Dual boot: encrypted Arch alongside unencrypted Fedora

leni1 · 2015-02-07 10:23:17

I am asking for the community's assistance in preparing a dry run of a dual boot as described by the title of the post. I tried to install an encrypted Arch first using Pavan Kogan's blog's instructions as well as the instructions contained in the Beginner's Guide for installing Arch Linux. I then installed Fedora 21 next on another separate partition. Problem was that though Fedora could detect the encrypted Arch partitions, it couldn't recognize Arch as an operating system. And the Grub menu shows only Fedora.

What I have in mind is a fully encrypted Arch installation and an unencrypted Fedora installation. They should be completely separate (each with separate swap, boot, home and / partitions) on the same disk but GRUB should be able to list them both. The unencrypted Fedora installation is meant for the people I share the computer with while the encrypted Arch will house my data that I wouldn't want anybody else to access.

The specifications of the machine are: Dell Optiplex 3010 Intel Pentium CPU 2GB RAM, 500GB hard disk.

Any pointers on how I could do this (resources, links, tips) are highly welcome. Thank you in advance for your time and input on the matter.

I have read the following threads here: Encryption advice...[SOLVED] and Installing two encrypted Linux systems plus SSH capability: How?. They were useful but seem to cater for a situation where the two distros share the /boot and /swap partitions; something I want to avoid.

Last edited by leni1 (2015-02-07 12:58:34)

clfarron4 · 2015-02-07 12:46:15

Have you run os-prober from inside Fedora and then re-built GRUB?

If that doesn't pick it up, then I'd probably write the entry myself into /etc/grub.d/40_custom and then re-build the grub configuration (even better, if you instaled GRUB on Arch, then take the Arch entry from Arch's /boot/grub/grub.cfg and just paste it into the 40_custom in Fedora and rebuild. It should work).

Last edited by clfarron4 (2015-02-07 12:47:24)

leni1 · 2015-02-07 12:50:30

clfarron4 wrote:

Have you run os-prober from inside Fedora and then re-built GRUB?
If that doesn't pick it up, then I'd probably write the entry myself into /etc/grub.d/40_custom and then re-build the grub configuration (even better, if you instaled GRUB on Arch, then take the Arch entry from Arch's /boot/grub/grub.cfg and just paste it into the 40_custom in Fedora and rebuild. It should work).

clfarron4, thank you very much. Those sound like solutions I can most certainly implement. I will try each of them out, and then let you know how it turns out.

By the way, can

# grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck /dev/sda

be modified to:

# grub-install --target=x86_64-pc --recheck /dev/sda

for a x86_64 computer or is it tied to the bootloader type of the computer in question?

Thanks again.

Last edited by leni1 (2015-02-07 13:06:24)

clfarron4 · 2015-02-07 16:57:43

leni1 wrote:

By the way, can
# grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck /dev/sda
be modified to:
# grub-install --target=x86_64-pc --recheck /dev/sda
for a x86_64 computer or is it tied to the bootloader type of the computer in question?
Thanks again.

I've always used the first, even with x86_64 installations. You probably can, but I haven't tried it.

Last edited by clfarron4 (2015-02-07 16:59:26)

leni1 · 2015-02-24 12:26:23

clfarron4 wrote:

Have you run os-prober from inside Fedora and then re-built GRUB?

Yes I have. Didn't work sadly

clfarron4 wrote:

If that doesn't pick it up, then I'd probably write the entry myself into /etc/grub.d/40_custom and then re-build the grub configuration (even better, if you instaled GRUB on Arch, then take the Arch entry from Arch's /boot/grub/grub.cfg and just paste it into the 40_custom in Fedora and rebuild. It should work).

Will probably have to do this instead. How can it be done? Any tips?

Last edited by leni1 (2015-02-24 12:33:58)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-02-24 19:48:02

leni1 wrote:

By the way, can
# grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck /dev/sda
be modified to:
# grub-install --target=x86_64-pc --recheck /dev/sda
for a x86_64 computer or is it tied to the bootloader type of the computer in question?
Thanks again.

The command using "i386-pc" is for installing GRUB to non-EFI systems -- it has nothing to do with the architecture of the machine to which GRUB is being installed.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GR … ll_to_disk

Arch Linux

#1 2015-02-07 10:23:17

Dual boot: encrypted Arch alongside unencrypted Fedora

#2 2015-02-07 12:46:15

Re: Dual boot: encrypted Arch alongside unencrypted Fedora

#3 2015-02-07 12:50:30

Re: Dual boot: encrypted Arch alongside unencrypted Fedora

#4 2015-02-07 16:57:43

Re: Dual boot: encrypted Arch alongside unencrypted Fedora

#5 2015-02-24 12:26:23

Re: Dual boot: encrypted Arch alongside unencrypted Fedora

#6 2015-02-24 19:48:02

Re: Dual boot: encrypted Arch alongside unencrypted Fedora

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