Arch Linux

Atharva

Member

Registered: 2024-07-06

Posts: 3

[SOLVED] ESP partition and installing bootloader

Using the arch installation guide , i have reached the point where i have to install a bootloader
i have windows and ubuntu
where should i mount the ESP partition ?
the guide said to mount it to boot
but
before mounting esp partition to /boot i had these files in my boot folder  : grub initramfs-linux-fallback.img initramfs-linux.img intel-ucode.img vmlinuz-linux

after mounting partition i had  these files :  EFI  'System Volume Information'

EFI contains :Boot  Microsoft  dell  ubuntu

and ubuntu contains : BOOTX64.CSV  fw  fwupdx64.efi  grub.cfg  grubx64.efi  mmx64.efi  shimx64.efi

i think these files :  grub initramfs-linux-fallback.img initramfs-linux.img intel-ucode.img vmlinuz-linux are needed in the boot folder  ??
can you please tell me what steps to follow next
and can please also explain your steps

Last edited by Atharva (2024-07-10 09:35:47)

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 608

Re: [SOLVED] ESP partition and installing bootloader

when you already have a grub folder in your /boot directory then you already ran either grub-install or grub-mkconfig before you mounted anything to /boot
also: you missed a point before arch-chroot: mount ALL partitions before arch-chroot
also also: it depends: you can mount the ESP to either /boot or to (/boot)/efi - it depends on what you want to install on it
as you already have a grub installed on the ESP you only need to modify its config to add arch along ubuntu
I recommend you re-read the install guide again as it seems you missed a few points - there answers to all you questions

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,043

Re: [SOLVED] ESP partition and installing bootloader

To elaborate on what cryptearth said,

A mount point is really nothing more than a directory in your file system.  This includes /boot.  When you mount a volume on a mount point, any files that were in that directory are now shadowed by what is on the volume mounted there.  Then you look in that path, you see what is on the mounted volume.

When you unmount the volume, the files that are in the /boot directory become visible again as they are no longer being shadowed.   That the files grub initramfs-linux-fallback.img, initramfs-linux.img intel-ucode.img vmlinuz-linux are in there, something wrote them there when the boot volume was not mounted.

Unmount the boot volume.  remove grub initramfs-linux-fallback.img, initramfs-linux.img, intel-ucode.img and vmlinuz-linux.  Mount the boot partition.  Reinstall the kernel with pacman. Fix your /etc/fstab to mount the boot volume on /boot.

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Atharva

Member

Registered: 2024-07-06

Posts: 3

Re: [SOLVED] ESP partition and installing bootloader

after @cryptearth's reply i reread the installation guide and i mounted my partition to /efi (by creating it ) and then followed the rest of the guide .
Thank you @cryptearth for the reply and guiding me .

I was not able to find answers to my questions , and so i wanted a clarity in the process that is why i asked for explanation
I have read "How to Ask Questions the Smart Way" and i realize that i should have done more research on my questions rather then asking for full explanation from others.
Thank you @ewaller for the reply and guiding me .

safe049

Member

Registered: 2024-05-02

Posts: 30

Re: [SOLVED] ESP partition and installing bootloader

please edit a [SOLVED] in your title dude

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 608

Re: [SOLVED] ESP partition and installing bootloader

to summarize:
on a modern uefi system the uefi is responsible to find, load and run the bootloader of the OS
the uefi spec require that this bootloader has to installed on a FAT32 formatted EFI system partition (ESP) with a specific gpt type uuid
I don't know if there is a hard requirement that there's only one ESP per drive - but from several posts it often lead to issues if there are more than one ESP
the ESP can store several things:
- the bootloader itself like grub, refined, windows bootmgr, etc.
- the bootloaders' config
- additional stuff like modules, themes, tools
- a linux kernel (often along with a initrd)
depending on what you want to store on it you can get away with as little as 25mb or need up to more than 1gb
also there're several mount points the ESP can mounted to in a linux filesystem:
/boot - as this is where the kernel and initrd lands you need at least (size of the bootloader)+(size of the kernel)+(size of the initrd)+(a few for config) - currently with both initrd and fallback this sums up to around 150mb give or take - so a ESP mounted to /boot should be at least 200mb (the 100mb default ESP created by Windows would not be sufficient)
(/boot)/efi - usually reserved for the bootloader itself (maybe along its config) to keep its space requirement low
any other non-standard unique mountpoint - care must be taken in terms of what to put on it and a few config options
it also depends on the bootloader: grub, refind, uki, systemd-boot, etc. For specifics pleas consult the wiki.

Last edited by cryptearth (2024-07-10 11:12:50)

Atharva

Member

Registered: 2024-07-06

Posts: 3

Re: [SOLVED] ESP partition and installing bootloader

Thank you @cryptearth