Arch Linux

PingPong0

Member

Registered: 2023-12-10

Posts: 1

External hard drive used as installation medium.

After several attempts at installing Arch onto a laptop using an external hard drive containing an '.iso' image of Arch I haven't been successful.

Yesterday I got to the end of the process but the system didn't boot into Arch OS, rather I was presented with the boot screen (the same one presented to me at the beginning of the installation process).

My hard drive is being connected to the laptop via a USB cable. A dock contains the external hard drive.

My web searches and my perusing of the Arch documentation hasn't proved sufficiently enlightening.

A gentleman on one particular website mentioned altering BIOS setup options prior to attempting this particular procedure. In particular, I believe he mentioned such things as disabling CMS support, changing 'UEFI legacy' (I think to give this precedence), and one or two other things. I did what I was guided to do in BISO setup. I couldn't find the website again in my history (it may be on my phone); however I'd expect members here to be able to provide more proper and comprehensive support.

The installation procedure went relatively smoothly and I used ChatGPT for assistance. There was a fair amount of fiddling with partitioning, mounting, BIOS config files, and so on. The numbering of the partitions were incorrect at one point (I believe the boot must be at 1?), I'm 90% certain this was resolved, albeit there were a few errors to wade through. I have a concern this 'could' be one of the issues.

I believe there is something called 'microcode'(?) which is a consideration for HDD's?

I believe the block size is correct on the HDD.

There may be an issue in the BIOS partition with sector size (apologies for my terminology I'm not an expert).

An Arch command indicated I have a GPT device.

An Arch command indicated I'm not using UEFI, and that I'm most likely using BIOS.

I'm certain had I had a USB flash drive I'd have the OS up and running already, however I can't find the ones I did have, which is why I'm using a HDD.

I wish to correctly install the OS according to the method in question before attempting other means (Network, etc).

I believe the OS is actually now installed on the laptop itself (although I can't be certain of this), but that I simply cannot boot into it.

I have the laptop with me (I'm using another to write this), so I can start it up with or without the external HDD attached so as to provide further context through what I find (output of commands, info screens, etc), upon request.

I can't think of anything else which would be of relevance. There was an Ubuntu OS on the system, however I'm certain this is now fully gone due to my wish to have Arch as the only OS on the system and my actions in respect to this desired outcome (deleting existing partitions on the internal drive, and so on).

I have likely missed some important details in my readings of various Arch docs, wiki's, and so on. However, I've spent many hours and several attempts already to get the OS working. I haven't yet asked on the forum out of respect for the community; however, I don't believe now is a premature time give the time spend already.

I'm interested in becoming a strong Arch user so please feel free to educate me alongside any answers.

I understand Arch is a 'do-it-yourself' system, and I like that very much. However, as this forum exists I'm appreciatively using it for help. Please further educate me on the Arch culture and where I may be falling short (in particular whether I should simply further read the docs until I grok the solution rather than asking questions here).

I eagerly await your replies and solutions. And I eagerly await a working Arch OS which I can customise and optimise to my hearts content.

Thank you very much friends.

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 11,636

Re: External hard drive used as installation medium.

Using an external hdd vs a flash drive for the ISO makes no difference at all.

Using ChatGPT was a mistake. It lies, constantly.

Partition numbers don't really matter.

We need to know what you've actually done and what you're actually seeing. Phrases like "presented with the boot screen" don't tell us anything, we need to know what things actually say.

Lone_Wolf

Forum Moderator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 12,007

Re: External hard drive used as installation medium.

I believe there is something called 'microcode'(?) which is a consideration for HDD's?

yes, no .
microcode is used by processors and sometimes needs updating to correct problems.

An Arch command indicated I have a GPT device.

An Arch command indicated I'm not using UEFI, and that I'm most likely using BIOS.

Which commands and what did they output ?

Did you follow the installation guide ?

Assuming you have a working internet connection , https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/List_o … n_services shows how to upload stuff from terminal.

Welcome to archlinux forums

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Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

(A works at time B)  && (time C > time B ) ≠  (A works at time C)

c00ter

Member

From: Alaskan in Washington State

Registered: 2014-08-28

Posts: 398

Re: External hard drive used as installation medium.

Unless Arch is installed in the expected way(s), trying to help troubleshoot such a "system" as this has been described is a fools errand.

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UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things. -- Doug Gwyn