Arch Linux

siepo

Member

Registered: 2020-11-23

Posts: 10

[SOLVED] Dual booting and windows 11

Windows 11 has arrived, and I would like some hands-on experience with it. My one qualifying machine is my main desktop, on which I normally run archlinux. I have done some reading on SB/secure boot, and I see that it is complicated to set up with arch not supporting it OOTB, and that it will create further complications down the road.

An alternative would be to install win11 on a secondary hdd, turn SB on when I want to boot into windows, and turn it off again when going back to linux. With linux and windows on different drives, it should be possible to select windows from the built-in boot menu, without involving grub or other linux boot files.

During installation I plan to temporarily remove the primary sdd, to make sure no windows stuff will land on the sdd.

Some more background: this machine is an Intel NUC8i3BEH with both an ssd and an hdd.  I use the windows boot option only occasionally on this machine, since I can do most of my windows stuff on another one - which does not qualify for win11.

Does this scheme have any non-obvious drawbacks?

Last edited by siepo (2021-10-08 20:58:50)

progandy

Member

Registered: 2012-05-17

Posts: 5,226

Re: [SOLVED] Dual booting and windows 11

The easiest way to enable secure boot for windows, but not use it for arch is probably shim. You should be able to install a signed copy of shim and then configure it to skip all secure boot checks. (set "Change Secure Boot state" to disabled with MokManager / mmx64.efi)
You'll have to use the uefi boot menu to choose the windows boot loader, though. (Maybe it is possible to create a menu entry in grub to set the UEFI BootNext variable to the windows bootloader and reboot to it)

During installation I plan to temporarily remove the primary sdd, to make sure no windows stuff will land on the sdd.

That may delete your boot entry for the linux bootloader, you'd have to add it again later or set up the fallback boot path. (bootx64.efi)

Last edited by progandy (2021-10-08 15:18:20)

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wickedlester

Member

From: Texas, USA

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 144

Re: [SOLVED] Dual booting and windows 11

I just enabled secure boot, then installed windows 11, then disabled secure boot and can boot both windows and arch with no problems.

agapito

Member

From: Who cares.

Registered: 2008-11-13

Posts: 678

Re: [SOLVED] Dual booting and windows 11

The requeriment is a motherboard that supports secure boot, but it is not necessary to have it enabled. I installed W11 with secure boot off.

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Excuse my poor English.

siepo

Member

Registered: 2020-11-23

Posts: 10

Re: [SOLVED] Dual booting and windows 11

Well, I went ahead with my original plan, and, as others here wrote, win11 ran fine without secure boot after installation.
Maybe there had been no need to turn SB temporarily off, but I did not try, in part because things that were possible in preview releases got disabled later on.

Last edited by siepo (2021-10-08 21:02:42)