Archlinux has dropped 32 bit software builds and thus most of the software builts will need to compile manually. This guide is only here as reference and it is not recommended to continue run this hardware.

Install alarm on Lenovo IX2-DL

Based on https://kiljan.org/2021/04/22/installing-arch-linux-arm-on-an-iomega-ix2-200/

This guide uses a usb device as system disk.

Steps

You may get all tools by enter nix-shell if you have nix installed.

1. Prepare the image

Get the device tree

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,19216,page=3

It is also attached in this repo as reference.

Build device tree

dtc -O dtb -o kirkwood-lenovo-ix2-dl-full.dtb kirkwood-lenovo-ix2-dl-full.dts

Build uImage

mkdir linux
cd linux
wget http://mirror.archlinuxarm.org/arm/core/linux-kirkwood-dt-5.15.6-1-arm.pkg.tar.xz
bsdtar -xpf linux-kirkwood-dt-5.15.6-1-arm.pkg.tar.xz
cp boot/zImage boot/zImage-dtb
cat ../kirkwood-lenovo-ix2-dl-full.dtb >> boot/zImage-dtb
mkimage -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 0x02000000 -e 0x02000000 -n "Arch Linux ARM kernel" -d boot/zImage-dtb boot/uImage

The final image will be in ./linux/boot/uImage

2. Partition your drive

Use fdisk to partition the disk:

fdisk -l # If you don't know your drive
fdisk /dev/sd{some letter here}

Use o to create a clean DOS partition table.
Use n to create a new partition, type: primary, number: 1, first sector: default, last sector: +256M.
Use n to create a new partition, type: primary, number: 2, first sector: default, last sector: +8G (or the rest of the remaining free disk space if smaller).
Use p to see the new partition table.
If ID and Type are not ‘83 Linux’ for both partitions: Use t to change a partition’s type. Type must be 83.
Use w to write the changes to disk.

Install Image

Replace {} with correct letter

mkfs.ext2 /dev/sd{}1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sd{}2
e2label /dev/sd{}1 BOOT
e2label /dev/sd{}2 ROOT

mount /dev/sd{}2 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sd{}1 /mnt/boot

cd /mnt
wget http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-kirkwood-latest.tar.gz
bsdtar -xpf ArchLinuxARM-kirkwood-latest.tar.gz
rm ArchLinuxARM-kirkwood-latest.tar.gz

Replace Image

cp ./linux/boot/uImage /mnt/boot
mkimage -A arm -O linux -T ramdisk -C gzip -a 0x00000000 -e 0x00000000 -n "Arch Linux ARM initrd" -d /mnt/boot/initramfs-linux.img /mnt/boot/uInitrd

Also, you will need to copy the file from ./linux/usr/lib/modules to the /mnt/usr/lib/modules. Remove the previous one.

rm -r /mnt/usr/lib/modules
cp -r ./linux/usr/lib/modules /mnt/usr/lib

For automatic update, copy the zImage and dtb to boot as well.

cp ./kirkwood-lenovo-ix2-dl-full.dtb /mnt/boot/
cp ./linux/boot/zImage /mnt/boot

3. Prepare your machine

Backup your current parameters

Choose either way to do this:

SSH

First, enable ssh: visit http://{IP}/manage/diagnostics.html

• User: root
• Password: soho{password you set}

fw_printenv > /tmp/env

backup and set up the following so that your device will boot from usb first

fw_setenv mainlineLinux 'yes'
fw_setenv arcNumber '1682'

fw_setenv bootargs_console 'console=ttyS0,115200'
fw_setenv bootargs_mtdparts 'mtdparts=orion_nand:640k(u-boot)ro,16k(u-boot-env),-(iomega-firmware)ro'
fw_setenv bootargs_root 'root=LABEL=ROOT rw'

fw_setenv memoffset_kernel '0x01000000'
fw_setenv memoffset_initrd '0x08004000'

fw_setenv bootargs_combine 'setenv bootargs ${bootargs_console} ${bootargs_mtdparts} ${bootargs_root}'
fw_setenv bootlinux 'bootm ${memoffset_kernel} ${memoffset_initrd}'

fw_setenv usb_load_firstdevice 'ext2load usb 0:1 ${memoffset_kernel} /uImage; ext2load usb 0:1 ${memoffset_initrd} /uInitrd'
fw_setenv usb_load 'run bootargs_combine; usb reset; run usb_load_firstdevice; run bootlinux'

fw_setenv sata_load_disk1 'ext2load ide 0:1 ${memoffset_kernel} /uImage; ext2load ide 0:1 ${memoffset_initrd} /uInitrd'
fw_setenv sata_load_disk2 'ext2load ide 1:1 ${memoffset_kernel} /uImage; ext2load ide 1:1 ${memoffset_initrd} /uInitrd'
fw_setenv sata_load 'run bootargs_combine; ide reset; run sata_load_disk1; run sata_load_disk2; run bootlinux'

fw_setenv bootcmd 'run usb_load; run sata_load'

UBoot

Tips: To access UART, removing the front panel (5 screws) is easier than back (need to remove cables)

• The top three pin (JP1) with jump is for 3.3v/5v mode, by default is 3.3v.
• Skip the first Pin (Which is the one from the right when you pointing the pin toward yourself, board facing up) and connect as following:

Pin 1: Do NOT connect. This pin provides +3.3V and is not required for USB UART serial adapters.
Pin 2: TxD. Connect to RxD of the serial adapter.
Pin 3: GND. Connect to GND of the serial adapter.
Pin 4: RxD. Connect to TxD of the serial adapter.

Connect console:

screen /dev/ttyUSB{varies} 115200

The following will show up:

        |  \/  | __ _ _ ____   _____| | |
        | |\/| |/ _` | '__\ \ / / _ \ | |
        | |  | | (_| | |   \ V /  __/ | |
        |_|  |_|\__,_|_|    \_/ \___|_|_|
 _   _     ____              _
| | | |   | __ )  ___   ___ | |_
| | | |___|  _ \ / _ \ / _ \| __|
| |_| |___| |_) | (_) | (_) | |_
 \___/    |____/ \___/ \___/ \__|  ** ix2-spi ** ** uboot_ver:0.0.9 **

Tips:

• In screen, you could use ctrl+a, then esc so you can scroll.
• How to check which dev is the usb? check dmesg. https://superuser.com/questions/361885/how-do-i-figure-out-which-dev-is-a-usb-flash-drive

printenv

backup then set vars, Do NOT copy/paste all commands since this will result in incomplete executed commands due to the lack of flow control on the serial interface in U-Boot. A copy/paste of each line separately should be OK.

setenv mainlineLinux 'yes'
setenv arcNumber '1682'

setenv bootargs_console 'console=ttyS0,115200'
setenv bootargs_mtdparts 'mtdparts=orion_nand:640k(u-boot)ro,16k(u-boot-env),-(iomega-firmware)ro'
setenv bootargs_root 'root=LABEL=ROOT rw'

setenv memoffset_kernel '0x01000000'
setenv memoffset_initrd '0x08004000'

setenv bootargs_combine 'setenv bootargs ${bootargs_console} ${bootargs_mtdparts} ${bootargs_root}'
setenv bootlinux 'bootm ${memoffset_kernel} ${memoffset_initrd}'

setenv usb_load_firstdevice 'ext2load usb 0:1 ${memoffset_kernel} /uImage; ext2load usb 0:1 ${memoffset_initrd} /uInitrd'
setenv usb_load 'run bootargs_combine; usb reset; run usb_load_firstdevice; run bootlinux'

setenv sata_load_disk1 'ext2load ide 0:1 ${memoffset_kernel} /uImage; ext2load ide 0:1 ${memoffset_initrd} /uInitrd'
setenv sata_load_disk2 'ext2load ide 1:1 ${memoffset_kernel} /uImage; ext2load ide 1:1 ${memoffset_initrd} /uInitrd'
setenv sata_load 'run bootargs_combine; ide reset; run sata_load_disk1; run sata_load_disk2; run bootlinux'

setenv bootcmd 'run usb_load; run sata_load'
saveenv

4. Post Install

fstab

By default, the device will not mount boot partition, and your hard drive. Example /etc/fstab:

# Static information about the filesystems.
# See fstab(5) for details.

# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
/dev/disk/by-id/xxxxx-part1 /boot ext2 defaults,noatime 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/xxxx-part1 /data ext4 defaults,noatime,barrier=1 0 0

network

Set all DHCP

sed 's/eth0/e*/g' /mnt/etc/systemd/network/eth0.network > /mnt/etc/systemd/network/eth.network
rm /mnt/etc/systemd/network/eth0.network

Automatic uImage generate after upgrade

With your drive mounted:

mkdir /mnt/etc/pacman.d/hooks
cp generate-ubootfiles.hook /mnt/etc/pacman.d/hooks
cp generate-ubootfiles /mnt/usr/local/sbin/
chmod +x /mnt/usr/local/sbin/generate-ubootfiles

Test the script by running on the machine

pacman

https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv8/broadcom/raspberry-pi-3

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

# Needed for uboot generation
# Update required for system to run
pacman-key --init && pacman-key --populate archlinuxarm
pacman -Syu --noconfirm uboot-tools mdadm gptfdisk parted rsync arch-install-scripts

Also, add IgnorePkg =a linux in /etc/pacman.conf, so it won't touch our linux module.

Swap

To relief the stress of Low RAM:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/swap#Swap_file