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Support #682

Updated by Daniel Curtis over 8 years ago

The following instructions use @/dev/mmcblk0@ as the micro SD card that Arch will be installed on. Replace it according to your device path. 

 +NOTE+: This setup guide includes a swap partition; if you do not want to use swap space skip over the steps and make sure to set @root=/dev/mmcblk0p2@ in the @/boot/config.txt@ at the end of the guide. 

 * Start @fdisk@ to partition the SD card: 
 <pre> 
 sudo fdisk /dev/mmcblk0 
 </pre> 

 * At the @fdisk@ prompt, delete old partitions 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. 
 #* Type *n*, then *p* for primary, *1* for the first partition on the drive, press *ENTER* to accept the default first sector, then type *+100M* for the last sector. 
 #* Type *t*, then *c* to set the first partition to type W95 FAT32 (LBA). 
 #* Type *n*, then *p* for primary, *2* for the second partition on the drive, and then *ENTER* to accept the default first sector, then type *+1024M* for the last sector. 
 #* Type *n*, then *p* for primary, *3* for the third partition on the drive, and then press *ENTER* +twice+ to accept the default first and last sector. 
 #* Write the partition table and exit by typing *w*. 

 * Create and mount the boot partition on the first partition: 
 <pre> 
 sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/mmcblk0p1 
 sudo mkdir /mnt/boot 
 sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/boot 
 </pre> 

 * Create the swap space on the second partition: 
 <pre> 
 sudo mkswap /dev/mmcblk0p2 
 </pre> 

 * Create and mount the root filesystem on the third partition: 
 <pre> 
 sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/mmcblk0p3 
 sudo mkdir /mnt/root 
 sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p3 /mnt/root 
 </pre> 

 * Download and extract the root filesystem (as root, not via sudo): 
 <pre> 
 wget http://archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-rpi-2-latest.tar.gz 
 sudo bsdtar -xpf ArchLinuxARM-rpi-2-latest.tar.gz ArchLinuxARM-rpi-latest.tar.gz -C /mnt/root 
 sudo sync 
 </pre> 

 * Move boot files to the first partition: 
 <pre> 
 sudo mv /mnt/root/boot/* /mnt/boot 
 </pre> 

 * Edit the @cmdline.txt@ file: 
 <pre> 
 sudo vi /mnt/boot/cmdline.txt 
 </pre> 
 #* And change the default root location to the third partition: 
 <pre> 
 root=/dev/mmcblk0p3 rw rootwait console=ttyAMA0,115200 console=tty1 selinux=0 plymouth.enable=0 smsc95xx.turbo_mode=N dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 kgdboc=ttyAMA0,115200 elevator=noop 
 </pre> 

 * Unmount the two partitions: 
 <pre> 
 sudo umount /mnt/boot /mnt/root 
 </pre> 
    
 Now insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi 2, connect ethernet, and apply 5V power. Use the serial console or SSH to the IP address given to the board by your router.  

 *NOTE*: The default user +alarm+ with the password *alarm*. 
 *NOTE*: The default +root+ password is *root*.  

 h3. Activating the Swap space 

 * To activate the swap after logging into the Pi 2 as root, edit @/etc/fstab@ and add the following: 
 <pre> 
 sudo -s 
 echo '/dev/mmcblk0p2 none      swap      defaults 0 0' >> /etc/fstab 
 exit 
 </pre> 

 * Now @reboot@ the Raspberry Pi 2 *+or+* run the following to activate the swap: 
 <pre> 
 sudo swapon -a 
 </pre> 

 h2. Resources 

 * http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv7/broadcom/raspberry-pi-2

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