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Author Topic: fastfetch for piCore (aarch64)  (Read 248 times)

Online geev03

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fastfetch for piCore (aarch64)
« on: January 24, 2026, 04:17:27 PM »
A few people have asked about getting fastfetch on piCore, since it’s available on most other distros but missing here. I’ve compiled fastfetch 2.58.0 natively on piCore 16.0 aarch64 (Raspberry Pi 400), and it runs perfectly.

If you want a lightweight system‑info tool with a nice logo and fast output, this works out of the box.

Upstream: https://github.com/fastfetch-cli/fastfetch
Version: 2.58.0
License: MIT
Architecture: aarch64 (Raspberry Pi)

The extension includes:fastfetch
Code: [Select]
tc@box:~/fastfetch-2.58.0/build$ ./fastfetch --logo raspberrypi
   `.::///+:/-.        --///+//-:`     tc@box
 `+oooooooooooo:   `+oooooooooooo:     ------
  /oooo++//ooooo:  ooooo+//+ooooo.     OS: TinyCoreLinux 16.0 aarch64
  `+ooooooo:-:oo-  +o+::/ooooooo:      Host: Raspberry Pi 400 Rev 1.0
   `:oooooooo+``    `.oooooooo+-       Kernel: Linux 6.12.25-piCore-v8
     `:++ooo/.        :+ooo+/.`        Uptime: 1 hour, 5 mins
        ...`  `.----.` ``..            Shell: sh
     .::::-``:::::::::.`-:::-`         Theme: Adwaita [GTK3]
    -:::-`   .:::::::-`  `-:::-        Icons: Adwaita [GTK3]
   `::.  `.--.`  `` `.---.``.::`       Cursor: Adwaita
       .::::::::`  -::::::::` `        Terminal: /dev/pts/2
 .::` .:::::::::- `::::::::::``::.     CPU: BCM2711 (4) @ 1.80 GHz
-:::` ::::::::::.  ::::::::::.`:::-    Memory: 473.41 MiB / 3.71 GiB (12%)
::::  -::::::::.   `-::::::::  ::::    Swap: 0 B / 1.99 GiB (0%)
-::-   .-:::-.``....``.-::-.   -::-    Disk (/): 250.00 MiB / 3.34 GiB (7%) - ts
 .. ``       .::::::::.     `..`..     Disk (/mnt/mmcblk0p2): 484.52 MiB / 13.24
   -:::-`   -::::::::::`  .:::::`      Local IP (eth0): 192.168.1.194/24
   :::::::` -::::::::::` :::::::.      Locale: C
   .:::::::  -::::::::. ::::::::
    `-:::::`   ..--.`   ::::::.
      `...`  `...--..`  `...`
            .::::::::::
             `.-::::-`
« Last Edit: January 24, 2026, 04:28:19 PM by geev03 »

Online geev03

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Re: fastfetch for piCore (aarch64)
« Reply #1 on: Today at 09:54:39 AM »
Subject: [GUIDE] Native Fastfetch on piCore 16.0 aarch64 (RPi 400 / Kernel 6.12)

Overview Since fastfetch is currently missing from the aarch64 repositories for v16.0, I have successfully compiled it natively. This provides a high-performance system info tool that correctly identifies piCore's unique architecture and RAM-based filesystem.

1. Install Build Dependencies You will need the compilation suite and a few text-processing utilities.
Code: [Select]
tce-load -wi compiletc git cmake bash coreutils util-linux
2. Compile Fastfetch from Source
Code: [Select]
git clone https://github.com/fastfetch-cli/fastfetch.git cd fastfetch mkdir build && cd build cmake .. make -j4 sudo cp fastfetch /usr/local/bin/
3. Optional: Generate a Master Logo Gallery (HTML) If you want to view all 400+ internal logos in a browser gallery, you can use aha. If aha.tcz is not on your mirror, build it quickly:
Code: [Select]
git clone https://github.com/theZiz/aha.git && cd aha && make sudo cp aha /usr/local/bin/
4. Persistence Don't forget to add the binaries to your backup list so they survive a reboot:
Code: [Select]
echo "usr/local/bin/fastfetch" >> /opt/.filetool.lst echo "usr/local/bin/aha" >> /opt/.filetool.lst filetool.sh -b
Performance Note: On a Raspberry Pi 400, the binary is near-instant. Even with a web server running to host the gallery, RAM usage stayed around 260MB.

Online geev03

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Re: fastfetch for piCore (aarch64)
« Reply #2 on: Today at 09:59:21 AM »
Subject: [GUIDE] Part 2: Automating a 400+ Logo HTML Gallery via Fastfetch & AhaBody:IntroductionNow that fastfetch is running natively, I wanted a way to catalog every built-in logo without manually running the command hundreds of times. This script creates a searchable, indexed HTML gallery that preserves terminal colors.The "Saga" WorkflowTo get this working on a minimalist system like piCore, we need to pipe the raw terminal output through a "virtual terminal" to keep the colors, then convert those codes to HTML.The Automation Script (ffa.sh)
Code: [Select]
#!/bin/bashFastfetch Automation - Gallery GeneratorOUTPUT_FILE="fastfetch_master_gallery.html"Get the list of all logoslogos=$(./fastfetch --list-logos | head -n -5 | fmt -1 | tr -d '"' | sed '/^$/d')HTML Header with Dark Theme CSSecho "<html><head><style>body { background-color: #222d32; color: #fff; font-family: monospace; padding: 20px; }.nav { position: sticky; top: 0; background: #111; padding: 10px; border-bottom: 2px solid #333; }.logo-container { border-bottom: 1px solid #444; margin-bottom: 30px; }pre { background: #000; padding: 15px; overflow-x: auto; }</style></head><body>" > $OUTPUT_FILEecho "<div class='nav'><b>Fastfetch Logo Master List</b></div>" >> $OUTPUT_FILEThe Loop: Capture and Convertfor logo in $logos; doecho "Processing: $logo"echo "$logo</h2><pre>" >> $OUTPUT_FILE# Use 'script' to trick fastfetch into outputting colors, then pipe to 'aha'
script -q -c "./fastfetch --logo \"$logo\" --logo-type builtin" /dev/null | aha --black --no-header >> $OUTPUT_FILE

echo "</pre></div>" >> $OUTPUT_FILE
doneecho "</body></html>" >> $OUTPUT_FILE
Hosting the ResultOn the Pi 400, you can serve the file immediately to your network using Python:
Code: [Select]
python3 -m http.server 8081Then visit http://<your-pi-ip>:8081 on any device.Lessons Learned:
    []
Terminal Reset: If your SSH session text goes "staircase" mode after running, use the stty sane command.
[] Binary Paths: Since we are in the build folder, use ./fastfetch in the script to ensure it hits your fresh build.[/list]


Summary After successfully compiling fastfetch natively (see Part 1), I moved into automating a master gallery of all 400+ logos. This post covers the "gotchas" of piCore persistence and the scripting required to capture ANSI colors in HTML.

1. The Capture Script (ffa.sh) To get a clean HTML gallery, we use script to maintain the TTY colors and aha to convert them.
Code: [Select]

Key command inside the script loop:
script -q -c "fastfetch --logo "$logo" --logo-type builtin" /dev/null | aha --black --no-header >> $OUTPUT_FILE

2. Solving the Backup "404" & Errors During the process of saving these tools, I encountered a few common piCore backup hurdles:
    []
Wildcards: Do not use asterisks () in .filetool.lst; tar will fail to find the literal filename. [] Dead Links: If you have missing SSH keys or moved files in your list, the backup will abort. [] Broad Directories: Avoid adding /usr/local or /home directly to .filetool.lst. This bloats the backup and can lead to failures. [/list]

3. Successful Persistence List For a clean backup that includes fastfetch, your /opt/.filetool.lst should look like this:
Code: [Select]
usr/local/bin/fastfetch usr/local/bin/aha home/tc/fastfetch/build/ffa.sh home/tc/fastfetch/build/fastfetch_master_gallery.html Run filetool.sh -b and look for the "Done" message to ensure your work survives the next boot.
« Last Edit: Today at 10:13:01 AM by geev03 »

Online patrikg

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Re: fastfetch for piCore (aarch64)
« Reply #3 on: Today at 10:12:48 AM »
Hi @geev03, did you get any login's working with the wiki ?

Online geev03

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Re: fastfetch for piCore (aarch64)
« Reply #4 on: Today at 10:16:37 AM »
Hi @geev03, did you get any login's working with the wiki ?
Yes.
Wrote about pari/gp there.
Would like help with a ' fastfetch for piCore' wiki entry with Logos Gallery
« Last Edit: Today at 10:45:06 AM by geev03 »