Complete tutorial for installing Chimera Linux with GNOME, Btrfs on NVMe, and Hibernation

Install.md

Complete tutorial for installing Chimera Linux with GNOME, Btrfs on NVMe, and Hibernation (Swapfile).

Phase 1: Partitioning & Formatting

1. Switch to Root:

   doas -s

2. Partition the NVMe Drive:

   cfdisk /dev/nvme0n1

   • Label Type: gpt
   • Partition 1: 1G (Type: EFI System)
   • Partition 2: Remaining space (Type: Linux Filesystem)
   • Write and Quit.

3. Format Partitions:

   mkfs.vfat -F32 -n EFI /dev/nvme0n1p1
   mkfs.btrfs -L chimera_root /dev/nvme0n1p2

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Phase 2: Btrfs Subvolumes & Mounting

We need a dedicated subvolume for the swapfile to ensure we can easily mount it with the nodatacow (No Copy-on-Write) option, which is mandatory for Btrfs swapfiles.

1. Mount Root to Create Subvolumes:

   mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt
   btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@
   btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@home
   btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@swap
   umount /mnt

2. Mount the Target Hierarchy:

   # Mount Root (@) with compression
   mount -o noatime,compress=zstd,subvol=@ /dev/nvme0n1p2 /media/root
   
   # Create Mount Points
   mkdir -p /media/root/home
   mkdir -p /media/root/boot/efi
   mkdir -p /media/root/swap
   
   # Mount Home (@home)
   mount -o noatime,compress=zstd,subvol=@home /dev/nvme0n1p2 /media/root/home
   
   # Mount EFI
   mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /media/root/boot/efi
   
   # Mount Swap (@swap) with NoCOW
   # Crucial: nodatacow must be set on mount for the swapfile to work reliably
   mount -o nodatacow,subvol=@swap /dev/nvme0n1p2 /media/root/swap

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Phase 3: Installation & Chroot

1. Bootstrap the System:

   chimera-bootstrap /media/root

2. Generate Fstab:

   genfstab -U /media/root > /media/root/etc/fstab

3. Enter Chroot:

   chimera-chroot /media/root

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Phase 4: Software Installation (GNOME)

Inside the chroot:

1. Update Repositories:

   apk update
   apk upgrade --available

2. Install Base, Kernel, GNOME, and Tools:

   # base-full: Standard tools
   # linux-lts: Kernel
   # gnome: Desktop Environment (includes GDM)
   # networkmanager: Network management (standard for GNOME)
   # btrfs-progs: Required for filesystem management
   apk add base-full linux-lts gnome networkmanager btrfs-progs

3. User Setup:

   # Set Hostname
   echo "chimera-laptop" > /etc/hostname
   
   # Set Root Password
   passwd root
   
   # Create User (Add to wheel for doas)
   useradd -m -G wheel myuser
   passwd myuser

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Phase 5: Enabling Services (Symlinks)

Since dinitctl doesn't work in chroot, we manually link the service files from their install location (/usr/lib/dinit.d) to the boot runlevel directory (/etc/dinit.d/boot.d).

1. Enable GDM (Display Manager):

   ln -s /usr/lib/dinit.d/gdm /etc/dinit.d/boot.d/gdm

2. Enable NetworkManager:

   ln -s /usr/lib/dinit.d/NetworkManager /etc/dinit.d/boot.d/NetworkManager

   Note: Other standard services (like udev) are usually enabled by default via the base-full package links.

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Phase 6: Hibernation Swapfile Setup

You have 32GB RAM. We will create a 34GB swapfile in the @swap subvolume.

1. Create the Swapfile:

   # Create an empty file first
   truncate -s 0 /swap/swapfile
   
   # Set NoCOW attribute (redundant if mounted with nodatacow, but good practice)
   chattr +C /swap/swapfile
   
   # Allocate 34GB of space
   fallocate -l 34G /swap/swapfile
   
   # Set permissions
   chmod 600 /swap/swapfile
   
   # Format as swap
   mkswap /swap/swapfile
   
   # Turn it on (temporarily, to test)
   swapon /swap/swapfile

2. Add to Fstab: We need to ensure this mounts on boot.

   echo "/swap/swapfile none swap defaults 0 0" >> /etc/fstab

3. Calculate Resume Offset (Critical): The kernel needs the physical offset of the file on the NVMe drive. Run this command:

   btrfs inspect-internal map-swapfile -r /swap/swapfile

   Write down the number output by this command. (e.g., 53600)

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Phase 7: Bootloader (GRUB) & Hibernation Config

1. Install GRUB:

   apk add grub-x86_64-efi

2. Get the UUID of the Root Partition:

   blkid /dev/nvme0n1p2

   Copy the UUID="..." string (not PARTUUID).

3. Edit GRUB Configuration: Open the config file:

   vi /etc/default/grub
   # or install nano with: apk add nano && nano /etc/default/grub

   Find GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT. You need to add resume (the UUID of the disk) and resume_offset (the number from Phase 6).

   It should look like this:

   GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash resume=UUID=YOUR-COPIED-UUID resume_offset=YOUR_OFFSET_NUMBER"

4. Install and Update GRUB:

   # Install to EFI partition
   grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=CHIMERA
   
   # Generate config
   update-grub

5. Update Initramfs: Ensure the initramfs is aware of the changes.

   update-initramfs -c -k all

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Phase 8: Finish

1. Exit Chroot:

   exit

2. Unmount:

   umount -R /media/root

3. Reboot:

   reboot