2023.04.27 - Visionfive2 SD creator, powerpc64 expansion and the usual updates

Highlights:

VisionFive 2 SD card creator

Grab it here:
https://archlinuxpower.org/riscv-images/starfive-visionfive-v2/

See README for more details.

powerpc64 expansion & many updates

Many more packages now available for powerpc64 BE flavour. Including but not limited to:

• Linux 6.2.12
• Firefox 111.0.1
• Rust 1.68.2
• Plasma 5.27.2
• Xfce4 4.18.1
• and many more

2023.02.20 - Initial powerpc64 Big-Endian Support

A mix of [base] and [testing] is still required and the provided number of packages is pretty low still. Installer here:

https://archlinuxpower.org/iso/alpha/archpower-2023.02.20-powerpc64.iso

Don't forget to enable [testing] and [testing-any] in pacman.conf on the installer.

ISO is to support 970 and higher, thus Macintosh G5, (probably) PS3 and newer.

2022.12.12 - Base packages and ISO refresh

Release Highlights:

• Linux 6.0.12
• Libreoffice 7.4.1
• Firefox 107.0.1
• Chromium 107
• Rust 1.65.0
• Plasma 5.26.2
• OpenSSL 3.0.7 (and rebuilds)
• Boost 1.80.0 (and rebuilds)
• ICU 72.1 (and rebuilds)
• and many more

Additional notes:

• PowerMAC G5 support has been tested on real hardware and new ISOs will properly boot. Documentation on the Wiki has been updated where applicable.
• powerpc ISOs now include linux-firmware, be aware when using modeset and legacy framebuffers
• riscv64 refresh is in the works for Starfive Visionfive V1 and V2

Last but not least, ISOs have been refreshed:
https://archlinuxpower.org/iso/stable/archpower-2022.11.02-powerpc.iso
https://archlinuxpower.org/iso/stable/archpower-2022.11.02-powerpc64le.iso

2022.11.02 - Base packages and ISO refresh

Release Highlights:

• Linux 6.0.6
• Libreoffice 7.4.1
• Firefox 106
• Chromium 107
• Plasma 5.25
• Qt 6.4.0 (incl. full build on powerpc)
• Kubernetes 1.25.2
• Blender 3.3.0
• Rust 1.64.0
• and many more

Last but not least, ISOs have been refreshed:
https://archlinuxpower.org/iso/stable/archpower-2022.11.02-powerpc.iso
https://archlinuxpower.org/iso/stable/archpower-2022.11.02-powerpc64le.iso

2022.09.26 - Base packages and ISO refresh

Release Highlights:

• Linux 5.19.11
• gcc 12.2.0
• llvm/clang 14.0.6
• OpenJDK 8/11/18 refreshes
• Libreoffice 7.3.5
• Firefox 105.0.1
• Go 1.19
• MariaDB 10.9
• Postgresql 14.5
• PHP 8.1.9 / 7.4.30

Last but not least, ISOs have been refreshed:
https://archlinuxpower.org/iso/beta/archpower-2022.09.26-powerpc.iso
https://archlinuxpower.org/iso/beta/archpower-2022.09.26-powerpc64le.iso

2023.04.18 - Refresh

This release is primary a refresh of the install isos for powerpc{,64le}.

• A few notable upgrades:

linux 5.17 (linux, linux-4k, linux-g4, linux-ppc64)
OpenJDK 17 for riscv64
KDE/Plasma for riscv64

• Yaboot on powerpc ISO

The ISO now has yaboot in addition to Grub for systems that may have issues
booting. Refer to the common problems section in the Wiki for this platform
on how to utilize this.

ISOs are available here:
https://archlinuxpower.org/iso/beta/archpower-2022.04.18-powerpc64le.iso
https://archlinuxpower.org/iso/beta/archpower-2022.04.18-powerpc.iso

2023.03.21 - Together with Ukraine

Mostly incremental upgrades but a few changes worth mentioning separately:

Starfive Visionfive V1 support

The first fully supported (well, in Alpha stage) RISC-V SBC is StarFive's Visionfive V1!

https://archlinuxpower.org/riscv-images/starfive-visionfive-v1/

Bluetooth and WiFi support is still lacking but otherwise the image is fully functional. Latest Xfce4 and X.org are provided and working.
See the README for further details.

Give them some love by considering to purchase one of their SBCs to support the cause:
https://rvspace.org/en/Product/VisionFive/Technical_Documents/VisionFive_Single_Board_Computer_Quick_Start_Guide

Thanks to StarFive for providing a board for development!

Yaboot for PowerPC

There is now a packaged yaboot in base which is expected to provide an alternative boot method for those PowerMacs that have trouble with GRUB. Especially in low memory conditions (<=180MB RAM) this may become useful.

2022.01.11 - Risky 22

I am pleased to announce coming out of alpha (somewhat).

Most issues are ironed out and there are a few major changes:

riscv64 support added

The list of supported ISAs now includes riscv64
This is still in a very early stage and has been tested only on a Sipeed Nezha board and KVM. Around 1/4th if the package selection has > been added not including any DE or productivity apps just yet.

This port is also for very adventurous folks only as there is no installer or kernel included.

repositories have changed location

The latest pacman-6.0.1-3 ships a new pacman.conf, do ensure you integrate them on your systems.

archpower-keyring

Unfortunateky, the key the pkgs as well as the db are signed with expired while I was on an extended holiday with the family. It requires >manual changing to SigLevel = Never and a reinstall of the package to fix. My apologies.

With riscv64 out the door, updates will start trickling in again and more focus in powerpc64le and PowerPC will become visible again.

new installer ISOs

New ISOs have been generated fixing a number of small issues along with the new repository locations as well as a workaround for the pacman keyring issue on powerpc.

archpower-2022.01.11-powerpc64le.iso
archpower-2022.01.11-powerpc64le.iso.sig
archpower-2022.01.11-powerpc.iso
archpower-2022.01.11-powerpc.iso.sig