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--- os:arch:arch_on_the_pi [2026/08/22 11:51] – removed - external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1
+++ os:arch:arch_on_the_pi [2026/09/22 14:46] (current) – [Python UnicodeEncodeError horror] Julien Deswaef
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+# Arch on a Pi
+Some random notes related to [[http://archlinuxarm.org|Arch Linux ARM]] on a Raspberry Pi. Some of these notes might be turned into their own page one day.
+## Blender
+### Installing from packages on RPi3
+[[https://archlinuxarm.org/packages/aarch64/blender|Blender is compiled for ARMv8 architecture only for AArch64]].
+See bottom of this page for the right archive to use at installation: https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv8/broadcom/raspberry-pi-3#installation
+Rendering a default file seems to require `xvfb`:
+<code>
+xvfb-run blender -b -noaudio untitled_e.blend -o // -f 1
+</code>
+### Compiling on RPi2
+If it's still not in the repositories, here's a way to compile latest stable Blender for RPi2
+[[https://projects.archlinux.org/svntogit/community.git/tree/trunk?h=packages/blender|Download these two files]]. And change these two lines from PKGBUILD:
+<code>
+arch=('i686' 'x86_64')
+…
+  make -j4 # -j5 needs 48 GB of RAM while -j9 needs 64 GB
+</code>
+into
+<code>
+arch=('armv7h')
+…
+  make -j2
+</code>
+This will get it compiled on the Raspberry Pi 2 itself. It will take a while ( couple hours ).
+## Installing web server
+As root
+<code=bash>
+pacman -Syu nginx php-fpm
+</code>
+Start and enable nginx and php-fpm
+<code=bash>
+systemctl start nginx
+systemctl start php-fpm
+systemctl enable nginx
+systemctl enable php-fpm
+</code>
+Check if it is serving the default pages, but it should be.
+Change /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
+<code>
+user http;
+server {
+        listen       80;
+        # watch out for the root location here, must be accessible from the user http
+	root /srv/http;
+        location / {
+            # add index.php to this line
+            index  index.html index.htm index.php;
+        }
+        # pass the PHP scripts to FastCGI server listening on php-fpm.sock
+        location ~ \.php$ {
+            fastcgi_pass   unix:/run/php-fpm/php-fpm.sock;
+            fastcgi_index  index.php;
+            include        fastcgi.conf;
+        }
+</code>
+## Installing ikiwiki
+Install git and dev tools.
+<code>
+$: sudo pacman -Syu git base-devel
+</code>
+Install [[https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/ikiwiki/| ikiwiki from Aur package]].
+You'll need 2 extra dependencies from Aur:
+  * [[https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/perl-cgi-formbuilder/ | perl-cgi-formbuilder]]
+  * [[https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/perl-rpc-xml/ | perl-rpc-xml]].
+Install those first. Compiling ikiwiki takes a while on a Raspberry Pi. Be patient.
+If you want to have images handle by the wiki, you will need also Imagemagick
+Although ikiwiki could be running from any server, I found it easier to run it behind Apache. So be sure to have that installed.
+Create an unprivileged user (here called wiki) who will be editing the wiki:
+<code>
+sudo useradd -m wiki
+sudo passwd wiki
+</code>
+Following https://www.linode.com/docs/websites/wikis/ikiwiki-on-arch-linux/
+## Resizing a partition
+*Copied from  [[http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/a/501]]*
+ * `sudo fdisk /dev/mmcblk0`
+ * Type `p` to list the partition table
+   <code>
+   Device         Boot  Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
+   /dev/mmcblk0p1        2048   206847   204800  100M  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
+   /dev/mmcblk0p2      206848 60588031 60381184 28.8G 83 Linux
+   </code>
+ * Take note of the start number for partition 2 (if that's the one you want to resize)
+ * Type `d` to delete a partition. \\ You will then be prompted for the number of the partition you want to delete. In the case above you want to delete partition 2.
+ * Type `n` to create a new partition.
+ * This new partition needs to be a primary partition so type `p`.
+ * Next enter `2` when prompted for a partition number.
+ * You will now be prompted for the first sector for the new partition. Enter the start number from the partition 2 you deleted before.
+ * Next you will be prompted for the last sector you can just hit enter to accept the default which will utilize the remaining disk space.
+ * Type `w` to save the changes you have made. (There will be some error showing saying: "Re-reading the partition table failed.: Device or resource busy", but no worries).
+ * Reboot the Pi: `sudo reboot`
+ * Once the system has reboot and you are back at the commandline enter: ''sudo resize2fs /dev/mmcblk0p2'' Note: this can take a long time (epending on the card size and speed) be patient and let it finish.
+ * Reboot one more time.
+ * You can now verify that the system is using the full capacity of the SD Card by entering the following command: `df -h`
+#### Why This Works
+Actually, when we delete a partition, we don't delete data, we just delete the reference to the partition in the partition table. By creating a new partition exactly from the same spot and of the same type, we keep the data but expanded the size to the full available space of the SD card.
+By resizing (which is safe to run on a mounted disk), we tell the file system to use all the space in the new partition.
+## Python UnicodeEncodeError horror
+So your Python script works on your machine. But when you port it to a freshly installed Arch Linux Arm on a Pi, all hell breaks loose as soon as a weird character pops up. Something like this shows up:
+<code>UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character '\xe9' in position 227: ordinal not in range(128)</code>
+Well, don't start modifying your Python code (as you said, it does not have that problem on your machine).  It's because the default locale of Arch Linux is `LANG-C` and what you want is UTF-8 support. There is many ways to solve this, including forcing Python to use a locale different from the system. But I like to have my systems with similar settings. So just follow tutorials [[https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Locale|here]].