Arch Linux on the Omnia

Software SW tweaks
1

Since I don’t like openwrt very much, will it be possible for the boot loader to boot other operating systems like Arch?

2

Yes. With a bit of hacking you can run any Linux distribution you want. But before we upstream all our kernel patches you will need to use our kernel.
Another possibility is to run Arch inside a LXC container.

1 Like
3

Any idea how to obtain the template for Arch? I would like to try it.

4

My Omnia arrived on tuesday and my plan for the weekend is: install ArchLinuxARM

Planned restrictions for the moment:

  • it will require a mSATA-SSD because i want to keep the eMMC as a big rescue system for testing.
  • may be a LXC and bare metal capable image eventually
  • custom PKGBUILDs only for kernel and absolutly required packages like swconfig (if not using dsa) and sfpswitch
  • manual install, no ready made images
  • no docs as i don’t like writing them
  • anything else from the armv7h repositories like Clearfog and SMILE plug
  • kernel will be the one from the OpenWRT repo
    • it will not include aufs
    • i may remove swconfig support and use dsa instead
  • some parts may not work initially
    • LEDs and buttons
  • some parts may take longer
    • SFP port as i don’t have hardware for it at the moment
    • 2 GHz wifi because this card gets removed to make space for the SSD
    • LTE module because i don’t have one, i use a UMTS one with voice support for FreeSwitch only
5

Status Update

It works, somehow…

PKGBUILD for kernel works and builds the repackaged prepared TurrisOS (OpenWRT) kernel including cryptodev and compat-wireless

  • still able to run unmodified turris os
  • has neon and seccomp enabled, the latter is required for systemd
  • regdomain handling is not working perfectly, you may end with the intersection of US and local regulatory settings
  • cryptodev does not work but works if the same source is compiled externally. Did it use the use the user api headers in /usr/include instead of the kernel ones?

swconfig runs and seems to work but needed some crazy things to get it working. Impossible to do a small PKGBUILD for it as breaking system dependencies is not possible.

Runs on a snapshot in eMMC. I can switch back to OpenWRT within seconds. The SSD requirement is gone.

Next todo: Switch setup and installer.

If i find some time to summarize all other small fixes i will create a installer.

6

Warranty disclaimer: NO warranty for anything. This may break your device, end your warranty and so on. You may have to use the hard reset using a USB stick etc. Be prepared to have a non-working device.

Install: Download, extract, run install.sh and reboot.
cd /tmp curl -O http://www.colorfulpyro.de/installer.tar.gz tar xzf installer.tar.gz cd installer ./install.sh reboot

Your Omnia should have DHCP on the LAN ports. Its IP is 192.168.1.1. Wifi is not installed. WAN port has a DHCP client. There is NO firewall. Root login with SSH is allowed with password.

The installer automatically makes your running system a snapshot thus https://www.turris.cz/doc/en/howto/omnia_factory_reset should work. 2 LEDs should put you back to your original state.

7

Correct me if I am wrong, but this installs Arch Linux on the box itself, right?

Any documented way on putting Arch in a container?

8

At the moment Arch Linux will not run in a container without the modified kernel because seccomp is missing.

9

I found arch template for lxc but not sure how to use this yet:

any ideas?