Arch Linux

Lucas Wood

Member

Registered: 2013-10-06

Posts: 4

Problems on installing Arch with EFI on SSD

Hello,
i've done several standart installations of arch so far. But I got really problems with arch, EFI and my SSD in using the guide
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Be … therboards

I got one hdd (sda) and my 16gb ssd (sdb).
I created the gpl with
sdb1 root 10 gb
sdb2 home 3 gb
sdb3 boot 0.9 gb (ef00)

I went trough the manual

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb2
# mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdb3
# mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
# mkdir /mnt/home
# mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt/home
# mkdir -p /mnt/boot
# mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt/boot
#vi /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
#pacstrap -i /mnt base
# genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
# nano /mnt/etc/fstab
#arch-chroot /mnt
#vi /etc/locale.gen
# ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/<Zone>/<SubZone> /etc/localtime
# echo lwood > /etc/hostname
# mkinitcpio -p linux
# passwd
# mount -t efivarfs efivarfs /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
ERROR Mount point does not exist

after this I continued with
#pacman -S gummiboot
#gummiboot install
Not booted with EFI, skipping EFI variable setup

# nano /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

title          Arch Linux
linux          /vmlinuz-linux
initrd         /initramfs-linux.img
options        root=/dev/sdb1 rw

# exit
# umount -R /mnt
# reboot

after this there it ends up with a error:

running early hook [udev]
fsck:fsck.vfat: not found
error 2 executing fsck.vfat for /dev/sdb3
mounting on real root /dev/sb3
unknown file filesystem vfat

Further questions:
2.1 Question on the top
2.2. My Lenovo E530 supports EFI boot. Is it possible to use instead of this the old BIOS here? Then I could install it like I did it in the last weeks.
2.3. For EFI boot, is it necessary to use one partition called boot or can I use for example my root partition to write the boot content in?

Phexyaa

Member

Registered: 2013-10-06

Posts: 5

Re: Problems on installing Arch with EFI on SSD

What did you partition /dev/sdb3 with?
I had similar trouble and my solution was to start fresh at partition stage and use cgdisk to do it all. I believe they all need to be GPT partitions.

I think the efi partion needs to be seperate since its fat32 format.

Last edited by Phexyaa (2013-10-06 09:04:24)

Smoerrebroed

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2011-07-24

Posts: 106

Re: Problems on installing Arch with EFI on SSD

This

Not booted with EFI, skipping EFI variable setup

tells you what's wrong: If you want to install an EFI system, you have to boot from EFI for installation already - otherwise this cannot be done. Also the error above ("Mount point does not exist") refers to this circumstance.

Cheers

Smoerrebroed

Lucas Wood

Member

Registered: 2013-10-06

Posts: 4

Re: Problems on installing Arch with EFI on SSD

I parted /sdb3 with ef00 file system.

How can I boot with EFI for my installation? Is there an option in the BIOS or while installtion process or in the boot manager options?

Smoerrebroed

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2011-07-24

Posts: 106

Re: Problems on installing Arch with EFI on SSD

Perhaps you should familiarize yourself a bit more with the differences between and specifics of BIOS and UEFI. They are not the same thing and they don't have anything to do with each other. In fact, if you use UEFI, you can't be using BIOS by definition.

Having said that, you're probably referring to a firmware configuration user interface when talking about BIOS. This also used to be called BIOS setup (because it's the place where you configure your BIOS settings). Today with unified firmware and dual-boot (BIOS or UEFI) implementations, this should rather be called setup application or the like. Long story short: There has to be an option in this setup application where you can configure whether to boot using BIOS or UEFI (IF your firmware supports both - I'm not sure in the case of a E530 but I assume it supports it). Obviously you'll have to set this to UEFI. The Arch isos support both methods of booting.

HTH

Smoerrebroed

Lucas Wood

Member

Registered: 2013-10-06

Posts: 4

Re: Problems on installing Arch with EFI on SSD

hehe, yes I use BIOS (as definition for the firewareinterface ^^ sorry for this unpreciseness). I can switch to legacy boot and UEFI in "the firmware interface". But it is still unchanged to uefi. this is why I am wondering that the dual boot medium will not select EFI per default.

Phexyaa

Member

Registered: 2013-10-06

Posts: 5

Re: Problems on installing Arch with EFI on SSD

I think it matters what program you use to partion as well  gummiboot only recognizes GPT type partitions. I also think Smoerrebroed made a good point about booting with uefi, if you boot using your motherboards boot manager some boot medias are tagged with UEFI if thats your case boot your install media using that one.

Smoerrebroed

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2011-07-24

Posts: 106

Re: Problems on installing Arch with EFI on SSD

Question: Are you using a physical CD for booting or have you written the iso image to a USB device? If so, that kills the ability to boot using EFI. You'll have to "repair" this following this description: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Un … B_from_ISO

Cheers

Smoerrebroed

Lucas Wood

Member

Registered: 2013-10-06

Posts: 4

Re: Problems on installing Arch with EFI on SSD

hi,

I found my error.

In the Mainboard Options there was autoselect (for legacy and UEFI) activated. Now I forced UEFI and booting works on my arch. I'm soo glad It tooks me hours to solve.
Best thanks to all of you for your suggestions!
Good work!

Smoerrebroed

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2011-07-24

Posts: 106

Re: Problems on installing Arch with EFI on SSD

Glad to hear that! Please take the time and mark your thread as solved so others know what to expect from it.

Cheers

Smoerrebroed