Arch Linux

bel3atar

Member

Registered: 2012-07-02

Posts: 26

UEFI install

Hi,

I'm trying to setup Arch on an HP EliteBook 8460p. It has UEFI, but nothing like "UEFI-only" in its settings.
Problem is I fail to modprobe efivars.
Is it a hardware compatibility problem?

Thank you in advance.

IsSuE

Member

Registered: 2006-04-29

Posts: 309

Re: UEFI install

make sure you boot your install medium using EFI; this should normally be possibly to select during bootup

bel3atar

Member

Registered: 2012-07-02

Posts: 26

Re: UEFI install

make sure you boot your install medium using EFI; this should normally be possibly to select during bootup

efivars shows in lsmod now.
How do I determine what version I have?
edit: also, is it normal that there is no /sys/firmware/efi directory?
edit2: efivar-tester shows: UEFI variables not supported on this machine.

Last edited by bel3atar (2013-08-27 13:22:31)

bel3atar

Member

Registered: 2012-07-02

Posts: 26

Re: UEFI install

Back to BIOS, UEFI is too irritating.

dsana123

Member

Registered: 2013-08-27

Posts: 19

Re: UEFI install

@bel3atar

I also had a similar problem when UEFI installing Arch Linux on my HP Touchsmart XT. efibootmgr worked fine outside the arch-chroot environment and the /sys/firmware/efi directory was visible outside the arch-chroot environment, but initially it didn't want to play ball at this point in the Beginners' Guide: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Be … ide#GRUB_2  (i.e. when inside the arch-chroot environment).

I can't remember _exactly_ what I did, but it was a case of exiting and re-entering the arch-chroot environment and modprobe'ing efivars (I think). Anyway, I managed to sort it out. I believe the efivars is only needed so that the installer can add a boot entry into the boot manager, so assuming the GRUB installation went smoothly and assuming you have efivars access outside the arch-chroot environment then you can manually add a boot entry yourself.

I also thought about installing in BIOS mode but the BIOS version in the HP laptop (Insyde BIOS F.04), although it has a legacy BIOS mode option, has a description that says something like "even though the legacy BIOS option is enabled, both UEFI and BIOS option are used and UEFI option takes precedence". In the end I couldn't be bothered figuring out how to make the live USB to be BIOS only, so perserved with the EUFI install.

Edit: BTW, here's another explanation and solution for the modprobe problem that may (or may not) help : https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=168684

Last edited by dsana123 (2013-08-27 19:28:41)