[SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

Roken · 2018-09-28 21:58:09

I finally got around to converting BIOS boot to EFI, and what a lot of work it was.

Anyhoo, I have stuff in /boot that I don't need, but not sure what I can safely delete.

/boot/
├── EFI
│   ├── arch
│   │   ├── initramfs-linux-fallback.img
│   │   ├── initramfs-linux.img
│   │   └── vmlinuz-linux
│   └── grub
│       └── grubx64.efi
├── grub
│   ├── fonts
│   ├── grub.cfg
│   ├── grubenv
│   ├── locale

│   ├── themes

├── initramfs-linux-fallback.img
├── initramfs-linux.img
└── vmlinuz-linux

Either initramfs etc in /boot/EFI, or in /boot/EFI/arch. Which are redundant?

Last edited by Roken (2018-10-03 20:24:02)

jasonwryan · 2018-09-28 22:15:37

Depends on how you boot...

Not an Installation Issue, moving to NC.

Roken · 2018-09-28 22:27:01

Give me a clue. I had no problem with the fileystem structure with plain old BIOS, but still very new to EFI. It's taken me two hours to get my system booting again, following https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB#UEFI_systems and https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/EF … _partition.

There seem to be conflicting instructions (hence my duplication).

The boot is visibly different, now, and I could (once I'm certain) delete the old BIOS partition, which looks like:

├── grub
│   ├── fonts
│   ├── grub.cfg
│   ├── grubenv
│   ├── i386-pc
│   ├── locale
│   └── themes
├── initramfs-linux-fallback.img
├── initramfs-linux.img
├── lost+found [error opening dir]
├── syslinux
│   └── syslinux.cfg
└── vmlinuz-linux

You'll appreciate that I've removed the common stuff from the tree view.

jasonwryan · 2018-09-28 23:34:27

What I meant was you have given us no indication of what your boot manager is. Grub? Syslinux? You seem to have catered for both...

Scimmia · 2018-09-28 23:39:38

You also haven't told us what's mounted where and how whatever bootloader you're using is configured.

Roken · 2018-09-29 08:25:29

My apologies, it's GRUB. Configured as default (no modifications), with the exception of an entry for a clonezilla iso boot. The syslinux stuff seems to be remnants from an old, abandoned experiment.

To go through mounts would take a while (there are 6 local drives, with their attendant partitions, 2 NFS drives and a DVD), but the boot drive is /dev/sde, four partitions. sde1 is the EFI partition mounted on /boot, sde2 is fsroot mounted on /, sde3 is swap, and sde4 is the old boot partition, not mounted.

sde1 is the first partition, sde4 the second, sde2 the third and sde3 the last.

eschwartz · 2018-09-30 03:08:54

If you're using grub anyway, there's no need to mount it as /boot -- grub can load an ext4/btrfs/whatever driver and search for your kernel from there.

In fact, my ESP is a 2MB partition -- this is possible if you use fat12 -- and it isn't mounted at all. The only thing on the whole filesystem is a grub.efi executable that mounts my primary btrfs partition. My /boot folder, backed by btrfs, contains both the /boot/grub/grub.cfg (and other /boot/grub/ files) and the kernel/initramfs.

I dislike the enforced vfat hegemony and try to reduce its hold on my system...

Scimmia · 2018-09-30 04:09:01

If the ESP is mounted at /boot, how did the kernel and initramfs get into /boot/EFI/arch/?

Roken · 2018-09-30 09:34:32

I was following this: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/EF … unt_points, which on reflection, I probably shouldn't have.

Am I safe to delete the /boot/EFI/arch directory?

EDIT: In my defense, I'd gotten myself to a non-booting system and so was doing my damnedest to get back to a booting system, so there was an element of clutching at straws.

Last edited by Roken (2018-09-30 09:36:03)

Roken · 2018-10-03 20:23:38

In the absence of a reply, I did some none-destructive testing (i.e. moving directories from /boot to a different location). Booting with the ehtire EFI directory moved resulted in a failed boot. No surprise there. Restored, and moved the arch directory, and booted no problem, so it seems I could.

Gonna mark this solved, now.

Arch Linux

#1 2018-09-28 21:58:09

[SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

#2 2018-09-28 22:15:37

Re: [SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

#3 2018-09-28 22:27:01

Re: [SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

#4 2018-09-28 23:34:27

Re: [SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

#5 2018-09-28 23:39:38

Re: [SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

#6 2018-09-29 08:25:29

Re: [SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

#7 2018-09-30 03:08:54

Re: [SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

#8 2018-09-30 04:09:01

Re: [SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

#9 2018-09-30 09:34:32

Re: [SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

#10 2018-10-03 20:23:38

Re: [SOLVED] Too much stuff in /boot

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