[SOLVED] UEFI USB install not working on Lenovo X1 Carbon

acottrell · 2013-12-17 19:04:42

I'm trying to do a first-time install of arch on a Lenovo X1 Carbon. The machine currently
has Windows 8 and a home-rolled Linux installed; UEFI boot management is by refind
plus elilo.

I wrote the current arch ISO to a USB stick using the recommended "dd" method. Refind
"sees" it OK, but when I select it, it fails to boot (black screen). Refind has been unable
to boot efi-stub Linux kernels on this machine (I've had to go via elilo) -- maybe this is
related? (In case it's relevant, I have no trouble booting from a USB stick with the Linux
systemrescue CD on it.)

From what I've read it seems I may have to use the alternative method of creating the
USB stick installer, but the instructions for this seem to presuppose an arch installation.

Any help would be much appreciated -- arch seems to be just what I'm looking for.

Last edited by acottrell (2013-12-19 23:29:57)

acottrell · 2013-12-18 00:26:39

Well, I've attempted to follow the alternative instructions for creating a bootable USB
stick (as opposed to straight "dd").

From what I've seen so far, arch documentation is generally very clear, but I'm afraid
this is an exception. I count myself as pretty good at following this sort of thing, but
I got totally bogged down trying to infer what I should be doing with syslinux for a
pure UEFI setup. Short story: still no go trying to boot the arch installer in UEFI mode
using a USB stick on my ThinkPad.

Kitkin15 · 2013-12-18 02:12:58

Personally would recommend using a LIVE DVD as they tend to work a bit easier, otherwise if USB is your only option boot into Win8, download UNetBootin, then format the USB to FAT32 and use UNetBootin to install the ISO to the USB drive, then make sure UEFI is enabled on your computer and the GRUB Menu should say "UEFI Live CD" or something similar. Personally ive used UNetBootin and never have had any issues but ive only done it with like Linux Mint UEFI and other Debian based Distros and Arch-Bang once, so in theory it should work, I think its worth a shot lol.

And personally I would suggest GRUB or GummiBoot for your boot manager, syslinux isn't my favorite IMO, but if you have any issues or get confused just let me know what is causing you an issue and ill do my best to help (Ive been using Arch for over a year)

Last edited by Kitkin15 (2013-12-18 02:14:31)

mcloaked · 2013-12-18 09:44:30

Just a comment on bootloaders - there is clearly a choice but after looking into the various options rEFInd does do extremely well once the details are properly understood. It is also extremely actively maintained, and its author is a very regular and active contributor to this forum, and has helped numerous arch users get their systems going with that bootloader method. Having the author around to help directly makes a big difference compared to the other options like grub, gummiboot and syslinux.

WonderWoofy · 2013-12-18 15:54:30

I too have a Thinkpad, though mine is not nearly as fancy as yours. But because of this, I do know that the Lenovo firmwares are quite capable of doing proper legacy bios emulation (CSM). UEFI and bios booting can live side by side and exists without touching each other. So with these troubles, I might go and install Arch in bios booting mode, then go about working on the UEFI part. Just make sure that you remember to set aside an EFI System Partition for the later UEFI setup.

srs5694 · 2013-12-18 16:17:42

It's been a while since I checked, but I'm pretty sure that the Arch installation disc uses gummiboot and the EFI stub loader. Thus, when you try to boot it from an existing rEFInd, the path would be firmware -> rEFInd -> gummiboot -> EFI stub loader. If you've had problems with the EFI stub loader in the past, that's most likely the issue, and you'll have to find a way to bypass it. Three options spring to mind, although there may be others:

Do a BIOS-mode installation using the Arch disc, then switch back to EFI-mode for booting. (You'll presumably need to either adjust your existing ELILO setup or add a new ELILO or something else to boot the Arch kernel.)
Copy the kernel from the Arch disc to your ESP and set up a boot stanza in your current ELILO to boot it with whatever options gummiboot passes to it. (You'll need to check the gummiboot configuration on the Arch installation medium.) This should get it booted and you should be able to install. When you're done, you can delete the Arch installation disc's kernel from the ESP and the ELILO stanza to boot that kernel -- although you'd obviously want to keep the kernel and ELILO configuration to boot the installed copy of Arch.
Boot some other live disc and use that to install Arch. Most live discs these days use GRUB 2 to boot the kernel, although some use ELILO. Either should work on your computer.

acottrell · 2013-12-18 17:18:58

Thanks to all for the advice. I got the arch USB stick to work by temporarily enabling CSM in the bios.
Now I have a base system to play with!

One additional question for now: my practice has been to use a single partition for Linux (no separate
/usr), and to boot from a kernel image without a RAM disk (i.e. no mkinitcpio). Is that supported by arch?

teateawhy · 2013-12-18 19:40:20

acottrell wrote:

Thanks to all for the advice. I got the arch USB stick to work by temporarily enabling CSM in the bios.
Now I have a base system to play with!
One additional question for now: my practice has been to use a single partition for Linux (no separate
/usr), and to boot from a kernel image without a RAM disk (i.e. no mkinitcpio). Is that supported by arch?

Using a single partition is no problem.
As far as i know it is not supported to boot without initramfs, because it creates issues, but it can work if you recompile your kernel accordingly.

Last edited by teateawhy (2013-12-18 19:41:33)

Arch Linux

#1 2013-12-17 19:04:42

[SOLVED] UEFI USB install not working on Lenovo X1 Carbon

#2 2013-12-18 00:26:39

Re: [SOLVED] UEFI USB install not working on Lenovo X1 Carbon

#3 2013-12-18 02:12:58

Re: [SOLVED] UEFI USB install not working on Lenovo X1 Carbon

#4 2013-12-18 09:44:30

Re: [SOLVED] UEFI USB install not working on Lenovo X1 Carbon

#5 2013-12-18 15:54:30

Re: [SOLVED] UEFI USB install not working on Lenovo X1 Carbon

#6 2013-12-18 16:17:42

Re: [SOLVED] UEFI USB install not working on Lenovo X1 Carbon

#7 2013-12-18 17:18:58

Re: [SOLVED] UEFI USB install not working on Lenovo X1 Carbon

#8 2013-12-18 19:40:20

Re: [SOLVED] UEFI USB install not working on Lenovo X1 Carbon

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