Following the query and link provided by rayclark on this forum (https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/531370-aarch64), I’ve installed Leap 15.0 on Raspberry Pi-3B and 3B+. There are a couple of problems that others doing that install on 3B+ might want to watch for.
First, the environment:
- Raspberry Pi-3B and Pi-3B+, both of which had been prepared to boot off USB-attached devices following Raspberry’s procedure (https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/hardware/raspberrypi/bootmodes/msd.md)
- µSD card with Lexar USB adapter (when needed) and 120GB SSD attached via Insignia USB3 adapter
- Wired Ethernet and Netgear R6400 (AC1750) WiFi service in the room
Downloaded onto my Mac/OSX system a copy of openSUSE-Leap15.0-ARM-XFCE-raspberrypi3.aarch64-2018.05.20-Buildlp150.5.4.raw from http://download.opensuse.org/ports/aarch64/distribution/leap/15.0/appliances/
While I’m using the XFCE distribution, the issues seem not likely to be limited to that distribution.
Procedure:
- Insert the target medium for the Leap install into a USB port on the Mac (µSD in USB adapter for one trial, SSD via USB3 adapter for the other trial)
- Copy the image to the target medium (
xzcat openSUSE-Leap15.0-ARM-XFCE-raspberrypi3.aarch64-2018.05.20-Buildlp150.5.4.raw.xz | dd bs=4m of=/dev/rdisk2
- umount the EFI volume after the copy and remove the medium from the Mac
- install the medium onto the Pi-3B or Pi-3B+ (the µSD card was “installed” as both USB-attached and MMC-attached medium; the SSD was only connected via USB3)
- Boot the Pi-3B/3B+ with the freshly-installed Leap 15.0 and log in: system came up as Leap 15.0, Linux 4.12.14-lp150
- Verify network connections
- Do a “zypper dup” to install any more recent updates to that original distribution: in all cases, the system did a “reinstall” of openSUSE Leap 15.0. When rebooted afterward, it again reported that it was Leap 15.0, Linux 4.12.14-lp150
The Pi-3B (not +) install was successful; both Ethernet and Wifi worked at the same speeds as 42.3; “zypper dup” installed 556 new packages @ 286MB and reported that it was “reinstalling” Leap 15.0. Resulting system seemed stable and fully functional, from limited testing to date. The Pi-3B booted reliably from the µSD card and from the µSD card in a USB2 adapter. Booting from the SSD attached via USB3 interface failed 3 out of 4 attempts – just as Tumbleweed, Leap 42.3, and Raspbian had done: the failure is a hardware timing issue in the 3B USB2 interface when presented with a fast USB3 device.
In general, the Leap 15.0 Pi-3B install was flawless in its setup and functioned exactly as one would expect (with limited testing so far).
The Pi-3B+ install was successful, too. Both µSD and SSD initial boots were successful, and the system repartitioned and resized itself as expected. However:
- eth0 was recognized but would not make a connection
- wlan0 reported initially that it was using 2.4GHz and offering 24Mb/sec service, but once connected, it switched to 5GHz and reported 433Mb/sec service
- “zypper dup” downloaded correctly, but in the course of installation, the system suddenly froze and presented a black screen with single underline cursor. This occurred on several occasions.
- On several occasions, the system reported a “bus error” and froze all screens
These issues occurred with both µSD and USB-booted installations.
At this point, it would seem that the best approach to obtain a Leap 15.0 installation for Pi-3B+ would be to do the initial install, configuration, and update on a Pi-3B, then move the boot medium to a Pi-3B+.
More information forthcoming following further exploration.