bc-250-archlinux

Arch Linux setup script for the ASRock BC-250 mini PC to optimize it for gaming and desktop use.

Overview

This repository contains an automated setup script that configures Arch Linux for optimal performance on the ASRock BC-250, which features AMD Van Gogh APU hardware. The script handles GPU configuration, thermal monitoring, and CPU governor setup.

Requirements

• Operating System: Arch Linux
• Kernel Version: 6.x or higher
• Mesa Version: 25.1.x or higher
• Privileges: sudo access

Features

The setup script automatically:

1. GPU Configuration: Disables compute shaders via RADV_DEBUG=nocompute to work around Van Gogh APU limitations
2. AMDGPU Options: Configures sg_display=0 option for better display compatibility
3. Thermal Monitoring: Enables the NCT6683 sensor module for hardware monitoring
4. CPU Governor: Installs and enables cyan-skillfish-governor-sme for optimized CPU frequency scaling
5. Memory Management: Removes zram and configures zswap with 8GB compressed memory limit using LZ4 compression
6. Initramfs Update: Rebuilds initramfs to apply early-boot configurations

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/dannybastos/bc-250-archlinux.git
   cd bc-250-archlinux

2. Run the setup script:

   chmod +x bc-250-archlinux-setup.sh
   ./bc-250-archlinux-setup.sh

3. Restart your system after the script completes:

   sudo reboot

What Gets Configured

Environment Variables

• /etc/environment.d/99-radv-bc250.conf: Sets RADV_DEBUG=nocompute

Kernel Module Options

• /etc/modprobe.d/amdgpu-bc250.conf: AMDGPU display configuration
• /etc/modprobe.d/nct6683-bc250.conf: NCT6683 sensor force-load option
• /etc/modules-load.d/nct6683-bc250.conf: Auto-load NCT6683 at boot

Kernel Parameters (Bootloader)

• zswap configuration: Adds zswap.enabled=1 zswap.compressor=lz4 zswap.max_pool_percent=50 zswap.zpool=z3fold
• Supports both GRUB (/etc/default/grub) and systemd-boot (/boot/loader/entries/*.conf)
• Original configurations backed up automatically

Services

• cyan-skillfish-governor-sme.service: CPU frequency governor service

Memory Management

• zram: Removed if present (zram-generator uninstalled)
• zswap: Configured with ~8GB compressed memory pool (50% of RAM with LZ4 compression)

Troubleshooting

If the script fails:

• Ensure you're running Arch Linux with kernel 6.x+
• Verify Mesa drivers are version 25.1.x or higher
• Check that you have sudo privileges
• Review error messages for specific component failures

Verifying zswap After Reboot

Check if zswap is active:

cat /sys/module/zswap/parameters/enabled
# Should output: Y

grep -r . /sys/module/zswap/parameters/
# Shows all zswap configuration

Check zswap statistics:

grep -r . /sys/kernel/debug/zswap/
# Shows pool size, compression ratio, etc.

License

MIT

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.