blog.notmyidea.org/content/code/2023-12-08-asahi-rescue.md

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Rescuing a broken asahi linux workstation How I used Alpine linux as a rescue system Linux, Asahi

On my main machine, I'm currently using Asahi Linux (on a macbook m1). I've recently broken my system, which wasn't able to boot because of a broken /etc/fstab.

On my previous setups, I was able to easily plug an usb key and boot to it to solve my issues, but here I wasn't sure how to deal with it.

After playing a bit (without much luck) with qemu and vagrant, someone pointed me to the right direction: using alpine linux.

Here's what I did to solve my broken install:

First, install this alpine linux on a key.

Download the iso image here, and copy it to a key. I'm not sure why, but dd didn't work for me, and I ended up using another tool to create the usb from the iso.

# When booting, press a key to enter u-boot. Then:
env set boot_efi_bootmgr
run bootcmd_usb0

Which should get you a session. When connected, do the following:

# to find the parition you want to mount, marked EFI something
lsblk -f
mount label="EFI - FEDOR" /mnt

# Install the wifi firmware
cd /lib/firmware
tar xvf /mnt/vendor/firmware.tar
/root/update-vendor-firmware
rm /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-brcmfmac.conf
modprobe brcmfmac

# Connect to the wifi
/etc/init.d/iwd start
iwctl

In my case, I wanted to mount a btrfs filesystem to fix something inside.

apk add btrfs-progs
echo btrfs >> /etc/modules
modprobe btrfs
mount LABEL="fedora" /opt/fedora

I then could access the filesystem, and made a fix to it.


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