Fog

Archlinux on a macbook. Named after Dean Fog.

TODO:

these install instructions don't belong here.
I need a section for archlinux variant installs like archlinux-arm, and this alt-kernel

t2linux install docs	https://wiki.t2linux.org/distributions/arch/installation/
t2linux wifi docs	https://wiki.t2linux.org/guides/wifi/
t2linux pacman repo	https://github.com/Redecorating/archlinux-t2-packages
arch install	https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide#Set_the_console_keyboard_layout
systemd boot	https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd-boot

Install Media

Download install media

raw (out of date)	https://dl.t2linux.org/archlinux/iso/index.html
w/ wifi drivers	https://github.com/t2linux/archiso-t2/releases

diskutil list
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2
dd if=path/to/archlinux-version-x86_64.iso of=/dev/rdisk2 bs=1m

Partition Setup

You can't change the partition scheme from outside of macos unfortunately.

- macbook, start bootcamp (preinstalled)
  - drag slider for size (deletes apfs snapshots?)

- disk utility
  - create a partition (any format) for your linux install

- restart, holding cmd+r
  - Utilities > Startup Security Utility:
    - [x] No Security
    - [x] Allow booting from external media

- restart, holding opt
  - you don't need to connect to wifi in bootloader
  - boot from EFI

Base Install

NOTE:

Use the wifi-enabled ISO, spoke with devs and wired kernel is outdated

(archiso) wlan setup

iwctl
 device list
 station wlan0 scan
 station wlan0 get-networks
 station wlan0 connect ${SSID}

ping archlinux.org

(archiso) format && baseinstall

timedatectl set-ntp true

pacman -Sy
# pacman-key --refresh-keys

fdisk -l                  # find disk/partition
mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p3  # format partition as ext4

mount /dev/nvme0n1p3 /mnt            # your install
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot/efi   # reuse macbook's EFI paritition

# if necesary, copy/modify /etc/pacman.conf to /mnt/pacman.conf
# and use: `pacstrap -C /mnt/pacman.conf`
pacstrap /mnt \
  base base-devel                           `# base packages/build-tools` \
  linux-t2 linux-t2-headers linux-t2-docs   `# t2-kernel` \
  efivar efibootmgr dosfstools              `# tools to manage efi` \
  linux-firmware dkms \
  apple-bcm-wifi-firmware \
  iwd \
  neovim git

genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
arch-chroot /mnt

(chroot) Add t2linux repo

cat << EOF >> /etc/pacman.conf
[mbp]
Server = https://dl.t2linux.org/archlinux/$repo/$arch
EOF

pacman -Syy

(chroot) Base Settings

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Toronto /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc
echo "en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8" > /etc/locale.gen
locale-gen
echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf
echo "fog" > /etc/hostname
mkinitcpio -P  # confirm kernel/initramfs in /boot/efi
passwd

(chroot) Kernel Modules

NOTE:

unclear if this is necessary, still issues mounting /boot/efi

# /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
# MODULES=(apple_bce)  # add apple_bce

mkinitcpio -P

(chroot) Bootloader

cat << EOF > /boot/efi/loader/loader.conf
default archlinux
timeout 5
EOF

# find PARTUUID of 'archlinux' install partition
# (not EFI partition, not UUID)
blkid

cat << EOF > /boot/efi/loader/entries/archlinux.conf
title Arch Linux
linux vmlinuz-linux-t2
initrd initramfs-linux-t2.img
# no quotes around PARTUUID
options intel_iommu=on iommu=pt pcie_ports=compat root=PARTUUID=${PARTUUID} rw
EOF

bootctl --path=/boot/efi --no-variables install

systemctl mask systemd-boot-system-token

# remount efivars as read-only (or kernel panic)
# USE EITHER: (1 works for me)
#    echo efivarfs /sys/firmware/efi/efivars efivarfs ro,remount,nofail 0 0 >> /etc/fstab
# OR
#    add 'efi=noruntime' to options in '/boot/efi/loader/entries/archlinux.conf'

Reboot

- exit && reboot
- hold 'option' while booting to choose boot
- after selection, wait for timeout (choosing with enter seems to fail)

Debugging Boot Issues

# from archiso, specify the journal of your chroot
journalctl --directory=/var/log/journal

unable to mount /boot/efi unknown filesystem vfat

do you have an old kernel in /boot/efi?
try copying initramfs/kernel from /boot to /boot/efi.

this may only work with old kernel though ...

Post Install

Wifi Drivers

Boot into macos

curl -#O https://wiki.t2linux.org/tools/wifi.sh
chmod +x wifi.sh
./wifi.sh

Boot into linux

sudo umount /dev/nvme0n1p1
sudo mkdir /tmp/apple-wifi-efi
sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /tmp/apple-wifi-efi
bash /tmp/apple-wifi-efi/wifi.sh

Now verify output of wifi driver is error-free.

sudo journalctl -k --grep=brcmfmac