[Solved]Trying to Install Arch, fail to setup grub.

irrlicht · 2013-10-05 15:02:13

Hello!

I'm trying to install arch on GPT partitioned disk, but without success.

My partition table looks like:

MBR: Protective
GPT: Present

1. boot ext2
2. Swap
3. / ext4
4. /home lusk
5. Bios boot partition

I was able to install the base system, chrooted in it, installed grub and then i invoked

grub-install --no-floppy /dev/sda

. Grub is then reporting "No errors".

But after reboot i only see the message: "Operating system not found".

What did i miss?

Last edited by irrlicht (2013-10-05 19:44:33)

dabholkarsa · 2013-10-05 15:37:55

Is it UEFI or BIOS? Can your BIOS boot from GPT disks? If your system is BIOS based and has <= 2TB hard disk then why GPT?
Check out: Bootloader Support

irrlicht · 2013-10-05 19:19:48

Thank you for pointing me to right direction, - indeed my main board doesn't support boot from GPT with BIOS. So i created an ms-dos table, but i just can't boot here too. I'm using the last dual image. After using grub-install /dev/sda and grub-mkconfig. I get the same error "Operating system not found". I just don't get. I had previously installed Archlinux on same machine, and it worked just fine.

srs5694 · 2013-10-05 19:33:25

irrlicht wrote:

I'm trying to install arch on GPT partitioned disk, but without success.

My partition table looks like:
MBR: Protective
GPT: Present
1. boot ext2
2. Swap
3. / ext4
4. /home lusk
5. Bios boot partition

This isn't an issue for your question, but in the future, it's generally best to cut-and-paste the entire output of text-mode utilities rather than trying to summarize them. (Be sure to use code tags, as you did when reporting your partitions.) The reason is that there can be critical details lurking in the original output, and users' attempts to summarize the output often end up omitting those critical details. If a program generates copious output, posting it on your personal Web page or on a pastebin site can be worthwhile.

indeed my main board doesn't support boot from GPT with BIOS. So i created an ms-dos table, but i just can't boot here too. I'm using the last dual image. After using grub-install /dev/sda and grub-mkconfig. I get the same error "Operating system not found".

Chances are you need to mark one of your partitions as bootable. Some EFIs use that as a prerequisite for BIOS/CSM/legacy-mode booting. GRUB doesn't care about this, and most standard BIOSes don't care, either; but EFIs are more complex, and [sarcasm]some genius[/sarcasm] decided that this would be a good way to tell the computer to boot in BIOS mode vs. EFI mode. (To be sure, not all EFIs do this; it's one of many details that are left undefined in the EFI spec.) In fact, if you'd set the boot/active flag on the 0xEE partition in the GPT's protective MBR, it probably would have booted just fine. See my Web page on this issue for more details. (It could stand an update, but it's still mostly accurate.)

Alternatively, you can switch to EFI-mode booting, at least if you've got an EFI-based computer. To do this, you'd need to shrink one of your partitions by enough space to make room for an EFI System Partition (ESP) and install any of several EFI boot loaders and/or boot managers on the ESP. The Arch wiki has a whole page of Arch-specific instructions, too. EFI-mode booting is generally done from GPT disks, but it can be done from MBR disks on at least some computers; or you could use gdisk to switch back to GPT from MBR non-destructively if you want to go this route.

irrlicht · 2013-10-05 19:42:07

Chances are you need to mark one of your partitions as bootable.

Thank you. I just forgot to set a bootable flag. Now i can boot at at least with ms-dos table. The next time if i decide to reinstall archlinux, i'll try GPT table again.

and most standard BIOSes don't care, either; but EFIs are more complex

The strange thing is: i set up my BIOS not to use UEFI but boot flag is still required.

Last edited by irrlicht (2013-10-05 19:43:07)

srs5694 · 2013-10-05 23:33:18

irrlicht wrote:

and most standard BIOSes don't care, either; but EFIs are more complex
The strange thing is: i set up my BIOS not to use UEFI but boot flag is still required.

We've got some terminology issues here. As I use the term, "BIOS" refers to the original IBM PC firmware, clones thereof, and derivatives thereof. A BIOS boots by reading the first sector of the hard disk (or other bootable medium) and executing the code it finds there. An EFI (or UEFI, which is EFI 2.x), OTOH, is a new type of firmware that boots (in EFI mode) in a completely different way; namely, by locating a file on a hard disk partition and executing it.

Most computers sold in the last couple of years have EFIs, not BIOSes; however, most computer manufacturers and users call these new EFIs "BIOSes," probably because the term is familiar. As I use the terms, though, modern computers do not have BIOSes; they have EFIs. Another complication is that most of these EFIs have a Compatibility Support Module (CSM), which enables them to run boot loaders intended for BIOS. That's how you're booting -- you've got an EFI, which is using a CSM to run a BIOS-mode boot loader. This is analogous to using WINE under Linux to run a Windows program. WINE doesn't make Linux Windows, but it does let Linux run Windows programs. Similarly, a CSM doesn't make an EFI BIOS, but it does let the EFI run BIOS boot loaders. Thinking about it in this way will reduce the odds of your making invalid BIOS-centric assumptions, as you seem to have been doing.

One of the complexities of EFI is that the conditions that trigger use of a BIOS/CSM/legacy-mode boot vary from one EFI to another. Some, such as yours, use a boot/active flag in the MBR partition table as a trigger condition. Others use an NVRAM entry that places a BIOS/CSM/legacy-mode boot higher in the priority list than any EFI-mode boot option. Others use the lack of a GUID Partition Table (GPT), or the lack of an ESP on the GPT. Others use an explicit setting in the firmware's setup utility. There may be other conditions I'm forgetting or of which I'm unaware, or combinations of these things. This complete lack of consistency is making life difficult for those who try to document Linux or to help in Linux forums, because what should be an easy explanation of a sentence or two takes multiple paragraphs to properly document -- and even that may not be sufficient or complete.

Well, that seems to have turned into a gripe-fest. Sorry about that....

Arch Linux

#1 2013-10-05 15:02:13

[Solved]Trying to Install Arch, fail to setup grub.

#2 2013-10-05 15:37:55

Re: [Solved]Trying to Install Arch, fail to setup grub.

#3 2013-10-05 19:19:48

Re: [Solved]Trying to Install Arch, fail to setup grub.

#4 2013-10-05 19:33:25

Re: [Solved]Trying to Install Arch, fail to setup grub.

#5 2013-10-05 19:42:07

Re: [Solved]Trying to Install Arch, fail to setup grub.

#6 2013-10-05 23:33:18

Re: [Solved]Trying to Install Arch, fail to setup grub.

Board footer