Arch Linux

slevin21

Member

Registered: 2021-04-14

Posts: 3

cannot use capital letters in USB drive

The following is generated by translation. Please forgive the grammar mistakes.

I have a laptop acer aspire 4750G, it is an old machine.UEFI is supported, but secure boot cannot be set.
I want to create an Arch Linux Installer USB drive for booting in BIOS systems.

Before archlinux-2020.10.01-x86_64.iso, I use dd, and then rename all the files in /dev/sdx2. The USB drive can be booted in BIOS mode.
I don't know if this is the most appropriate way.
After archlinux-2020.10.01-x86_64.iso, The ISO file changes from MBR to GPT, and this method fails.

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 1#p1961411
I tried the method of "scdbackup",archlinux-2021.04.01-x86_64.iso can be booted in BIOS mode, but I can't use capital letters.
Then I tested 2021.03.01.iso 2021.02.01.iso the problem remained the same.
But 2020.10.01.iso can use capital letters in BIOS and UEFI modes.

I have two question:
1) Why can't I use capital letters?
2) Does USB boot need to be the same as the system boot after installation?
   (for example, the USB drive is booted in UEFI mode, after change root into the new system, install a boot loader by
   grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sdX, Is that going to be a problem?)

nl6720

The Evil Wiki Admin

Registered: 2016-07-02

Posts: 595

Re: cannot use capital letters in USB drive

Why do you want to rename the files in the /dev/sdx2? The /dev/sdx2 partition is only relevant for UEFI booting, it should not have any affect on BIOS booting.

As for the issue of https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=264096 , it will only be solved in archlinux-2021.05.01-x86_64.iso. You can test this ISO for now: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/ … x86_64.iso .

About the 1. question, I can't answer that as I don't understand what you're trying to do. What do you mean by "I can't use capital letters"? How and where can't you use them? What fails?

To answer your 2. question:
If you want to install for BIOS boot while booted in UEFI mode, then no, there won't be any problems. Simply install a BIOS boot loader.
If you want to install for UEFI boot while booted in BIOS mode, then it's a little more complicated. In BIOS mode you can't access EFI variables, so you'll need to install the UEFI boot loader to the default/fallback boot path.

slevin21

Member

Registered: 2021-04-14

Posts: 3

Re: cannot use capital letters in USB drive

Thank you for your answer

In most UEFI enabled laptops, you can choose UEFI / BIOS only or UEFI / BIOS first and disable secure boot.
But my old laptop can't see the advanced options menu. The options are hidden.
When I boot the system from USB, it will go into UEFI mode.
So I destroy the EFI files then it can boot in BIOS mode.

1. question
Pressing the "capslock" key will not switch case, but will always be lowercase.It's like the "capslock" key is broken, but it's actually good.
After installation, restart to the new system, the "capslock" key can work.
The incomprehensible thing is that only USB drive made with 2020.10.01.iso can switch case in BIOS and UEFI mode. 2021.{02,03,04}.01.iso can not switch case in two boot modes.

nl6720

The Evil Wiki Admin

Registered: 2016-07-02

Posts: 595

Re: cannot use capital letters in USB drive

If you want to remove UEFI boot from a USB drive with ISOs starting from archlinux-2020.11.01-x86_64.iso, simply delete the second partition:

# sfdisk --delete /dev/sdx 2

Or alternatively you can delete the partition from the ISO before writing it to the USB drive:

$ sfdisk --delete archlinux-2021.04.01-x86_64.iso 2

I cannot think of a reason why Caps Lock would work in an installed system, but not in the live installation environment. Sorry, I won't be able to help with that!

slevin21

Member

Registered: 2021-04-14

Posts: 3

Re: cannot use capital letters in USB drive

test archlinux-2020.10.01-x86_64.iso
ISO  ->  delete EFI partition  ->  dd  ->  the system is booted in BISO mode [successful]

test archlinux-2020.10.01-x86_64.iso
ISO  ->  delete EFI partition  ->  dd  ->  the system is not booted [failed]

test archlinux-2021.04.01-x86_64.iso
ISO  ->  delete EFI partition  ->  dd  ->  the system is not booted [failed]
ISO  ->  dd  ->  delete EFI partition  ->  the system is not booted [failed]

So,for me, this method is valid for ISO of MBR partition table, but invalid for ISO of GPT partition table.