NixOS on RISCV/VisionFive 2 - Revision history

Onny at 08:53, 25 March 2026

2026-03-25T08:53:48Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:53, 25 March 2026
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	</syntaxhighlight>It is recommended to [[RISC-V#Binary cache\|configure third-party binary caches]] to speed up build times.		</syntaxhighlight>It is recommended to [[RISC-V#Binary cache\|configure third-party binary caches]] to speed up build times.

	== Tips and tricks ==		= Tips and tricks =

	=== Using the Visionfive 2 as a remote builder to build native RISCV packages for e.g. the Visionfive 2 ===		== Using the Visionfive 2 as a remote builder to build native RISCV packages for e.g. the Visionfive 2 ==
	Building an NixOS system image that can be flashed to an SD card or NVMe SSD requires to '''build RISCV binaries''', more specifically for the <code>"riscv64-linux"</code>platform. From a typical Intel/AMD computer we can either		Building an NixOS system image that can be flashed to an SD card or NVMe SSD requires to '''build RISCV binaries''', more specifically for the <code>"riscv64-linux"</code>platform. From a typical Intel/AMD computer we can either

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	# '''flash that resulting image onto an SD card''' or NVMe SSD using a call similar to <code>zstdcat result/sd-image/nixos-sd-image-23.11.20230703.ea4c80b-riscv64-linux.img.zst \| sudo dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=100M status=progress</code> and place that card into the Visionfive 2.		# '''flash that resulting image onto an SD card''' or NVMe SSD using a call similar to <code>zstdcat result/sd-image/nixos-sd-image-23.11.20230703.ea4c80b-riscv64-linux.img.zst \| sudo dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=100M status=progress</code> and place that card into the Visionfive 2.

	=== Deploy and Update the Visionfive 2 NixOS system once it's running NixOS ===		== Deploy and Update the Visionfive 2 NixOS system once it's running NixOS ==
	Once the Visionfive 2 is running NixOS, you can update it with newer NixOS system configurations using e.g. the usual <code>nix-rebuild</code>		Once the Visionfive 2 is running NixOS, you can update it with newer NixOS system configurations using e.g. the usual <code>nix-rebuild</code>

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	See [https://nixcademy.com/2023/08/10/nixos-rebuild-remote-deployment/ this guide] for a good explanation of this terminal call.		See [https://nixcademy.com/2023/08/10/nixos-rebuild-remote-deployment/ this guide] for a good explanation of this terminal call.

	== See also ==		= See also =

	* There's also a port of the UEFI reference implementation EDK2 available at https://github.com/starfive-tech/edk2 to support a future generic RISCV Linux image that can be booted from any RISCV device.		* There's also a port of the UEFI reference implementation EDK2 available at https://github.com/starfive-tech/edk2 to support a future generic RISCV Linux image that can be booted from any RISCV device.

Onny: /* Setup */ Add note on required patch for btrfs root image

2026-02-01T15:51:15Z

Setup: Add note on required patch for btrfs root image

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:51, 1 February 2026
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	</nowiki>}}		</nowiki>}}

	If you want to use an alternative filesystem for system root, for example [[Btrfs]], you could change the <code>sdImage</code>-part to this		If you want to use an alternative filesystem for system root, for example [[Btrfs]], you could change the <code>sdImage</code>-part to this. Currently [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/434122 this patch] is required to produce a functioning btrfs image.

	{{file\|flake.nix\|nix\|<nowiki>		{{file\|flake.nix\|nix\|<nowiki>
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	"compress=zstd"		"compress=zstd"
	"noatime"		"noatime"
	~~"rw"~~
	];		];
	};		};

Onny: /* Setup */ Update and fix btrfs image instruction

2026-01-12T13:17:27Z

Setup: Update and fix btrfs image instruction

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:17, 12 January 2026
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	];		];

	fileSystems."/" = { fsType = lib.mkForce "btrfs"; };		fileSystems."/" = {
			fsType = lib.mkForce "btrfs";
			options = [
			"compress=zstd"
			"noatime"
			"rw"
			];
			};
	</nowiki>}}		</nowiki>}}

Onny: /* Setup */ Update uboot btrfs config

2026-01-11T15:08:29Z

Setup: Update uboot btrfs config

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:08, 11 January 2026
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	fileSystems."/" = { fsType = lib.mkForce "btrfs"; };		fileSystems."/" = { fsType = lib.mkForce "btrfs"; };
	</nowiki>}}		</nowiki>}}

	~~You might need to adjust [[U-Boot]] configuration if you wish to boot other filesystems or filesystem features.~~

	It might be helpful to add [[RISC-V#Binary cache\|third-party binary cache configuration]] to this system configuration.		It might be helpful to add [[RISC-V#Binary cache\|third-party binary cache configuration]] to this system configuration.

Onny: /* Setup */ Update and fix btrfs image instruction

2026-01-11T15:06:41Z

Setup: Update and fix btrfs image instruction

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:06, 11 January 2026
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	})		})
	];		];

			fileSystems."/" = { fsType = lib.mkForce "btrfs"; };
	</nowiki>}}		</nowiki>}}

Onny: /* Setup */ Add uboot btrfs config

2026-01-10T13:45:03Z

Setup: Add uboot btrfs config

@@ Line 98: / Line 98: @@
    expandOnBoot = false;
 };
 </nowiki>}}

Onny: /* Manually build a SD-card image */ Configure different root filesystem type

2026-01-07T07:45:36Z

Manually build a SD-card image: Configure different root filesystem type

@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
+}
 </nowiki>}}
 It might be helpful to add [[RISC-V#Binary cache|third-party binary cache configuration]] to this system configuration.

Onny: /* Setup */ Update links to precompiled images

2026-01-07T07:41:18Z

Setup: Update links to precompiled images

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:41, 7 January 2026
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	= Setup =		= Setup =
	Precompiled SD-card images can be found ~~[https://hydra.nichi.co/job/nixos/riscv/visionfive2 on NickCao's Hydra instance] or~~ [https://hydra.ztier.in/job/nixos/nixos-unstable/sd-image-riscv64-new-kernel-no-zfs-installer-cross/latest on misuzu's Hydra instance]. Before flashing the image, use <code>unzstd</code> to unpack the downloaded archive.		Precompiled SD-card images with unstable NixOS can be found [https://hydra.ztier.in/job/nixos/nixos-unstable/sd-image-riscv64-new-kernel-no-zfs-installer-cross/latest on misuzu's Hydra instance]. Before flashing the image, use <code>unzstd</code> to unpack the downloaded archive.

	=== Manually build a SD-card image ===		=== Manually build a SD-card image ===

Onny: /* Manually build a SD-card image */ Update NixOS sys version

2026-01-07T07:24:41Z

Manually build a SD-card image: Update NixOS sys version

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:24, 7 January 2026
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	{{file\|flake.nix\|nix\|<nowiki>		{{file\|flake.nix\|nix\|<nowiki>
	{		{
	inputs.nixpkgs.url = "nixpkgs/nixos-24.11";		inputs.nixpkgs.url = "nixpkgs/nixos-25.11";
	inputs.nixos-hardware.url = "github:nixos/nixos-hardware";		inputs.nixos-hardware.url = "github:nixos/nixos-hardware";

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	};		};

	system.stateVersion = "24.11";		system.stateVersion = "25.11";
	};		};
	inherit system;		inherit system;

Misuzu: Add link to another sdcard image

2025-12-29T10:29:05Z

Add link to another sdcard image

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:29, 29 December 2025
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	= Setup =		= Setup =
	Precompiled SD-card images can be found [https://hydra.nichi.co/job/nixos/riscv/visionfive2 on ~~the~~ Hydra instance] ~~by NickCao~~. Before flashing the image, use <code>unzstd</code> to unpack the downloaded archive.		Precompiled SD-card images can be found [https://hydra.nichi.co/job/nixos/riscv/visionfive2 on NickCao's Hydra instance] or [https://hydra.ztier.in/job/nixos/nixos-unstable/sd-image-riscv64-new-kernel-no-zfs-installer-cross/latest on misuzu's Hydra instance]. Before flashing the image, use <code>unzstd</code> to unpack the downloaded archive.

	=== Manually build a SD-card image ===		=== Manually build a SD-card image ===