Riverrun

Alpine Linux and River setup notes

Introduction

Riverrun provides a setup guide for configuring Alpine Linux with the River window compositor. Mostly personal notes and some scripting, work in progress

In every subdirectory is a file called locations that contains paths for the directory contents. The script sync-files is a preliminary solution for syncing files, do not blindly run it.

TODO Split in different branches for different devices

Installation medium

Download extended version of Alpine Linux for your architecture at https://alpinelinux.org/downloads/

https://docs.alpinelinux.org/user-handbook/0.1a/Installing/setup_alpine.html

Windows

USBWriter

If you can't mount it under Windows use diskpart to wipe it (if diskpart complains, boot a Linux live distro and use fdisk or try a proprietary partition manager for Windows)

Linux

dd bs=4M if=path/to/alpine.iso of=/dev/disk/by-id/usb-My_flash_drive conv=fsync oflag=direct status=progress

MacOS

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/USB_flash_installation_medium#In_macOS_2

diskutil list
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX
dd if=path/to/alpine.iso of=/dev/rdiskX bs=1m status=progress

Alpine Linux Installation

Note that the partitioning step currently requires to reboot several times which means that all configuration is lost. Until this issue is resolved it is a good idea to skip setup steps that are not stricly necessary to avoid having to repeat steps frequently.

Login as root (no password set)

https://docs.alpinelinux.org/user-handbook/0.1a/Installing/manual.html

Keyboard layout

    setup-keymap ch ch

    setup-hostname alpine201
    vi /etc/hosts

Set hostname

/etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost alpine.localdomain alpine201
::1       localhost.localdomain localhost alpine.localdomain alpine201

rc-service hostname restart

Networking

Netwoking can be set up with setup-interfaces either for a LAN connection or wireless with wpa_supplicant.

setup-interfaces
rc-service networking start
rc-update add networking boot

Advanced setup can be done once a connection has been established.

apk add openresolv
apk add ifupdown-ng
apk add dhcpcd
rc-update add dhcpcd

copy dhcpcd config to /etc/dhcpcd.conf

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2131#section-2.2

Wi-Fi

When you need to configure wlan with iwd you first have to use wpa_supplicant because iwd is not included. Also remember to remove its service and to delete the old configuration in /etc/wpa_supplicant after installing iwd.

rc-update del wpa_supplicant boot

apk add dbus iwd
rc-service dbus start
rc-update add dbus boot
rc-service iwd start
rc-update add iwd default

https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Iwd

iwctl

device list
device <device> set-property Powered on
adapter <adapter> set-property Powered on
station <device> scan
station <device> get-networks
station <device> connect <SSID>
station list

Troubleshooting

apk add pciutils
lspci -k # list devices
ip link # list interfaces
dmesg | grep ipw2200

lspci -k should list your wifi interface and a kernel driver for it below

IBM Thinkpad x40

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Network_configuration/Wireless https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/ipw2200

it seems that the driver is not loaded correctly, solution:

https://gitlab.alpinelinux.org/alpine/aports/-/issues/8873

curl -L -o /lib/firmware/ipw2200-bss.fw 'https://github.com/Jolicloud/linux-firmware/blob/master/ipw2200-bss.fw?raw=true'

ipw2200 does not work together with iwd or iw and can be configured with wireless-tools instead:

apk add wireless-tools
iwconfig eth1
iwconfig eth1 power on # power saving setting
iwlist eth1 scan
iwconfig eth1 essid <your_essid> key s:<your_key>

iwd gui: Impala

/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp

Relogin

Network configurations can be found under /var/lib/iwd and certificates should be stored in /usr/local/share/ca-certificates

An example configuration for setting up eduroam with iwd can be found in ./eduroam-iwd, more on this in the Arch wiki

Time settings

apk add tzdata
install -Dm 0644 /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin /etc/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin
export TZ='Europe/Berlin'
echo "export TZ='$TZ'" >> /etc/profile.d/timezone.sh

setup-apkrepos

passwd

setup-sshd

(allow root)

Network Time Protocol (NTP)

apk add chrony

Replace default config in /etc/chrony/chrony.conf

rc-service chronyd start
rc-update add chronyd

Log-in via SSH

ssh root@alpine201

Partitioning

Instructions for using a GPT partioning scheme on a BIOS system

https://docs.alpinelinux.org/user-handbook/0.1a/Installing/manual.html#_partitioning_your_disk https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Installing_on_GPT_LVM

The following command will delete everything on /dev/sda, so make sure to replace it with the correct drive!

apk add gptfdisk sgdisk

sgdisk -o /dev/sda \
    -n 1:0:+2M -t 1:ef02 -c 1:"BIOS boot partition" \
    -n 2:0:+100M -t 2:8300 -c 2:"Linux filesystem" \
    -n 3:0:0 -t 3:8300 -c 3:"Alpine Linux"

sgdisk --attributes=2:set:2 /dev/sda

Partition table:

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
1            2048            6143   2.0 MiB     EF02  BIOS boot partition
2            6144          210943   100.0 MiB   8300  Linux filesystem
3          210944       250069646   119.1 GiB   8E00  Alpine Linux

I had to reboot several times because this was not working, thus to repeat the previous setup

apk add e2fsprogs
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3

reboot

mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot

setup-disk -m sys /mnt

apk add syslinux
dd bs=440 count=1 conv=notrunc if=/usr/share/syslinux/gptmbr.bin of=/dev/sda

TODO Add instructions for uefi gpt

apk add btrfs-progs
modprobe btrfs

TODO Evaluate zfs filesystem and zfsbootmenu

Configuration

adduser -h /home/felix -s /bin/ash felix

Install doas, serves the same purpose as sudo

apk add doas 
vi /etc/doas.conf
adduser felix wheel 

Copy /etc/doas.conf

Disallow logging in as root via SSH:

vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Log-in as user via SSH:

groups # wheel should have been added
ssh -l felix alpine201

You can still login as root via SSH with su -

Add the community repository to /etc/apk/repositories

http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main
http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community

Upgrade

apk update
apk upgrade --available

apk add gcompat

Fonts

apk add font-terminus font-inconsolata font-dejavu font-noto font-noto-cjk font-awesome font-noto-extra
apk add adwaita-icon-theme font-dejavu

https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Fonts

Graphic drivers

Intel Thinkpad x201s

apk add mesa-dri-gallium
apk add mesa-va-gallium
apk add libva-intel-driver

apk add mesa-dri-gallium
apk add mesa-va-gallium
apk add libva-media-driver

https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Intel_Video

River

Session

apk add seatd libseat
rc-service seatd start
rc-update add seatd boot
adduser felix seat

apk add polkit
rc-update add polkit
rc-service polkit start

apk add mkrundir

apk add turnstile
rc-update add turnstiled
rc-service turnstiled start

Relogin

apk add river river-doc

Copy example init:

install -Dm0755 /usr/share/doc/river/examples/init -t ~/.config/river

You can also find my init script under ./river/init, note that it uses a German keyboard layout and remaps Caps Lock to Esc. You can exit river with Super+Shift+E or switch to a different tty with Strg+Alt+F1

List input devices like touchpad etc:

riverctl list-inputs

Install foot as terminal emulator (Can be launched with ctrl + shift + enter)

apk add foot

Copy the script ./river/riverrun for running river to /usr/local/bin/riverrunand execute it by typing riverrun.

Statusbar

apk add yambar

TODO Replace yambar

https://git.sr.ht/~justinesmithies/dotfiles

apk add nerd-fonts-all
apk add font-awesome  # maybe

Copy yambar config

Wallpaper

apk add wbg
riverctl spawn 'wbg ~/path/to/image'

Notifications

mako for displaying notifications, fyi for sending

apk add mako
notify-send -t 9000 "hello world!"  # test notifications
apk add fyi

Screenshots

wayshot

apk add wayshot
apk add wl-clipboard

Make a screenshot and copy it to the clipboard: Super + Shift + S

Power Management

TODO Setup automatic shutdown on low battery levels

apk add acpid zzz
rc-update add acpid
rc-service acpid start

Default configuration is located in /etc/acpid/handler.sh

apk add tlp
rc-update add tlp && rc-service tlp start

/etc/tlp.conf

TODO Thinkpad x201 requires tp-smapi https://github.com/linux-thinkpad/tp_smapi for setting charge thresholds.

Idle management:

apk add swayidle

TODO Configure backlight dimming and standby

Application launcher

fuzzel

apk add fuzzel

Str + R to search for desktop entries

Desktop entries

Application entries are located in /usr/share/applications, /usr/local/share/applications or `~/.local/share/applications (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Desktop_entries#Application_entry)

Default applications

Add ~/.config/mimeapps.list

xdg-mime query default image/png
xdg-open some-image.png

Resolution and scale

addgroup <user> audio

apk add waylock brightnessctl
rc-update add brightnessctl
apk add wlr-randr

Run wlr-randr to find outputs

wlr-randr --output <output> --on --preferred --scale 1

apk add wlopm kanshi

Turn displays on and off with wlopm

kanshi for creating profiles

TODO Add kanshi configurations

kanshi

Day/night screen adjustments

apk add wlsunset
wlsunset -L 8 -l 52
pkill -f wlsunset

The alias night is defined for zsh

Dark mode switching

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Adwaita-dark'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'prefer-dark'

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Adwaita'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'default'

Login manager

Simple login manager to automatically start River

apk add greetd
apk add greetd-tuigreet

rc-update add greetd

doas nvim /etc/greetd/config.toml

https://man.sr.ht/~kennylevinsen/greetd/#how-to-set-xdg_session_typewayland

Device manager

apk add --quiet eudev udev-init-scripts udev-init-scripts-openrc
rc-update add --quiet udev sysinit
rc-update add --quiet udev-trigger sysinit
rc-update add --quiet udev-settle sysinit
rc-update add --quiet udev-postmount default
rc-service --ifstopped udev start
rc-service --ifstopped udev-trigger start
rc-service --ifstopped udev-settle start
rc-service --ifstopped udev-postmount start

TODO Add rules for auto mounting

Thunderbolt

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Thunderbolt#Automatically_connect_any_device

USB drives

Mount usb drive

apk add udisks2
udisksctl mount -b /dev/sdb1
udisksctl unmount -b /dev/sdb1

Filesystem support

apk add btrfs-progs dosfstools exfatprogs ntfs-3g

Fingerprint reader

TODO Add configuration

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Fprint

lsusb
apk add fprintd

File manager

Thunar and plugins

apk add thunar thunar-archive-plugin
apk add thunar-volman thunar-media-tags-plugin
apk add font-manager-thunar
apk add gvfs sshfs gvfs-smb gvfs-afc gvfs-gphoto2 gvfs-mtp gvfs-nfs

Terminal file manager

apk add lf

TODO Complete lf configuration

Audio

apk add superd
apk add pipewire
addgroup <user> audio
apk add wireplumber
apk add pipewire-pulse
apk add pipewire-alsa
apk add pipewire-jack
apk add xdg-desktop-portal-wlr
apk add alsa-utils alsa-lib alsaconf
apk add pamixer
apk add pavucontrol
apk add pipewire-spa-bluez
apk add bluez-alsa

superd is a process supervisor that can be used with openRC because openRC does not have the concept of user services.

Get superd services from https://git.sr.ht/~whynothugo/superd-services and copy them to /etc/superd/services

Started in riverrun

wpctl status

Realtime sheduling

apk add rtkit
addgroup <user> rtkit

Audio visualizer

cava

apk add cava

mpv

apk add mpv

Keymaps

The keyboard layout is set with riverctl in the River init file. For debugging xkbcli is a useful tool.

apk add xkbcli
xkbcli interactive-wayland

Notes

apk add pamixer # command line audio mixer
apk add playerctl

pactl list cards

Mac sound https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/IMac_Aluminum#The_imac7,1_model:

nvim /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf
echo options snd-hda-intel model=mb31 > /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf

TODO Reevaluate for Alpine

Easy Effects

apk add easyeffects lsp-plugins

-> Settings -> Dark mode

Download plugins from https://github.com/wwmm/easyeffects/wiki/Community-Presets

curl -O --output-dir ~/.config/easyeffects/output/ "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Digitalone1/EasyEffects-Presets/master/LoudnessEqualizer.json"

System Monitoring

apk add htop

apk add lm-sensors lm-sensors-sensord lm-sensors-detect

apk add i2c_tools
doas modprobe i2c_dev
doas i2cdetect -l

doas sensors-detect

It is strongly advised to accept default answers when running sensors-detect. Answer yes for writing to /etc/modules-load.d/lm_sensors.conf

apk del lm-sensors-detect

rc-update add sensord default
rc-service sensord start

sensors

apk add s-tui
s-tui

Bluetooth

apk add bluez pipewire-spa-bluez
apk add bluetuith
modprobe btusb
rc-update add bluetooth
rc-service bluetooth start
adduser <user> lp

bluetoothctl
bluetuith

Programs

Change the maximum number of failed login attemps (deny)

doas nvim /etc/security/faillock.conf

https://gnulinux.ch/alpine-linux-als-desktop

apk add intel-ucode
apk add linux-pam

Editor

Neovim

apk add neovim

Run nvim and enter :Tutor for a tutorial

man pages

apk add mandoc man-pages mandoc-apropos docs
apk add coreutils-doc man-pages-posix

Terminal emulator and alternative shell

bash

apk add bash

zsh

apk add zsh
apk add zsh-completions
apk add alpine-zsh-config
apk add zsh-syntax-highlighting

https://zsh.sourceforge.io/Guide/zshguide02.html

Copy .zshrc

zsh is set as default shell for foot in its ini file.

https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/How_to_get_regular_stuff_working

apk add coreutils

PDF viewer

Zathura

doas apk add zathura
apk add zathura-cb
apk add zathura-djvu
apk add zathura-ps
apk add zathura-pdf-mupdf

Firefox

apk add firefox

Profile location can be found by entering about:profiles in the adress bar

Adblock add-on Edit start page Edit menu bar

Password manager

Copy ~/.gnupg/gpg-agent.conf

wayprompt, needs to be build from source, configuration file is included

gpgconf --reload gpg-agent
gpg --generate-key-full

https://www.passwordstore.org/

apk add pass qtpass
pass init <email>

Install Firefox extension passff https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/passff/ https://codeberg.org/PassFF/passff

apk add passff-host

iOS App pass

https://github.com/mssun/passforios https://apps.apple.com/de/app/pass-password-store/id1205820573

One-time-password

https://github.com/tadfisher/pass-otp

apk add pass pass-otp
apk add zbar
apk add imagemagick
zbarimg qr.png

VPN

OpenConnect

apk add openconnect
modprobe vhost-net
doas sh -c 'printf "vhost-net\n" > /etc/modules-load.d/vhost-net.conf'

An example for connecting to a VPN can be found in ./scripts/uni-vpn

Tex

apk add texlive-full
apk add biber
```sh

### git

```sh
apk add git gitui tig

git config --global user.name <name>
git config --global user.email <e-mail>

https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/checking-for-existing-ssh-keys

VS Code

Code OSS, like VS Code, but installing plugins is more complicated

apk add code-oss

Misc

gimp inkscape
p7zip
asciiquarium
vlc
libreoffice
shellcheck

E-mail: aerc

apk add aerc
apk add w3m dante

apk add chromium

Image viewer:

swayimg imv timg

apk add imv
apk add swayimg
apk add timg

apk add xdg-desktop-portal xdg-desktop-portal-gtk xdg-desktop-portal-wlr

Additional editor Mousepad

apk add mousepad

Flatpak

https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Flatpak with https://flathub.org/ repository

apk add flatpak
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Updating:

doas flatpak update

Signal Desktop Messenger

https://flathub.org/apps/org.signal.Signal

flatpak install flathub org.signal.Signal

can be run with

flatpak run org.signal.Signal

alias signal defined in ~/.zshrc

Firefox flathub version for playing DRM media

https://flathub.org/apps/org.mozilla.firefox

flatpak install flathub org.mozilla.firefox
flatpak run org.mozilla.firefox

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/?utm_source=addons.mozilla.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=search

Note that passff will not work with the flatpak version of firefox. Your profile can be found under ~/.var/app/org.mozilla.firefox/.mozilla/firefox.

In about:preferences#general check "Play DRM-controlled content"

You can edit the name displayed by the app launcher by editing the desktop entry to distinguish it from the normal Firefox version. When copied to $XDG_DATA_HOME/applications it will take precedence over the original Flatpak desktop entry.

mkdir ~/.local/share/applications
cp /var/lib/flatpak/exports/share/applications/org.mozilla.firefox.desktop ~/.local/share/applications
nvim ~/.local/share/applications/org.mozilla.firefox.desktop

Games

TODO Rewrite for Alpine

Retroarch

sudo pacman -Sy libretro-parallel-n64 libretro-bsnes
sudo pacman -Sy retroarch retroarch-assets-xmb

Copy retroarch.cfg to ``~/.config/retroarch/retroarch.cfg```. Settings for individual cores can only be edited, when a game ist started. To do so, set the key combination for opening the menu in the settings beforehand.

RMG N64

sudo pacman -Sy glfw-wayland
yay -Sy rmg

Start with RMG

Ares

Nvidia Tesla does not support Vulkan, therefore only Super Nintento Entertainment System games will run smoothly with Ares. swiftshader-git is an alternative software renderer.

yay -Sy lib32-mesa
pacman -Sy vulkan-tools
yay -Sy vulkan-swrast
yay -Sy ares-emu

VM

qemu

qemu-img create -f qcow2 image_file -o nocow=on 4G

qemu-system-x86_64 -cdrom win98.iso -boot order=d,menu=on -drive file=w98.qcow2 -m 512 -device sb16 -display sdl

nvim start_windows_98

sudo chmod +x start_windows_98

XFCE themes

TODO Rewrite for Alpine and River

Fluent theme https://github.com/vinceliuice/Fluent-gtk-theme

Fluent icons https://github.com/vinceliuice/Fluent-icon-theme.git

Devices

TODO Rewrite for Alpine

Controller

yay -Sy game-devices-udev

8bitDo SN30 Pro Connect in X mode (Start + X)

Apple Remote (IR)

should work out of the box https://lwn.net/Articles/759188/

Printing

https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Printer_Setup

TV

TODO Rewrite for Alpine

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/DVB-T

wget http://www.sundtek.de/media/sundtek_netinst.sh
sudo sh sundtek_netinst.sh

/opt/bin/mediaclient -e
sudo /opt/bin/mediaclient --start
/opt/bin/mediaclient -D DVBT

yay -Sy linuxtv-dvb-apps w_scan_cpp

w_scan_cpp -ft -c <country_code> -L > dvb.xspf
vlc dvb.xspf

dvbtraffic

Tips and tricks

https://docs.alpinelinux.org/user-handbook/0.1a/Working/openrc.html

rc-update show -v

apk add libinput
libinput list-devices
riverctl list-inputs