@monkeypants --- leave the space at the beginning of the disk to allow correct alignment: your disk performance will suffer if the main partition does not align with the sector boundaries...
I will do. It seems to be running fine, thanks again for the help
Have switched to Ubuntu then?
Nope, I just wanted to see if the more automated install process would shed some light onto partition setup and settings, which it did not.
]]>fdisk -l
and tell us what you did exactly to install grub in BIOS and EFI mode.
When it fails to boot are you booting in BIOS("legacy") mode or EFI ? Or does it fail in both cases?
@Head_on_a_Stick: I don't think the instructions in the Beginners' guide are made for this rather complex setup. So in the Beginners' guide it is an exclusive choice
]]>EFI or BIOS is an exclusive choice you should choose one or the other not follow the steps for both.
I run both EFI-mode and BIOS-mode ("Legacy" boot) on all my systems with no problems: it's fine as long as GPT is used with the BIOS boot partition (ef02) in sectors 34-2047 & the ESP (ef00) starting at sector 2048...
]]>Following the beginners guide I have tried both creating a 512MB UEFI and a BIOS 1007K ef02 partition.
I also make a 30G root and *remaining space /home partition.
I've used GRUB each time, following the correct steps for UEFI and BIOS outlined on the beginners guide.
EFI or BIOS is an exclusive choice you should choose one or the other not follow the steps for both.
After failing to get Arch running I installed Ubuntu which acts very strangely. Windows keep locking up and mouse clicks consistently don't register. It could be totally unrelated but I thought I'd mention it.
Have switched to Ubuntu then?
]]>Here's my advice:
- Start by checking the secure boot option in EFI. I don't think it is enabled if you don't have windows installed, but disable it if it's enabled.
- Have a look at other EFI settings just to familiarize yourself with them.
- During installation, mount the EFI partition on /boot --it will save you a lot of time as you will not have to set special settings for kernel updates.
- Use gummiboot, not grub -- it has very simple configuration files and is generally very easy to install and configure. As a bonus your arch linux system will even survive installing windows. At least my son's laptop survived intact a windows 7 installation alongside arch linux, which had already been there.
Edit: re-reading your post I think there is a confusion about EFI and BIOS. Do you try to boot/install in EFI or BIOS mode?
]]>I'm installing from a USB which I have used in the past to install Arch.
I am chosing the 64bit option on the USB boot screen.
Following the beginners guide I have tried both creating a 512MB UEFI and a BIOS 1007K ef02 partition.
I also make a 30G root and *remaining space /home partition.
I've used GRUB each time, following the correct steps for UEFI and BIOS outlined on the beginners guide.
I tried to install to an SSD originally, but I've since removed it from the system and tried on a regular HDD.
My system spec
i7 4770k
Asus Sabertooth Z87
16GB ram
OCZ Vertex 3 SSD
Samsung genertic 1TB HDD
After failing to get Arch running I installed Ubuntu which acts very strangely. Windows keep locking up and mouse clicks consistently don't register. It could be totally unrelated but I thought I'd mention it.
]]>