", write it as '""<key>"'
	# See also: the section on special quoting rules in netctl.profile(5)
	Key='WirelessKey'
	# Uncomment this if your ssid is hidden
	#Hidden=yes

Edit MyNetwork and WirelessKey as needed. Note the 640 permissions, you do not want to leak your wireless passphrase to the world!

Proceed with testing: netctl start wireless-home

If you do not get an error, you should be connected. Let's network by pinging goggle DNS $ ping 8.8.8.8

To make this network start on boot: # netctl enable wireless-home

Then reload systemd # systemctl daemon-reload

4 Enable Bluetooth

Raspberryi 3 Broadcom embed chip

Skip this part if you are running on an older version of the Raspberry Pi

Further setup is require on rpi3. First, configure access to AUR packages I used yaourt, pacaur or apacman in the past, feel free to chose your favorite, their setup is quite similar.

Now I will use yay as an AUR helper: git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git && mv yay .yay && cd .yay && makepkg -si

You can now use yay to install packages! So let's install pi-bluetooth and hciattach-rpi3: yay -S pi-bluetooth hciattach-rpi3

Then enable and start bcrm43438: sudo systemctl enable brcm43438 sudo systemctl start brcm43438

Then enable and start bluetooth: sudo systemctl enable bluetooth sudo systemctl start bluetooth

Download ad install bluetooth utilities

install bluez, bluez-utils by pacman -Sy bluez

You must be root or using sudo for this. Load generic drivers: 'modprobe btusb' Enable service: 'systemctl enable bluetooth' Start service: 'systemctl start bluetooth'

4.1 Configure bluetooth device(s):

Tip: To automate bluetoothctl commands, use echo -e "\n\n" | bluetoothctl

Apple Trackpad

bluetoothctl
[bluetooth]# list
Controller <controller mac> BlueZ 5.5 [default]
[bluetooth]# select <controller mac>
[bluetooth]# power on
[bluetooth]# scan on
[bluetooth]# agent on
[bluetooth]# devices
[bluetooth]# pairable on
Device <mouse mac> Name: Bluetooth Mouse
[bluetooth]# pair <mouse mac>
[bluetooth]# trust <mouse mac>
[bluetooth]# connect <mouse mac>

Keyboard https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Bluetooth_keyboard

[bluetooth]# agent KeyboardOnly
[bluetooth]# default-agent
[bluetooth]# pairable on
[bluetooth]# scan on
[bluetooth]# pair ?keyboard mac?
[bluetooth]# trust ?keyboard mac?
[bluetooth]# connect ?keyboard mac?
[bluetooth]# quit

Enable bluetooth at startup

Create new udev rule: nano /etc/udev/rules.d/10-local.rules
	# Set bluetooth power up
	ACTION=="add", KERNEL=="hci0", RUN+="/usr/bin/hciconfig hci0 up"