Arch Linux

mrmoskal

Member

Registered: 2025-08-12

Posts: 1

portable boot drive with arch desktop installation refusing to boot

I followed the following tutorial by AdgileDevArt to create a Desktop installation of Arch on a USB SanDisk 512GB drive:
Linux Tips - Install Full Arch on a USB Drive (2023)

It worked fine on the laptop I used when first following the tutorial, but as I tried to boot from my main work laptop with a Windows 11 OS installed, it didn't work... (the laptop it worked on is an ASUS laptop, 14 years old at this point... it has a Windows 7 Home Pro OS - if that helps with understanding what went wrong when trying to boot to another computer)

I disabled secure boot beforehand, but for some reason, it just doesn't boot... without any error message as well - it shows as a bootable option when plugged into my laptop, but when I select the USB drive as my boot option of choice, the screen goes black for a second, and then it just shows my the 2 boot options again as if I didn't choose to boot from the USB...

If anybody has an idea what the problem might be, I'll appreciate the help.

SimonJ

Member

From: Alicante, Spain

Registered: 2021-05-11

Posts: 305

Website

Re: portable boot drive with arch desktop installation refusing to boot

You would need to ask AdgileDevArt as third party guides are not supported here.

https://bbs.archlinux.org/misc.php?action=rules

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Rlu: 222126

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 2,026

Re: portable boot drive with arch desktop installation refusing to boot

without having watched the video - and btw: there were either win7 home basic, home premium, pro or budiness (and ultimate) but no home pro - the old system runs in csm and hence you installed the bootloader for legacy boot - which is not compatible with modern uefi boot

there are ways to create a medium that can boot both legacy and uefi - and throwable devices the proper target for that idea - but as you followed a foreign guide please ask there instead of here - we only support the official wiki guide

// edit
just to throw in - although we discourage the use of AI (or at least blindly following it without understanding it) - as you already followed a foreign guide I just gave gemini a shot
given a proper prompt the reply is actual a useful basis - although I just formally checked it and not tried it for real
tldr: if you know how to ask the internet knows the answer

// edit edit
the video uses archinstall - ain't gonna happen buddy - for proper hybrid boot you have to go the manual way with a bootloader capable of it

Last edited by cryptearth (2025-08-12 14:24:15)