Arch Linux

marcushann

Member

Registered: 2015-06-04

Posts: 10

[Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

Hi,

This is my first time installing arch. I am currently following the guide here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_guide. Before I started installing Arch, I only had one os on the computer which is windows. During the install everything seemed to be going well, there were no errors and everything seemed to be going well. Then I got to the end of the tutorial where you need to restart. When I restarted, the grub boot loader loaded like it should, but there was only one entry which was for the windows installation. I have googled the issue but every thread I have come across is related to it not detecting windows rather than it not detecting the OS I am installing.

I am at a complete loss now so any help would really be appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Marcus

Last edited by marcushann (2015-06-04 21:00:44)

respiranto

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Registered: 2015-05-15

Posts: 479

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Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

When you ran grub-mkconfig, can you remember any output like:

Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-linux
Found initrd image: /boot/initramfs-linux.img
Found fallback initramfs image: /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img
done

And there should probably also Windows be mentioned, I never used it, so I don't know how it should look like.

Btw, nice to hear somebody switched from Windows straight to Arch!

Edit: Did you maybe run grub-mkconfig outside the chroot-environment?

Last edited by respiranto (2015-06-04 18:59:00)

marcushann

Member

Registered: 2015-06-04

Posts: 10

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

Hi respiranto,

Generating grub configuration file ...
  /run/lvm/lvmetad.socket: connect failed: No such file or directory
  WARNING: Failed to connect to lvmetad. Falling back to internal scanning. (from googling, I decided this was not a warning to worry about)
[ 2606.965126 ] ntfs: (device sda2): ntfs_check_restart_page_header(): $LogFile version 2.0 is not supported. (This driver supports version 1.1 only.)
[ 2606.966826 ] ntfs: (device sda2): ntfs_check_restart_page_header(): $LogFile version 2.0 is not supported. (This driver supports version 1.1 only.)
[ 2606.967760 ] ntfs: (device sda2): ntfs_check_logfile(): Did not find any restart pages in $LogFile and it was not ready (again, I decided not to worry about this since it was only the log file)
Found Windows Vista (loader) on /dev/sda1
done

My config is that everything is on /dev/sda

/dev/sda1 - the bootloader
/dev/sda2 - the windows install
/dev/sda3 - I don't know what this is- it is from windows though
/dev/sda4 - Arch install

Thanks,
Marcus

Last edited by marcushann (2015-06-04 19:05:50)

respiranto

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Registered: 2015-05-15

Posts: 479

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Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

I expect you not to have used lvm, else I have to say that I can't help you, since I don't know anything about that topic.
In that case (the latter), the following does not apply to you.

This seems to be a bug, according to this.
The last response in this thread offers this link, where some workarounds are explained.
Either you take Chris' approach or, which I would prefer, if it works, take Blackhalo's to remove (or maybe unset its executable bit as stated in a comment) os-prober, but make sure to first backup your current /boot/grub/grub.cfg, so you can add the relevant Windows part manually to /etc/grub.d/40_custom.conf or similar.
Adding windows to the conf-file should be done before rerunning grub-mkconfig.

Edit: obviously a backup of grub.cfg is not strictly necessary for using its contents, since this has to be done before overwriting the file via grub-mkconfig, though its always a good idea to have a backup.

Last edited by respiranto (2015-06-04 19:27:46)

marcushann

Member

Registered: 2015-06-04

Posts: 10

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

Hi,

Thanks for your help, unfortunately, neither method worked. Chris' approach made grub go straight to the command line on boot (no list of operating systems.) Blackhalo's approach got rid of the lvmetad errors but it still only detected windows.

Also, I do not believe I have used lvm. It is on a laptop with windows 10 as the windows os so unless it did something automatically I do not think it is using lvm.

Thanks for your help,
Marcus

respiranto

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Registered: 2015-05-15

Posts: 479

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Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

It detected Windows although you removed os-prober?
Or after you manually added the entry to /etc/grub.d/something.conf?

Edit: Was the output exactly the same, but without errors?

Last edited by respiranto (2015-06-04 19:43:44)

marcushann

Member

Registered: 2015-06-04

Posts: 10

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

I think I may have got the names the wrong way round. The one where I removed os-prober made it go the the command line. The one where you used the host run dir got rid of the lvmeta errors but still no linux distro on boot list. Sorry!

marcushann

Member

Registered: 2015-06-04

Posts: 10

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

Yeah, the output was identical apart from no lvmeta errors so looked a bit like this:

Generating grub configuration file ...
[ 2606.965126 ] ntfs: (device sda2): ntfs_check_restart_page_header(): $LogFile version 2.0 is not supported. (This driver supports version 1.1 only.)
[ 2606.966826 ] ntfs: (device sda2): ntfs_check_restart_page_header(): $LogFile version 2.0 is not supported. (This driver supports version 1.1 only.)
[ 2606.967760 ] ntfs: (device sda2): ntfs_check_logfile(): Did not find any restart pages in $LogFile and it was not ready (again, I decided not to worry about this since it was only the log file)
Found Windows Vista (loader) on /dev/sda1
done

Still no mention of the arch install anywhere.
Thanks,
Marcus

dcdriving

Member

From: United Kingdom

Registered: 2015-01-20

Posts: 70

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

The LVM problem is listed here as no issue if from a chroot environment.

Is /dev/sda1 (ESP) what you had mounted to /boot when you installed arch and ran "grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg"

edit: as here during the install in the beginners guide

# mkdir -p /mnt/boot
# mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

Last edited by dcdriving (2015-06-04 19:52:54)

marcushann

Member

Registered: 2015-06-04

Posts: 10

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

Hi,

Yes, I had /dev/sda1 mounted to /mnt/boot (relative the the host) when I ran the grub-mkconfig command.us I had a feeling that LVM wasn't a problem since I saw others had the exact issue and it worked for them still and it was detecting windows.

Thanks,
Marcus

Head_on_a_Stick

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From: London

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 7,763

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Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

@OP: Load the Arch live ISO, mount your partitions, use `arch-chroot` and post the output of:

lsblk -f
# parted -l
cat /boot/grub.grub.cfg

You can use sprunge to generate a link to their pastebin:

<command> | curl -F 'sprunge=<-' http://sprunge.us

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Li … in_clients

---

Are you infected with Wetiko?

marcushann

Member

Registered: 2015-06-04

Posts: 10

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

Hi,

Here is the output of the commands in order:

lsblk -f: http://sprunge.us/bQfM
parted -l: http://sprunge.us/SSbQ
cat /boot/grub.grub.cfg: http://sprunge.us/aMNF

Thanks,
Marcus

Head_on_a_Stick

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From: London

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 7,763

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Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

You have your /boot folder mounted to an NTFS partition -- why?

Why is the `lsblk` output not showing the filesystem type or UUID of your partitions?

Post the output of:

ls /boot

---

Are you infected with Wetiko?

marcushann

Member

Registered: 2015-06-04

Posts: 10

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

Hi,

I think it is NTFS because it was originally created by windows, I could be wrong on this though?

I have no earthly clue why it isn't showing the filesystem type.

This is the output of the ls /boot: http://sprunge.us/DiGE

Thanks,
Marcus

dcdriving

Member

From: United Kingdom

Registered: 2015-01-20

Posts: 70

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

@HoaS, this is the default with the missus' windows install too.  not invested any time regarding what its all about though as just wiped my own when I got the laptop.  http://www.howtogeek.com/192772/what-is … delete-it/
This is probably therefore the issue as it shouldn't be used as /boot for arch?
edit: @HoaS - sorry thats probably what you meant!  Sorry

Last edited by dcdriving (2015-06-04 20:36:21)

Head_on_a_Stick

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From: London

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 7,763

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Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

This is the output of the ls /boot: http://sprunge.us/DiGE

You have no kernel image or initrd in your /boot directory.

I would guess that /boot was not mounted correctly when you were installing the base system with `pacstrap`

I think you may have to start again and read the guide carefully and make sure you follow it to the letter.

Your Windows system is non-EFI ("BIOS") so you should install a non-EFI Arch system.

It would be best to use an ext4 filesystem for all your Arch partitions in such a set up, using NTFS for a GNU/Linux system is probably not a good idea.

---

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marcushann

Member

Registered: 2015-06-04

Posts: 10

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. I will go away and do this now. How would you suggest I go about using an ext4 file system for boot without breaking the windows install.

Thanks,
Marcus

Head_on_a_Stick

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From: London

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 7,763

Website

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

How would you suggest I go about using an ext4 file system for boot without breaking the windows install.

I recommend putting the entire filesystem on a single partition -- you only *need* a separate /boot partition with a UEFI system.

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marcushann

Member

Registered: 2015-06-04

Posts: 10

Re: [Solved] Grub detecting windows but not arch install

ah, ok, that makes sense, thanks!

I can confirm that mounting the boot partition on install fixed it.

Last edited by marcushann (2015-06-04 20:54:35)