Research: reproducing PR #121's build — archiso patches and the ALARM pkgbase gap

[JimmayVV]

Question

What exactly is needed to reproduce PR omacom#121's aarch64 ISO build on a native aarch64 host (docker on WSL2-ARM)? Read the PR's commits, its 'Out of scope' section, and the referenced issues: the two archiso changes (_make_bootmode_uefi.grub() GRUB module list for arm64-efi; releng ships no packages.aarch64), and archlinuxarm/PKGBUILDs#2215 (kernel packages omit pkgbase, so no boot entries get written after install). For each: is there a patch we can carry, a fork/submodule pin, or a workaround? Capture: a step-by-step reproduction (container image, mounts, patches to apply, command), current status of each blocker, and the PR's latest commit at time of reading. Repo: omarchy-iso.

[JimmayVV]

Resolution

Full write-up: https://github.com/JimmayVV/omarchy-iso/blob/research/reproduce-pr121/research/reproduce-pr121.md

Gist: PR omacom#121 (head adf5a1f2bf2f, rebased on current quattro 268bac1, archiso submodule still v87 424e7813) builds on a native arm64 docker host with two additions: a one-function patch to the vendored mkarchiso and a mounted aarch64 [omarchy] repo (ticket #6). The pkgbase gap does not block the ISO build; it blocks the installed system from booting.

Per blocker:

1. GRUB module list -- unfixed upstream (identical in v87 and v89; open archiso MRs !449/!462 are Arch-Ports DTB/kernel-params work, not this). Verified against ALARM grub 2:2.14-1.1: exactly 7 of 55 modules have no arm64-efi build (at_keyboard keylayouts usb usbserial_{common,ftdi,pl2303,usbdebug}). Chosen: carry builder/patches/archiso-grub-modules-arm64.patch (filter to modules that exist under /usr/lib/grub/$grub_target/, gated to aarch64) and apply it to /tmp/archiso-src before the PR's make install-scripts. The doc has the diff.
2. No releng packages.aarch64 -- the PR's own configs/packages.aarch64 already overrides the seeded profile. Nothing to carry.
3. ALARM pkgbase -- linux-aarch64: install vmlinuz and pkgbase into the modules directory archlinuxarm/PKGBUILDs#2215 is an open draft; graysky2's only reply is a pointer to CONTRIBUTING.md, which it violates (one package per PR, pkgrel bump, clean-chroot builds). Do not plan on it landing. Chain verified: mkinitcpio's libalpm script and limine-mkinitcpio-hook's 90-mkinitcpio-install.hook both key on usr/lib/modules/*/pkgbase. Chosen: fold the two install lines into our own linux-aarch64 build in the aarch64 [omarchy] repo (the map needs a custom kernel anyway); a post-pacstrap fixup in phases_impl.py is the stopgap for the first install test only. customize_airootfs.sh cannot fix this -- it runs in the live chroot, not the target.

Reproduction specifics: bin/omarchy-iso-make is untouched by the PR and still runs archlinux/archlinux:latest (amd64-only manifest). Use menci/archlinuxarm:base-devel with --platform linux/arm64 (archlinuxarm/archlinuxarm does not exist on Docker Hub; menci is rebuilt daily, last 2026-08-24). Hook point for #6: configs/pacman-online-<mirror>.conf line 30 Server = https://pkgs.omarchy.org/stable/$arch with SigLevel = Optional TrustAll, so an unsigned file:///omarchy-repo mount works. Side note for the boot-chain ticket: archiso !462 carries the Snapdragon kernel params clk_ignore_unused pd_ignore_unused arm64.nopauth.

PR head is fetchable locally as oceanapplications/aarch64-build-system.