Setting up new PC with UEFI and multiple Systems

Xi0N · 2015-09-07 14:29:26

Well, I have been using linux for the past decade, and arch for tle last 7-8 years and I never found any big trouble with hardware. Everything is solveable.
Until I got my new Gaming PC.
Now I have to share the hardware with both linux and windows (10)

My current setup is as follows:

1x 120GB SSD with Windows 10
1x 500GB HDD with Arch linux

3x 2Tb HDD forming a 4Tb zfs RAID5 setup.

I managed to install both systems independently. The UEFI bios boots up from the 500GB HDD which has syslinux on it, which boots arch and mounts the zfs raid5, which contains the /home filesystem

If I want to boot the windows partition, I have to press F11 on he PST proccess to get to the boot menu and there, select the Windows 10 SSD disk. Then windows boots up just fine.

The ideal setup would have been to boot syslinux and there, have the choice between arch (default) or windows on a separate entry but I have been unable to make this work at all.

I need some guidance, in case this was possible to achieve at all. I'm a bit confused as for UEFI because it seems like part of the boot process gets "installed" or is controlled from the UEFI subsystem itself, like not passing the control over completely, like bios system have always done, Im pretty confused about this, so some andvice and/or someone hjelping me to get in the right direction would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Last edited by Xi0N (2015-09-07 15:21:56)

WorMzy · 2015-09-07 14:57:28

Please remove the superfluous "help" from your topic title. It's unnecessary.

You cannot chainload EFI Windows from syslinux: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wi … FI_systems

Also, having multiple ESPs is probably not a great idea, and may confuse things.

Xi0N · 2015-09-07 15:05:31

WorMzy wrote:

Please remove the superfluous "help" from your topic title. It's unnecessary.
You cannot chainload EFI Windows from syslinux: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wi … FI_systems
Also, having multiple ESPs is probably not a great idea, and may confuse things.

You mean, maybe the setup I already have would be the best thing?

I mean, it does work, since usually, I boot up arch for using it as a mediacenter with kodi and seedbox with deluge running in the background.

Whenever I want to play games, I reboot, hold F11 and select the windows disk....

What do you think?

I also found this, which I think is a good start point: know your enemy https://www.happyassassin.net/2014/01/2 … work-then/

WorMzy · 2015-09-07 15:17:00

Xi0N wrote:

WorMzy wrote:
Please remove the superfluous "help" from your topic title. It's unnecessary.
You cannot chainload EFI Windows from syslinux: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wi … FI_systems
Also, having multiple ESPs is probably not a great idea, and may confuse things.

You mean, maybe the setup I already have would be the best thing?

Either that, or merge the ESPs somehow (probably best to keep the ESP that Windows uses) and switch to a more capable boot manager. e.g. systemd-boot, rEFInd, or GRUB.

There is nothing wrong with your current method, but if you're looking for a more elegant solution, this is (AFAIK) your best option.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-09-07 14:29:26

Setting up new PC with UEFI and multiple Systems

#2 2015-09-07 14:57:28

Re: Setting up new PC with UEFI and multiple Systems

#3 2015-09-07 15:05:31

Re: Setting up new PC with UEFI and multiple Systems

#4 2015-09-07 15:17:00

Re: Setting up new PC with UEFI and multiple Systems

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