[SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

Franz d'Epinay · 2025-04-28 20:35:24

I'm trying to install Arch with Limine on a BIOS/MBR system, but the drive doesn't boot, so the system stays on the blinking cursor.

Partitioning layout:

/boot 2GiB Fat32
swap 8GiB Swap
/root 1.8TiB Ext4

I have limine-bios.sys and limine.conf under /boot/limine

limine.conf:

timeout: no

/Arch Linux
    protocol: linux
    path: boot():/vmlinuz-linux
    module_path: boot():/intel-uc.img
    module_path: boot():/initramfs-linux.img
    cmdline: root=UUID=b222de1b-26ae-4007-92a8-2ff2dc83ba29 rw

bklid:

/dev/sdb1: LABEL="ARCH_202407" UUID="3E04-043F" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="206f4506-01"
/dev/loop0: BLOCK_SIZE="1048576" TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/sda2: UUID="0ba15588-ebdc-4074-bd18-f10a67405c85" TYPE="swap" PARTUUID="15fe0cab-02"
/dev/sda3: UUID="b222de1b-26ae-4007-92a8-2ff2dc83ba29" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="15fe0cab-03"
/dev/sda1: UUID="E3D9-B247" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="15fe0cab-01"

I might switch to GRUB soon since I need a working system, but I'd like to resolve this or at least find out what the problem is either way.

Last edited by Franz d'Epinay (2025-05-10 13:45:27)

Scimmia · 2025-04-28 22:15:34

    module_path: boot():/intel-uc.img

check your filenames. This also isn't necessary if you're using the microcode hook in mkinitcpio.

You also didn't mention limine bios-install?

Last edited by Scimmia (2025-04-28 22:17:47)

Franz d'Epinay · 2025-04-28 22:31:05

Filenames look the same.

I have done the:

# limine bios-install /dev/sda

And I got a warning that there is no active partition and that /dev/sda1 was being made into one. I re-ran the command later trying to fix it and didn't get that warning anymore.

The ucode entry was out of desperation

Scimmia · 2025-04-28 22:32:52

If you actually have a file with that name, where did it come from?

Franz d'Epinay · 2025-04-28 22:33:58

The intel-ucode.img?

Scimmia · 2025-04-28 22:38:39

That's not what's in the config

Franz d'Epinay · 2025-04-28 22:47:05

Yeah, you're right. That one I tried out of desperation after checking the Gentoo wiki if there might be something useful there as well so I copied it straight from there thinking the file would be called the same on my system. No matter, with or without that part it doesn't boot. The other file names are correct.

Scimmia · 2025-04-28 23:38:52

Where did you get "timeout: no" from? Everything I'm seeing says it takes a number. Are you seeing the menu at all?

Edit: OK, I found the 'no', that should be fine.

Last edited by Scimmia (2025-04-28 23:43:19)

Franz d'Epinay · 2025-04-28 23:45:11

https://github.com/limine-bootloader/li … /CONFIG.md

Under the "Options" section it says that "no" can be given as a parameter to disable automatic boot.

And I'm not seeing any menu. My PC boots straight to a blinking underscore on a black background after POST. Which I believe means that it's searching for a way to boot from that drive.

Lone_Wolf · 2025-04-29 11:57:19

Usually that means the system is booting fine but has trouble accessing the graphics hardware to display something .

bootup the live iso, mount the partittions and chroot in.

Then run

journalctl -b -1 | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st

It will upload the journal of your previous boot to a public hosting site.
Please post the link it outputs.

Franz d'Epinay · 2025-05-03 16:35:53

Running the command gives me this:

Specifying boot ID or boot offset has no effect, no persistent journal was found.
451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons

Also, I have to disable mode setting when booting the live iso, otherwise, my monitor gets no display signal. So I tried disabling mode setting in limine.conf, but it hasn't helped. I am also using an r9 380.

Lone_Wolf · 2025-05-04 10:31:46

the 451 message is probably because an empty string was sent.

Specifying boot ID or boot offset has no effect, no persistent journal was found.

You are sure you had chrooted when you ran the command ?
If yes, that means your boots fail before a journal is started.

Having to use NOMODESET is a bad sign and should only be used for troubleshooting.
Your problem is likely not with limine, but on a lower/earlier level.

before change rooting run & post the full output of lspci -knn .
Also try running journalctl -b | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st to get the journal from the installation iso boot.

Franz d'Epinay · 2025-05-04 15:23:10

Yeah I was chrooted.

lspci output

journalctl output

I re-ran the whole installation process again so some parameters are different to the original ones I posted before.

Lone_Wolf · 2025-05-05 10:13:09

Your motherboard appears to be an Asustek P7P55 LX with an Intel Core i5 750 processor .

english user manual for that mobo can be downloaded here.

There are 2 PCIe x16 slots on the board, verify the amd videocard is in the one labeled PCIEX16_1 (it's closer to the processor then the other one).

In case it is already in that slot, check all power connectors on it are properly seated and connected.

If that doesn't allow booting without nomodeset, there are some bios settings that may help.

Advanced > PCIPnP > Plug & play OS
Boot > Addon ROM display mode

Both have 2 choices, so that's 4 setups to test .

Franz d'Epinay · 2025-05-05 11:57:23

The GPU is seated in the right slot and none of the 4 setups managed to get a display signal without nomodeset.

While the power connectors are seated fine, I used to have problems with my PSU(super flower sf-450p14p).

The PC used to sometimes boot with only half of it's RAM, which I believed to be a RAM problem and I didn't but a new kit since I couldn't afford it. But ever since I got my 2TB HDD it started freezing my entire system while it restarted itself randomly, which it would sometimes do constantly unless I shook the PSU cables. After that my PC startups ended up being a roulette of it either: not starting at all (having a black screen with the motherboard red indicator light being constantly on), starting with only half of the Ram, the CPU fan barely spinning or having my HDD freeze and restart itself. So all that led me to believe it was the PSU being the problem.

Since I ended up needing the PC again recently I bought a Montech Gamma 2, but before it arrived I took out the previous PSU and put it back in which seemed to fix all of my problems. I ran a few benchmarks and it could also run Total War Warhammer 2 without issues on Windows 10, so it seemed stable and I returned the Gamma 2. Now, if it could still be the cause of the issues now, I can get a new one to test it, but what are realistically the chances of it being so.

I also managed to get a journal from a non-nomodeset iso boot if that is of any help: https://0x0.st/8Jid.txt

Franz d'Epinay · 2025-05-05 12:05:34

I might try running something that's not Limine, since at least I can reach the menu with the Syslinux on the ISO.

Lone_Wolf · 2025-05-05 12:16:30

The journal of the iso without nomodeset looks like graphics function as intended, trying another bootloader is a good idea.

Franz d'Epinay · 2025-05-10 13:44:32

Alright, I managed to find what was going wrong with the modesetting. I was using a DVI-I to VGA adapter for my GPU and changing that to HDMI fixed the issue. I don't know if that's supposed to be a known thing, but I didn't suspect that it could be causing problems.

GRUB did end up working, but I still had to use nomodeset to get a dispaly signal. After fixing the issue I managed to finally get into the Limine menu and everything worked fine. I tried switching back to the DVI adapter to check if it just wasn't plugged in correctly and I managed to get into the Limine menu again, but I couldn't get a display signal after getting into Arch without nomodeset.

In the end I'm glad I ended up picking Limine and asking for help here, because otherwise I would've probably gone with GRUB and just ran with nomodeset all the time. So thank you for taking the time to help me <3.

Arch Linux

#1 2025-04-28 20:35:24

[SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#2 2025-04-28 22:15:34

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#3 2025-04-28 22:31:05

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#4 2025-04-28 22:32:52

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#5 2025-04-28 22:33:58

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#6 2025-04-28 22:38:39

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#7 2025-04-28 22:47:05

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#8 2025-04-28 23:38:52

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#9 2025-04-28 23:45:11

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#10 2025-04-29 11:57:19

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#11 2025-05-03 16:35:53

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#12 2025-05-04 10:31:46

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#13 2025-05-04 15:23:10

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#14 2025-05-05 10:13:09

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#15 2025-05-05 11:57:23

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#16 2025-05-05 12:05:34

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#17 2025-05-05 12:16:30

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

#18 2025-05-10 13:44:32

Re: [SOLVED] Can't get Limine to boot on a BIOS system

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