ROCKPro64 Installing Arch Linux ARM

Warning: This page is a work in progress, use at your own risk

Commands to be run as a normal user are prefixed with $, commands to be run as root are prefixed with #. We assume your target device is /dev/sdX, adjust accordingly.

Obtaining and Building U-Boot And TF-A

The first step is to compile the open firmware (TF-A) and the open bootloader (u-boot).

Clone u-boot git repository:

$ git clone https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot.git

Clone TF-A git repository:

$ git clone https://github.com/ARM-software/arm-trusted-firmware.git

Build TF-A (you will need aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc and arm-none-eabi-gcc for this)

$ cd arm-trusted-firmware
$ make realclean
$ make CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- PLAT=rk3399

Next, export the path to your compiled BL31 in the shell you'll build u-boot in. Adjust the path as necessary.

$ export BL31=/path/to/arm-trusted-firmware/build/rk3399/release/bl31/bl31.elf

Build U-Boot (you may need to install additional packages to successfully compile, such as bc, python-pyelftools, or swig):

$ make mrproper
$ make rockpro64-rk3399_defconfig
$ make CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- -j$(nproc)

Preparing The Block Device

Here we assume your block device is /dev/sdX, adjust as needed.

Create a new partition table:

# parted -s /dev/sdX mklabel gpt

Create the partitions for loader and u-boot:

# parted -s /dev/sdX mkpart loader 64s 8MiB
# parted -s /dev/sdX mkpart uboot 8MiB 16MiB

Create the partition for u-boot's environment (optional, but you'll have to adjust the following offsets if you don't do it):

# parted -s /dev/sdX mkpart env 16MiB 32MiB

Create the "efi" boot partition and mark it as bootable:

# parted -s /dev/sdX mkpart efi fat32 32MiB 544MiB
# parted -s /dev/sdX set 4 boot on

Create the root partition:

# parted -s /dev/sdX mkpart root ext4 544MiB 100%

Creating The File Systems

Now create the file systems for boot and root:

# mkfs.vfat -n "efi" /dev/sdX4
# mkfs.ext4 -L "rootfs" /dev/sdX5

Flashing U-Boot

Flash idbloader.img and uboot.img:

# dd if=idbloader.img of=/dev/sdX1
# dd if=u-boot.itb of=/dev/sdX2

Fetching The Root File System Tarball

Fetch the root filesystem tarball and the PGP signature

$ wget -N http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz{,.sig}

Fetch the gpg keys:

$ curl 'https://keyserver.ubuntu.com/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x68b3537f39a313b3e574d06777193f152bdbe6a6' | gpg --import=-

Compare the key ID provided in the above command with the one listed here: https://archlinuxarm.org/about/package-signing (Take good note of the domain and HTTPS)

Verify the tarball's authenticity

$ gpg --verify ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz.sig

Do not skip verifying the authenticity. This is important. It also protects you from prematurely aborted transfers giving you a corrupt archive.

Installing The Root File System

# mount /dev/sdX5 /mnt/alarm-root
# mkdir /mnt/alarm-root/boot
# mount /dev/sdX4 /mnt/alarm-root/boot
# bsdtar -xpf ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz -C /mnt/alarm-root

Editing fstab

Find your partition UUIDs for both partitions using lsblk:

$ lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,MOUNTPOINTS,PARTUUID

In /mnt/alarm-root/etc/fstab, put the lines

PARTUUID=root-uuid-here  /       ext4    defaults        0       1
PARTUUID=boot-uuid-here  /boot   vfat    defaults        0       2

with your UUIDs in place of the placeholder.

Writing extlinux.conf

Create a /mnt/alarm-root/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf with these contents:

default l0
menu title ROCKPro64 Boot Menu
prompt 0
timeout 50

label l0
menu label Boot Arch Kernel
linux /Image
fdt /dtbs/rockchip/rk3399-rockpro64.dtb
append initrd=/initramfs-linux.img earlycon=uart8250,mmio32,0xff1a0000 console=ttyS2,1500000n8 root=LABEL=rootfs rw rootwait

Once done, unmount the partitions:

# umount /mnt/alarm-root/boot
# umount /mnt/alarm-root

Finishing Setup

SSH in as root with password root and run

# pacman-key --init
# pacman-key --populate archlinuxarm