Unofficial user repositories/Repo-ck

Related articles

• Linux-ck

Repo-ck is an unofficial Arch Linux repository hosting generic and CPU-optimized kernels and support packages, featuring MuQSS (pronounced mux) and rest of the ck patchset by Con Kolivas. It has been in operation since 2011 and is maintained by graysky.

Setup

Add Repo

Add the repo to /etc/pacman.conf under the Arch official repositories:

/etc/pacman.conf

[repo-ck]
Server = http://repo-ck.com/$arch

Sign graysky's key:

# pacman-key -r 5EE46C4C && pacman-key --lsign-key 5EE46C4C

Install Kernel

Update your sync database and install the chosen kernel variant (see below for available variants):

# pacman -Syu linux-ck

Update Boot Loader Config

Warning: This can mess up your system! Make sure that you understand what you are doing!

If you are using grub with a common setup, then you can update its config by running this command:

# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Kernels and related packages

The official Arch Linux kernel provides a generic package which is built for the x86_64 architecture that will run on any compatible x86_64 CPU. Repo-ck also hosts a generic version of linux-ck but also provides optimized packages for specific CPUs.

Brand	Group Alias	Details
Any	ck-generic	Generic kernel similar to the official Arch Linux kernel.
Intel	ck-atom	Intel Atom specific optimizations.
	ck-silvermont	Intel Silvermont specific optimizations.
	ck-core2	Intel Core 2-family including Dual and Quads.
	ck-nehalem	Intel 1st Generation Core i3/i5/i7-family
	ck-sandybridge	Intel 2nd Generation Core i3/i5/i7-family
	ck-ivybridge	Intel 3rd Generation Core i3/i5/i7-family
	ck-haswell	Intel 4th Generation Core i3/i5/i7-family
	ck-broadwell	Intel 5th Generation Core i3/i5/i7-family
	ck-skylake	Intel 6th Generation Core i3/i5/i7-family
	ck-p4	Intel Pentium-4 (P4/P4-based Celeron/Pentium-4 M/Older Xeon).
	ck-pentm	Intel Pentium-M (Pentium-M notebook chips/not Pentium-4 M).
AMD	ck-kx	AMD K7/K8-family
	ck-k10	AMD K10-family including 61xx Eight-Core Magny-Cours, Athlon X2 7x50, Phenom X3/X4/II, Athlon II X2/X3/X4, or Turion II-family processor.
	ck-bobcat	CPUs based on AMD Family 14h cores with x86-64 instruction set support.
	ck-bulldozer	CPUs based on AMD Family 15h cores with x86-64 instruction set support.
	ck-piledriver	CPUs based on AMD Family 15h cores with x86-64 instruction set support.
	ck-zen	CPUs based on AMD Family 17h cores with x86-64 instruction set support.
	ck-zen2	CPUs based on AMD 3rd Gen Ryzen cores with x86-64 instruction set support.

Selecting the correct CPU optimized package

When unsure, install the ck-generic group, which works with any compatible CPU. Those wanting CPU-specific optimized packages can run the following command (assuming that base-devel is installed):

$ gcc -c -Q -march=native --help=target | grep march

The resulting -march is what GCC would use natively. Refer to the table below for a mapping of this value to the correct group.

Warning: Intel CPU optimized packages support only full Core2 series and i3/i5/i7 series chips. Many Pentium/Celeron chips lack the full requisite instruction sets to make use of the optimized packages. Users of these chips should install the generic packages, even if GCC returns a value corresponding to full core i3/i5/i7 match such as haswell.

Note: This table has been updated to show the new simplified march options that ship with GCC v4.9+. For more information see the release notes.

Brand	Group	March
Intel	ck-atom	bonnell
	ck-silvermont	silvermont
	ck-core2	core2
	ck-nehalem	nehalem
	ck-sandybridge	sandybridge
	ck-ivybridge	ivybridge
	ck-haswell	haswell
	ck-broadwell	broadwell
	ck-skylake	skylake
	ck-p4	pentium4, prescott, nocona
	ck-pentm	pentm, pentium-m
AMD	ck-kx	athlon, athlon-4, athlon-tbird, athlon-mp, athlon-xp, k8-sse3
	ck-k10	amdfam10
	ck-bobcat	btver1
	ck-bulldozer	bdver1
	ck-piledriver	bdver2
	ck-zen	znver1
	ck-zen2	znver2

Note: Add additional entries to this table based on experience.

For further help, see:

• http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Safe_CFLAGS#Intel
• http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Safe_CFLAGS#AMD
• http://www.linuxforge.net/docs/linux/linux-gcc.php

Speed benefits of CPU optimized packages

Extensive testing comparing the effect of GCC compile options show varying results, from no change to rather significant speed ups. [1] [2] [3]

Troubleshooting

Support

Please use the BBS thread.

Downloads interrupt regularly

Graysky is using Go Daddy as his web host. Some of the transfers from their poorly implemented server end in an incomplete transfer. To combat this, list the repository address multiple times and pacman will automatically try the next available server. As repo-ck has only one address (no mirrors), use the same server line:

[repo-ck]
Server = http://repo-ck.com/$arch
Server = http://repo-ck.com/$arch
Server = http://repo-ck.com/$arch
Server = http://repo-ck.com/$arch
Server = http://repo-ck.com/$arch

Alternatively, change the pacman downloader to wget, which automatically resumes downloads.

See this forum post for an explanation of these issues.

Error: signature from graysky is unknown trust

Users must import and sign graysky's gpg key. Instructions along with his key ID are located at repo-ck.com. See also Pacman/Package signing#Adding unofficial keys.