genpi64-overlay

Gentoo overlay (ebuild repository) for the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and B+, and Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. Used by my bootable gentoo-on-rpi-64bit image.

NB: this repository has been renamed, from rpi3-overlay to genpi64-overlay, to reflect its applicability to the new Pi4.

30 Oct 2020: sadly, due legal obligations arising from a recent change in my 'real world' job, I must announce I am standing down as maintainer of this project with immediate effect. For the meantime, I will leave the repo up (for historical interest, and since the ebuilds etc. may be of use for others looking to take forward Gentoo on 64-bit RPi systems); however, there will be no further updates to the underlying binhost etc., nor will I be accepting / actioning further pull requests or bug reports from this point. Email requests for support will also have to be politely declined, so, please treat this as an effective EOL notice.

For further details, please see my post here.

Gentoo itself on the aarch64 / 64-bit RPi platform remains very much a going concern of course; please see e.g. this forum for more details.

Many thanks for your interest in this project!

With sincere apologies, sakaki ><

List of ebuilds

The overlay provides the following ebuilds:

Metapackage ebuilds

• dev-embedded/rpi-64bit-meta

  • This is the main gentoo-on-rpi-64bit metapackage - its version matches that of the image release. It replaces the prior gentoo-on-rpi3-64bit metapackage. The features it pulls in (via other ebuilds) can be customized via the following USE flags (edit via /etc/portage/package.use/rpi-64bit-meta):

    USE flag	Default?	Effect
    boot-fw	Yes	Pull in the /boot firmware, configs and bootloader.
    kernel-bin	Yes	Pull in the bcm{2711,rpi3}-kernel<-bis>-bin binary kernel package.
    porthash	No	Pull in repo signature checker, for isshoni.org rsync.
    weekly-genup	Yes	Pull in cron.weekly script, to run genup automatically.
    innercore	Yes	Pull in essential system packages for image (RPi initscripts etc.)
    core	Yes	Pull in main packages for image (clang etc.). Requires innercore.
    xfce	Yes	Pull in packages for baseline Xfce4 system. Requires core.
    pitop	No	Pull in Pi-Top packages (NB most users won't want this). Requires xfce.
    apps	No	Pull in baseline desktop apps (libreoffice etc). Requires xfce.

Ebuilds related to the gentoo-on-rpi-64bit image

Note that for historical reasons, many of these ebuilds may contain rpi3- in the name, but yet still be applicable on the RPi4.

• acct-group/gpio

  • Similar to a virtual, this is an administrative package used to define the gpio group (by default, gid 370).

• acct-group/i2c

  • As above, but for the spi group (by default, gid 371).

• acct-group/spi

  • As above, but for the spi group (by default, gid 372).

• app-accessibility/onboard upstream

  • Provides a flexible onscreen keyboard. Included primarily for use with the official 7" RPi touchscreen. Adapted with thanks from original ebuild, here.

• app-office/orage upstream

  • Provides orage-4.12.1-r1.ebuild, patched for bug 657542. Once this revbumps in the main Gentoo tree, orage should revert to using that version instead.

• app-portage/rpi3-check-porthash

  • Provides a porthash signed hash check for the isshoni.org rsync gentoo ebuild repository, implemented as a repo.postsync.d hook. NB not used as of v1.3.0 of the image, as Gentoo's official gemato signature check is used instead; please see the release notes here.

• app-portage/weekly-genup

  • Installs a simple cron.weekly script, to automate genup, and another, to run 'fixups' (small scripts to correct issues that may e.g. prevent correct genup operation, effect upstream file hierarchy migrations etc.).

• dev-embedded/pitop-speaker upstream

  • Provides the ptspeaker Python 3 package and accompanying OpenRC service, to initialize pitopSPEAKER add-on-boards. The init has been adapted from the original Debian package and does not use pt-peripherals-daemon. Only installed on the image when the pitop USE flag is set on rpi-64bit-meta.

• dev-embedded/pitop-utils upstream

  • Provides the pt-poweroff and pt-brightness sbin utilities for the Pi-Top. Only installed on the image when the pitop USE flag is set on rpi-64bit-meta.

• dev-embedded/rpi4-eeprom-images upstream

  • Provides a set of EEPROM images for use by rpi4-eeprom-updater (see below). A weekly build-server process automatically creates new ebuilds for this package, whenever upstream releases a new EEPROM deb. For further details, please see this post.

• dev-embedded/rpi4-eeprom-updater upstream

  • Unlike its predecessor, the RPi4B contains a bootloader EEPROM (which replaces bootcode.bin) and also has another EEPROM region holding its VL805 USB chip's firmware. This package provides a boot-time service which checks the current versions and, if out-of-date, safely reflashes them. A weekly build-server process automatically creates new ebuilds for this package, whenever upstream releases a new deb. For further details, please see this post.

• dev-embedded/wiringpi upstream

  • Provides Gordon Henderson's WiringPi, a PIN based GPIO access library (with accompanying gpio utility). Now deprecated, and will not work correctly on the RPi4 in any event; use e.g. the bundled dev-libs/pigpio library instead (see below).

• dev-lang/pony upstream

  • Provides a few ebuilds for the pony language. Not installed on the image. Please see this post, ff. for more background.

• dev-lang/python upstream

  • Provides builds of the python language interpreter (for slots 3.6 and 3.7) that have profile guided optimisation (pgo) turned on, as this can yield a significant performance improvement (see e.g. these notes).

• dev-libs/pigpio upstream

  • Provides a library, daemon (pigpiod), python bindings and CLI client (pigs), allowing control of the GPIOs on the RPi 3 and 4. A useful replacement for wiringpi, the version included here includes the necessary patches to work on an arm64 system, and sets up the server to run, by default, on IPv4 127.0.0.1, port 8888 only.

• dev-php/pthreads upstream

  • Provides pthreads-3.2.0, a threading extension for php. Not required on the image, but used by some other packages, such as minecraft (see this thread for further details).

• mail-client/thunderbird upstream

  • Provides a number of ebuilds for this popular email client, in which attempts to use the --disable-elf-hack configuration option under the clang compiler are suppressed on arm64 (as this breaks the build otherwise).

• media-libs/gst-plugins-base upstream

  • Provides a modified ebuild (gst-plugins-base-1.14.5-r1) patched to build correctly under arm64 (prevents detection of the RPi platform, as not all interfaces are yet available within a 64-bit userland). Will be replaced by a main-tree variant on the image once one becomes available.

• media-libs/libsdl2 upstream

  • Provides a modified ebuild (libsdl-2.0.10-r1) patched to build correctly under arm64. Will be replaced by a main-tree variant on the image once one becomes available.

• media-libs/mesa upstream

  • Provides a number of lightly-patched ebuilds for this OpenGL-like graphic library, which ensure that the v3d drivers are also built (for the RPi4) whenever vc4 is present in VIDEO_CARDS.

• media-libs/raspberrypi-userland upstream

  • Provides (restricted) 64-bit builds (-DARM64=ON) of raspberrypi-userland, forvcgencmd etc. Now also (>=1.20191025-r1) includes 6by9's provisional patchset for 64-bit userspace MMAL (so, e.g. raspivid and raspistill can be used). The ebuild needs tidying, so please use with care ><

• media-sound/pulseaudio upstream

  • Provides a number of ebuilds for pulseaudio supporting the extra rpi-deglitch USE flag; this sets tsched=0 by default, as a workaround for choppy audio under certain 64-bit kernels.

• media-video/ffmpeg upstream

  • Provides a version of ffmpeg that has been patched to allow leverage of the RPi3/4's hardware video codecs, via V4L2 M2M, and also (>=4.2.1-r3) can use MMAL from a 64-bit userspace.

• media-video/pi-ffcam

  • Provides trivial V4L2 live view app for the RPi3/4's (optional) camera module.

• media-video/pi-ffplay

  • Provides a trivial video player app (based on ffplay) that uses the RPi3/4's V4L2 M2M hardware video codecs where possible.

• net-libs/nghttp2 upstream

  • Provides version of nghttp2 that can work under bindist, by using the EC-patched dev-libs/openssl libraries (see above). Still in use on the image (as the main tree version unnecessarily forces -bindist).

• net-libs/nodejs upstream

  • Provides version of nodejs that can work under bindist, by using the EC-patched dev-libs/openssl libraries (see above). Still in use on the image (for the same reason as net-libs/nghttp2).

• net-misc/m-minerd upstream

  • Provides m-minerd-2.4.ebuild, a CPU pool miner for M7M/Magi, adapted to build correctly under arm64. Not currently included on the image. Please see this issue thread for further details.

• net-misc/rpi3-ethfix

  • Effects some simple Ethernet workarounds (using ethtool) for the RPi3B+. It has no effect on the RPi3B or RPi4B.

• net-misc/xorgxrdp upstream

  • Provides Xorg drivers for xrdp (see below). Supplied on the image to allow RDP connectivity to Windows clients; see e.g. these notes.

• net-misc/xrdp upstream

  • Provides xrdp-0.9.8.ebuild for this open source Remote Desktop Protocol server. Supplied on the image with xorgxrdp above.

• net-p2p/cpuminer-multi upstream

  • Provides cpuminer-multi-1.3.3.ebuild, a multi-algorithm CPU cryptocurrency miner adapted to build correctly under arm64. Not currently included on the image. Please see this post ff. for further details.

• net-wireless/blueman upstream

  • Provides blueman-2.0.4-r1.ebuild; this has been removed from the main Gentoo tree, but is in use on the image (until the current version proves stable, at which point it will be unmasked, and blueman will revert to using the main-tree ebuild).

• net-wireless/rpi3-bluetooth upstream

  • Provides a startup service and udev rule for the RPi3/4's integrated Bluetooth transceiver. Adapted from the pi-bluetooth package from ArchLinux.

• net-wireless/rpi3-wifi-regdom Provides a simple service to set the WiFi regulatory domain; the value set may be modified by editing the file /etc/conf.d/rpi3-wifi-regdom.

• sys-apps/openrc upstream

  • Provided lightly modified ebuilds for this, Gentoo's native init system, supporting the additional swclock-fix USE flag. This flag (set on the image) patches the startup code to attempt to overcome annoying clock-skew messages that can occur at boot (the swclock service is used on systems like the RPi, which has no RTC). Please see these notes for some further background.

• sys-apps/pitop-poweroff

  • Provides a simple OpenRC shutdown service, to ensure that the Pi-Top's onboard hub controller is properly powered down. Only installed when the pitop USE flag is set on rpi-64bit-meta.

• sys-apps/pyconfig_gen upstream

  • Provides a simple, PyQt5 dialog-based app, to allow the /boot/config.txt file to be edited in a structured manner, together with some support services (to revert the new config automatically, unless ratified upon reboot).

• sys-apps/rpi-gpio

  • Sets up a udev rule to allow GPIO access (on the RPi3/4) for members of the gpio group. On installation, all current members of wheel are automatically made members of gpio. Now installed for all users of the rpi-64bit-meta package (with innercore USE).

• sys-apps/rpi-i2c

  • Like rpi3-i2cdev (see below), sets up a udev rule to allow I2C access (on the RPi3/4) for members of the i2c group, and ensures that the i2c_dev module is modprobed. On installation, all current members of wheel are automatically made members of i2c (to allow for straightforward transition from rpi3-spidev). Now installed for all users of the rpi-64bit-meta package (with innercore USE).

• sys-apps/rpi-onetime-startup

  • Provides a startup service which (having first disabled itself from running again) executes, as root, the script /boot/startup.sh, if present. This script can be used to e.g., set up initial WiFi networking on a headless system, thereby allowing an ssh connection to be established. The provided template /boot/startup.sh script contains several (commented out) examples of NetworkManager configuration.

• sys-apps/rpi-serial

  • Provides a udev rule to create appropriate serial port device aliases at /dev/serial0 and/or /dev/serial1 (using code borrowed from Raspbian).

• sys-apps/rpi-spi

  • Like rpi3-spidev (see below), sets up a udev rule to allow SPI access (on the RPi3/4) for members of the spi group. On installation, all current members of wheel are automatically made members of spi (to allow for straightforward transition from rpi3-spidev). Now installed for all users of the rpi-64bit-meta package (with innercore USE).

• sys-apps/rpi-video

  • Provides a udev rule to allow members of the video group access to /dev/rpivid* and /dev/argon* devices (using code borrowed from Raspbian).

• sys-apps/rpi3-expand-swap

  • Expands the default swapfile (/var/cache/swap/swap1) to 1,024MiB on first boot (after the root filesystem has been expanded), subject to sufficient space.

• sys-apps/rpi3-i2cdev

  • Provides an OpenRC service and udev rule for I2C access on the RPi3/4. Ensures that the i2c-dev module is modprobed, and that the /dev/i2c-[0-9] devices are read/write for all members of the wheel group, not just root. Originally installed by the pitop USE flag on rpi-64bit-meta, it has since been superseded by rpi-i2c, above.

• sys-apps/rpi3-init-scripts

  • Provides a few simple init scripts for the gentoo-on-rpi-64bit image (to autoexpand the root partition on first boot, inhibit XVideo, setup cache usage appropriate for a low-memory environment etc.).

• sys-apps/rpi3-ondemand-cpufreq

  • Provides the rpi3-ondemand OpenRC sysinit service, to switch the RPi3 and RPi4 from its (bcmrpi3_defconfig and bcm2711_defconfig) default powersave CPU frequency governor, to ondemand, for better performance.

• sys-apps/rpi3-spidev

  • Provides a udev rule for SPI access on the RPi3; ensures that the /dev/spidevN.M devices are read/write for all members of the wheel group, not just root. Originally installed by the pitop USE flag on rpi-64bit-meta, it has since been superseded by rpi-spi, above.

• sys-boot/rpi3-64bit-firmware upstream

  • Provides the firmware and config files required in /boot to boot the RPi3/4 in 64-bit mode. Does not provide the kernel or DTBs (see sys-kernel/bcmrpi3-kernel<-bis>-bin, above, for that). A weekly check is made to see if a new tag has been added to the official raspberrypi/firmware/boot upstream, and, if so, a matching ebuild is automatically created here. With the dtbo USE flag off (as forced by the profile, currently), does not provide or populate the /boot/overlays directory - this then being the responsibility of the binary kernel package.

• sys-boot/rpi3-boot-config

  • Provides the 'starter' RPi3/4 configuration files /boot/cmdline.txt and /boot/config.txt (in both standard and Pi-Top trim).

• sys-devel/portage-distccmon-gui

  • Desktop file (and wrapper) to view Portage jobs with distccmon-gui (provided your user is a member of the portage group).

• sys-firmware/bcm4340a1-firmware upstream

  • Provides firmware (/etc/firmware/BCM43430A1.hcd) for the RPi's integrated Bluetooth transceiver. Adapted from the pi-bluetooth package from ArchLinux. Required by net-wireless/rpi3-bluetooth package (see above).

• sys-firmware/brcm43430-firmware upstream

  • Provides a configuration file (brcmfmac43430-sdio.txt) that is required for the RPi3/4's integrated WiFi (the main firmware is provided already, by sys-kernel/linux-firmware). Now also provides the equivalent file brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt, for use with the RPi3 B+ / RPi 4 B's dual-band WiFi WiFi chip set (Cypress CYW43455), plus the matching brcmfmac43430-sdio.clm_blob, and, when the 43455-fix USE flag is set, also provides a more modern copy of the uploadable file /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43455-sdio.bin (in preference to the older version shipped with sys-kernel/linux-firmware; see below).

• sys-kernel/bcm2711-kernel-bin

  • Provides ebuilds to install the available binary packages for the 64-bit bcm2711_defconfig Linux kernels (for the Raspberry Pi 4 model B), which are updated weekly here.

• sys-kernel/bcm2711-kernel-bis-bin

  Provides ebuilds to install the available binary packages for (slightly tweaked versions of) the 64-bit bcm2711_defconfig Linux kernels (for the Raspberry Pi 4 model B), which are updated weekly here. This version is used by default in preference to bcm2711-kernel-bin as of v1.5.0 of the image, as it includes some additional kernel configuration items such as KVM (but either is acceptable).

• sys-kernel/bcmrpi3-kernel-bin

  • Provides ebuilds to install the available binary packages for the 64-bit bcmrpi3_defconfig Linux kernels (for the Raspberry Pi 3 model B and B+), which are updated weekly here.

• sys-kernel/bcmrpi3-kernel-bis-bin

  • Provides ebuilds to install the available binary packages for (slightly tweaked versions of) the 64-bit bcmrpi3_defconfig Linux kernels (for the Raspberry Pi 3 model B and B+), which are updated weekly here. This version is used in preference to bcmrpi3-kernel-bin as of v1.2.2 of the bootable image, since it includes some additional kernel configuration items such as KVM (but either is acceptable).

• sys-kernel/linux-firmware upstream

  • Provides a large collection of redistributable Linux firmware files. The version in this overlay supports the 43455-fix USE flag, which when set does not install the file /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43455-sdio.bin (allowing a more modern version to be supplied by sys-firmware/brcm43430-firmware; see above).

• virtual/pam

  • Just provides a shadow copy of virtual/pam-0-r1, preparatory to this being removed from the main tree (announced but not yet effected at the time of writing) — as it is still a dep of some packages currently in use on the image.

• virtual/rust

  • Provides a virtual for version 1.31.1-r1 of the rust compiler. Retained for historical interest only - more modern (>=1.32.2) main tree versions are now used in the image.

• www-client/chromium upstream

  • Provides a number of versions of the open-source browser chromium, capable of being built in a bindist compatible manner (by suppressing all software-based h264 codec inclusions). Also forces the use of clang as the compiler.

• www-client/firefox upstream

  • Provides patched ebuilds for the full-scale firefox browser. Retained in the overlay for historical interest only, as modern (>=68.2.0) main-tree versions of firefox build successfully under arm64 (and just such a main-tree build is currently used on the image).

• x11-base/xorg-server upstream

  • Provides xorg-server-1.19.6-r1.ebuild for the X11 server, adapted to build correctly under arm64. Retained for historical interest only - more modern (>=1.20.5) main tree versions are now used in the image.

• x11-misc/arandr upstream

  • Provides a slightly patched version of the arandr screen configuration GUI, which automatically applies setup files saved as ~/.screenlayout/default.sh upon login (incidentally, this autoload can be suppressed by holding down Ctrl during boot).

• x11-misc/rpi3-safecompositor

  • Provides an eponymous OpenRC service to off display compositing, on the RPi3 only, if a high pixel clock is detected (> 1.2175MHz, currently). This is because certain applications, for example LibreOffice v6 Draw and Impress, can cause the whole system to lock-up when used with compositing on under such conditions. As of v1.4.0 of the image / v1.0.1 of the ebuild, also turns of compositing when 'true' kms mode (vc4-kms-v3d) is in use.

• x11-misc/rpi3-safecursor

  • Provides the rpi3-safecursor OpenRC service, which will install a rule to force software cursor blitting (rather than the hardware default) if the user has not set disable_overscan=1 in config.txt. (Required because hardware cursor blitting in the open-source vc4 driver does not always take account of the overscan 'bezel' correctly on HDMI TVs, resulting in an offset cursor.) The service no-ops with any >= 4.14.y kernel however (e.g., the 4.19.y currently supplied with the image), as these have the fix already committed.

• x11-misc/twofing upstream

  • Provides the twofing daemon, which converts touchscreen gestures into mouse and keyboard events. Included primarily for use with the offical 7" RPi (1,2,3) touchscreen (not sure if this is yet compatible with the RPi4?).

• x11-themes/gnome-icon-theme upstream

  • Provides gnome-icon-theme-3.12.0-r1.ebuild; this has been removed from the main Gentoo tree, but is still required for some icons on the image.

• x11-themes/gtk-engines-xfce upstream

  • Provides a shadow copy of gtk-engines-xfce-r{2,3}01, preparatory to these being removed from the main tree (announced but not yet effected at the time of writing) — as still a dep of some packages currently in use on the image.

• xfce-extra/xfc4-mixer upstream

  • Provides xfc4-mixer-4.99.0-r1, a 'pseudo-package' replacing the original, treecleaned xfce4-mixer with the (broadly equivalent) media-sound/volumeicon package.

• xfce-extra/xfce4-battery-plugin upstream

  • A modified version of the standard xfce4-battery-plugin gas gauge. It is patched with code from rricharz to query the status of the Pi-Top's battery over I2C; this code is activated by building rpi-64bit-meta with the pitop USE flag (NB - only for use on Pi-Top systems).

• xfce-extra/xfce4-cpugraph-plugin upstream

  • Provides a version of this plugin that periodically completely redraws, as the original is subject to occasional display corruption.

• xfce-extra/xfce4-fixups-rpi3

  • Effects some useful new-user fixups for Xfce4 on the RPi3 and RPi4 (forcing compositing to sync to the vertical blank etc.). Installs an /etc/xdg/autostart/xfce4-fixups-rpi3.desktop entry.

• xfce-extra/xfce4-indicator-plugin upstream

  • Provides xfce4-indicator-plugin-2.3.3-r2.ebuild; this has been removed from the main Gentoo tree, and v2.3.4 is currently masked.

• xfce-extra/xfce4-keycuts-pitop

  • Installs some simple keyboard shortcuts for the Pi-Top (an RPi3-based DIY laptop). Only installed on the image when the pitop USE flag is set on rpi-64bit-meta.

• xfce-extra/xfce4-noblank

  • Provides an /etc/xdg/autostart script to prevent the xscreensaver blanking the screen, even when it is notionally 'off'.

• xfce-extra/xfce4-notifyd upstream

  • Provides xfce4-notifyd-0.4.0.ebuild; this has been removed from the main Gentoo tree, but is still used on the image. Upgrades masked because of message truncation, which causes problems with PIN notification during Bluetooth device setup. To be fixed / resolved.

Other directories of interest

The following, non-ebuild directories may also be of interest:

• metadata/news

  • This simply contains some GLEP 42-compliant news items, specific to users of this overlay (and/or the bootable image).

• profiles/...

  • This specifies the custom profile used by the bootable image, which contains a number of custom USE-flag assignments, package masks, keyword overrides and so forth. For more details, please see the notes here.