[SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

Kelbethor · 2012-11-03 19:17:06

I've read tones of articles around these issues and tried everything. Archiso, Archboot, replacing gummiboot with refind, in cd, in usb...
Well, this is what I've done so far:

#1:Burn latest archiso 201211.01 Tried to boot... black screen with error about loader entries not found, no menu, no options.
#2:Create usb with archiso image ... same results
#3:Create usb with archboot 201210 image ... again...
#4:Replace gummiboot with refind in archboot-usb-stick ... Got a message of vmlinuz loading... Got frozen
#5:Create usb with archiso image and refind instead gummiboot ... Same as #4
#6:Changed i915.modeset=1 in loader options ... same freeze
#7:Tried running vmlinuz (copied to vmlinuz.efi) from efi shell ... a little bit colder
#8:Removed existing W8 EFI existing partition ... made a backup ... destroyed recovery partition
#9:Repeated some of the above ... destroyed W8 EFI previous backup... :S
#10: Post at forum... waiting results...

(I know many have already posted about this but i think I've read all and nothing seems to work for me)

Thanks in advance

EDIT: Specs:
Msi gt70 0nd
Aptio bios
2x64Gb ssd raid
750 Gb sata
Nvidia gtx675

Last edited by Kelbethor (2012-11-06 17:45:57)

the.ridikulus.rat · 2012-11-04 04:44:30

Try kernel parameter

mem=4G

if you have a 8GB RAM, as kernel 3.6.4 seems to have booting issues in some systems with more than 4GB RAM.

Kelbethor · 2012-11-04 09:29:11

Tried mem parameter in refind loader entry (gummiboot loader entries don't work) and freezes again

The entry in refind.conf is:

menuentry "Archiso UEFI USB Installation" {
    loader \arch\boot\x86_64\vmlinuz
    initrd \arch\boot\x86_64\archiso.img
    options "archisobasedir=arch archisolabel=ARCH_201211 mem=4G i915.modeset=1"
}

And I get this:

Starting vmlinuz
Using load options 'vmlinuz archisobasedir=arch archisolabel=ARCH_201211 mem=4G i915.modeset=1 initrd=\arch\boot\x86_64\archiso.img'

Kelbethor · 2012-11-04 18:11:46

I had to reinstall windows!!! OMG!
I'll have to install arch as guest... snifff...

How could I get a clue on what's happening? I tried with kernel verbose parameters... it shows nothing else but frozen message...

EDIT: Could it be a raid related issue? Should I remove everything, even raid0 array to install???

Last edited by Kelbethor (2012-11-04 18:30:36)

endor43 · 2012-11-04 21:08:34

is Secure Boot on?

gondsman · 2012-11-04 22:02:23

How do you manage your RAID array (dedicated hw raid, fakeraid, software raid)? I suppose you have your root partition on the array, given the 2xSSD drives.

Kelbethor · 2012-11-04 22:25:10

Secure boot is off.
I have no previous experience with raid. Factory settings.
Hw raid I supose
/dev/md126
- /dev/md126p1 (recovery)
- /dev/md126p2 (efi system)
- /dev/md126p3 (ms reserved)
- /dev/md126p4 (windows8)

EDIT: raid is set at bios as Intel RTS 2xSandisk 64G ssd - 128k stripe

Last edited by Kelbethor (2012-11-04 22:52:08)

gondsman · 2012-11-05 09:57:32

Ok, I have a similar configuration. Contrary to what intel advertises, it's not hardware raid at all, it's "fakeRAID", software raid which is bootstrapped by the BIOS (it uses your CPU to stripe the data, there's no dedicated hardware). There is still a nasty bug to be solved for intel fakeraid, but the devs are being really helpful, we should be able to find a workaround soon.
Anyway, your kernel doesn't boot because it doesn't assemble the raid array in early userspace. What you can do to make it boot is modify your /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and add "mdadm_udev" and "shutdown" (without quotes) to the HOOKS line and /sbin/mdmon to your BINARIES line. After this you can regenerate your initramfs with mkinitcpio -p linux (or just reinstall the kernel).
At this point the kernel will boot and your partitions will be mounted. There is still a bug preventing the array to be flagged as "clean" at shutdown, so it will be checked at every boot (which is extremely annoying). Hopefully everything will be sorted out soon.

Kelbethor · 2012-11-05 10:23:58

The kernel wich I cant boot is archiso installer's one.
Sorry not mentioning but I've already deleted raid array and the same issue...
So, I supose rebuilding archiso wont fix it.

gondsman · 2012-11-05 12:37:48

I'm sorry, I totally missed that point. Can you boot anything else (another linux distro, or even BSD) off an USB drive?

Kelbethor · 2012-11-05 12:44:19

Yes but not in uefi mode, just in legacy mode.(bios option)

cfr · 2012-11-06 03:33:54

How did you create the various install media you tried?

Were you trying to boot them in EFI or BIOS mode?

Giving the exact errors you get would be helpful.

Which UEFI firmware do you have and what version?

It is possible to install Arch in bios mode and to get the EFI boot stuff working later. However, it still requires booting in EFI mode to add the boot manager entry at some point. I have no idea if it would be possible to do that from Windows.

Kelbethor · 2012-11-06 17:45:02

Unable to start installation in EFI mode. Checked ubuntu desktop 12.10 installer and got the same problem. Mi laptop can't run linux installers...
I've deleted raid0 array and used ssd#1 to install arch and ssd#2 to install windows8 (when I get bizhub network twain scanning working in arch I will say goodbye to microsoft)
Used first 1Gb from third (sata) drive as UEFISYS partition
I've installed arch in BIOS mode and later set rEFInd as EFI bootloader successfully using usb stick.
Set EFI boot entry with EFI shell v2 bcfg command
Installed w8 after arch and rEFInd and bios recognized new os entry, ms detected UEFISYS partition and used it for booting too (that was nice and unexpected)
No need to use acpi=off, modeset, mem=4G options in kernel launch, just root, fstype and initrd arguments.

I don't know how to check UEFI firmware.. sorry.
Thanks a lot for helping me.
Now dealing with "Optimus Nightmare"... "Neverending nightmare"

cfr · 2012-11-06 23:30:27

I'm glad you got it working in the end. It doesn't matter now but for future reference, you can check what firmware you have by going into BIOS setup at boot.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-11-03 19:17:06

[SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#2 2012-11-04 04:44:30

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#3 2012-11-04 09:29:11

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#4 2012-11-04 18:11:46

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#5 2012-11-04 21:08:34

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#6 2012-11-04 22:02:23

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#7 2012-11-04 22:25:10

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#8 2012-11-05 09:57:32

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#9 2012-11-05 10:23:58

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#10 2012-11-05 12:37:48

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#11 2012-11-05 12:44:19

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#12 2012-11-06 03:33:54

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#13 2012-11-06 17:45:02

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

#14 2012-11-06 23:30:27

Re: [SOLVED] Help installing on UEFI+W8 msi laptop...

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