Unable to boot Arch Linux Installation Iso (Thinkpad E485)

rockin turtle · 2019-01-15 06:53:43

I got a new laptop (Thinkpad E485, AMD Ryzen 5) and I am having trouble booting the Arch linux live environment from a USB drive and I am hopeful that someone here can give me some advice.

I downloaded the latest <archlinux-2019.01.01-x86_64.iso>.

I read the Installation guide and attempted to set up a USB thumb drive per the wiki. I have disabled Secure Boot in the bios.

I didn't try the dd method as I want to use UEFI boot.

I am trying to use the Syslinux boot loader.

I have an older 4 Gigabyte USB 2.0 drive that I formatted for GPT using gdisk. The entire drive is one partition of type ef00 (per gdisk). I formatted the file system by mkfs.fat -F32. I loop mounted the iso and copied it onto the USB drive.

It has been difficult for me to follow the wiki, as the syslinux contained in the iso does not contain the UEFI boot loader file: syslinux.efi

I got that file from installing the syslinux package onto my desktop. I copied it from the syslinux efi64 directory. It turns out that the syslinux.efi boot loader also requires the additional file ldlinux.e64. This file is also not contained in the iso, nor is it mentioned anywhere in the wiki that I have found.

I have been able to boot into a UEFI shell (version 2), but no futher as I really don't know what I am doing there.

With the syslinux.efi and ldlinux.e64 files and the following syslinux.cfg

DEFAULT arch64

LABEL arch64
LINUX /arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz
INITRD /arch/boot/amd_ucode.img,/arch/boot/x86_64/archiso.img
APPEND archisobasedir=arch archisolabel=ARCH_201901 amd_iommu=pt irvs_ioapic[32]=00:14.0 irvs_ioapic[33]=00:00.1

it appears to start booting as I get the following on the laptop screen

Loading /arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz... ok
Loading /arch/boot/amd_ucode.img...ok
Loading /arch/boot/x86_64/archiso.img...ok

but then it hangs and does nothing.

I have been reading the Internet for other people who have this model laptop and have been successful booting linux. They have recommended the kernel boot parameters

amd_iommu=pt
irvs_ioapic[32]=00:14.0
irvs_ioapic[33]=00:00.1

as perhaps necessary for booting, but I have not been successful either with or without the parameters.

The Arch Wiki page for Lenovo mentions these parameters as well for booting the E485 with Arch linux.

The laptop came with Windows 10 installed which boots sucessfully from the NMVe SSD.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Slithery · 2019-01-15 11:31:49

What? Why all this messing about?

Just dd the iso file to your USB drive like everyone else.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/US … a#Using_dd

Trilby · 2019-01-15 13:30:49

rockin turtle wrote:

I didn't try the dd method as I want to use UEFI boot.

That is a complete non-sequitor: one has absolutely nothing to do with the other. Use `dd`, that is the correct way to make installation media.

rockin turtle wrote:

I am trying to use the Syslinux boot loader.

Why? Syslinux is my favorite boot loader overall, but it is not well equipped for UEFI, and more importantly, it serves no purpose in a UEFI system. You don't need a boot loader, just use a boot manager like systemd-boot.

Last edited by Trilby (2019-01-15 13:31:10)

Arch Linux

#1 2019-01-15 06:53:43

Unable to boot Arch Linux Installation Iso (Thinkpad E485)

#2 2019-01-15 11:31:49

Re: Unable to boot Arch Linux Installation Iso (Thinkpad E485)

#3 2019-01-15 13:30:49

Re: Unable to boot Arch Linux Installation Iso (Thinkpad E485)

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