zerno

Desktop as a Code: automated Arch Linux installation with Sway window manager and Neovim. Based on: https://github.com/dabealu/arch-sway

Installation Media

Options:

• zerno build-iso - create iso with zerno bin included
• zerno boot-dev - format device creating storage and boot partitions

Quick Start

• Run sudo zerno install-base from Arch Linux live environment
• Reboot into new system
• Run sudo zerno install-full

Notes and Troubleshooting

Manual wifi configuration

iwctl station wlan0 connect "SSID"

iwctl station wlan0 get-networks scans for available networks

Running on VM

• select QXL video device in QEMU, run sway via WLR_NO_HARDWARE_CURSORS=1 sway
• archiso environment have sshd and root password access enabled - easy to upload binary and start installation using scp/ssh

Flashing black screen during installation

laptop may enter into loop with flashing black screen after selecting install from boot menu. select install, but press e instead of enter to edit kernel parameters, add nomodeset parameter:

linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux ... nomodeset 
initrd ...

press ctrl+x to save and load.

ref: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel_parameters

Disable mitigations

this may increase CPU performance, but potentially dangerous. disable hardware vulnerability mitigations by setting mitigations=off kernel parameter.

Pipewire

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PipeWire set flag to enable WebRTC in chrome: chrome://flags/#enable-webrtc-pipewire-capturer

Bluetooth pairing

bluetoothctl
agent KeyboardOnly
default-agent
power on
scan on
pair 00:12:34:56:78:90
connect 00:12:34:56:78:90

ref: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/bluetooth#Pairing

Screen resolution

run swaymsg -t get_outputs to get list of outputs and man sway-output for more options. use wdisplays for GUI configuration.

Appearance

use lxappearance to set GTK theme and appearance settings. lxappearance stores config in ~/.gtkrc-2.0. more themes: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GTK#Themes

Connecting android devices via USB

based on: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Media_Transfer_Protocol

install dependencies: sudo pacman -Sy android-udev android-file-transfer restart may be needed.

connect phone, select File Transfer (MTP), keep screen unlocked. mount phone storage:

mkdir -p ~/mnt
aft-mtp-mount ~/mnt

Keybindings

use wev to get key code

yay -Sy wev

Neovim

Neovim is installed during Phase 1 (base) and configured during Phase 2 (full). Config is embedded from assets/nvim/. See vim.md for detailed documentation, plugins, and keybindings.

Boot: systemd-boot + UKI

Zerno uses systemd-boot with Unified Kernel Images (UKIs). Kernel cmdline is embedded in the UKI via /etc/kernel/cmdline. systemd-boot auto-discovers UKIs in /efi/EFI/Linux/. A pacman hook preserves the previous kernel as fallback on upgrades. See AGENTS.md for full boot architecture.

Secure Boot

Zerno always creates Secure Boot keys and signs all EFI binaries via sbctl. Works with Secure Boot OFF (signatures ignored). To enable Secure Boot:

sudo sbctl enroll-keys -m

Then enable Secure Boot in your UEFI firmware settings.

TODO

• encrypted volume
• intel integrated graphics: /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf

  options i915 enable_psr=0 enable_guc=0 enable_fbc=0
  

• consider replacing some apps with TUIs:
  • transmission -> aria2
  • thunar -> yazi
  • ristretto -> chafa/uberzug++
  • pavucontrol -> wiremix/pulsemixer
  • evince -> AUR tdf-git/fancy-cat/just use browser?
  • vlc -> try for fun: mpv --vo=kitty --hwdec=auto video.mp4
  • audacious -> create tui wrapper around mpv?