Arch Linux ARM on the uConsole
Ready-to-flash Arch images for CM4 and CM5 from wdk-kr, on top of the kernel work by PotatoMania (CM3/CM4S), yatli (CM4) and PeterCxy (CM5).
What it takes
- Software only
Difficulty 1 of 3 — easy.
Details
wdk-kr's images (July 2026, github wdkdot/uconsole-arch) are the easy route: flash, boot, then take kernel updates through pacman from a custom repository. The CM5 image defaults to a 16 K page-size kernel with a 4 K package available; kernels are built from Rex's uConsole-enabled Pi kernel and a patched wpa_supplicant handles the Broadcom WiFi. The three kernel packages (cm5, cm5-4k, cm4) should not be installed together.
The groundwork: PotatoMania's uconsole-cm3 PKGBUILDs and image builder for CM3/CM3+/CM4S (the prebuilt image was withdrawn — build it yourself); yatli's living documentation for the CM4, from the DevTerm A06 Arch maintainer; and PeterCxy's CM5 packages on gitea.angry.im, which revert a wpa_supplicant regression and give hardware-accelerated Firefox on the CM5.
Links
Open at Forum threadRelated mods
OuinOuin74's pacman kernel packages for the uConsole track the Pi kernel from 6.16.y to 7.0.x; wtsh's fork adds Rex's new panel driver and Ethernet.
The community's recommended OS: Debian 13 on Rex's patched Pi kernel, desktop and Lite variants, for CM3+, CM4, CM4S and CM5.
The previous Debian release of Rex's line, still rebuilt for the new screens in 2026 — the fallback when something on Trixie is not ready yet.
Rex's Kali image for CM4 and CM5 on the uConsole kernel with the hardware presets; cuu's original CM4 build is documented on the ClockworkPi wiki.
Rex's Parrot OS build for CM3/CM4/CM5 in Home and Security editions, plus krokowitz's Security spin with RTL-SDR and ALFA drivers preinstalled.
Rex's build of DragonOS Pi64 — an Ubuntu 22.04 SDR distribution with the radio tools preinstalled — on the uConsole kernel for CM4 and CM5.