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Nixify #28

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opened 2026-01-10 19:36:00 +01:00 by vegardbm · 2 comments

vegardbm commented

2026-01-10 19:36:00 +01:00

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https://github.com/nvmd/nixos-raspberrypi?

vegardbm commented

2026-01-10 19:36:25 +01:00

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Vi har en ekstra Raspberry PI 5 liggende med ekstra SD-kort som vi kan bruke.

oysteikt commented

2026-01-11 14:55:15 +01:00

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This was already discussed a bit on matrix, but I'll outline it here:

It is already nixed in a sense, it is running on skrott - a rbpi with nixos installed. But the pi does not have enough RAM to rebuild itself, so what we did was that we built the NixOS system on @danio's laptop or some other machine, and then we flashed it to the SD card. It has not been updated ever since. In the meanwhile, the nix package was moved from the dibbler flake to pvv-nixos-config, you'll find it there and it can be build with nix build .#skrott (given that you can run aarch64-linux binaries, either natively or emulated).

The rbpi 5's were originally bought in order to upgrade dibbler, and make it possible to have it rebuild itself. However, getting an rbpi 5 to boot NixOS turned out to be more difficult than possible. The rbpi4 is only supported after a heroic effort of some nix community members to package and patch kernels and firmware and a bunch of reverse engineering. rbpi5 never received any such efforts, the rpbi4 project was unreasonable in the first place and likely only finished due to sunken cost. There are some community projects that we might be able to use, like the one mentioned above.

There should also be another grey home media center type machine laying around, with a "Coofun" label (or something similar, i don't remember). The top cover is a bit broken, but there is already a nixos install on it, and it has more than enough ram to rebuild itself and it has an x86_64 processor. If you'd like to avoid the rpbi5 nixos boot experience™️, it's possible to use this one instead.

Ref also:

https://git.pvv.ntnu.no/oysteikt/nixos-rpi5
Drift/issues#113
https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/NixOS_on_ARM/Raspberry_Pi_5 (Particularly the "Generic UEFI boot support" and "Proposed solution" sections)
Difference between https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware/tree/master/raspberry-pi/4 and https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware/tree/master/raspberry-pi/5

This was already discussed a bit on matrix, but I'll outline it here: It is already nixed in a sense, it is running on skrott - a rbpi with nixos installed. But the pi does not have enough RAM to rebuild itself, so what we did was that we built the NixOS system on @danio's laptop or some other machine, and then we flashed it to the SD card. It has not been updated ever since. In the meanwhile, the nix package was moved from the `dibbler` flake to `pvv-nixos-config`, you'll find it there and it can be build with `nix build .#skrott` (given that you can run aarch64-linux binaries, either natively or emulated). The rbpi 5's were originally bought in order to upgrade dibbler, and make it possible to have it rebuild itself. However, getting an rbpi 5 to boot NixOS turned out to be more difficult than possible. The rbpi4 is only supported after a heroic effort of some nix community members to package and patch kernels and firmware and a bunch of reverse engineering. [rbpi5 never received any such efforts](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/260754#issuecomment-1761957084), the rpbi4 project was unreasonable in the first place and likely only finished due to sunken cost. There are some community projects that we might be able to use, like the one mentioned above. There should also be another grey home media center type machine laying around, with a "Coofun" label (or something similar, i don't remember). The top cover is a bit broken, but there is already a nixos install on it, and it has more than enough ram to rebuild itself and it has an x86_64 processor. If you'd like to avoid the rpbi5 nixos boot experience™️, it's possible to use this one instead. Ref also: - https://git.pvv.ntnu.no/oysteikt/nixos-rpi5 - https://git.pvv.ntnu.no/Drift/issues/issues/113 - https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/NixOS_on_ARM/Raspberry_Pi_5 (Particularly the "Generic UEFI boot support" and "Proposed solution" sections) - Difference between https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware/tree/master/raspberry-pi/4 and https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware/tree/master/raspberry-pi/5

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vegardbm closed this issue

2026-01-25 18:42:21 +01:00

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Reference: Projects/dibbler#28