Arch Linux

Singha

Member

Registered: 2010-05-15

Posts: 7

[Solved] uefi + kernel updates

Hi everyone,

Sorry for my english,
I make a fresh install of Arch with UEFI, GPT, EFISTUB kernel and efibootmgr.
last kernel update, my system does not boot, i forget to make rules with Systemd for copy kernel, initramfs..
so i boot with a live cd and fixed that but on the wiki, the path is:

/boot/efi/EFI/arch

i haven't EFI/arch, kernels and initramfs are in /boot/efi

my fstab

# /dev/sda2 UUID=0653a738-d555-4c90-9aab-a6ee90265cce
LABEL=root          	/         	ext4      	defaults,noatime,discard	0 1

# /dev/sda3 UUID=986e54b4-c59b-4e36-8f71-8f0e0eb5199b
LABEL=home          	/home     	ext4      	defaults,noatime,discard	0 2

# /dev/sda1 UUID=F31B-E089
LABEL=uefi          	/boot/efi     	vfat      	defaults	0 2

# /dev/sda4 UUID=bc8bf225-93da-434c-951d-5639cee54aff
LABEL=swap          	none      	swap      	defaults  	0 0

Do i need to create these directories and modify entry with efibootmgr
or can i keep stuff in /boot/efi and apply systemd rules with that path?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Last edited by Singha (2013-08-10 09:43:23)

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: [Solved] uefi + kernel updates

If you want to keep your kernels and initramfs' in the "root" of the EFI System Partition, then you might as well just set your ESP to mount at /boot.  Then you don't have to worry about all the stuff with moving/copying kernels and initramfs' to where they should be.  They will simply be installed to the right place.  IMO this is a pretty sane and failsafe way to go.  This isn't what I use though, as my ESP was at one point shared amongst many systems.  I use a systemd.path to launch a onceshot systemd.service that moves my stuff to the right place.

The only reason you might want to mount the ESP at /boot/efi is so that you can keep a copy of the kernel and initramfs on a regular Linux filesystem.  There are a couple UEFI bootloaders and boot managers that have the ability to read off of various filesystems (grub2 and rEFInd).  This is akin to how the old bootloaders worked.  They launched from the MBR and then provided minimal read-only filesystem drivers in order to be able to load the kernel from a native Linux filesystem.  That said, both of the mentioned bootloaders also have the capability to read the kernels and initramfs' off the ESP as well, so it is not manditory that you use it in this way if you use either grub2 or rEFInd.

If you don't want to have the dirstory structure of the ESP, you don't have to.  It is not manditory.  The only thing that will make a difference is that most firmware treats whatever is in \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI as something special. It is the "default" entry and is what will be launched in the event that you choose to boot from the disk rather than the firmware entry.

Singha

Member

Registered: 2010-05-15

Posts: 7

Re: [Solved] uefi + kernel updates

Thanks so much for your reply!
I use only Arch on this laptop, I set my ESP to mount at /boot, like you said

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: [Solved] uefi + kernel updates

Yeah that is probably the way to go with a simple gummiboot setup like yours. 

Don't forget to mark the thread as [Solved] (which can be done by editing the first post.