You are not logged in.

#1 2013-07-08 17:22:48

Hombremaledicto
Member
Registered: 2013-04-17
Posts: 61

[solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

Hi all!
I've just bought an Asus CM6870 desktop pc. I must to say in advance it has 1TB HDD and a 32GB SSD.
This is the first time i'm facing UEFI bios, and i've got to say it's pretty hard for me to understand the wiki pages on this topic.
Last night i created an USB following this how-to.
After resizing windows 8 i booted the arch live installation media, with the UEFI mode running fine.
I proceeded to adjust the partitions with gdsik, then i created the partition table, following my wish to use the SSD for /, and the HDD for /home:

    mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda6
    mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb3
    mount /dev/sda6 /mnt
    mkdir /mnt/home
    mount /dev/sda6 /mnt/home
    mkdir /mnt/boot
    mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot/

You can see the disks partitions here: 

Cattura_di_schermata_2.jpg

I used Windows 8 default UEFI partition for /boot, located on the HDD.
As for the boot manager:

sudo pacman -S efibootmgr
efibootmgr -c -L "Arch Linux" -l /vmlinuz-linux -u "root=/dev/sdb3 ro initrd=/initramfs-linux.img"

After that i rebooted, removed the USB key, and looked at the bios boot order: arch was the primary selection, followed by windows 8, cd drive, and usb. Though, it seems i'm not able to boot in arch.
Every time i've tried i ended up in windows.

Am i doing something wrong? Suggestions?
Any tip will be welcomed.
Thanks in advance smile

Last edited by Hombremaledicto (2013-07-09 19:56:37)

Offline

#2 2013-07-08 21:05:45

WonderWoofy
Member
From: Los Gatos, CA
Registered: 2012-05-19
Posts: 8,414

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

You can check the work you have done with the efibootmgr command by passing the -v switch to it.  It will dump exactly what it has for each entry. 

Though it is possible to have a direct boot entry like that, I would definitely recommend using some sort of boot manager as a middleman.  That way you won't have to recreate efibootmgr entries if (when?) you want to add things to the the kernel command line, and you will have a nice interface on boot that you can edit the kernel command line with as well. 

If you set that up, you can then just create configuration entries that boot you windows setup as well.  With UEFI is is super easy, and the windows loader is just like any other efi application.  No more chainloading crap to deal with.

I prefer gummiboot, as it is by far the most simple in terms of configuration.  But it is not fancy or pretty like rEFInd, which gives you nice graphics (if you want, but ther e is the textonly option as well).

What is nice about UEFI is that you can actually have more than one setup configured at the same time.  For instance, on my machine, I have gummiboot, rEFInd, elilo, and syslinux-efi all set up and working.  Additionally, I have syslinux (bios) set up as a fall back in case UEFI somehow fails me.  Though I really like UEFI, it is very new and I still have this hint of (probably unnecessary) distrust in the back of my mind.

Offline

#3 2013-07-08 21:29:02

Hombremaledicto
Member
Registered: 2013-04-17
Posts: 61

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

Well, i assume i can check efibootmgr through chroot then, right?

Just in case, i'm about to reboot the USB and enter to chroot.

What do you suggest in order to use a boot manager? A new installation? Or simply install rEFInd/gumniboot from chroot(and speaking which, how to do that exactly)?
Sorry, as i said all this UEFI stuff is new to me, and i can't understand at all the wiki pages about this thingy.

I really miss my arch. Atm i'm stucked with the awful windows 8 (which i do need, but don't want to use as my primary system) sad

EDIT Here's the output from efibootmgr -v:

BootCurrent: 0008
Timeout: 0 seconds
Boot0008* Windows Boot Manager  HD(2,190800,82000,a0b97b54-9129-4e0d-99d6-9d592ec3cd2f)File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}
....................
Boot002*  Arch Linux   Vendor(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-cf385e6c00cb,)..r.o.o.t.=./.d.e.v./.s.d.b.3. .r.o. .i.n.i.t.r.a.m.f.s.-.l.i.n.u.x...i.m.g...
Boot007*  UEFI:  ASUS DVD RAM GH95N   ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(1f,2)03120a00200000800000CD-ROM(0,162,2d0)AMBO
Boot008*  UEFI:  PNY USB 2.0 FD 4096   ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(1a,0)USB(1,0)USB(5,0)AMBO

Last edited by Hombremaledicto (2013-07-08 22:03:55)

Offline

#4 2013-07-09 00:35:38

WonderWoofy
Member
From: Los Gatos, CA
Registered: 2012-05-19
Posts: 8,414

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

Check out the efibootmgr entry you created.  There is something very funky in those kernel command line arguments.  It is truncating a whole bunch of the initramfs string.  This is another great reason to use something like gummiboot.  Then you don't have to deal with bugs in how your firmware handles extra arguments.  I also experienced truncated entries when I was trying to set up direct efibootmgr entries.

In reality, you can actually go ahead and set up something like syslinux to the MBR no problem and get back into your system.  Then work on getting the UEFI working from there so that you can get things in proper order.  The only problem will be that unless you are booted via UEFI, you will not be able to create efibootmgr entries.  But that is easily solved by making something like gummiboot the "default" efi application.  That is, when you select booting from the device itself using UEFI, it will boot whatever is at \EFI\boot\bootx64.efi. 

As far as UEFI, I would try to use gummiboot first, as it is the easiest to wrap your head around in setting it up.  From there, you can try things as you wish without ever removing that gummiboot setup, which is very nice. I think elilo is incredibly easy to get going with since the configuration file is unbelievably simple (kind of like the old grub legacy configs).  But since the kernel has CONFIG_EFISTUB now, I figure I might as well try to use that if I can.

Offline

#5 2013-07-09 02:24:44

cfr
Member
From: Cymru
Registered: 2011-11-27
Posts: 7,144

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

Does Windows 8 put its boot loader in the default position and, if so, will gummiboot overwrite it?

Have you checked that secure boot is disabled in BIOS?


CLI Paste | How To Ask Questions

Arch Linux | x86_64 | GPT | EFI boot | refind | stub loader | systemd | LVM2 on LUKS
Lenovo x270 | Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7200U CPU @ 2.50GHz | Intel Wireless 8265/8275 | US keyboard w/ Euro | 512G NVMe INTEL SSDPEKKF512G7L

Offline

#6 2013-07-09 07:51:45

TheSaint
Member
From: my computer
Registered: 2007-08-19
Posts: 1,523

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

Hombremaledicto wrote:
BootCurrent: 0008
Timeout: 0 seconds
Boot0008* Windows Boot Manager  HD(2,190800,82000,a0b97b54-9129-4e0d-99d6-9d592ec3cd2f)File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}
....................
Boot002*  Arch Linux   Vendor(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-cf385e6c00cb,)..r.o.o.t.=./.d.e.v./.s.d.b.3. .r.o. .i.n.i.t.r.a.m.f.s.-.l.i.n.u.x...i.m.g...
Boot007*  UEFI:  ASUS DVD RAM GH95N   ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(1f,2)03120a00200000800000CD-ROM(0,162,2d0)AMBO
Boot008*  UEFI:  PNY USB 2.0 FD 4096   ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(1a,0)USB(1,0)USB(5,0)AMBO

Don't you see that the default is set to 008 >>> Boot0008* Windows Boot Manager and also set for two entries
Try this:

efibootmgr -A 008

or

 efibootmgr -a 002

First is preferable for testing big_smile
These are the explanation. I also confess I found new informations about manipulating  BIOS's EFI entries. Learning is never end


do it good first, it will be faster than do it twice the saint wink

Offline

#7 2013-07-09 08:58:37

Hombremaledicto
Member
Registered: 2013-04-17
Posts: 61

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

Just installed gummiboot, and created the entry for arch. Still booting from windows though. No gumniboot screen at all.
Here's the efibootmgr -v current output:

BootCurrent: 0008
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0008,0001,0002,0000,0007
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager  HD(2,190800,82000,a0b97b54-9129-4e0d-99d6-9d592ec3cd2f)File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}
....................
Boot0001*  Gummiboot  Vendor(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb,)
Boot0002*  Arch Linux   Vendor(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb,)..r.o.o.t.=./.d.e.v./.s.d.b.3. .r.o. .i.n.i.t.r.a.m.f.s.-.l.i.n.u.x...i.m.g...
Boot0007*  UEFI:  ASUS DVD RAM GH95N   ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(1f,2)03120a00200000800000CD-ROM(0,162,2d0)AMBO
Boot0008*  UEFI:  PNY USB 2.0 FD 4096   ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(1a,0)USB(1,0)USB(5,0)AMBO

@TheSaint: i've tried with:

efibootmgr -A 008

and

efibootmgi -A 0008

EDIT By enter:

efibootmgr -a 0001

or

efibootmgr -a 0002

or ( if i understood correctly, this is to delete a boot entry)

efibootmgr -B 0002

But the result is always:

You must specify a boot entry to delete (see the -b option)

@cfr

It seems the secure boot is disabled, at the related tab it is marked as disabled, indeed. Although, there is a selection below among "Windows 8" and "Other OS". If i choose Other OS i have to manually restore the bios (happened yesterday at least), while the Windows 8 flag has two options: "Default" and "Custom", which i didn't touch (so it's settled as default).
As for the boot order in the bios the priority is(unless i change it to boot the live USB): Gummiboot, Arch Linux, Windows 8, cd-drive, USB

EDIT Settled to Other OS mode, in the secure boot tab.
Now then: it appears a screen asking to configure RAID (that is? Since the root partition is in /dev/sdb3 (the SSD, while the UEFI partition is on the HDD), could be that it can't find it??)

How to proceede now?.
I was thinking to repeat the installation, just creating "/" (with no sperate /home), in /dev/sda6.
Do you think this could work?

Last edited by Hombremaledicto (2013-07-09 09:41:49)

Offline

#8 2013-07-09 12:03:47

Hombremaledicto
Member
Registered: 2013-04-17
Posts: 61

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

UP I reinstalled arch, this time following this partition table:

/dev/sda6         ext4     /    (new partition of 38 GB)
/dev/sda7         ext4     /home
/dev/sda2         vfat      /boot

Since the pacstrap script raised a conflict with the previously generated linux kernel image, i deleted it from /boot.
I installed gummiboot, and edited the previous /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf to point to the new root partition.
And also found how to make the commands posted by TheSaint work:

efibootmgr -A -b 0008

and also removed the boot entry for arch generated at the first installation:

efibootmgr -B -b 0002

and the previous gummiboot installation:

efibootmgr -B -b 0001

Since the new one is set as 0003(i really hope so).
Then i rebooted and changed the bios table to start gummiboot, followed by the USB and Windows8.
Problem:  it appears a black screen with a message like this:

"No operative systems found.
Unable to boot operating system, please, remove any device without it, and press enter to restart"

By doing it, it appears another message asking to plug any device with an Operative system available.
Since the bios is still accessible, i've tried to set again the USB as the primary selection on boot.
But yet, the same error messages.
Now i'm in windows. Really confused, but glad the bios and win are still available.
Though, i'm worried that i can't boot the USB anymore.

Please, help!

Last edited by Hombremaledicto (2013-07-09 12:41:33)

Offline

#9 2013-07-09 13:20:53

TheSaint
Member
From: my computer
Registered: 2007-08-19
Posts: 1,523

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

I'm sorry if you're going through some trouble. It advisable to take some precaution.

You still have the chance to boot without EFI, by enabling LAUNCH CSM, then write the setting and reboot.
The following boot you will have the option to choose which partition you prefer to start from. This in case you got messed up EFI entries.
You could just change the boot order by efibootmgr -o xxxx,yyyy,zzzz. That is less risky approach.
I hope you done some backup, before to fall into a condition which you may not resume. I suggest to look at clonezilla.


do it good first, it will be faster than do it twice the saint wink

Offline

#10 2013-07-09 13:46:01

Hombremaledicto
Member
Registered: 2013-04-17
Posts: 61

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

TheSaint wrote:

I'm sorry if you're going through some trouble. It advisable to take some precaution.

You still have the chance to boot without EFI, by enabling LAUNCH CSM, then write the setting and reboot.
The following boot you will have the option to choose which partition you prefer to start from. This in case you got messed up EFI entries.
You could just change the boot order by efibootmgr -o xxxx,yyyy,zzzz. That is less risky approach.
I hope you done some backup, before to fall into a condition which you may not resume. I suggest to look at clonezilla.

My bad, it seems that booting from gummiboot actually does nothing. The problem resides when i try to start a live USB.
I prepared a new USB stick, and launched it. It can run, but at the moment it is stucked with [rootfs /]#.
meanwhile i'll format the other one i was using before. Let's see if i can fix it.
I'll edit this post to let you know.
Thanks for the tips, i'll try to backup some stuff( i heard that it's possible to download a windows 8 installation dvd by entering the product key on microsoft site).


EDIT Succesfully loaded a fresh live USB.
Now then...what do you suggest to do?
I really appreciate the help smile

Last edited by Hombremaledicto (2013-07-09 13:57:17)

Offline

#11 2013-07-09 14:39:02

srs5694
Member
From: Woonsocket, RI
Registered: 2012-11-06
Posts: 719
Website

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

First, I recommend you download and prepare the CD-R or USB flash drive version of rEFInd from its official downloads page. Because rEFInd is designed to scan for boot loaders when it launches, it can help you boot in the event of some types of boot loader problems, something like Super GRUB 2 disk on BIOS-based computers. I think there's a good chance that it will work for you in your situation. Note that installing the Arch package might not be as helpful to you, since it will just install itself to the hard disk in the same flawed way that gummiboot and the direct kernel entry are flawed.

Hombremaledicto wrote:

Just installed gummiboot, and created the entry for arch. Still booting from windows though. No gumniboot screen at all.
Here's the efibootmgr -v current output:

BootCurrent: 0008
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0008,0001,0002,0000,0007
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager  HD(2,190800,82000,a0b97b54-9129-4e0d-99d6-9d592ec3cd2f)File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}
....................
Boot0001*  Gummiboot  Vendor(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb,)

Your problem is almost certainly related to the incomplete gummiboot entry. Note that the Windows entry includes both "HD()" and "File()" specifications that collectively point to the Windows boot loader file on your hard disk. Your gummiboot entry lacks this information. It could be that you erred when using efibootmgr. I didn't notice the command you used to create your gummiboot entry, but the command you posted for when you created the direct kernel boot was incorrect in that it used a slash, rather than doubled-up backslashes or a quoted pathname with backslashes, as a directory separator. Remember that the filename passed to efibootmgr via "-l" is an EFI filename, and EFI follows Microsoft's filename standards, including using backslashes as directory separators. That said, I don't believe this mistake alone would cause the complete lack of "HD()" and "File()" entries. You could try adding the "-d" (disk) and "-p" (partition) entries, as in "-d /dev/sda -p 2" if your ESP is /dev/sda2. (In fact, "-p" is almost certain to be necessary, since the screen shot you posted makes it look like the ESP is the second partition on its disk, and efibootmgr defaults to assuming the first partition.)

Unfortunately, efibootmgr just plain fails to work sometimes. This can be because of efibootmgr/kernel version mismatches, because of EFI bugs, and for other reasons. In these cases, you may need to use the "bcfg" command in an EFI version 2 shell. See the Arch wiki for basic usage instructions. There are also explicit instructions for how to install rEFInd with the EFI shell in its official installation instructions. The last couple versions of the rEFInd bootable USB flash drive and CD-R images have shipped with a suitable shell, or you can download it and put it on a USB flash drive by itself.

Another option is to use the "bcdedit" command in Windows. Typing "bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\path_to\loader.efi" in an Administrator Command Prompt window should set \EFI\path_to\loader.efi as the default boot loader/boot manager. (Again, note the use of backslashes!) Adjust the path and filename as necessary for whatever boot manager you want to use.

If none of these options work, I recommend looking for a fixed firmware image from your vendor. Such an update might fix the problem.

If even a firmware update doesn't help, you'll need to deal with an ugly hack: Move or rename the Windows boot loader (normally EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi), rename your desired boot loader to take its place, and reconfigure your own boot loader to launch the Windows boot loader from its new location. Unfortunately, Windows sometimes undoes these changes itself, so it's not really a reliable solution. Fortunately, ASUS firmware is usually not so brain-damaged as to require resorting to this method. Alternatively, if you get to this point you could consider returning the computer for a refund and buying something that works.

Offline

#12 2013-07-09 15:18:30

Hombremaledicto
Member
Registered: 2013-04-17
Posts: 61

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

Thanks for the very complete reply!
I booted a live of rEFInd and it succesfully recognized both windows and linux. But once selected Arch Linux, the shell raised an error message "Unable to find root partition", and prompt me to [rootfs /]#

Blackslashes? Are you meaning that i was supposed to use them here:

efibootmgr -c -L "Arch Linux" -l /vmlinuz-linux -u "root=/dev/sdb3 ro initrd=/initramfs-linux.img"

?

About that command i just copied the one used in the arch beginners guide.
As for gummibot, i was forced to use the following, as gummiboot install failed:

efibootmgr -c -L "Gummiboot" -l /EFI/gummiboot/gummibootx64.efi

UP Following your hint about flag and path, do you think this is correct:

efibootmgr -c -w -d /dev/sda -p 2 Y -l '\EFI\gummiboot\gummibootx64.efi' -L "Gummiboot

?

Another edit: OMG, the above command maybe worked, altough i haven't seen any boot manager screen, i'm know into the last arch installation, asking me to login smile

I hope from now on it will works, i'll let you know. Meanwhile i'll configure the system wink

Last edited by Hombremaledicto (2013-07-09 15:37:27)

Offline

#13 2013-07-09 15:40:34

WonderWoofy
Member
From: Los Gatos, CA
Registered: 2012-05-19
Posts: 8,414

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

The UEFI spec states that paths are to use backslashes instead of forward slashes (so the same as M$).  So in Linux this poses a small problem when entering these things on the command line.  Since a backslash has a special meaning, which is used to "escape" other characters (typically also with special meanings), then you have to employ an additional backslash to escape the would be escapes to turn them into true backslashes.  That is, unless you put them in quotes so that they are taken as is. 

This is the command I last used to create a UEFI entry (for syslinux):

# efibootmgr --create --disk /dev/sda --part 1 -L "Syslinux UEFI" -l '\EFI\syslinux\syslinux.efi' 

Of course, the disk and part of that command are not necessary as long as your ESP is on /dev/sda1, as that is set as the default for the command.  I have no idea what the 'Y' in your last efibootmgr command is, but it certainly shouldn't be there.

As a side note, you should probably stay away from using syslinux-efi at the moment.  It is still in the very early development stages, so is not to be considered reliable yet.  I am just trying it out (and loving it), but I do keep a number of other UEFI boot loaders and boot managers set up and ready to use.

Offline

#14 2013-07-09 17:15:38

the.ridikulus.rat
Member
From: Indiana, USA
Registered: 2011-10-04
Posts: 765

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

core/efibootmgr-0.6.0-3 supports "-l" with forward slashes. See https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 0#p1298360 for more info.

Offline

#15 2013-07-09 17:25:31

the.ridikulus.rat
Member
From: Indiana, USA
Registered: 2011-10-04
Posts: 765

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

Hombremaledicto wrote:

Hi all!
I've just bought an Asus CM6870 desktop pc. I must to say in advance it has 1TB HDD and a 32GB SSD.
This is the first time i'm facing UEFI bios, and i've got to say it's pretty hard for me to understand the wiki pages on this topic.
Last night i created an USB following this how-to.
After resizing windows 8 i booted the arch live installation media, with the UEFI mode running fine.
I proceeded to adjust the partitions with gdsik, then i created the partition table, following my wish to use the SSD for /, and the HDD for /home:

    mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda6
    mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb3
    mount /dev/sda6 /mnt
    mkdir /mnt/home
    mount /dev/sda6 /mnt/home
    mkdir /mnt/boot
    mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot/

I used Windows 8 default UEFI partition for /boot, located on the HDD.
As for the boot manager:

sudo pacman -S efibootmgr
efibootmgr -c -L "Arch Linux" -l /vmlinuz-linux -u "root=/dev/sdb3 ro initrd=/initramfs-linux.img"

After that i rebooted, removed the USB key, and looked at the bios boot order: arch was the primary selection, followed by windows 8, cd drive, and usb. Though, it seems i'm not able to boot in arch.
Every time i've tried i ended up in windows.

Update to efibootmgr 0.6.0-3 pkg and then try the following command

efibootmgr -c -d /dev/sda -p 2 -L "Arch Linux" -l /vmlinuz-linux -u "root=/dev/sdb3 ro initrd=/initramfs-linux.img"

The code

-d /dev/sda -p 2

is essential as efibootmgr does not try to auto-detect efisys partition. You have to specify it manually.

Anyway I wouldn't recommend direct efistub booting because efibootmgr uses the old sysfs-efivars interface which is restricted to 1024 bytes EFI Variable size (for a single variable). Due to this limitation efibootmgr does some checks to ensure the EFI variable does not exceed 1024 bytes, and in the process truncates both the path passed to "-l" (for long paths) and the extra arguments passed after "-u" option. It is better to use a boot manager like gummiboot or refind in this case.

Offline

#16 2013-07-09 19:55:42

Hombremaledicto
Member
Registered: 2013-04-17
Posts: 61

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

Solved !!! big_smile
Sorry for anwering this late.
Somehow the last command i gave worked just fine!

Thank you all guys, expecially WonderWoofy, srs5694, and TheSaint.
You saved my day! I owe you a beer smile

Btw, do i need any command like "grub makeconfig -o etc.." on gummiboot?

Last edited by Hombremaledicto (2013-07-09 19:58:15)

Offline

#17 2013-07-09 21:26:19

srs5694
Member
From: Woonsocket, RI
Registered: 2012-11-06
Posts: 719
Website

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

I'm glad you got it working. FWIW, the problem with rEFInd not booting Arch was caused by the fact that rEFInd couldn't figure out the boot options to be passed to the kernel without a little help. In a full rEFInd installation, you'd put those options in a file called refind_linux.conf in the same directory as the kernel. You can also enter them manually on a boot-by-boot basis by hitting F2 or Insert twice and adding them in the resulting line editor. I should have been clearer about this; my apologies for the omission.

If you're using gummiboot (or rEFInd, or even the kernel's EFI stub loader via an efibootmgr entry) to boot the Linux kernel, you do not need to create a GRUB configuration file via grub-mkconfig. That command is required only if GRUB is involved in the boot process. That said, as WonderWoofy has stated, you can easily keep several EFI boot managers and boot loaders installed so that if you have problems with your main one, you can fall back on another. If you decide to keep GRUB installed as one of these, you may need to run grub-mkconfig periodically or otherwise keep your grub.cfg file up to date. There shouldn't be much need for this beyond initial configuration on an Arch system, though, since Arch gives the kernel a constant name rather than changing the name with each kernel upgrade, as on most Linux distributions.

Offline

#18 2014-09-25 10:49:11

nehaljwani
Member
Registered: 2012-10-09
Posts: 6

Re: [solved]Dual boot on UEFI - Arch and Windows 8

A tiny tutorial to show how to dual boot Arch Linux with Windows 8 in UEFI Mode.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=METZCp_JCec

Offline

Board footer

Powered by FluxBB