I recently installed Void Linux on my laptop (Dell Latitude 7480), and these are the steps I took.

I started with the rootfs from a working headless system that I created from another Void box I have - so I won't detail the initial installation process here.

NOTE: This is a work in progress and I will update it to add any changes or additions I make.

I did this in a chroot environment, having booted from the SystemRecovery USB stick (my source rootfs booted from legacy bios).

mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/build
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/build/boot/efi
mount -o bind /dev /mnt/build/dev
mount -o bind /sys /mnt/build/sys
mount -t proc /proc /mnt/build/proc
chroot /mnt/build /bin/bash

Once in the chroot it's possible to use all the Void Linux commands.

Create the config for Dracut
echo 'add_dracutmodules+=" resume "' >> /etc/dracut.conf
echo 'tmpdir=/tmp' >> /etc/dracut.conf
dracut --force --hostonly --kver 6.6.38_1 [your kernel version will vary]
OR
dracut --regenerate-all

dracut.conf

add_dracutmodules+=" resume "
tmpdir=/tmp

Note the spaces on either side of the keyword " resume " above.

To enable the resume feature, you also need to add the swap partition ID to the kernel command line.
Edit /etc/defaultgrub and add the line below: (NOTE: the "=UUID=" is not an error)

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="... resume=UUID="

You can get the UUID of your swap partition using: ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid where you can match the UUID to the swap partition - it's also possible to use blkid.

Find the swap partition by running fdisk -l /dev/sda which will list the partitions and their types.

This change requires grub.conf to be regenerated, which is performed in a step further down the page.

Install Intel Microcode
xbps-install intel-ucode
xbps-install iucode-tool

Create /etc/dracut.conf.d/intel_ucode.conf and add the following line:

early_microcode="yes"

Get WiFi working (not required if connecting via Ethernet)

Create your encrypted passphrase and associated SSID in wpa_supplicant.conf
wpa_passphrase your-ESSID your-passphrase | sudo tee /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

wpa_supplicant.conf

# Default configuration file for wpa_supplicant.conf(5).
ctrl_interface=/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1
update_config=1

# Add here your networks.
network={
        ssid="your_ssid"
        #psk="your_key"
        psk=
}

Activate the services
ln -s /etc/sv/wpa_supplicant /var/service
ln -s /etc/sv/dhcpcd /var/service

Install requirements for EFI booting
xbps-install efibootmgr
xbps-install efitools
xbps-install efitools-efi
xbps-install dosfstools

The system requires a 512M EFI partition.

Fdisk layout and disk prep for EFI boot:

fdisk -l

Device         Start       End   Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sda1       2048   1050623   1048576  512M EFI System
/dev/sda2    1050624 498116607 497065984  237G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3  498116608 500117503   2000896  977M Linux swap

Create /etc/fstab

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
#                
#
UUID=5CE9-86CA /boot/efi vfat rw,noatime 0 0
UUID=b55f52a3-310a-43dc-a161-42ffd7bb4bbb / ext4 rw,noatime,data=ordered 0 0
UUID=40c670d5-a662-483e-9d01-1362d68dde87 none  swap    sw
tmpfs           /tmp        tmpfs   defaults,nosuid,nodev   0 0
#

Firmware
xbps-install linux-firmware-intel

Grub
xbps-install grub-utils
xbps-install grub-x86_64-efi
xbps-install grub-terminus
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=void_grub --boot-directory=/boot --recheck

Install 'x' window system and miscellaneous utilities.
xbps-install xorg
xbps-install xinit
xbps-install lightdm
xbps-install xfce4
xbps-install xorg-input-drivers
xbps-install xfce4-alsa-plugin
xbps-install libxfce4util
xbps-install alsa-ucm-conf
xbps-install sof-firmware
xbps-install laptop-mode
Disk Management Service, version 2:
xbps-install udisks2
Web browser:
xbps-install firefox
Office apps:
xbps-install libreoffice
Screen grabber:
xbps-install flameshot
Unzip (archive) utility:
xbps-install 7zip
xbps-install xarchiver

Install and enable the elogind service
xbps-install elogind
ln -s /etc/sv/elogind /var/service

Install Signal desktop messaging if required
xbps-install signal-desktop

Install Fonts
xbps-install google-fonts-ttf
xbps-install xorg-fonts
xbps-install ttf-ubuntu-font-family
xbps-install ttf-opensans
xbps-install ttf-bitstream-vera
xbps-install liberation-fonts-ttf
xbps-install dejavu-fonts-ttf
xbps-install fonts-adobe-*
xbps-install font-adobe-*
xbps-install font-adobe-100dpi
xbps-install font-adobe-75dpi
xbps-install font-adobe-source-serif-pro
xbps-install putty
xbps-install terminus-font

Install the fan utility for certain Dell laptops
xbps-install i8kutils

Install and configure required apps for automounting USB disks
xbps-install udevil
xbps-install udiskie
xbps-install xdg-utils

I created a script (automount.sh) to automatically start udiskie and devmon at login:
Add this to your session startup

#!/bin/bash
#
/usr/bin/udiskie --automount &
/usr/bin/devmon --sync --exec-on-drive "notify-send -t 9000 --urgency=normal \"%l\" \"Connected device\"" &

Install polkitd and add the configuration below
xbps-install polkitd

Add the following to vi /etc/polkit-1/rules.d/50-udiskie.rules

polkit.addRule(function(action, subject) {
  var YES = polkit.Result.YES;
  var permission = {
    // required for udisks1:
    "org.freedesktop.udisks.filesystem-mount": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks.luks-unlock": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks.drive-eject": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks.drive-detach": YES,
    // required for udisks2:
    "org.freedesktop.udisks2.filesystem-mount": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks2.encrypted-unlock": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks2.eject-media": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks2.power-off-drive": YES,
    // required for udisks2 if using udiskie from another seat (e.g. systemd):
    "org.freedesktop.udisks2.filesystem-mount-other-seat": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks2.filesystem-unmount-others": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks2.encrypted-unlock-other-seat": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks2.encrypted-unlock-system": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks2.eject-media-other-seat": YES,
    "org.freedesktop.udisks2.power-off-drive-other-seat": YES
  };
  if (subject.isInGroup("storage")) {
    return permission[action.id];
  }
});

Enable the polkitd service
ln -s /etc/sv/polkitd /var/service

Copy the default xinitrc to your home directory

cp /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc ~/.xinitrc

Edit the xinitrc you just copied to your home directory

Comment twm & and replace with exec startxfce4

EDIT: I recently installed Void on my desktop and this step wasn't required.

#!/bin/sh

userresources=$HOME/.Xresources
usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
sysresources=/etc/X11/xinit/.Xresources
sysmodmap=/etc/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap

# merge in defaults and keymaps

if [ -f $sysresources ]; then

    xrdb -merge $sysresources

fi

if [ -f $sysmodmap ]; then
    xmodmap $sysmodmap
fi

if [ -f "$userresources" ]; then

    xrdb -merge "$userresources"

fi

if [ -f "$usermodmap" ]; then
    xmodmap "$usermodmap"
fi

# start some nice programs

if [ -d /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d ] ; then
 for f in /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/?*.sh ; do
  [ -x "$f" ] && . "$f"
 done
 unset f
fi

# twm &
exec startxfce4
#xclock -geometry 50x50-1+1 &
#xterm -geometry 80x50+494+51 &
#xterm -geometry 80x20+494-0 &
exec xterm -geometry 80x66+0+0 -name login

Install a PDF viewer
xbps-install xpdf

Speech-dispatcher is required for text to speech in the web browser and other apps
xbps-install speech-dispatcher

Cleanup and check installation
xbps-reconfigure -fa

Audio
ln -s /etc/sv/alsa /var/service

Fix poor fonts in Firefox
ln -s /usr/share/fontconfig/conf.avail/70-no-bitmaps.conf /etc/fonts/conf.d/

Brightness (store brightness levels across reboots)
xbps-install brightnessctl

Create the required files in /etc/sv/brightness as per below
run

#!/bin/sh

# Restore saved brightness for each card, if any.
for card in $(find /sys/class/backlight/ -type l); do
        card=$(basename $card)
        storage_file="/var/cache/backlight/${card}-brightness-old"
    if [ -r "$storage_file" ]; then
        cp "$storage_file" "/var/cache/backlight/${card}_brightness"
    fi
done

brightness=`cat /var/cache/backlight/${card}-brightness-old`

brightnessctl -d $card set $brightness
exec chpst -b brightnessctl pause

finish

#!/bin/sh

[ -d '/var/cache/backlight/' ] || mkdir -p '/var/cache/backlight'
[ -w '/var/cache/backlight/' ] || chmod 755 '/var/cache/backlight/'

# Save current brightness of each card.

for card in `find /sys/class/backlight/ -type l`; do
        card=$(basename $card)
        curr_brightness=`brightnessctl get -m -d $card`
        echo $curr_brightness > "/var/cache/backlight/${card}_brightness"
        cp "/var/cache/backlight/${card}_brightness" "/var/cache/backlight/${card}_brightness-old"
done

Make the service active: ln -s /etc/sv/brightness /var/service

Fix mousepad

vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/40-libinput.conf

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "libinput touchpad catchall"
        MatchIsTouchpad "on"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
        Driver "libinput"
        Option "Tapping" "on"
        Option "NaturalScrolling" "true"
        Option "ClickMethod" "clickfinger"
        Option "TappingButtonMap" "lrm"
        Option "DisableWhileTyping" "true"
EndSection

Audio

On my laptop, the brightness controls (FN+F10/F11) worked fine but the volume controls didn't work at all (I'm using ALSA not Pulseaudio).

So I had to go to 'Settings' / ' Keyboard' and map the keys as follows: (just click add, enter the command and you are prompted for the key sequence)

# command to increase volume by 3%
amixer -q sset Master 3%+

# command to decrease volume by 3%
amixer -q sset Master 3%-

# command to mute/unmute
amixer -q sset Master toggle

Add your user to various groups

gpasswd -a your_username plugdev
gpasswd -a your_username disk
gpasswd -a your_username input
gpasswd -a your_username storage
gpasswd -a your_username audio
gpasswd -a your_username video
gpasswd -a your_username users
gpasswd -a your_username media
gpasswd -a your_username scanner

Graphical login

Test your 'X' configuration by running startx after you have logged in as your user (not root).

Once you are happy that it's working as expected, you can enable the graphical login.

Logout of your 'X' session and login as root (console) and enable 'lightdm' - ln -s /etc/sv/lightdm /var/service

This should start 'X' automatically and you should be prompted to login.

I had some issues with the fan on my Dell Laptop. I found this Arch Linux Wiki entry useful to resolve the issues I had - obviously other laptops will require different apps - the Wiki covers this too.

Links

Void Linux packages

Void Linux documentation

Tags: Linux , Void Linux , Xorg , XFCE4 , laptop

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