Bootable USB install not recognizing UEFI after reinstalling ISO

Elanachan · 2017-08-07 19:49:48

Hello there. I've been scrounging around for a solution to this unexpected problem without success, after I re-wrote the ISO using Rufus, following an accidental write to the boot drive during my previous attempts to install the OS on a separate machine. So I've registered to try to find some help to resolve this, and this is my first post in the forums.

On the initial attempts to set up Arch Linux on the new machine, it always recognized that I was on a UEFI system, and typing both of the following command lines always yielded the expected results, however, with the freshly remade boot disk, my results are different.

# ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
or
# ls /sys/firmware/efi

Before the re-install of the ISO, the response I got from the system read something like this:

# ls /sys/firmware/efi
config_table efivars fw_platform_size fw_vendor runtime runtime-map systab

Both were responsive with the previous install before the boot drive was corrupted and needed to be re-made, now all I get is:

# ls /sys/firmware/efi
ls: cannot access '/sys/firmware/efi' : No such file or directory          :(

Before the boot drive got corrupted, I was able to get far enough into the setup to begin to set up cinnamon. It was the intended GUI to be using outside of the terminal interface that is used during the initial install, however the display manager I ended up with (LXDM) had some unintended results. I had intended to use the initial terminal interface, in a similar way to how old versions of windows required starting up in MS-DOS first, and then start cinnamon through a command line within the terminal, instead of automatically loading the display manager and cinnamon on startup. As I couldn't figure out how to revert things to how they were before installation of LXDM, I committed to wiping the installation and starting over, attempting to re-check what I was trying to do the next time through.

In a moment of carelessness however, I had mounted the boot drive (/dev/sdc) instead of the install drive (/dev/sdb), only catching myself after I had started to change configurations on it, corrupting the install drive in the process....which led me to where I am now, after trying to re-install the ISO into the boot drive.

Despite using the exact same settings I used during the initial install with rufus, and setting it in the UEFI DualBIOS (what gigabyte calls their UEFI setup on this motherboard) to identify the boot drive to "UEFI: Generic USB Flash Disk 0.00, Partition 1" instead of "Generic USB Flash Disk 0.00" I still get the error shown in the second code box.

As a side note that may or may not help in resolving this, the install media and the destination drives are physically identical USB keys. I used rufus to install the ISO onto one of them while on the computer with an operational OS, and I'm using the other to act as a temporary location for the operating system post-setup with the intention of cloning the drive to an onboard SSD, once the intended drive it will be on is received following an RMA on it.

Last edited by Elanachan (2017-08-07 19:56:31)

Slithery · 2017-08-07 20:02:15

Rufus doesn't handle Arch images correctly unless you use it in dd mode. Did you do this?

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/US … sing_Rufus

Elanachan · 2017-08-07 20:06:40

Yes, I did, I followed the instructions in the link verbatim each time. I had to use the ISO option to select the file, and then a popup detected that it was a 'ISOHybrid; image, giving me the option to "Write in DD image mode", which I did each time.

Last edited by Elanachan (2017-08-07 20:14:01)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-08-07 20:10:47

Broken USB, perhaps?

Do other ISO images work on that stick?

Do other sticks work with the Arch ISO image?

Can you install & boot a non-UEFI system?

Elanachan · 2017-08-12 18:19:36

I don't think it's a broken USB, as I have tried it with multiple sticks now.

I have now tried ISO images from two different mirrors, both are having the same result. When I first loaded the original iso it recognized that I had a UEFI board.

I have also tested the ISO image with two separate USB sticks, with no change in the results.

Are we talking on the same hardware, or a different system? The hardware in question is the only setup I have at the moment with UEFI, all others use a traditional BIOS.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-08-13 15:41:30

Elanachan wrote:

Are we talking on the same hardware, or a different system?

On the same hardware.

You can actually install with the ISO image booted in non-UEFI as if it were booted in UEFI and afterwards simply copy the chosen .efi loader to the removable loader location at $ESP/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI, your firmware should boot that automatically.

See http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloader … ive-naming

Once the installed system is booted in UEFI mode then you should be able to alter the motherboard NVRAM entries with `efibootmgr`, as per the wiki guides.

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2017-08-13 15:47:24)

Elanachan · 2017-08-15 23:01:04

Welp, I'm not quite sure what I did, but the situation somehow resolved itself when I followed the following video and fiddled with the BIOS setup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotatio … MkST5IjSjY

If this situation pops up again, I will try to dissect what I did last time to try to understand what caused it to act as it should.

Edit: I found out how I was getting the UEFI version of the iso running. Before, the issue started, the UEFI setup would start automatically, now the only way I seem to be able to get it running is through the boot menu.

Last edited by Elanachan (2017-08-16 07:30:44)

Arch Linux

#1 2017-08-07 19:49:48

Bootable USB install not recognizing UEFI after reinstalling ISO

#2 2017-08-07 20:02:15

Re: Bootable USB install not recognizing UEFI after reinstalling ISO

#3 2017-08-07 20:06:40

Re: Bootable USB install not recognizing UEFI after reinstalling ISO

#4 2017-08-07 20:10:47

Re: Bootable USB install not recognizing UEFI after reinstalling ISO

#5 2017-08-12 18:19:36

Re: Bootable USB install not recognizing UEFI after reinstalling ISO

#6 2017-08-13 15:41:30

Re: Bootable USB install not recognizing UEFI after reinstalling ISO

#7 2017-08-15 23:01:04

Re: Bootable USB install not recognizing UEFI after reinstalling ISO

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