EndeavourOS ARM install supports Raspberry Pi 4b, Raspberry Pi 5b, Odroid N2, PineBook Pro, and Radxa ROCK 5B

Currently, the supported hardware for EndeavourOS ARM are the ones mentioned above, we are trying to add support for more, but any help in that area is more than welcome. If you are interested in contributing just visit our GitHub page.

Two image formats

EndeavourOS ARM offers two image formats to install a Desktop Environment, rootfs and ddimage.

rootfs uses bsdtar to create a tar image. A tar rootfs only copies the files and not the file system itself. To restore the tar image, the user must prepare a storage device. Partitioning, formatting, etc allows the user to create a file system of their choosing to restore the tar to. EndeavourOS has a script which will do this for you and install the rootfs on your choice of file system, ext4 or btrfs.

ddimg creates a bit-by-bit mirrored image which includes the filesystem. So it is installed on the target storage device by using the CLI command “dd” or one of the many “flash burners” available. This process is quicker and easier, but totally non-flexible. For EndeavourOS this means the main partition is ext4. Also since a ddimg copies the file system bit by bit, that includes the partitions’ UUIDs. If 100 users download the ddimg and burn it to a storage device, then all 100 copied File Systems would have identical partition UUIDs. Security problem? I offer no opinion, just being transparent.

rootfs
Pros: More flexible on File System type and doing so creates unique partition UUIDs
Cons: It involves an extra step requiring user input and takes longer to install

ddimg
Pros: Easier and quicker to install if ext4 is acceptable.
Cons: Not flexible as to File System type, and partition UUIDs are duplicated on every install

Three install methods

There are three methods for installing EndeavourOS on an RPi 4, RPi 5, Odroid N2, PineBook Pro, or Radxa ROCK 5B ARM SOC.

Method one – Use the EndeavourOS x86_64 Live ISO to install a rootfs image.
Method two – Download a ddimg image to be installed with dd or your favorite flash burner.
Method three – Download a script and use it to install a rootfs without using the LiveISO .

Method one

The first method is to boot from the EndeavourOS x86_64 Live ISO available here.
Connect a target storage device to the computer, either micro SD or USB SSD.
Boot into the EndeavourOS live ISO.
Then click the welcome button labeled “EndeavourOS ARM Image Installer”.
Answering a few questions will start a script that installs the image for you.
Remove the uSD card, eMMC card, or USB SSD and connect it to your
RPi 4, Odroid N2, PineBook Pro, or Radxa ROCK 5B.

Method two

In your favorite browser, go to https://github.com/endeavouros-arm/images/releases
look for the latest desired image tag, using the following format
imagetype-devicetype-date
ddimg-odroid-n2-20231204
as an example where ddimg is the imagetype, odroid-n2 is the device type, and
2023 is the year, 12 is the month, 04 is the day.

When you find the desired image tag, click on it. Under Assets, click on the
image name, and the accompanying sha512sum file. For example
enosLinuxARM-rpi-latest.img.xz
AND
enosLinuxARM-rpi-latest.img.xz.sha512sum

In a terminal window, cd into the directory the images were downloaded to.
Run the following command to check download integrity

$ sha512sum -c enosLinuxARM-rpi-latest.img.xz.sha512sum

should show image check is OK

Now use dd or your favorite image burning app to transfer the img.xz file to a micro SD or USB SSD.
gnome-disk-utility is recommended.
When finished transferring the image, ROOT_EOS Partition 2 will show about
6.2 GB followed by a large amount of Free Space.
On first boot, Calamares will run and resize Partition 2 to include the Free Space.

Method Three

The live ISO is not necessary to install a rootfs image in this procedure.
On an operational Arch Linux (or derivative) computer:
Connect a micro SD card or USB SSD enclosure to the computer’s USB port or SD slot.
Launch your favorite Terminal and maximize the window or make it at least 130 x 30

In your home directory, make a temporary folder, then cd into that folder.
Download the installer script.

wget https://github.com/endeavouros-arm/images/raw/main/image-install-calamares.sh

chmod 755 image-install-calamares.sh

ls -l
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user user 15995 Dec  4 18:27 image-install-calamares.sh

check permissions, it should show image-install-calamares.sh as executable.

sudo ./image-install-calamares.sh

Follow the instructions.

When completed, if you want to tidy up a bit, remove the directory that
image-install-clamares.sh was downloaded to.

After your Image is installed

Connect the uSD, eMMC, or USB SSD to your ARM device. Then boot up the device. KDE Plasma should automatically start up and present the Calamares launcher. You will have a choice to launch Calamares or edit the Archlinux ARM mirrorlist. After launching Calamares, follow the instructions to complete the EndeavourOS install.

Now EndeavourOS is installed on your ARM device, just reboot and have fun exploring and customizing your system to your needs.