Arch Linux

Kale Good

Member

Registered: 2014-08-17

Posts: 46

Undoing a Dual Boot/Two Bootloaders?

I installed this Arch system 3 years ago, then installed Ubuntu along side it. In the process, it seems that Ubuntu's GRUB install overtook my gummiboot install as the bootloader. I have config files for both in /boot. I don't really understand how this happened or why one bootloader would take priority over another. This makes me hesitant to try to resolve the situation (I'll also be getting rid of the Ubuntu install).

So I'd like to remove Grub and back to systemd-boot without making my machine unbootable in the process.

The ubuntu fstab has sda1/boot/EFI mounting as boot (referenced by UUID, but I'll use dev/sdX designations)
The Arch fstab has sda1/boot mounting as boot.

Looking at /boot/*, it seems that I've got both Grub and Gummiboot/systemd-boot config files.

#ls - R /boot

(kernal images, etc)

./EFI:
Boot  gummiboot  ubuntu

./EFI/gummiboot:
gummibootx64.efi

./EFI/ubuntu:
grub.cfg  grubx64.efi  MokManager.efi  shimx64.efi

./loader:
entries  loader.conf

./loader/entries:
arch.conf  arch-lts.conf

So how does the BIOS/UEFI know which bootloader config file to use?  (It currently uses GRUB, IIRC).

And how do I remove GRUB and just use gummiboot/systemd-boot?

Thanks

jasonwryan

Anarchist

From: .nz

Registered: 2009-05-09

Posts: 30,426

Website

Re: Undoing a Dual Boot/Two Bootloaders?

Not an Installation issue, moving to NC...

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Arch + dwm   •   Mercurial repos  •   Surfraw

Registered Linux User #482438

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,456

Website

Re: Undoing a Dual Boot/Two Bootloaders?

The ubuntu fstab has sda1/boot/EFI mounting as boot (referenced by UUID, but I'll use dev/sdX designations)
The Arch fstab has sda1/boot mounting as boot.

This makes no sense.  Directories can't be mounted, only partitions can.

Do you mean in ubuntu you mount sda1 on /boot/EFI/ and in arch you mount sda1 as /boot/?

how do I remove GRUB and just use gummiboot/systemd-boot?

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sy … stallation

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 18,853

Re: Undoing a Dual Boot/Two Bootloaders?

Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#efibootmgr  The firmware if it uses efivars will use the boot order stored in efivars to determine which method it should use.
If the firmware does not use efivars it may use hardcoded locations instead and whatever bootloader is at that location would be used.
Installing Systemd-boot#Installation should make it the default bootloader if the firmware uses efivars.
If that worked you would then need to remove all the files under /boot/EFI that systemd-boot has not just added and remove the firmware entries using efibootmgr for the old boot loaders.