Arch Linux on Odroid M1S

Overview

This repository provides everything you need to install and run Arch Linux on the Odroid M1S. It includes:

Prebuilt Arch Linux images for easy installation (see INSTALL.md).
Scripts and instructions to build U-Boot, the Linux kernel, and initramfs.
Guidance on flashing, partitioning, and backup & recovery procedures.

⚠️ Warning

Serial connection strongly recommended: If something goes wrong, a UART console will save your device from a hard brick.
Follow these instructions at your own risk; bricking is unlikely but possible. See Recovery for rescue steps.

Prerequisites
Install Arch Linux
Building U-Boot
Partitioning & Flashing
Extract Arch Linux ARM generic image
Building the Linux Kernel
Initramfs
Booting the Device
Backup
Recovery
Going Forward

Prerequisites

All commands assume root permissions. Use sudo or sudo su as needed.

On Debian-based hosts:

You can use my build_u-boot.sh script to install the dependencies automatically.

apt-get install -y gcc-12 gcc-12-aarch64-linux-gnu python3-pyelftools libgnutls28-dev uuid-dev u-boot-tools git wget bsdtar

Create cross-compiler symlinks:

for tool in cpp gcc gcc-ar gcc-nm gcc-ranlib gcov gcov-dump gcov-tool; do
  ln -sf aarch64-linux-gnu-$tool-12 /usr/bin/aarch64-linux-gnu-$tool
done

Environment variables:

# build.source
export ARCH=arm64
export CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-

Alternatively, source build.source:

source build.source

Install Arch Linux

For a quick setup using prebuilt images, see INSTALL.md.

Building U-Boot

Use the build_u-boot.sh script (see its README.md).
The script outputs u-boot-rockchip.bin under /usr/src/u-boot-rockchip/.

Partitioning & Flashing

Note: /dev/sdX may refer to an SD card or the Odroid in UMS mode.

Flash U-Boot

dd if=u-boot-rockchip.bin of=/dev/sdX bs=32k seek=1 conv=fsync

Warning: Do not specify a partition (e.g., /dev/sdX1). U-Boot is written to the first 16 MB.

Create Partitions

Run gdisk /dev/sdX, then:

d                # delete existing partitions
n 1 32768 +256M 8300  # create BOOT partition
n 2     0   8300      # create rootfs partition
w                      # write changes

Make filesystems:

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1 -L BOOT
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX2 -L rootfs

Extract Arch Linux ARM generic image

Download ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz from https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv8/generic

Extract the image:

mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt
bsdtar -xpf ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz -C /mnt

Building the Linux Kernel

Clone the kernel repo:

git clone https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git
cd linux

Copy kernel/config-odroid-m1s to .config and run make menuconfig.

Compile:

make -j$(nproc)
make modules -j$(nproc)
make dtbs -j$(nproc)
make INSTALL_MOD_PATH=/usr/src/linux/arch/arm64/boot/modules modules_install

Copy kernel & DTB to BOOT:

mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt
cp arch/arm64/boot/Image /mnt/boot/
cp arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3566-odroid-m1s.dtb /mnt/boot/
umount /mnt

Copy modules to rootfs:

mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt
cp -r /usr/src/linux/arch/arm64/boot/modules/lib/modules/<version> /mnt/lib/modules/
umount /mnt

Initramfs

On the Odroid (running Arch): WARNING: You need a running arch linux arm to do this step, because boot will fail without the uInitrd present.
```
pacman -S mkinitcpio
mkinitcpio -k <version> -g /boot/initramfs-linux.img
```

On the host:

mkimage -A arm -T ramdisk -C gzip -d initramfs-linux.img uInitrd
cp uInitrd /mnt/boot/

Booting the Device

WARNING: Serial console access is required. FB and keyboard support are untested.

Access the U-Boot console by pressing CTRL-C or the any key rapidly after powering on the Odroid:

load mmc 0:1 ${kernel_addr_r} Image
load mmc 0:1 ${ramdisk_addr_r} /uInitrd
load mmc 0:1 ${fdt_addr_r} rk3566-odroid-m1s.dtb
setenv bootargs root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 console=ttyS2,1500000
booti ${kernel_addr_r} ${ramdisk_addr_r} ${fdt_addr_r}

Generate boot.scr

Optionally generate boot.scr i.e. with my boot.cmd:

mkimage -C none -A arm -T script -d boot.cmd boot.scr
mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt
cp boot.scr /mnt/boot/
umount /mnt

Backup

With a handy script

Use the script scripts/generate_image.sh. Usage:

./generate_image.sh /dev/sdX

Manually

Zero-fill partitions:

for part in sdX1 sdX2; do
  mount /dev/$part /mnt
  dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/tmpfile bs=1M status=progress || true
  sync
  rm /mnt/tmpfile
  umount /mnt
done

Create sparse image:

dd if=/dev/sdX of=odroid-m1s.img bs=4M conv=sparse status=progress
sync
gzip odroid-m1s.img

Recovery

Flash ODROID-M1S_EMMC2UMS.img to an SD card: see wiki.odroid.com.
Boot with the SD card while shorting the mask ROM pin to GND.
In U-Boot, press any key then run:
```
ums 0 mmc 0
```

Going Forward

Experiment with TPM, OP-TEE, and unified kernel images via scripts/build/u-boot.sh.

jonesthefox / odroid-m1s-arch