Hidden boot menu, possible?

doomguy84 · 2024-03-23 09:35:52

In my "old" pc i used to have two disks, one ssd for Windows and one for Linux, so there is no need for a boot manager.
I use systemd only to load Arch simply choosing which disk to start from

Now i'm about to buy a new pc, a mini pc, the Geekom A7, which has only one slot for a disk
In this condition I have to use Grub or another boot manager

My question is:
Is there a way to HIDE the boot manager and eventually call it with a key or a combination of 2 or more keys??
I mean, nobody exept me have to see my Linux disk/partition, so the default OS loaded when the pc is turned on is Windows.
But i need to have an hidden menu to choose to load Arch when I am using that pc.

Is it possible?

ua4000 · 2024-03-23 09:53:20

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System … figuration

"If you have set timeout 0, the boot menu can be accessed by pressing Space"

Edit:
If you install both OS in UEFi mode, you can switch between both OS usually with the UEFI BIOS, there you can setup a default, and the BIOS usually come with a key during boot, to select another boot entry.
And on Arch you don't need a bootloader at all, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/EFISTUB

Last edited by ua4000 (2024-03-23 10:19:31)

ewaller · 2024-03-23 14:34:05

I am not so sure about your original assertion. A new machine is likely to be uEFI. If the uEFI implementation is rational you can define multiple boot configurations. You can prioritize the boot order, and you can tell the uEFI at boot time which one to use using the pre-boot menu (often incorrectly referred to as a BIOS menu). I have one SSD in this laptop, but have the following boot configurations:

ewaller@odin/~% efibootmgr -u
BootCurrent: 0004
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0004,0001,0003,0002,0000,0006,0005,0007,0008
Boot0000* USB   VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0001* GRUB  HD(1,GPT,8f49ab1a-ee7c-41cc-ac30-47d756335790,0x800,0x82000)/\EFI\GRUB\GRUBX64.EFI
Boot0002* uEFI Shell    HD(1,GPT,8f49ab1a-ee7c-41cc-ac30-47d756335790,0x800,0x82000)/\shellx64_v2.efi
Boot0003* Windows Boot Manager  HD(1,GPT,8f49ab1a-ee7c-41cc-ac30-47d756335790,0x800,0x82000)/\EFI\MICROSOFT\BOOT\BOOTMGFW.EFI䥗䑎坏S
Boot0004* Arch Linux    HD(1,GPT,8f49ab1a-ee7c-41cc-ac30-47d756335790,0x800,0x82000)/\VMLINUZ-LINUXroot=/dev/nvme0n1p6 rw initrd=\intel-ucode.img  initrd=\initramfs-linux.img resume=/dev/nvme0n1p6 resume_offset=12351488 quiet splash
Boot0005* UEFI:CD/DVD Drive     BBS(129,,0x0)
Boot0006* Arch Linux LTS        VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)root=/dev/nvme0n1p6 rw initrd=\intel-ucode.img  initrd=\initramfs-linux-lts.img
Boot0007* UEFI:Removable Device BBS(130,,0x0)
Boot0008* UEFI:Network Device   BBS(131,,0x0)
ewaller@odin/~%

Boot 4 is my default, and starts Arch without the use of a bootloader.
Boot 6 is the LTS kernel without hibernation setup
Boot 3 is Windows. I also have GRUB if I want it, and also uEFI shell and external USB devices.
>90% of the time, I boot straight to Arch without any bootloader. To choose others, On this Vivobook I hold esc at power up and I am in the preboot menu where I can select my method.

doomguy84 · 2024-03-23 17:37:47

@ua4000
Of course both OS(es) are already in UEFI mode
Can I use the same method even with a single disk and two (three) partitions ??

@ewaller
So, if I setup the new pc and disk like this:

- partition 1 - 500 MB - EFI
- partition 2 - 200 GB - Windows
- partition 3 - 800 GB - Arch

then I can set "partition 2" as a default, and then select at boot to load Arch JUST pressing a key ??
I don't need any boot manager at all??

ewaller · 2024-03-23 22:22:48

Yes. if you have a reasonable uEFI. It is also really a key press to get to the boot order select menu and a couple more key strokes to make a selection.

You may want to read up on UEFISTUB.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/EFISTUB

Arch Linux

#1 2024-03-23 09:35:52

Hidden boot menu, possible?

#2 2024-03-23 09:53:20

Re: Hidden boot menu, possible?

#3 2024-03-23 14:34:05

Re: Hidden boot menu, possible?

#4 2024-03-23 17:37:47

Re: Hidden boot menu, possible?

#5 2024-03-23 22:22:48

Re: Hidden boot menu, possible?

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