Installing Slackware on the RockPro64

This tutorial is also available in video form.

Pine64 also provide unboxing and setup videos which you may find useful.

Please post questions to the Slackware ARM forum.

The Installation consists of a number of distinct stages:

1. Acquiring all required hardware
2. Downloading and verifying the Slackware assets
3. Writing the Initialisation Bootware to the Micro SD card
4. Setup of the RockPro64 hardware
5. Initialising the RockPro64 with the Bootware
6. Writing the Slackware Installer to the Micro SD card
7. Booting the Slackware Installer
8. Installing Slackware
9. Completing the installation
10. Booting the Slackware OS
11. Post installation configuration and tweaks

The setup documented here (2.5“ SSD connected to a USB-to-Serial adapter for power and data) has proven stable for this author.

However, powering spinning 3.5” SATA drives from the RockPro64 directly have resulted in instability of the hardware. This was resolved by powering the drives and CPU fan from an external power supply. The Slackware AArch64 primary build machines run with this power configuration and have proven stable over time.

From the factory, your RockPro64 may contain an eMMC storage module. During the development of Slackware AArch64, it was found that the life span of these storage modules is short which makes them inappropriate for housing an Operating System. Whilst it's possible to use eMMC with Slackware, this documented installation process does not provide a supported path and the eMMC should be removed.

In this section we'll prepare the physical aspects of the RockPro64 to receive Slackware Linux.

If you have a case, install the board into it. If you do not, it should be placed onto a non-conductive surface such as plastic, wood or rubber.

In the image above you will see that the eMMC module has been removed (bottom right, left hand side of 'Head phones jack'). See the note above for the reasons behind this.

Gently prize the eMMC module from the board and store it some place safe as you may wish to experiment with it in the future.

• Connect the CPU fan or heat sink
• Connect the Wifi & Bluetooth module (optional)
• Connect the storage (the image shows the USB-to-SATA adapter, but you may use the PCI card). If using the USB adapter, connect it to the blue USB3.0 port.
• Connect the Ethernet cable
• Connect the HDMI cable
• Connect the USB keyboard and mouse

The basic hardware setup is complete.

In this section, we'll prepare the Linux Host Computer to receive and download the Slackware assets required for the installation.

Open a shell on the Linux Host Computer.

We'll download the Slackware Linux distribution into a directory named 'slackware'.

$ cd ## returns to the root of your home directory
$ mkdir slackware
$ cd slackware

$ pwd
/home/mozes/slackware

The Slackware ARM GPG key will be used to verify the Bootware and Slackware Installation images.

$ curl -sSL https://www.slackware.com/infra/keys/arm/GPG-KEY | gpg --import -

At the time of writing, the only version available is 'current'.

$ SLKVER=current

$ HWM=rk3399_generic

If you are using a mirror server rather than the master Slackware ARM server, set it here. The format is: <hostname>::<rsync module name>

$ SLKSRV=ftp.arm.slackware.com::slackwarearm

The U-Boot Boot Loader that will be installed onto the SPI flash:

$ rsync -PavL $SLKSRV/platform/aarch64/bootware/recovery/rk3399/flash-spi-rockpro64.img.xz .
$ rsync -PavL $SLKSRV/platform/aarch64/bootware/recovery/rk3399/flash-spi-rockpro64.img.xz.asc .

The Bootware (recovery/initialisation) images are approximately 400KBytes in size.

$ rsync -PavL $SLKSRV/platform/aarch64/bootware/installer-aio/slackwareaarch64-${SLKVER}/${HWM}.img.xz.asc slkaio.img.xz.asc
$ rsync -PavL $SLKSRV/platform/aarch64/bootware/installer-aio/slackwareaarch64-${SLKVER}/${HWM}.img.xz slkaio.img.xz

The Slackware Installer images are approximately 5 GBytes in size.

$ gpg --verify-files *.asc

The output should be similar to this:

gpg: assuming signed data in `flash-spi-rockpro64.img.xz'
gpg: Signature made Fri 27 Jan 2023 08:53:24 AM -00 using RSA key ID 1623FC33
gpg: Good signature from "Slackware ARM (Slackware ARM Linux Project) <mozes@slackware.com>"
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg:          There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
Primary key fingerprint: 36D3 7609 2F12 9B6B 3D59  A517 F7AB B869 1623 FC33
gpg: assuming signed data in `slkaio.img.xz'
gpg: Signature made Thu 19 Jan 2023 08:34:27 PM -00 using RSA key ID 1623FC33
gpg: Good signature from "Slackware ARM (Slackware ARM Linux Project) <mozes@slackware.com>"
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg:          There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
Primary key fingerprint: 36D3 7609 2F12 9B6B 3D59  A517 F7AB B869 1623 FC33

Slackware stores the U-Boot Boot Loader firmware within the SPI flash of the Hardware Models that use the RK3399 SoC (including the Pinebook Pro, RockPro64 et al).

In this step, we'll write the Boot Loader firmware to the same Micro SD card that will later be used to contain the Slackware Installer, and subsequently the Slackware OS' /boot partition. If you have multiple Micro SD cards available, you may prefer to use separate SD cards; but this document assumes the availability of a single Micro SD card.

On your Host Computer, obtain root:

$ su -   ## Note the hyphen - it's required

Prior to inserting the Micro SD Card into the USB adapter, we need to see what's already present within the OS so that we can easily locate our Micro SD card:

# lsblk -d
NAME MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda    8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 

As you can see, this Host Computer there is a single storage device - sda.

Now insert the Micro SD card into your USB Card Reader and connect the adapter to a free USB port on the Host Computer.

Run lsblk again:

# lsblk -d
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk
sdc      8:32   1    58G  0 disk
sdd      8:48   1     0B  0 disk

As you can see, sdc is 58GBytes in size. This is the Micro SD card (in this example, it's labeled as '64GB' on the exterior of Micro SD card).

If your Micro SD card has existing partitions, you will not see them surfaced in this list - use lsblk -b to view them.

Still as the root user, we'll switch to the directory to which the the Slackware assets have been downloaded (see earlier steps):

# cd /home/mozes/slackware/

Write the Bootware Initialisation Image to the device identified as our Micro SD card. You'll then exit the root shell, returning to your usual standard user environment:

# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/XXX count=10 bs=1M    ## Replace /dev/XXX with the correct block device (presented above by the lsblk tool) on your Host Computer
# xzcat flash-spi-pinebookpro.img.xz > /dev/XXX  ## Replace /dev/XXX with the correct block device (presented above by the lsblk tool) on your Host Computer
# sync

Now that we've written the Bootware Initialisation Image to the Micro SD card, you need to remove it from the Host Computer.

You need to perform this one-time step to flash a Slackware version of the U-Boot Boot Loader to the SPI flash of the RockPro64.

This is required if your RockPro64 is brand new out of the box, or has previously had another Linux distribution running on it.

1. Position the jumper/Dupont cable so that it links pin 23 (SPI_CLK_M2) and pin 25 (GND)
2. Insert the Micro SD card into the RockPro64's Micro SD slot
3. Connect the power to the RockPro64
4. Power on the RockPro64: hold down the Power button for 2 seconds (it may also auto-power on)

After a few seconds, you should see a message appearing on the screen - instructing you that the process will begin in 10 seconds' time.

Now remove the jumper/Dupont cable

The flashing process will begin and takes approximately 1 minute to complete.

Once the process completes, hold the power button for approximately 8 seconds. The RockPro64 will power off.

Now that the Boot Loader has been installed to the RockPro64's SPI flash, we will install the Slackware Installer image onto the same MicroSD card.

• Remove the MicroSD card from the RockPro64
• Insert the MicroSD card back into the Host Computer (as in the earlier section)

Follow the instructions in the previous section to determine which block device name it occupies.

Enter the directory into which the Slackware assets were downloaded previously:

# cd /home/mozes/slackware
# xzcat slkaio.img.xz | dd status=progress bs=4M iflag=fullblock of=/dev/XXX ## Substitute /dev/XXX with the correct block device
# sync
# exit

You may now disconnect the USB adapter from the Host Computer and remove the MicroSD card.

Run lsblk again to confirm that the block device assigned to the Micro SD card is no longer present:

# lsblk -d
NAME MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda    8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 

# logout

You no longer require the Host Computer.

To proceed, you must have:

• Connected the storage to the RockPro64
• Connected the HDMI monitor
• Connected the keyboard (and optionally, mouse)
• Inserted the Micro SD card containing the Slackware Installer

If you'd like to encrypt your storage, check the Disk Encryption Guide.

Press the Power Button for aproximately two seconds

After a few seconds, the you will see the following on screen:

It takes several seconds to load and boot the installer, and it may take several seconds more for any further output to appear on the HDMI monitor. The process of obtaining an IP address via DHCP can also delay the ability to interact with the Installer.

Once an IP address has been obtained, you will be presented with a prompt. Press ENTER

Even if you have a battery pack for the RTC (Real Time Clock), the date on your system may be incorrect. We will sync the date from a highly-available NTP server:

ntpdate clock.akamai.com
hwclock -w

For this installation a basic partitioning scheme will be created.

Partition

Open fdisk against the /dev/sda block device. In this guide, /dev/sda will be your primary storage, and in this guide is the SSD connected to the USB adapter.

fdisk /dev/sda

Clear an existing partition table: Press 'o' to clear the partition table

Create the Swap partition:

Type 'n' for new partition:

Type 'p' for primary partition type:

Press ENTER for the 'First sector'

Type '+4G' for the 'Last Sector'/size:

Change the partition type to 'Swap'. Type 't' then hex code '82':

Create the partition for the root filesystem ('/'):

Type 'n' for new partition. Press ENTER to accept the defaults - this will create partition 2 as the maximum size available.

Type 'a' to mark the root partition (number 2) as bootable Type '2' to select partition 2.

Type 'p' to print to view the partition table.

Type 'w' to write the partition table:

fdisk will now exit.

The Installer will configure the Boot Loader and the OS' /etc/fstab automatically:

Press ENTER to say 'Yes'.

If you would like to install from an alternate media source, pick 'No' and you will be presented with options to install over NFS, USB and HTTP amongst others.

Ordinarily you should always say 'Yes' unless you've been directed to do otherwise.

You can now choose the package sets to install. The recommendation is to install everything. A full Slackware installation will occupy approximately 15GB.

Pick the 'terse' option:

The packages will begin installing:

If you plan on using the UART/'Serial' console, you should select 'No' here. If you plan on exclusively using an HDMI monitor, you should pick 'Yes'.

If this is the first time you have installed Slackware, you must flash the Boot Loader. The initial Boot Loader flash performed earlier in these instructions typically contains an older version of the Boot Loader, where as the version packaged within the Installer contains the latest tested version.

The Micro SD card is transformed from being the Slackware Installer into the Slackware OS's /boot partition. At this stage, if the installation has worked for you (at certain points in the Slackware installer you are past the point of no return) you can delete the Installer. However, if something has gone wrong you can reset the RockPro64 and reboot the installer without having to re-deploy the Slackware Installer image from your Linux Host Computer.

Generally you should say 'Yes' here.

The Slackware Installer will walk you through the standard Slackware setup. The on-screen instructions will suffice.

It's recommended for the RockPro64 and Pinebook Pro that a larger console font is configured.

The recommended font is 'ter-732b.psf'. This is the font used within the Installer.

This author recommends using XFCE as it's light weight versus KDE.

Generally you'll want to reboot into the OS.

However, if you are planning on setting up RAID or need to customise the Operating System Initial RAM Disk, you should select 'Shell'.

The Slackware OS will be found within '/mnt'. You can use the 'os-initrd-mgr' tool (Video tutorial).

The Slackware Installer will reboot into the Slackware OS.

You may now login as 'root', using the password you set within the installer.

There are a few post-installation configuration tasks to complete.

You should add a plebeian (non-root) user using the 'adduser' tool.

This is documented here.

The CPU fan speed is controlled statically during boot.

By default it'll set the speed to '65' which is the lowest speed. If you want to change this:

As root, edit the Hardware Model run control configuration file:

# vi /etc/rc.d/rc.platform.conf # or substitute 'vi' for your favourite editor

Within that configuration you'll find examples. Un-comment and set accordingly and reboot.

If you do not have a fan (typically you'll have a heatsink instead) you can also disable the fan. Within the config file uncomment the variable CPU_FAN_OFF=Yes.

If your RockPro64 does not have an RTC battery backup, you may wish to configure it to set time from an NTP Server.

One of the preferred tools to keep your system up to date is slackpkg.

If you prefer to use a graphical login manager, you can configure the default runlevel as 4:

su - 
sed -i 's?id:3:?id:4:?g' /etc/inittab
reboot

The Slackware Installer image contains a type ext4 partition labeled SLKins_aio-pkgs from which the packages are installed.

root@slackware:~# mount LABEL=SLKins_aio-pkgs /mnt/zip
root@slackware:~# cat /mnt/zip/README.txt 
This file system contains the Slackware repository that is used during the
installation of Slackware.

Once you've booted into your OS you can delete or change this partition if you
wish, or perhaps you might like to retain it for future reference.

root@slackware:~#

If you'd like to customise the Linux Kernel, the easiest way is to follow the HOWTO guide and use the Slackware ARM Kernel build script to create new packages.

Slackware ARM ships with a generic OS InitRD (Operating System Initial RAM Disk - the environment that prepares the machine to boot the Operating System Proper), so as to support a wide range of Hardware Models.

However, this isn't the optimal setup once the Slackware OS has been installed because the generic OS InitRD typically exceeds 250MB, which in some cases can add several seconds to the boot time whilst it's loaded from the SD card.

The os-initrd-mgr (Operating System Initial RAM Disk Manager) tool has an option to synchronize the OS InitRD's Kernel modules with only those presently loaded within the Operating System.

To do this:

$ su -c 'os-initrd-mgr --sync-loaded-kmods' -  # note the final -

This option isn't the default, but you can make it so by following the instructions within /etc/os-initrd-mgr.conf.sample

This way when you upgrade the Kernel packages in the order described above, it'll automatically synchronize the modules.

This documentation discusses using the RockPro64 without the UART/Serial console.

If you'd like to use one, there are two that have been tested.

This image below shows the PL2302 (the Serial adapter listed in the Hardware table at the head of this document) connected to the RockPro64:

This is the model shown here.

Once wired up, connect the USB end of the adapter into your Linux Host Computer, and use the following command.

screen  -T screen-256color /dev/ttyUSB0 1500000

None presently.

Maintenance of the Slackware ARM port takes not only a lot of time, but also has financial costs such as the on-going use of electricity, Internet hosting and purchasing and maintenance of ARM hardware.

Once you find yourself enjoying using the ARM port of Slackware, please take a few moments to show your appreciation through sponsorship.

There are a plethora of ARM devices on the market which requires initial R&D and continuous testing. If you'd like to help Slackware support more ARM boards, please check out the documentation explaining how to get involved.