Installing arch along side windows 10

Sebi · 2015-10-18 23:19:07

I'm trying to install arch linux alongside windows 10 and have created a separate partition in (while running) windows as exFAT32. While booting from the arch USB image and running lsblk the following output is given (/dev/sda is a single physical drive):

lsblk gives:

http://i61.tinypic.com/14buvr6.jpg

/dev/sda5 contains the actual windows installation while /dev/sda6 contains the new partition in which I want to install arch. I've created this partition shrinking the main partition in windows and then creating a new one in the unallocated space. Running parted on each partition gives the following result:

http://i61.tinypic.com/2vls3ea.jpg

Following the beginner's guide:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_guide

I've checked the boot installation medium running:

# ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

In my case there is no such file/directory. UEFI is disabled and the device is using the legacy booting mechanism. However, when running

fdisk -l

the following output is given:

http://i57.tinypic.com/2wg9pg7.jpg

which shows the disk label being as gpt. Following the guide, when trying to create a partition table with:

# parted /dev/sda6
(parted) mklabel msdos

or

# parted /dev/sda6
(parted) mklabel gpt

and the following error is shown:

Error: Partition(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37,
38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57,
58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 on /dev/sdb1 have been written, but we have been
unable to inform the kernel of the change, probably because it/they are in use.
As a result, the old partition(s) will remain in use.  You should reboot now
before making further changes.

which is given because the partition table should be created on the disk on which it belongs to, not the partition itself. The problem is that parted warns about formatting /dev/sda entirely (meaning that the windows installation will be removed as well) when I run:

# parted /dev/sda
(parted) mklabel msdos

I cannot seem to be able to set the new partition /dev/sda6 as bootable either:

http://i62.tinypic.com/293wu13.jpg

Reading the dual boot installation guide:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wi … _dual_boot

it is suggested that UEFI is manually disabled and legacy BIOS is used instead which I did, otherwise I'd be unable to even run arch from the USB.

I'm not entirely sure what the type "Microsoft basic data" referrs to in the output of fdisk. How can I install arch on /dev/sda6, make that partition bootable and not have to format /dev/sda5?

-- mod note: replaced img with url tags. Please see forum guidelines on image sizes. Trilby --

Last edited by Trilby (2015-10-18 23:27:46)

Trilby · 2015-10-18 23:30:31

As I suggested in a previous thread of yours:

Trilby wrote:

... keep the images as links, or better yet post them as text: pictures of text is a waste.

As to the problem at hand, I don't really know what you are trying to do. Of course you can't create a partition table on a partition. And if you want to keep windows, you will not create a new partition table on the disk - use the one you already have.

Sebi · 2015-10-19 20:18:41

Trilby wrote:

As I suggested in a previous thread of yours:
Trilby wrote:
... keep the images as links, or better yet post them as text: pictures of text is a waste.
As to the problem at hand, I don't really know what you are trying to do. Of course you can't create a partition table on a partition. And if you want to keep windows, you will not create a new partition table on the disk - use the one you already have.

Sorry about the images; I'll use the URL in future posts. I'm trying to install arch on a partition created in windows 10 /dev/sda6. The partition where windows is currently installed is /dev/sda5. The issue is that parted warns that everything on /dev/sda is going to be formatted if I try to make a dos label on /dev/sda. Is this really the case?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-10-19 20:35:30

You don't need to make a new "dos label" (I think you mean partition table) -- /dev/sda6 is a Windows partition at the moment so delete it and create a GNU/Linux partition in it's place.

You should share the EFI system partition at /dev/sda2 and mount it to /boot

Don't worry about marking partitions "bootable" (the EFI system partition provides this function intrinsically in a UEFI system) and make sure that you install in UEFI mode or you will have to toggle CSM to boot Arch.

Also, please either redirect command output to a text file and export it so you can copy&paste it here or find a better image hosting site -- tinypic is awful.

Sebi · 2015-10-21 18:36:41

Trilby wrote:

As I suggested in a previous thread of yours:
Trilby wrote:
... keep the images as links, or better yet post them as text: pictures of text is a waste.
As to the problem at hand, I don't really know what you are trying to do. Of course you can't create a partition table on a partition. And if you want to keep windows, you will not create a new partition table on the disk - use the one you already have.

@Head_on_a_Stick

I attempted to create la dos label on /dev/sda and lost access to the windows partition. I am using the whole drive for installation now.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-10-18 23:19:07

Installing arch along side windows 10

#2 2015-10-18 23:30:31

Re: Installing arch along side windows 10

#3 2015-10-19 20:18:41

Re: Installing arch along side windows 10

#4 2015-10-19 20:35:30

Re: Installing arch along side windows 10

#5 2015-10-21 18:36:41

Re: Installing arch along side windows 10

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