Host-side tonistiigi/binfmt registration doesn't propagate into the
pi-gen-action's nested Docker container's view of /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc.
usimd/pi-gen-action's extra-host-dependencies input runs apt-get inside
the pi-gen container before pi-gen launches — install qemu-user-static
+ binfmt-support there so the chroot's arm64 binaries can execute.
apt's qemu-user-static + update-binfmts produces a registration that
pi-gen's nested Docker container still couldn't see. Switch to the
canonical tonistiigi/binfmt approach: privileged container that
installs QEMU statically with the F (fix-binary) flag, so the kernel
opens the qemu-aarch64-static binary at registration time and uses it
for all subsequent arm64 execs — independent of which container the
exec happens in.
Plus diagnostic: ls /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc + cat qemu-aarch64
detail, so next run's log surfaces whether registration actually
landed.
docker/setup-qemu-action registers binfmt via a privileged side container;
pi-gen-action's own nested Docker container doesn't inherit the
registration. Result: arm64 ELFs in the pi-gen chroot still fail to
exec, exit 1 before any stage runs.
apt-installed qemu-user-static + binfmt-support writes persistent
binfmt_misc entries to the kernel that propagate to every container
share. Pair with update-binfmts --enable qemu-aarch64 and a sanity
ls -la /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/qemu-aarch64.
Real cause of last pi-gen failure was surfaced by verbose-output:
WARNING: Only a native build environment is supported.
arm64: not supported on this machine/kernel
ubuntu-latest is x86_64; pi-gen builds an arm64 image and chroots into
it during stages, requiring binfmt_misc handlers for arm64. Add
docker/setup-qemu-action before the pi-gen step.
While here, audit + bump every action version (pinned to current
majors):
actions/checkout v4 → v6
actions/upload-artifact v4 → v7
actions/download-artifact v4 → v8
softprops/action-gh-release v2 → v3
docker/setup-qemu-action @v4 (new)
usimd/pi-gen-action @v1 (already current major)
dtolnay/rust-toolchain @stable (rolling channel — keep)
Reverts misdiagnosis. pi-gen defaults to trixie since the Debian 13
release, which has gtk4 4.14 + libwebkitgtk-6.0 stock — no backports
needed. Build container, kiosk gtk feature gate, and pi-gen target all
realigned to trixie.
Actual reason last image run failed: our custom stage was missing the
mandatory prerun.sh (pi-gen calls it to seed ROOTFS_DIR from the
previous stage) and the EXPORT_IMAGE marker file (signals 'bake an
image at the end of this stage'). Both added.
Asset upload now globs deploy/*.img.xz so any extra exports stage2
produces ship alongside our customised one.
Repo is public → unlimited Actions minutes, so the 30-60 min pi-gen
bake doesn't have a cost gate. Master pushes now produce the full
asset set (binaries + image), same as tag releases.
Replaces release-kiosk.yml + release-image.yml with two coupled workflows:
release.yml — entrypoint. Computes version/channel/tag:
- master push → semver patch bump from latest stable tag, append
-dev.<shortsha>, create lightweight tag + prerelease record
- v* tag push → use tag verbatim, channel from suffix (-beta./-dev. or
stable), create release if missing
Then invokes build.yml via uses: ./.github/workflows/build.yml.
build.yml — reusable (workflow_call). Single source of truth for asset
production:
- kiosk binary matrix (aarch64, x86_64) in debian:trixie-slim
- flashable .img.xz via pi-gen using the aarch64 artifact (gated by
build-image input; master pushes default false to keep dev cycles
fast, tag pushes default true for a full release)
Both jobs attach to the release at tag_name=${{ inputs.tag }}.
Concurrency: master-branch runs cancel superseded peers; tag runs never
cancel. CI auto-import to a running BF server (BF_AUTOIMPORT_URL +
BF_AUTOIMPORT_API_KEY repo secrets) still wired.
New workflow .github/workflows/release-image.yml takes a tagged kiosk
release binary, layers it onto Raspberry Pi OS Trixie Lite via a custom
pi-gen stage, and publishes the resulting .img.xz back to the GitHub
Release.
Custom stage deploy/pi-gen/stage-betterframe-client/:
- 00-install-packages: cage, seatd, plymouth, gtk4 runtime, gstreamer,
libwebkitgtk-6.0, wlr-randr, ca-certificates
- 01-install-kiosk: drops the prebuilt kiosk binary, systemd unit,
cage PAM stack, firmware-rollback hook, plymouth theme. Creates
bfkiosk user, sets multi-user.target, masks all display managers,
purges piwiz, edits cmdline/config for the BF splash. Mirrors
setup-pi-kiosk.sh but baked into the image.
End state: rpi-imager → SD → boot → pairing screen on the HDMI display,
no operator setup steps. Kiosk auto-discovers server via discover_server()
(localhost → mDNS → frame-eu.betterportal.net).
Heavy build (~30-60 min on GH-hosted Ubuntu) so tag-push triggered, not
master. Workflow_dispatch also supports baking an existing release tag's
binary into a fresh image without re-tagging.
- WorkerMsg made pub + re-exported at crate root so local_server can send
through the UI channel.
- ed25519_dalek::pkcs8::DecodePublicKey trait import — needed for
VerifyingKey::from_public_key_pem call site.
- Workflow: pushes to master now auto-trigger a dev-channel build (in
addition to tag-pushes for stable/beta). Concurrency group cancels
superseded master builds; tag builds never cancel each other.
Pi OS Bookworm + Debian bookworm both ship libgtk-4 4.8.3. No code in
the kiosk uses 4.12+ APIs (compute_bounds, WidgetPaintable, Picture,
add_tick_callback, Fixed, set_content_fit are all <= 4.8). Swap
gtk4 feature v4_12 → v4_8 and drop the bookworm-backports juggling
in CI.
