[Solved] About the recommended ESP size

raul_l · 2015-01-09 00:10:23

Why is it recommended to keep the EFI System Partition at least 512 MiB? I'm using /boot as ESP with the total size of 200 MiB, less than 30 MiB used, and everything is working fine. Is the requirement as it is in case I'm also using Windows and other operating systems? I see from the documentation that the recommended size is indeed dictated by Microsoft. In other words, if I'm always using a Linux OS and never doing multi-booting then is it safe to use a small ESP or am I missing something? It is my understanding that it normally only contains the Linux kernel and the initramfs image and its fallback, which never take much space.

Last edited by raul_l (2015-01-09 10:58:48)

Awebb · 2015-01-09 09:51:31

I never had trouble with <200MiB, I'd say this is only a very safe default, in case you need to install another kernel or boot another OS.

clfarron4 · 2015-01-09 10:01:00

I'd also say it's a safe default in case you're booting other kernels/operating systems as well.

Scimmia · 2015-01-09 10:01:23

Mostly as a way of avoiding any FAT32 limitations without having to get too complicated.

raul_l · 2015-01-09 10:57:39

Scimmia wrote:

Mostly as a way of avoiding any FAT32 limitations without having to get too complicated.

I see that my hard drive sector size is 512 bytes, meaning the minimum size for FAT32 is 32 MiB. For native 4K drives without support for 512B emulation the minimum size would be ~260 MiB - something I should consider in the future.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-01-09 00:10:23

[Solved] About the recommended ESP size

#2 2015-01-09 09:51:31

Re: [Solved] About the recommended ESP size

#3 2015-01-09 10:01:00

Re: [Solved] About the recommended ESP size

#4 2015-01-09 10:01:23

Re: [Solved] About the recommended ESP size

#5 2015-01-09 10:57:39

Re: [Solved] About the recommended ESP size

Board footer