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== Introduction ==
<languages/>
<translate>
<!--T:1-->
<div style="font-size: 1.5rem; text-align: center;padding-bottom: 0.5rem;"><strong>NixOS supports 64-bit ARM.</strong></div>


Note: Everything on this page is work-in-progress and not totally tested yet!
<!--T:2-->
The support level for ARM overall varies depending on the architecture and the specific ecosystems and boards.


Installation images and miscellaneous boot files for ARM devices are built &amp; hosted by '''@dezgeg''' at http://nixos-arm.dezgeg.me/installer.
<!--T:3-->
The way the ARM integration is built into NixOS is by making '''generic builds the first-class citizens'''. This means that as soon as there is upstream support for the board in the kernel and platform firmware, NixOS should work once those are updated.


Also, a binary cache containing a subset of the unstable channel is hosted at http://nixos-arm.dezgeg.me/channel (signed with '''key''' <code>nixos-arm.dezgeg.me-1:xBaUKS3n17BZPKeyxL4JfbTqECsT+ysbDJz29kLFRW0=%</code>).
<!--T:4-->
It is still possible, when needed, to build and use a customized platform firmware and kernel for specific boards<sup>[[Talk:NixOS_on_ARM#NixOS_.22support.22_for_board-specific_kernels_or_bootloaders|[reference needed]]]</sup>.


=== Supported devices ===
<!--T:5-->
AArch64 has an official binary cache on stable and unstable NixOS channels. ARMv6 and ARMv7 remain available in Nixpkgs, but NixOS does not currently publish binary caches for them.


The installation images have been tested on the following devices:
<!--T:6-->
'''For images links, including UEFI install''', skip to the [[NixOS_on_ARM/Installation|Installation page]].


{|
== Supported devices == <!--T:7-->
 
<!--T:8-->
Table legend:
* SoC - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_on_a_chip
* ISA - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instruction_set_architecture
 
=== Upstream (NixOS) supported devices === <!--T:9-->
 
<!--T:10-->
NixOS supports Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi 4 on stable and unstable AArch64 channels. Raspberry Pi 5 requires <code>nixos-unstable</code>.
 
<!--T:11-->
On each board, NixOS supports only the hardware covered by the configured Linux kernel, platform firmware, and bootloader.
<!--
Order for the device table is:
* By manufacturer name, alphabetical.
* By release date, chronological (older first).
-->
<div class="table">
{|class="table"
!width="2%"| Manufacturer
!width="2%"| Board
!width="2%"| SoC
!width="1%"| ISA
!width="2%"| CPU
!width="1%"| RAM
!width="2%"| Storage
|-
| Raspberry Pi Ltd
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Raspberry_Pi_3|Raspberry Pi 3]]
| Broadcom BCM2837
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.2 to 1.4 GHz
| 512 MB to 1 GB
| microSD, eMMC
|-
| Raspberry Pi Ltd
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Raspberry_Pi_4|Raspberry Pi 4]]
| Broadcom BCM2711
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A72 @ 1.5 to 1.8 GHz
| 1 to 8 GB
| microSD, eMMC
|-
| Raspberry Pi Ltd
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Raspberry_Pi_5|Raspberry Pi 5]] (<code>nixos-unstable</code> only)
| Broadcom BCM2712
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz
| 1 to 16 GB
| microSD; eMMC on CM5; NVMe for the root filesystem after Linux starts
|}
</div>
=== Community supported devices ===
 
<!--T:12-->
These boards are not routinely verified as working.
 
<!--T:13-->
The baseline support level expected is “Just as much as mainline Linux and U-Boot supports them”, except if specified otherwise.
<!--
Order for the device table is:
* By manufacturer name, alphabetical.
* By release date, chronological (older first).
-->
<div class="table">
{| class="sortable table"
!width="2%"| Manufacturer
!width="2%"| Manufacturer
!width="2%"| Board
!width="2%"| Board
!width="2%"| SoC
!width="2%"| SoC
!width="2%"| ISA
!width="1%"| ISA
!width="2%"| CPU
!width="2%"| CPU
!width="2%"| RAM
!width="2%"| RAM
!width="2%"| Storage
!width="2%"| Storage
|-
| Apple
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Apple Silicon Macs|Apple Silicon Macs]]
| M1/M1 Pro/M1 Max
| AArch64
| —
| —
| NVMe
|-
| ASUS
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/ASUS Tinker Board|Tinker Board]]
| Rockchip RK3288
| ARMv7
| 4× Cortex-A17
| 2 GB
| microSD
|-
| Banana Pi
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Banana Pi|Banana Pi]]
| Allwinner A20
| ARMv7
| 2× Cortex-A7
| 1 GB
| SD, SATA
|-
| Banana Pi M64
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Banana Pi M64|Banana Pi M64]]
| Allwinner A64
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53
| 2 GB
| microSD, 8GB eMMc
|-
| Banana Pi BPI-M5
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Banana Pi BPI-M5|Banana Pi BPI-M5]]
| Amlogic S905X3
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A55
| 4 GB LPDDR4
| microSD, 16G eMMC
|-
| BeagleBoard.org
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/BeagleBone_Black|BeagleBone Black]]
| TI AM335x [https://git.beagleboard.org/beagleboard/beaglebone-black (src)]
| ARMv7
| 1× Cortex-A8 @ 1 GHz
| 512 MB
| 4 GB eMMC, microSD
|-
| Firefly
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Firefly_AIO-3399C|AIO-3399C]]
| Rockchip RK3399
| AArch64
| 2× Cortex-A72 @ 2.0 GHz, 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 Ghz
| 2/4 GB
| 8/16 GB eMMC, microSD
|-
| FriendlyElec
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/NanoPC-T4|NanoPC-T4]]
| Rockchip RK3399
| AArch64
| 2× Cortex-A72 @ 2.0 GHz, 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 Ghz
| 4 GB
| 16 GB eMMC, microSD, NVMe
|-
| FriendlyElec
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/NanoPi-M4|NanoPi-M4]]
| Rockchip RK3399
| AArch64
| 2× Cortex-A72 @ 2.0 GHz, 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 Ghz
| 4 GB
| optional eMMC, microSD
|-
| FriendlyElec
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/NanoPi-R6C|NanoPi-R6C]]
| Rockchip RK3588S
| AArch64
| 4× ARM Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz, 4× Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 Ghz
| 4 GB / 8 GB
| optional eMMC, microSD, NVMe
|-
| Hardkernel
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/ODROID-HC1|ODROID-HC1 & ODROID-HC2]]
| Samsung Exynos 5422
| ARMv7
| 4× Cortex-A15 @ 2GHz, 4× Cortex-A7 @ 1.4GHz
| 2 GB
| microSD
|-
| Hardkernel
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/ODROID-C2|ODROID-C2]]
| Amlogic S905
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5GHz
| 2 GB
| eMMC, microSD
|-
| Hardkernel
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/ODROID-HC4|ODROID-HC4]]
| Amlogic S905X3
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz
| 4 GB
| microSD, SATA
|-
|Kosagi
|[[NixOS on ARM/Kosagi Novena|Kosagi Novena]]
|i.MX6
|ARMv7
|4× Cortex-A9 @ 1.2 GHz
|4 GB
|microSD, SATA
|-
| Libre Computer
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Libre_Computer_ROC-RK3399-PC|ROC-RK3399-PC]]
| Rockchip RK3399
| AArch64
| 2× Cortex-A72 @ 2.0 GHz, 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 Ghz
| 4 GB
| eMMC, microSD, NVMe
|-
| Libre Computer
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Libre_Computer_ROC-RK3328-CC|ROC-RK3328-CC]]
| Rockchip RK3328
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.4GHz
| 4 GB
| eMMC, microSD
|-
| Libre Computer
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Libre_Computer_AML-S905X-CC-V2|AML-S905X-CC-V2]]
| Amlogic S905X
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.512 GHz
| 1/2GB
| eMMC, microSD
|-
| Linksprite
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/PcDuino3_Nano|pcDuino3 Nano]]
| Allwinner A20
| ARMv7
| 2× Cortex-A7 @ 1 GHz
| 1 GB
| 4 GB NAND, microSD, SATA
|-
|-
| NVIDIA
| NVIDIA
| Jetson TK1
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Jetson TK1|Jetson TK1]]
| Tegra K1/T124
| Tegra K1/T124
| ARMv7
| ARMv7
| 4x Cortex-A15 @ 2.3 GHz
| 4× Cortex-A15 @ 2.3 GHz
| 2 GB
| 2 GB
| 16 GB eMMC, SD, SATA
| 16 GB eMMC, SD, SATA
|-
| NXP
| [https://github.com/NiklasGollenstede/nixos-imx/ i.MX 8M Plus EVK]
| i.MX 8M Plus
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.8 Ghz
| 6 GB
| 32 GB eMMC, microSD
|-
| NXP
| [https://github.com/gangaram-tii/nixos-imx8mq/ i.MX 8M Quad EVK]
| i.MX 8M Quad
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 Ghz + 1× Cortex-M4
| 3 GB
| 16 GB eMMC, microSD
|-
| OLIMEX
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/OLIMEX_Teres-A64|Teres-A64]]
| AllWinner A64
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.1 GHz
| 2GB
| 16 GB eMMC, microSD
|-
| Orange Pi
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Orange_Pi_One|Orange Pi One]]
| Allwinner H3
| ARMv7
| 4× Cortex-A7 @ 1.2 GHz
| 512 MB
| microSD
|-
|-
| Linksprite
| Orange Pi
| pcDuino3
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Orange_Pi_PC|Orange Pi PC]]
| Nano Allwinner A20
| Allwinner H3
| ARMv7
| ARMv7
| 2x Cortex-A7 @ 1 GHz
| 4× Cortex-A7 @ 1.6 GHz
| 1 GB
| SD/microSD
|-
| Orange Pi
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Orange_Pi_Zero_Plus2_H5|Orange Pi Zero Plus2 (H5)]]
| Allwinner H5
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.2 GHz
| 1 GB
| SD/microSD + 8GB eMMC
|-
| Orange Pi
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Orange_Pi_Zero2_H616|Orange Pi Zero2 (H616)]]
| Allwinner H616
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.2 GHz
| 1 GB
| SD/microSD + 2MB SPI Flash
|-
| Orange Pi
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Orange_Pi_R1_Plus_LTS|Orange Pi R1 Plus LTS]]
| Rockchip RK3328
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz
| 1 GB
| 1 GB
| 4 GB NAND, microSD, SATA
| microSD
|-
| Orange Pi
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Orange_Pi_5|Orange Pi 5]]
| Rockchip RK3588s
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A76 @ 2.4GHz, 4×Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz
| 4/8/16 GB
| microSD, NVMe
|-
| Orange Pi
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Orange_Pi_5_Plus|Orange Pi 5 Plus]]
| Rockchip RK3588
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A76 @ 2.4GHz, 4×Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz
| 4/8/16 GB
| eMMC, microSD, NVMe
|-
|Orange Pi
|[[Orange Pi 6 Plus]]
|CIX CD8180/CD8160 (Sky1)
|AArch64
|12-core 64-bit processor
|16/32/64 GB
|microSD, 2× NVMe, 8MB SPI Flash
|-
| PINE64
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/PINE A64-LTS|PINE A64-LTS]]
| Allwinner R18
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ ? GHz
| 2 GB
| microSD & eMMC
|-
|-
| Raspberry Pi Foundation
| PINE64
| Raspberry Pi
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/PINE64_Pinebook|Pinebook]]
| BCM2835
| Allwinner A64
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ ? Ghz
| 2 GB
| microSD & eMMC
|-
| PINE64
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/PINE64_Pinebook_Pro|Pinebook Pro]]
| Rockchip RK3399
| AArch64
| 2× Cortex-A72 @ 2.0 GHz, 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 Ghz
| 4 GB
| microSD & eMMC
|-
| PINE64
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/PINE64_ROCK64|ROCK64]]
| Rockchip RK3328
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz
| 1/2/4 GB
| microSD/eMMC
|-
| PINE64
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/PINE64_ROCKPro64|ROCKPro64]]
| Rockchip RK3399
| AArch64
| 2× Cortex-A72 @ 2.0 GHz, 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 Ghz
| 2/4 GB
| microSD/eMMC
|-
| Clockworkpi
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Clockworkpi_A06_uConsole|uConsole A06]]
| Rockchip RK3399
| AArch64
| 2× Cortex-A72 @ 2.0 GHz, 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 Ghz
| 4 GB
| microSD
|-
| Radxa
| [[NixOS on ARM/Radxa ROCK 4|ROCK 4]]
| Rockchip RK3399
| AArch64
| 2× Cortex-A72, 4×Cortex-A53
| 2/4 GB
| eMMC, microSD, NVMe via expansion board
|-
|Radxa
|[[NixOS on ARM/Radxa ROCK 5 ITX|ROCK 5 ITX]]
|Rockchip RK3588
|AArch64
|4× Cortex-A76 @ 2.4GHz, 4×Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz
|4/8/16/32 GB
|eMMC, microSD, NVMe, SATA
|-
| Radxa
| [[NixOS on ARM/Radxa ROCK5 Model B|ROCK5 Model B]]
| Rockchip RK3588
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A76 @ 2.4GHz, 4×Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz
| 4/8/16 GB
| eMMC, microSD, NVMe
|-
| Radxa
| [[NixOS on ARM/Radxa ROCK5 Model A|ROCK5 Model A]]
| Rockchip RK3588s
| AArch64
| 4× Cortex-A76 @ 2.4GHz, 4×Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz
| 4/8/16 GB
| eMMC, microSD, NVMe
|-
| Raspberry Pi Ltd
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Raspberry_Pi|Raspberry Pi]]
| Broadcom BCM2835
| ARMv6
| ARMv6
| 1x ARM1176 @ 700 MHz
| 1 × ARM1176 @ 700 MHz
| 256/512 MB
| 256 MB / 512 MB
| SD/microSD
|-
| Raspberry Pi Ltd
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Raspberry_Pi|Raspberry Pi 2]]
| Broadcom BCM2836
| ARMv7
| 4× Cortex-A7 @ 900 MHz
| 1 GB
| SD/microSD
| SD/microSD
|-
| Toshiba
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Toshiba AC100|AC100 (mini laptop)]]
| Tegra 2 250 (T20)
| ARMv7
| 2× Cortex-A9 @ 1 GHz
| 512 MB
| 8­­–32 GB eMMC, SD
|-
| Wandboard
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/Wandboard|Wandboard Solo/Dual/Quad]]
| Freescale i.MX6
| ARMv7
| 1×/2×/4× Cortex-A9 @ 1000 MHz
| 512 MB / 1 GB / 2 GB
| microSD, SATA
|}
|}
</div>


Additionally, emulation is supported via QEMU's vexpress-a9 target.
==== Special Devices ==== <!--T:14-->


=== Installation ===
<!--T:15-->
It is possible to emulate an ARM platform with QEMU.


The installation images come in two flavors: <code>sd-image-armv6l-linux.img</code> is built for the ARMv6 architecture and it comes with the Raspberry Pi kernel. sd-image-armv7l-linux.img is built for the ARMv7 architecture and comes with the mainline multiplatform ARMv7 kernel (multi_v7_defconfig). Make sure you download the correct image for your board!
<!--T:16-->
 
<div class="table">
The .img files can be directly written to a microSD/SD card (minimal recommended size: 4 GB) using dd. For example, if your SD card shows up as <code>/dev/sdc</code>:
{|class="table"
 
!width="2%"| Manufacturer
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">sudo dd if=sd-image-armv7l-linux.img of=/dev/sdc</syntaxhighlight>
!width="2%"| Board
(As always, be careful when using dd so you don't wipe your hard drive!)
!width="2%"| SoC
 
!width="2%"| ISA
== Board-specific installation notes ==
!width="2%"| CPU
 
!width="2%"| RAM
Depending on the board, some additional preparation steps might be needed to make the SD card bootable on your device.
!width="2%"| Storage
 
|-
=== Jetson TK1 ===
| QEMU
 
| [[NixOS_on_ARM/QEMU|QEMU]]
The proprietary NVIDIA bootloader can only boot NVIDIA's L4T kernel, so it needs to be replaced by flashing U-Boot on the board's eMMC via the recovery USB port. The easiest way to do that is to use tegra-uboot-flasher-scripts, though unfortunately that's currently not packaged in NixOS. Once U-Boot is flashed, the ARMv7 image will boot out-of-the-box.
| —
 
| ARMv7
=== pcDuino 3 Nano ===
| up to 8
 
| up to 2 GB
U-Boot needs to be copied to the microSD card with dd, with parameters bs=1024 seek=8. Download U-Boot for the board (uboot-Linksprite_pcDuino3_Nano_defconfig-2015.07_u-boot-sunxi-with-spl.bin), and copy it to the correct location with (assuming the SD card still shows up as /dev/sdc):
| Anything QEMU supports
|}
</div>


<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">sudo dd if=uboot-Linksprite_pcDuino3_Nano_defconfig-2015.07_u-boot-sunxi-with-spl.bin of=/dev/sdc bs=1024 seek=8</syntaxhighlight>
== Installation == <!--T:17-->
=== Raspberry Pi ===


The ARMv6 image boots out-of-the-box! Note that Raspberry Pi 2 is not yet supported by these images, but in the future the ARMv7 image will work.
<!--T:18-->
{{main|NixOS_on_ARM/Installation}}


=== Versatile Express (Cortex-A9) in QEMU ===
== Initial configuration == <!--T:19-->


First, convert the downloaded sd-image-armv7l-linux.img to a new qcow2 formatted disk image (for example, arm-vm.qcow2) and resize it to the desired size (for example, 2.5G):
<!--T:20-->
{{main|NixOS_on_ARM/Initial_Configuration}}


<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">qemu-img convert -O qcow2 sd-image-armv7l-linux.img arm-vm.qcow2
== Troubleshooting == <!--T:21-->
qemu-img resize arm-vm.qcow2 2.5G</syntaxhighlight>
Then, to boot the VM, download U-Boot for the Versatile board (uboot-vexpress_ca9x4_defconfig-2015.07_u-boot) and run:


<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">qemu-system-arm -kernel uboot-vexpress_ca9x4_defconfig-2015.07_u-boot -M vexpress-a9 -serial stdio -sd arm-vm.qcow2 -m 512</syntaxhighlight>
<!--T:22-->
The amount of memory (-m 512) should be at least 512 megabytes, or you will get all sorts of funny behaviour if/when U-Boot tries to access nonexistent RAM. Unfortunately, the maximum amount of memory is limited to 1024 megabytes.
=== Hanging at <code>Starting kernel ...</code> ===
When booting a NixOS system, it may look like it is hung at <code>Starting kernel ...</code>.


== NixOS installation &amp; configuration ==
<!--T:23-->
It is unlikely to be hung at this part. This is the last message printed by U-Boot. U-Boot prints to both the display and the console at once.


The installation image is actually a MBR partition table plus two partitions; a FAT32 /boot and a ext4 root filesystem. The image is designed such that it's possible to directly reuse the SD image's partition layout and &quot;install&quot; NixOS on the very same SD card by simply replacing the default configuration.nix and running nixos-rebuild. Using this installation method is strongly recommended, though if you know exactly what you're doing and how U-Boot on your board works, you can use nixos-install as usual. To help with the SD card installation method, the boot scripts on the image automatically resize the rootfs partition to fit the SD card on the first boot.
<!--T:24-->
To view the kernel messages and boot output, the “<code>stdout</code>” of the kernel needs to be configured appropriately.


Use this as a template:
<!--T:25-->
The kernel's <code>stdout</code> will differ depending on semantics.


<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">{ config, pkgs, lib, ... }:
<!--T:26-->
{
* When there are no valid <code>console=</code> kernel command-line arguments, it will default to the <code>/chosen/stdout-path</code> device tree property. (Generally a serial console.)
  # NixOS wants to enable GRUB by default
* When valid <code>console=</code> parameters are present, the kernel picks the leftmost valid one as <code>stdout</code>.
  boot.loader.grub.enable = false;
  # Enables the generation of /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf
  boot.loader.generic-extlinux-compatible.enable = true;
  # !!! If your board is a Raspberry Pi, select this:
  boot.kernelPackages = pkgs.linuxPackages_rpi;
  # !!! Otherwise, pick this:
  boot.kernelPackages = pkgs.linuxPackages_latest;
 
  # Manual doesn't currently evaluate on ARM
  services.nixosManual.enable = false;
   
  nix.binaryCaches = lib.mkForce [ &quot;http://nixos-arm.dezgeg.me/channel&quot; ];
  nix.binaryCachePublicKeys = [ &quot;nixos-arm.dezgeg.me-1:xBaUKS3n17BZPKeyxL4JfbTqECsT+ysbDJz29kLFRW0=%&quot; ];
   
  # File systems configuration for using the installer's partition layout
  fileSystems = {
    &quot;/boot&quot; = {
      device = &quot;/dev/disk/by-label/NIXOS_BOOT&quot;;
      fsType = &quot;vfat&quot;;
    };
    &quot;/&quot; = {
      device = &quot;/dev/disk/by-label/NIXOS_SD&quot;;
      fsType = &quot;ext4&quot;;
    };
  };
   
  # !!! Adding a swap file is optional, but strongly recommended!
  # swapDevices = [ { device = &quot;/swapfile&quot;; size = 1024; } ];
}</syntaxhighlight>
Note: the default configuration.nix will contain something like <code>imports = [ &lt;nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/sd-image-armv7l-multiplatform.nix&gt; ];</code> do not include that in your final installation or you will experience interesting problems. It is only for building the installation image!


To make the ARM experience slightly less painful, the config template adds <code>nixos-arm.dezgeg.me</code> as a binary cache, which contains a small subset of packages on the unstable channel (though a caution for US users: the server hosting them is physically located in Finland). Note that the binary cache isn't enabled on the prebuilt images, so enable it via the command line when building for the first time:
<!--T:27-->
In other words, the solution may be to enable the appropriate <code>console=</code> parameters according to your hardware configuration and system.


<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nixos-rebuild switch --fast --option binary-caches http://nixos-arm.dezgeg.me/channel --option binary-cache-public-keys nixos-arm.dezgeg.me-1:xBaUKS3n17BZPKeyxL4JfbTqECsT+ysbDJz29kLFRW0=%</syntaxhighlight>
<!--T:28-->
== Details about the boot process ==
* For the display, add <code>console=tty0</code>.
* For a serial console, refer to the target device configuration.


On NixOS, all ARM boards use the popular U-Boot as the bootloader and U-Boot's Generic Distro Configuration Concept as the mechanism to communicate boot information (such as path to kernel zImage, initrd, DTB, command line arguments). For a quick TL;DR about the generic distro configuration support: U-Boot is scripted to scan all attached storage devices &amp; partitions and look for a file named <code>/extlinux/extlinux.conf</code> or <code>/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf</code> (which will be generated by NixOS, just like <code>/boot/grub/grub.cfg</code> is generated on PCs).
=== Details about the boot process === <!--T:29-->


U-Boot also provides an interactive shell and the generation selection menu (just like GRUB). However, support for input or display devices varies greatly, depending on the board:
<!--T:30-->
NixOS can also be booted through [[NixOS on ARM/UEFI|UEFI]] on ARM. The semantics are generally the same as on other architectures. Do note that the common use of Device Tree instead of ACPI in consumer-class hardware [[NixOS_on_ARM/UEFI#Device_Trees|''may'' make this a bit more awkward]].


=== Jetson TK1 ===
<!--T:31-->
Otherwise, in SBC-class hardware, it is common that boards are generally expected to use U-Boot as the platform firmware and bootloader. See the section about [[U-Boot#Using NixOS with U-Boot|using NixOS with U-Boot]].


Only serial console (via the DB-9 connector) is supported.
== Binary caches == <!--T:32-->


=== pcDuino 3 Nano ===
=== AArch64 === <!--T:33-->


USB keyboards and HDMI displays work perfectly! Also a 3.3v serial port via the 3-pin header works.
<!--T:34-->
The [https://hydra.nixos.org/ official NixOS Hydra] instance builds a full set of binaries (available on https://cache.nixos.org) for the AArch64 architecture on the nixpkgs-unstable and stable channels.


=== Raspberry Pi ===
=== armv6l and armv7l === <!--T:35-->


HDMI displays work, but sadly USB keyboards don't. A 3.3v serial port is via the 26-pin connector works.
<!--T:36-->
Some '''''users''''' have provided best effort caches in the past for 32 bit ARM, but none are currently available.


=== Versatile Express (Cortex-A9) in QEMU ===
== Getting Support == <!--T:37-->


The emulated serial port (connected to QEMU's stdin/stdout) works.
<!--T:38-->
There is a dedicated room for the upstream NixOS effort on Matrix,
[https://matrix.to/#/#nixos-on-arm:nixos.org #nixos-on-arm:nixos.org].


== Porting NixOS to new boards ==
<!--T:39-->
Don't hesitate to ask questions. Note that reply times may vary greatly, depending on the provided information.


The easy way (if you're lucky)
== Resources == <!--T:40-->


If your board is an ARMv7 board supported by multi_v7_defconfig and you have access to U-Boot on the board, getting <code>sd-image-armv7l-linux.img</code> to boot is the easiest option:
=== See also === <!--T:41-->


* If you're lucky and your U-Boot build comes with the extlinux.conf support built in, the image boots out-of-the-box. This is the case for all (upstream) Allwinner and Tegra U-Boots, for instance.
<!--T:42-->
* Otherwise, you can get the boot information (path to kernel zImage, initrd, DTB, command line arguments) by extracting <code>extlinux.conf</code> from the boot partition of the image, and then attempt to boot it via the U-Boot shell, or some other mechanism that your board's distro uses (e.g. <code>uEnv.txt</code>).
* [[U-Boot]], as it is often paired with SBC-class hardware.
* [https://mobile.nixos.org/ Mobile NixOS], which provides enhanced semantic around some non-standard boot semantics.


=== The hard way ===
=== Subpages === <!--T:43-->


Alternatively/if all else fails, you can do it the hard way and bootstrap NixOS from an existing ARM Linux installation.
<!--T:44-->
The following is a list of all sub-pages of the ''NixOS on ARM'' topic.


=== Contributing new boards to nixpkgs ===
<!--T:45-->
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</translate>


* Add a new derivation for your board's U-Boot configuration, see for example ubootJetsonTK1 in all-packages.nix.
[[Category:NixOS on ARM]]
* If your board's U-Boot configuration doesn't use the <code>extlinux.conf</code> format by default, create a patch to enable it. Some C hacking skills &amp; U-Boot knowledge might be required. For some pointers, see this patch to enable it on the Versatile Express.
* Make a pull request, also containing the board-specific instructions. Ping '''@dezgeg''' for review and for building &amp; hosting the U-Boots at http://nixos-arm.dezgeg.me/installer.
Retrieved from "https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/NixOS_on_ARM"