[SOLVED] How to add a module from an AUR package to a custom Arch ISO?

November-Has-Come · 2019-01-14 01:51:50

I'm trying to install Arch Linux on my desktop computer, using a USB WiFi adapter with the RTL8192CU chipset.

In the Wireless network configuration wiki page, there is a specific troubleshooting note about this chipset. I am running into the issue mentioned on the wiki page about not being able to make a connection, but still being able to scan for wireless networks using the driver in the kernel. The workaround suggested by the wiki is trying a different driver from a package in the AUR.

What I would like to do is add this driver to a custom Arch ISO, so that I can connect to the internet using the USB Wifi adapter while installing Arch. I've looked into using archiso, but I'm not exactly clear on how to add the module to the custom ISO. The following is the process I've been trying in a virtual machine where I have Arch set up already:

Install archiso
```
$ sudo pacman -S archiso
```

Download the AUR package

$ git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/8192cu-dkms.git

Build the package
```
$ cd 8192cu-dkms
$ makepkg
```

Create custom local repository

$ mkdir ~/customrepo
$ repo-add ~/customrepo/customrepo.db.tar.gz ~/8192cu-dkms/8192cu-dkms-v4.0.2_9000-14-any.pkg.tar.xz

Copy archiso profile

$ sudo cp -r /usr/share/archiso/configs/releng/ ~/archlive

Edit pacman.conf

$ sudo vim ~/archlive/pacman.conf

I add this to pacman.conf:

[customrepo]
SigLevel = Optional TrustAll
Server = file:///home/<user>/customrepo

Build the ISO

$ cd ~/archlive
$ sudo mkdir out
$ sudo ./build.sh -v

That whole process generates an ISO in ~/archlive/out but when I use the ISO to boot up, it doesn't seem to contain the driver as far as I can tell, so I think I'm doing something (or many things) wrong.

What is the proper way to get the driver in the ISO and how would I be able to tell that it worked once I do it properly?

Last edited by November-Has-Come (2019-01-15 01:54:29)

Slithery · 2019-01-14 01:54:37

Do you have a mobile phone you can use?

It's usually much easier to just connect a mobile via USB and then run dhcpcd to get a temporary connection for installation using the normal installation image than it is to mess around with archiso.

Trilby · 2019-01-14 01:58:57

Alternatively, if you have a second usb port (and second flash drive), just save the pkg.tar.xz file to the second drive, boot the normal iso, mount the other drive and install the package in the live system.

Or even easier, as it seems you apparently have another system already running arch, just install arch-install-scripts on the current arch system, plug in the target drive to it, and install directly from your working system then put the target drive back in the desktop system.

Slithery · 2019-01-14 02:05:54

Trilby wrote:

Or even easier, as it seems you apparently have another system already running arch, just install arch-install-scripts on the current arch system, plug in the target drive to it, and install directly from your working system then put the target drive back in the desktop system.

@Trilby,

November-Has-Come wrote:

The following is the process I've been trying in a virtual machine where I have Arch set up already:

eschwartz · 2019-01-14 02:22:15

You need to add the additional packages you wish to install to the file "packages.x86_64" in your config. This is the packagelist which archiso will sync into the live rootfs it is in the process of creating.

November-Has-Come · 2019-01-14 14:51:58

Slithery wrote:

Do you have a mobile phone you can use?

Yes.

I'm able to get an internet connection using USB tethering from my smartphone. That... was a lot easier than what I was trying to do haha.

I'll use my smartphone's USB tethering with the normal installation image to get up and running. Thanks for all the suggestions.

November-Has-Come · 2019-01-15 01:50:18

eschwartz wrote:

You need to add the additional packages you wish to install to the file "packages.x86_64" in your config. This is the packagelist which archiso will sync into the live rootfs it is in the process of creating.

Yeah, this was the big step that I was missing. I needed to add both "8192cu-dkms" and "linux-headers" to "packages.x86_64". I also had to move "8192cu-dkms-v4.0.2_9000-14-any.pkg.tar.xz" into "~/customrepo".

This gave me a successful build of the ISO with the new driver. My USB WiFi adapter is continuing to give me trouble, even with the new driver, so I'm going to go with the smartphone USB tethering option, as I mentioned above, because it seems to be the most beginner-friendly.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

eschwartz · 2019-01-15 01:52:50

I'd probably create a binary package anyway, though, rather than do compilation on the ISO.

It's pretty easy to generate binary packages from dkms sources, I maintain a PKGBUILD in the official repositories which should serve as a good template: https://git.archlinux.org/svntogit/comm … roadcom-wl

loqs · 2019-01-15 01:55:15

If you are still having trouble with WiFi after installing the system please post the output of dmesg along with the commands you are using and their outputs (redact what you do not wish to share) in a new thread.

Arch Linux

#1 2019-01-14 01:51:50

[SOLVED] How to add a module from an AUR package to a custom Arch ISO?

#2 2019-01-14 01:54:37

Re: [SOLVED] How to add a module from an AUR package to a custom Arch ISO?

#3 2019-01-14 01:58:57

Re: [SOLVED] How to add a module from an AUR package to a custom Arch ISO?

#4 2019-01-14 02:05:54

Re: [SOLVED] How to add a module from an AUR package to a custom Arch ISO?

#5 2019-01-14 02:22:15

Re: [SOLVED] How to add a module from an AUR package to a custom Arch ISO?

#6 2019-01-14 14:51:58

Re: [SOLVED] How to add a module from an AUR package to a custom Arch ISO?

#7 2019-01-15 01:50:18

Re: [SOLVED] How to add a module from an AUR package to a custom Arch ISO?

#8 2019-01-15 01:52:50

Re: [SOLVED] How to add a module from an AUR package to a custom Arch ISO?

#9 2019-01-15 01:55:15

Re: [SOLVED] How to add a module from an AUR package to a custom Arch ISO?

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