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psycketom

Member

Registered: 2012-07-29

Posts: 15

UEFI GRUB fallback not working

I have installed UEFI grub by:

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=ARCH_GRUB --recheck

And, if I am to reboot now - it works, but, I am looking to make it work without specific configuration, hence, am creating a fallback image:

cp /boot/efi/EFI/ARCH_GRUB/grubx64.efi /boot/efi/EFI/boot/bootx64.efi

To test the fallback image, I remove the ARCH_GRUB entry from NVRAM, by:

efibootmgr -b 0000 -B

Initiating a system reboot, but after the reboot is complete, the system is booted in Legacy mode with no EFI at all.

MB: ASRock H61MV-ITX

Why the fallback image is not working?

EDIT:
Thought that maybe the legacy mode is causing problems, by being maybe more prioritized over the UEFI legacay, so, I tried disabling CSM and booting then, no success - didn't load by using fallback.

EDIT2:
By using Arch Linux ISO USB, I booted with it into UEFI mode, launched UEFI shell. Then attempted to execute the loader by:

fs0:
cd efi
bootx64.efi

And managed to boot successfully into my Arch installation with EFI enabled. Could the problem be in the BIOS, looking, for, maybe, a different fallback file?

Last edited by psycketom (2015-04-20 10:30:50)

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: London

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 7,744

Website

Re: UEFI GRUB fallback not working

I know the gummiboot bootmanager copies itself to /boot/EFI/boot/BOOTX64.EFI automatically when it is installed -- why not try that instead?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gummiboot

I'm not sure if GRUB will work from that path -- perhaps it needs to be in /boot/efi/EFI for it to work.

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EscapedNull

Member

Registered: 2013-12-04

Posts: 129

Re: UEFI GRUB fallback not working

To test the fallback image, I remove the ARCH_GRUB entry from NVRAM, by:

efibootmgr -b 0000 -B

Initiating a system reboot, but after the reboot is complete, the system is booted in Legacy mode with no EFI at all.

This thread is an XY problem in the making. Can you tell us what you're trying to achieve so we can fix your problem and not your solution? What do you mean by "fallback image" and what is the purpose of it? Why is $esp/ARCH_GRUB/grubx86.efi insufficient? Are you trying to keep grubx86.efi as your primary EFI app and copy it to bootx86.efi as a backup, or replace grubx86.efi entirely?

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: London

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 7,744

Website

Re: UEFI GRUB fallback not working

What do you mean by "fallback image" and what is the purpose of it?

I think the OP is referring to /boot/EFI/Boot/BOOTX64.EFI which should be booted automatically by a UEFI motherboard even if there are no NVRAM entries present -- I prefer this method myself as it is seems more reliable.

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