Arch Linux

archlinuxtom

Guest

Archlinux won't boot from flash - goes directly to Windows

I'm brand new to archlinux so if I'm missing something obvious I apologize. In a nutshell I wanted to install archlinux on an old Toshiba Satellite L305 2007 vintage laptop which is currently running Windows 10. I installed the iso to a flash drive per the wiki. It won't boot on the laptop, the laptop just boots to Windows even though I selected the flash drive from the boot menu. When I try the same flash drive on my desktop it boots right up. Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Mint, and Kali all boot on both the laptop and my desktop from the same flash drive. I'm at a total loss. Any ideas?

Some additional info:
I used the Arch Linux Installer USB drive instructions to install v2020.03.01 to the usb flash drive. Installation was done on my xubuntu system using the following command from the wiki's BIOS and UEFI bootable USB instructions:

dd bs=4M if=archlinux-2020.03.01-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdc status=progress oflag=sync

Anybody have any idea what I'm missing?

RoosterBoy

Member

Registered: 2020-02-24

Posts: 3

Re: Archlinux won't boot from flash - goes directly to Windows

Have you tried going into the bios and changing the boot priority?

archlinuxtom

Guest

Re: Archlinux won't boot from flash - goes directly to Windows

Yes, it's set to USB first. Even so whatever I select in the boot menu should override the defaults set in the bios, right? The strange thing is with all the same hardware, same settings, same flash all the other OSs boot just fine.

10PinkPanther

Member

From: Croatia

Registered: 2012-11-10

Posts: 374

Re: Archlinux won't boot from flash - goes directly to Windows

Is secure boot enabled?If so disable it.

archlinuxtom

Guest

Re: Archlinux won't boot from flash - goes directly to Windows

This is a pre-EFI, pre-Secureboot laptop so nothing to set.

10PinkPanther

Member

From: Croatia

Registered: 2012-11-10

Posts: 374

Re: Archlinux won't boot from flash - goes directly to Windows

Did you set path to archlinux.iso?For me it would be dd if=~/Downloads/archlinux-2020.03.01-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdX

archlinuxtom

Guest

Re: Archlinux won't boot from flash - goes directly to Windows

The image is installed on the flash drive and boots successfully on my desktop machine. It's just somehow being ignored by the windows laptop. I'm thinking for some reason the laptop's not seeing it as a bootable drive so skipping to windows.

The only difference between all the different os images I tried is the image itself. Same flash, same iso install method - dd, same hardware. All the other images boot on both the laptop and the desktop. Only the archlinux image doesn't boot on the laptop. It does boot on the desktop though.