Copyright (C) 2021, 2022, 2023 Kai Mertens kmx@posteo.net
This file is released under CC BY-SA 4.0 International Public License.
See https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ to get license
details.
Your Zerocat X200 is a liberated laptop, which starts with free, trustworthy software right at power-up.
The motherboard’s firmware has been deleted and replaced by free licensed firmware. This liberating procedure is explained in more detail within the project documentation of Zerocat Coreboot Machines: http://www.zerocat.org/coreboot-machines.html
The firmware replacement itself has been processed by means of Zerocat’s Chipflasher, an electronic device that respects and maintains essential freedoms of computer users: http://www.zerocat.org/chipflasher.html
The same applies to the selected operating system, GNU Guix System, which invents new, technical milestones for the GNU System, as founded by Richard M. Stallman.
The SPI chip holding the firmware has been set into Hardware Protection Mode (HPM). Content of this chip cannot be altered unless you remove the HPM jumper, located below your palm-rest. RAM bars should not be replaced as long as firmware timings cannot be updated. Check block protection bits of chip’s status register!
The GRUB2 console or some entries of the boot menu might be protected by a password. Use the following credentials if being asked for:
This GRUB2 username and its password can be changed by flashing a newly configured ROM image to the motherboard’s BIOS chip. It is not easily changed by software. See the content of your ROM backup folder, located on your desktop, to get technical details. Move that folder to a save place.
The partitions on your internal SSD are fully encrypted via LUKS:
root partition (ahci0,gpt1) aka /dev/sda1 aka cryptroot
Password:
You can change this password by means of cryptsetup fromout your
operating system. See info cryptsetup for usage information.
home partition (ahci0,gpt3) aka /dev/sda3 aka crypthome
Password:
You can change this password by means of cryptsetup fromout your
operating system. See info cryptsetup for usage information.
Your GNU Guix System might be shipped with three user accounts preconfigured, root account, admin account, and normal user account.
If a normal user account is not yet configured, check the current
system configuration file /run/current-system/configuration.scm for
an out-commented template entry.
root account (root user, fully priviledged, administrative purposes only)
The password can be changed by means of passwd. See info
passwd for usage information.
admin account (administrative user, priviledged, standard administrative purposes)
The password can be changed by means of passwd. See info
passwd for usage information.
user account (normal user, no priviledges, every-day use, internet use)
The password can be changed by means of passwd. See info
passwd for usage information.
You might want to disable radio devices by using the laptop’s kill switch. It is located at the front left edge of the device.
The entry of passwords will not be displayed on screen, thus no characters are to be seen. Enter your password blindly and finalize the entry with the “Enter” key. In case of a typo, you can still use the backspace key for correction.
Switch your device on and wait until the boot menu appears.
Type hotkey “x” to adjust the keymap for GRUB2. You will enter a dialogue which is controlled by the escape key only.
The default keymap is “de”, but this won't be very useful in case your machine is equipped with a keyboard of a different layout.
In case of a typo, reach the end of the dialogue, turn back to the boot menu, and try again.
Type hotkey “y” to unlock selected disk partitions. You will enter a dialogue which is controlled by the escape key only.
(ahci0,gpt3)(ahci0,gpt1)In case of a typo, reach the end of the dialogue, turn back to the boot menu, and try again.
Type hotkey “g” to search on disk for the GRUB2 configuration file, provided by GNU Guix System. The GNU Guix boot menu will appear. Select the first, default entry.
The initial RAM-disk starts up, asking itself for passwords again.
If the process displays “loading kernel modules...” but seems to be stuck, keep pressing the Backspace Key.
/dev/sda1/dev/sda3Locate the Zerocat ROM backup folder on your desktop, and move it to a save place outside of your machine.
Please change passwords as soon as you are familiar with your system, and before starting to use radio devices.
There should be a simple screensaver available, providing a black screen when active. To unlock, enter your user’s password directly, without any additional key hit.
Point and click onto the user menu, top right of your desktop, and select “Suspend” in order to enter suspend mode. Data is located in RAM, which is kept powered, but CPU is halted.
In order to leave suspend mode and awake the machine back again, press the “Fn” button for about one second.
Hibernation Mode has been configured and is available, but should be used with care. Same applies to Hybrid Powersaving Mode. Upon resume from hibernation, you are to undergo the default partition unlock procedure, again.
Point and click onto the user menu, top right of your desktop, and select “Shutdown”.
Special buttons and blue (gray?) function keys are configurable. Please check current settings of the Xfce4 Desktop Environment:
In Xfce4, the combination of “Fn+F4” is called “Power Mode Key” (or alike).
In Xfce4, the combination of “Fn+Pos1” and “Fn+End” is called “Brightness Control Keys” (or alike).
In Xfce4, the combination of “Fn+F3” is called “Battery Key” (or alike).
Not all “Fn” Keys are usable.
Please read the most important manuals. Open a terminal window by typing “Ctrl+Alt+T” and type the following commands:
Use info info to learn how to use the GNU Info Reader.
Use info guix to read the manual of your GNU Guix System with the
GNU Info Reader.
Use info cryptsetup to get information about how to change or add
passwords to LUKS encrypted partitions.
Use info passwd to learn how users can change their passwords.
Use info coreutils to understand the tools and the philosophy of
your GNU System.
Try info nano to learn how to use the GNU Nano Editor.
Use guix system list-generations to see available system generations,
which are as well accessible fromout the GRUB2 boot menu provided by
guix.
Use guix system describe to get information about your current
system.
Use nano <configuration-file> to read the file mentioned in the
previous output and to learn about system-wide installed packages.
Use guix pull --list-generations to see your user’s list of
available guix versions.
Use guix package -I to see installed packages of the current user’s
standard profile, if available.
Use guix --help to see general usage information.
We wish you the best experience and success with your liberated Zerocat Machine and would kindly ask for your supportive feedback for our website. See http://www.zerocat.org/team.html for contact details.