Arch Linux

DWilliams

Member

From: Everywhere

Registered: 2009-11-22

Posts: 119

Can't boot into my Arch install - Windows always loads no matter what

I'm attempting to set up a dual boot system on my laptop.

I used a gparted live cd to resize my partitions and set up my Arch partitions. I installed arch to said partitions, and followed the Wiki steps for installing syslinux. I took the boot flag off my Windows partition and put it on my /boot (sda6),  but every time I restart it goes straight to Windows. I have a GUID partition table so I followed the manual install steps on the wiki for that but, alas, Windows still boots every time.

Short of wiping the hard drive clear of Windows (which is tempting, believe me), how can I get my bootloader set up?

DSpider

Member

From: Romania

Registered: 2009-08-23

Posts: 2,273

Re: Can't boot into my Arch install - Windows always loads no matter what

From the 2012 Arch install media:

Mount your root partition and your boot partition (if you have one)::
# mount /dev/sdxY /mnt
# mount /dev/sdxZ /mnt/boot

Type "arch"[press Tab]
# arch-chroot /mnt

Type "syslinux-"[press Tab]
# syslinux-install_update -iam

Reboot.

Last edited by DSpider (2012-08-04 07:20:24)

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"How to Succeed with Linux"

I have made a personal commitment not to reply in topics that start with a lowercase letter. Proper grammar and punctuation is a sign of respect, and if you do not show any, you will NOT receive any help (at least not from me).

derhamster

Member

Registered: 2012-07-08

Posts: 86

Re: Can't boot into my Arch install - Windows always loads no matter what

I'm attempting to set up a dual boot system on my laptop.

I used a gparted live cd to resize my partitions and set up my Arch partitions. I installed arch to said partitions, and followed the Wiki steps for installing syslinux. I took the boot flag off my Windows partition and put it on my /boot (sda6),  but every time I restart it goes straight to Windows. I have a GUID partition table so I followed the manual install steps on the wiki for that but, alas, Windows still boots every time.

Short of wiping the hard drive clear of Windows (which is tempting, believe me), how can I get my bootloader set up?

Does windows boot correctly? I am asking because you use GPT. Afaik windows only works with GPT when booted through UEFI instead of good old bios. If your system uses UEFI then the MBR (where syslinux is) will be ignored completely.
You probably want to boot Arch trough UEFI in that case.