Arch Linux

sgt_b2002

Member

Registered: 2013-11-19

Posts: 7

[SOLVED] Thinkpad X1 Carbon - Cannot get grub to boot

I have a Thinkpad X1 Carbon and I'm trying to get Arch installed. I've installed Arch elsewhere on a number of different types of systems, but I've yet to come across an issue like this. I'm sure it's something trivial, but I'm stumped.
I've tried both Legacy and UEFI and both have failed.
What's notable is that in both cases, grub doesn't even start. No grub errors on install and no grub messages on boot.
In the case of UEFI I see my entry in the boot menu, but selecting it goes to a black screen for 1 second or so and I'm dumped back to the boot menu.
This same thing happens with legacy boot options as well.

To summarize where I'm currently at, I've followed the steps in the link below almost verbatim. The only modifications were base on names.
https://gist.github.com/HardenedArray/3 … a9ba458b07

As a result of following those steps, I've got Arch installed, but grub is not working for some reason. Again, no errors that I can see.
Here is some data that could help.

root@archiso ~ # lsblk -a
NAME            MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINT
loop0             7:0    0 365.4M  1 loop  /run/archiso/sfs/airootfs
loop1             7:1    0         0 loop  
loop2             7:2    0         0 loop  
loop3             7:3    0         0 loop  
loop4             7:4    0         0 loop  
loop5             7:5    0         0 loop  
loop6             7:6    0         0 loop  
loop7             7:7    0         0 loop  
sda               8:0    0   477G  0 disk  
├─sda1            8:1    0   100M  0 part  /mnt/boot/efi
├─sda2            8:2    0   256M  0 part  /mnt/boot
└─sda3            8:3    0 476.6G  0 part  
  └─cryptroot   254:0    0 476.6G  0 crypt 
    ├─Arch-swap 254:1    0   512M  0 lvm   
    └─Arch-root 254:2    0 476.1G  0 lvm   /mnt
sdb               8:16   1  14.6G  0 disk  
├─sdb1            8:17   1   476M  0 part  /run/archiso/bootmnt
└─sdb2            8:18   1    64M  0 part  

root@archiso ~ # gdisk -l /dev/sda
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.1

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 1000215216 sectors, 476.9 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): AE23D3D1-2C9A-4F06-8D01-FAC76C277C84
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1000215182
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2014 sectors (1007.0 KiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            2048          206847   100.0 MiB   EF00  EFI System
   2          206848          731135   256.0 MiB   8300  Linux filesystem
   3          731136      1000215182   476.6 GiB   8300  Linux filesystem

root@archiso ~ # efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 001B
Timeout: 2 seconds
BootOrder: 0002,001A,0010,0011,0012,0013,001B,0000,0017,0018,0019,001C
Boot0000  Windows Boot Manager	HD(1,MBR,0x93,0xac,0x20000)/File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}....y...............
Boot0002* ArchLinux	HD(1,GPT,9fac53e1-a073-49ca-a084-b03cb1cf2004,0x800,0x32000)/File(\EFI\ArchLinux\grubx64.efi)
Boot0010  Setup	FvFile(721c8b66-426c-4e86-8e99-3457c46ab0b9)
Boot0011  Boot Menu	FvFile(126a762d-5758-4fca-8531-201a7f57f850)
Boot0012  Diagnostic Splash Screen	FvFile(a7d8d9a6-6ab0-4aeb-ad9d-163e59a7a380)
Boot0013  Lenovo Diagnostics	FvFile(3f7e615b-0d45-4f80-88dc-26b234958560)
Boot0014  Startup Interrupt Menu	FvFile(f46ee6f4-4785-43a3-923d-7f786c3c8479)
Boot0015  Rescue and Recovery	FvFile(665d3f60-ad3e-4cad-8e26-db46eee9f1b5)
Boot0016  MEBx Hot Key	FvFile(ac6fd56a-3d41-4efd-a1b9-870293811a28)
Boot0017* USB CD	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,86701296aa5a7848b66cd49dd3ba6a55)
Boot0018* USB FDD	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,6ff015a28830b543a8b8641009461e49)
Boot0019* NVMe0	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,001c199932d94c4eae9aa0b6e98eb8a400)
Boot001A* ATA HDD0	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f600)
Boot001B* USB HDD	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,33e821aaaf33bc4789bd419f88c50803)
Boot001C* PCI LAN	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,78a84aaf2b2afc4ea79cf5cc8f3d3803)
Boot001D* IDER BOOT CDROM	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x16,0x2)/Ata(0,1,0)
Boot001E* IDER BOOT Floppy	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x16,0x2)/Ata(0,0,0)
Boot001F* ATA HDD	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f6)
Boot0020* ATAPI CD	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,aea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a354)

Secure Boot is disabled in the BIOS
During UEFI testing boot options were set to UEFI Only, with CSM enabled.
During Legacy testing, options were set to "Both" (UEFI or Legacy)

Any help would be very much appreciated. I'm at a total loss as to how to proceed.
I'm sure I've overlooked something fairly obvious.
Thanks

Last edited by sgt_b2002 (2017-03-21 23:14:23)

olegabrielz

Member

From: Norway

Registered: 2015-12-23

Posts: 255

Re: [SOLVED] Thinkpad X1 Carbon - Cannot get grub to boot

Have you tried following the official documentation?

Edit:
And just to be clear: You are trying to set up Arch Linux and not a spin-off like Arch-anywhere, Antergos, or something like that?

Last edited by olegabrielz (2017-03-21 09:55:24)

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Be aware of my Newbie Powers

sgt_b2002

Member

Registered: 2013-11-19

Posts: 7

Re: [SOLVED] Thinkpad X1 Carbon - Cannot get grub to boot

Yes I followed the official documentation. I even tried without any disk encryption. I've installed arch a few times on different platforms. It's always been a simple process. I included the walkthrough I posted for reference on my last attempt.

Also this is just Arch. No spin-off.

kmsgli

Member

Registered: 2015-08-15

Posts: 28

Re: [SOLVED] Thinkpad X1 Carbon - Cannot get grub to boot

I am typing on an X1 carbon right now so I doubt it is a compatibility issue as my install went with no problems.  Do you still have Windows on your machine I had some issues setting up my brothers XPS as he still had windows and I needed to use gdisk command tool to completely remove the GPT/UEFI left overs from windows to properly install even after formatting windows with parted.  It may be not preferred but if you are not dual booting I would try formatting using gdisk  first to ensure no GPT partitions remain then format the normal way and use bios/legacy mode.  UEFI always seems to give me trouble and somehow it feels slower even though it is supposed to be faster.

Take my advice with a grain of salt I am a rookie myself.

olegabrielz

Member

From: Norway

Registered: 2015-12-23

Posts: 255

Re: [SOLVED] Thinkpad X1 Carbon - Cannot get grub to boot

I have little experience with grub. I use systemd-boot or EFISTUB - Using_UEFI_directly

I can see that you have a mixed partition table. Try setting up the harddrive using gpt only according to the arch wiki. And don't make this /boot/efi partition. That will only complicate things.

I use parted:

parted /dev/sda
mklabel gpt # this will wipe your disc entirely
unit mib
mkpart ESP fat32 1 513
set 1 boot on
mkpart primary linux-swap 513 1025
mkpart primary ext4 1025 -1
quit

Format:

mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1
mkswap /dev/sda2
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3

Mount:

swapon /dev/sda2
mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

Then just follow the wiki and install the system and a bootloader that fits your needs. If this straight forward method does not work then you need help from someone a bit more experienced. I'm used to follow the wiki and things usually just works.

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Be aware of my Newbie Powers

sgt_b2002

Member

Registered: 2013-11-19

Posts: 7

Re: [SOLVED] Thinkpad X1 Carbon - Cannot get grub to boot

I got this working using the UEFI partition layout you mentioned olegabrielz.
When trying to use EFI prior, I was not setting the boot and esp flags on the ESP partition.
Following the partitioning steps provided, I was able to get GRUB installed and boot into my new Arch install.

Still unsure why non-EFI did not work, but EFI works just fine.

All in all, this was likely attributed to a step I missed somewhere in the official documentation.
Thanks for pointing things out to me olegabrielz and for providing the partitioning scheme you typically use as an example.