Arch Linux LPi4A Test Report

Test Environment

System Information

Download link: https://mirror.iscas.ac.cn/archriscv/images/
u-boot and boot downloads (using revyos): https://mirror.iscas.ac.cn/revyos/extra/images/lpi4a/

Hardware Information

Lichee Pi 4A (16GB RAM + 128GB eMMC)
A USB Power Adapter
A USB-A to C or C to C Cable
A USB to UART Debugger (e.g., CH340, CH341, FT2232, etc.)
Three Dupont Wires

Installation Steps

Create rootfs

Since Arch Linux does not provide pre-packaged images but a rootfs, we need to create the image ourselves.

Create a block device and file system

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=rootfs.ext4 bs=1M count=6144 # Create a 6GB rootfs
sudo mkfs.ext4 rootfs.ext4
mkdir mnt
sudo mount ./rootfs.ext4 ./mnt

Extract rootfs into the root directory

sudo tar -I zstd -xvf archriscv-2024-09-22.tar.zst -C mnt/

Obtain the UUID of the file system

lsblk -o NAME,UUID

Perform necessary updates, package installation, and adjustments in rootfs

sudo systemd-nspawn -D ./mnt --machine=archriscv

# The following commands are executed inside rootfs
pacman -Syu
# Install necessary packages such as vim here.
echo "UUID=<UUID> /  ext4  defaults  1  1 " >> /etc/fstab # Use the <UUID> obtained earlier
passwd # Set your root password!
exit

Unmount rootfs

sudo umount ./mnt

Flashing Bootloader

Extract the installation suite. Flash u-boot and boot.

Select whether you need 8GB version u-boot according to your hardware version

zstd -d boot-lpi4a-20250110_151339.ext4.zst 
sudo fastboot flash ram u-boot-with-spl-lpi4a-16g-main.bin 
sudo fastboot reboot
sudo fastboot flash uboot u-boot-with-spl-lpi4a-16g-main.bin
sudo fastboot flash boot boot-lpi4a-20250110_151339.ext4

Flashing Image

Flash the root partition into eMMC.

sudo fastboot flash root rootfs.ext4

Logging into the System

Access the system via serial port.

Default username: root Default password: the password you set earlier or use default archriscv.

Install Desktop Environment

Take the example of installing xfce:

pacman -S xorg xfce4 ligthdm lightdm-gtk-greeter
systemctl enable --now ligthdm

Expected Results

The system boots up successfully, allowing login via onboard serial port.

Actual Results

The system boots up successfully, and login via onboard serial port is successful.

Boot Log

xfce

Screen recording (from creating rootfs to logging into the system):

Arch Linux 6.6.66-th1520 (ttyS0)

archlinux login: root
Password: 
Last login: Thu Jan  9 03:54:09 on ttyS0
[root@archlinux ~]# uname -a
Linux archlinux 6.6.66-th1520 #2025.01.10.02.53+1c6721ec2 SMP Fri Jan 10 03:09:24 UTC 2025 riscv64 GNU/Linux
[root@archlinux ~]# cat /etc/os-release 
NAME="Arch Linux"
PRETTY_NAME="Arch Linux"
ID=arch
BUILD_ID=rolling
ANSI_COLOR="38;2;23;147;209"
HOME_URL="https://archlinux.org/"
DOCUMENTATION_URL="https://wiki.archlinux.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://bbs.archlinux.org/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://gitlab.archlinux.org/groups/archlinux/-/issues"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://terms.archlinux.org/docs/privacy-policy/"
LOGO=archlinux-logo
[root@archlinux ~]# cat /proc/cpuinfo 
processor       : 0
hart            : 0
isa             : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_xtheadvector
mmu             : sv39
uarch           : thead,c910
mvendorid       : 0x5b7
marchid         : 0x0
mimpid          : 0x0

processor       : 1
hart            : 1
isa             : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_xtheadvector
mmu             : sv39
uarch           : thead,c910
mvendorid       : 0x5b7
marchid         : 0x0
mimpid          : 0x0

processor       : 2
hart            : 2
isa             : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_xtheadvector
mmu             : sv39
uarch           : thead,c910
mvendorid       : 0x5b7
marchid         : 0x0
mimpid          : 0x0

processor       : 3
hart            : 3
isa             : rv64imafdc_zicntr_zicsr_zifencei_zihpm_xtheadvector
mmu             : sv39
uarch           : thead,c910
mvendorid       : 0x5b7
marchid         : 0x0
mimpid          : 0x0
[root@archlinux ~]# fastfetch 
                  -`                     root@archlinux
                 .o+`                    --------------
                `ooo/                    OS: Arch Linux riscv64
               `+oooo:                   Host: Sipeed Lichee Pi 4A 16G
              `+oooooo:                  Kernel: Linux 6.6.66-th1520
              -+oooooo+:                 Uptime: 12 mins
            `/:-:++oooo+:                Packages: 131 (pacman)
           `/++++/+++++++:               Shell: bash 5.2.37
          `/++++++++++++++:              Terminal: vt220
         `/+++ooooooooooooo/`            CPU: thead,c910 rv64gc (4) @ 1.85 GHz
        ./ooosssso++osssssso+`           Memory: 232.95 MiB / 15.44 GiB (1%)
       .oossssso-````/ossssss+`          Swap: 0 B / 4.00 GiB (0%)
      -osssssso.      :ssssssso.         Disk (/): 999.02 MiB / 5.82 GiB (17%) - ext4
     :osssssss/        osssso+++.        Locale: C.UTF-8
    /ossssssss/        +ssssooo/-
  `/ossssso+/:-        -:/+osssso+-                              
 `+sso+:-`                 `.-/+oso:                             
`++:.                           `-/+/
.`                                 `/

Test Criteria

Successful: The actual result matches the expected result.

Failed: The actual result does not match the expected result.

Test Conclusion

Test successful.

System Version

Status

Last Update