Unofficial user repositories/Repo-ck

Repo-ck is an unofficial Arch Linux repository hosting generic and CPU-optimized kernels. It has been in operation since 2011 and is maintained by graysky.

Kernels package

Brand	Group Alias	Description	Build flags enabled by patchset
Any	ck-generic	x86-64 generic kernel good for any supported CPU	-march=x86-64
	ck-generic-v2	x86-64-v2 generic kernel good for any supported CPU	-march=x86-64-v2
	ck-generic-v3	x86-64-v3 generic kernel good for any supported CPU	-march=x86-64-v3
	ck-generic-v4	x86-64-v4 generic kernel good for any supported CPU	-march=x86-64-v4

Selecting the correct CPU optimized package

If a model specific kernel is not offered, users should select one of the three generic packages that is best matched to the specific hardware. To tell which generic package is best, simply run:

$ /lib/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 --help | grep supported

If x86-64-v3 (supported, searched) is in the output, use the ck-generic-v3 group. If only x86-64-v2 (supported, searched) is in the output, use the ck-generic-v2 group. If neither are in the output, use the ck-generic group.

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 above for a mapping of this value to the correct group; again, not every possible value will have a specific 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.

For further help, see:

• gentoo:Safe CFLAGS#Intel
• gentoo: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.

Setup

Add repository

Add the repository 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 --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com && pacman-key --lsign-key 5EE46C4C

Additional mirror

aviallon hosts a mirror with better bandwidth and stability, synchronized every 6 hours. You can add it to your pacman.conf:

Install kernel

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

# pacman -Syu linux-ck

Update boot loader configuration

If you are using GRUB with a common setup, then you can update its configuration by regenerating the main configuration file.

Troubleshooting

Support

Please use the BBS thread.

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.