GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

nicolassilvar · 2016-10-06 17:33:32

I installed my arch a couple of months ago, at that point I didnt pay much attention to include Windows 10 in my booting list (I thought I never needed to go back there). Sadly at work I need to run a windows program.

I installed grub in the windows booting partition (below partition table). I remeber struggling back when I install it to support EFI, I gave up and installed grub and made sure Arch was loading. Now I'm trying to untangle the mess. There are several resources out there, but I want to make sure I dont mess up my arch.

Resources I read:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Du … th_Windows
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=201037

Partition Table
1 1049kB 274MB 273MB fat32 EFI system partition boot, hidden, esp
2 274MB 290MB 16.8MB Microsoft reserved partition msftres
3 290MB 108GB 107GB ntfs Basic data partition msftdata
5 108GB 123GB 15.3GB ext4
6 123GB 255GB 132GB ext4
4 255GB 256GB 1049MB ntfs Basic data partition hidden, diag

boot folder contents:

/boot
├── EFI
│   ├── Boot
│   │   └── BOOTX64.EFI
│   ├── grub
│   │   └── grubx64.efi
│   └── systemd
│    └── systemd-bootx64.efi
├── grub
│   ├── fonts
│   ├── locale
│   ├── themes
│   │   └── starfield
│   └── x86_64-efi
├── initramfs-linux-fallback.img
├── initramfs-linux.img
├── loader
│   ├── entries
│   │   └── arch.conf
│   └── loader.conf
└── vmlinuz-linux

Under /boot/loader/arch.conf
title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-limux
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options root=PARTUUID= dca05a7c-bbb8-4097-949b-8e880ef9db12 rw

What are some suggestions for adding Windows 10 to the loader. I saw online some people using ms-sys to reinstall Windows MRB, but the docs online does not show Windows 10 support.

Any input appreciated

Last edited by nicolassilvar (2016-10-06 17:46:29)

loqs · 2016-10-06 18:05:11

What is the output of

$ efibootmgr

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-10-06 18:15:59

nicolassilvar wrote:

boot folder contents:
/boot
├── EFI
│   ├── Boot
│   │   └── BOOTX64.EFI
│   ├── grub
│   │   └── grubx64.efi
│   └── systemd
│    └── systemd-bootx64.efi
├── grub
│   ├── fonts
│   ├── locale
│   ├── themes
│   │   └── starfield
│   └── x86_64-efi
├── initramfs-linux-fallback.img
├── initramfs-linux.img
├── loader
│   ├── entries
│   │   └── arch.conf
│   └── loader.conf
└── vmlinuz-linux

Did you format the EFI system partition (/dev/sda1) during the installation of Arch?

If your Windows system is UEFI then there should be /boot/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi present, this is the Windows bootloader.

EDIT: sed 's/$ESP/\/boot/'

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2016-10-06 18:16:52)

nicolassilvar · 2016-10-06 18:19:20

loqs wrote:

What is the output of
$ efibootmgr

[nicolassilva@X1Carbon ~]$ efibootmgr
BootCurrent: 0017
Timeout: 2 seconds
BootOrder: 0013,000C,0017,0016,0015,0000,0001,0002,0003,0014,0007,0008,0009,000A,000B,000D
Boot0000 Setup
Boot0001 Boot Menu
Boot0002 Diagnostic Splash Screen
Boot0003 Lenovo Diagnostics
Boot0004 Startup Interrupt Menu
Boot0005 Rescue and Recovery
Boot0006 MEBx Hot Key
Boot0007* USB CD
Boot0008* USB FDD
Boot0009* ATA HDD0
Boot000A* ATA HDD1
Boot000B* ATA HDD2
Boot000C* USB HDD
Boot000D* PCI LAN
Boot000E* IDER BOOT CDROM
Boot000F* IDER BOOT Floppy
Boot0010* ATA HDD
Boot0011* ATAPI CD
Boot0012* PCI LAN
Boot0013* Windows Boot Manager
Boot0014* Linux Boot Manager
Boot0015* arch
Boot0016* grup
Boot0017* grub
[nicolassilva@X1Carbon ~]$

I changed the order, to put Windows Boot Manager first, but it defaults backs to arch. Makes me think there is nothing there to boot

Last edited by nicolassilvar (2016-10-06 18:22:19)

nicolassilvar · 2016-10-06 18:26:16

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

nicolassilvar wrote:
boot folder contents:
/boot
├── EFI
│   ├── Boot
│   │   └── BOOTX64.EFI
│   ├── grub
│   │   └── grubx64.efi
│   └── systemd
│    └── systemd-bootx64.efi
├── grub
│   ├── fonts
│   ├── locale
│   ├── themes
│   │   └── starfield
│   └── x86_64-efi
├── initramfs-linux-fallback.img
├── initramfs-linux.img
├── loader
│   ├── entries
│   │   └── arch.conf
│   └── loader.conf
└── vmlinuz-linux
Did you format the EFI system partition (/dev/sda1) during the installation of Arch?
If your Windows system is UEFI then there should be /boot/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi present, this is the Windows bootloader.
EDIT: sed 's/$ESP/\/boot/'

I feel bad to say that I dont remember if I format the partition or not. My best guess is that I did. I struggled quite a bit with the EFI booting back then. I was not able to locate the bootmgfw.efi

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-10-07 06:44:26

nicolassilvar wrote:

I was not able to locate the bootmgfw.efi

Your Windows system cannot boot without that file.

I think you may be able to repair the Windows boot process but it's been a while since I last used that operating system

If you do, it will almost certainly re-format the ESP so you will have to re-install the kernel & bootmanager and regenerate the configuration files afterwards from the live environment to get Arch booting again.

nicolassilvar · 2016-10-07 21:54:30

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

nicolassilvar wrote:
I was not able to locate the bootmgfw.efi
Your Windows system cannot boot without that file.
I think you may be able to repair the Windows boot process but it's been a while since I last used that operating system
If you do, it will almost certainly re-format the ESP so you will have to re-install the kernel & bootmanager and regenerate the configuration files afterwards from the live environment to get Arch booting again.

Any chance that I can re-format inside of arch?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-10-11 06:51:34

nicolassilvar wrote:

Any chance that I can re-format inside of arch?

*Do not* re-format the ESP after Windows has repaired the bootloader (or after you have re-installed Windows), that is what caused the problem in the first place.

The bootmgfw.efi file must be present on the ESP for Windows to work.

nicolassilvar · 2016-10-17 01:50:32

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

nicolassilvar wrote:
Any chance that I can re-format inside of arch?
*Do not* re-format the ESP after Windows has repaired the bootloader (or after you have re-installed Windows), that is what caused the problem in the first place.
The bootmgfw.efi file must be present on the ESP for Windows to work.

I access the Windows partition and made copy of it into /boot/EFI folder. Do you have suggestions into how to add it to grub conf?

Last edited by nicolassilvar (2016-10-17 01:50:50)

nicolassilvar · 2016-10-17 02:25:14

I tried again to restore the Windows MBR using the guide but still loading into grub

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Du … oot_record

ewaller · 2016-10-17 02:47:59

nicolassilvar wrote:

I tried again to restore the Windows MBR using the guide but still loading into grub
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Du … oot_record

Why? Your system is UEFI. It should not have a MBR

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-10-17 21:19:02

nicolassilvar wrote:

I access the Windows partition and made copy of it into /boot/EFI folder.

Is that the recommend Windows boot repair technique?

Forgive my ignorance but surely some sort of Redmond-derived rescue disk would be needed?

Do you have suggestions into how to add it to grub conf?

https://www.archlinux.org/packages/comm … os-prober/

Or perhaps https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GR … _UEFI_mode

Arch Linux

#1 2016-10-06 17:33:32

GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#2 2016-10-06 18:05:11

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#3 2016-10-06 18:15:59

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#4 2016-10-06 18:19:20

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#5 2016-10-06 18:26:16

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#6 2016-10-07 06:44:26

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#7 2016-10-07 21:54:30

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#8 2016-10-11 06:51:34

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#9 2016-10-17 01:50:32

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#10 2016-10-17 02:25:14

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#11 2016-10-17 02:47:59

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

#12 2016-10-17 21:19:02

Re: GRUB EFI - Recover a Windows 10 partition

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