Arch Linux

Wayward9

Member

Registered: 2026-02-27

Posts: 4

Failed to load Limine boot loader on a new VirtualBox installation

Forgive me if I did anything wrong posting here as this is my first post. I'm installing Arch on a UEFI VirtualBox VM and I chose the Limine bootloader and after completing all the necessary steps outlined for Limine installation and configuration in the wiki (skipped optional stuff like setting up kernel entry hooks and snapshots) I then powered off, removed the .iso, and then rebooted only to find an error message that the boot loader couldn't be found. I'm sure I typed every thing correctly as I triple checked everything I typed. Maybe I put the limine.conf file in the wrong location? I think the wiki was saying to put it in the same directory as esp/EFI/arch-limine/.

Error message after reboot:

failed to load boot0003 "Arch Linux Limine Boot Loader" from... \EFI\arch-limine\BOOTX64.EFI: Not found

What I typed for the limine.conf file was:

timeout: 5

/Arch Linux
    protocol: linux
    path: boot():/vmlinuz-linux
    cmdline: root=UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx rw
    module_path: boot():/initramfs-linux.img

/Memtest86+
    protocol: efi
    path: boot():/memtest86+/memtest.efi

Just with the UUID replaced by my root partition UUID (Which I triple checked that I typed it correctly).

The last step I did before unmounting partitions, removing the .iso, and rebooting was setting up pacman hooks as laid out in the Limine wiki.

I typed out:

[Trigger]
Operation = Install
Operation = Upgrade
Type = Package
Target = limine              

[Action]
Description = Deploying Limine after upgrade...
When = PostTransaction
Exec = /usr/bin/cp /usr/share/limine/BOOTX64.EFI esp/EFI/arch-limine/

into /etc/pacman.d/hooks/99-limine.hook exactly as the guide said to do. However when I tried to write it I got an error saying the directory didn't exist yet. So I backed out and ran

mkdir -p /etc/pacman.d/hooks/

and then typed out the above limine hook as is.

After getting the not found error I shut down the VM and booted back up into the live ISO where I am now and I don't know what went wrong or how to fix this. I tried looking on the Limine troubleshooting guide but it seems mostly focused on snapshot issues. If anyone could help me this would be greatly appreciated. This is my first time installing Arch after running Linux Mint, Fedora, and CachyOS over the past 4 or so months. Arch really interests me and I've enjoyed the install process so far but I'm just currently hung up on this one step...

Thanks ahead of time!

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 13,584

Re: Failed to load Limine boot loader on a new VirtualBox installation

Exec = /usr/bin/cp /usr/share/limine/BOOTX64.EFI esp/EFI/arch-limine/

That destination isn't a actual path; you're supposed to use the location of your ESP, not use literal 'esp'.

Wayward9

Member

Registered: 2026-02-27

Posts: 4

Re: Failed to load Limine boot loader on a new VirtualBox installation

Exec = /usr/bin/cp /usr/share/limine/BOOTX64.EFI esp/EFI/arch-limine/

That destination isn't a actual path; you're supposed to use the location of your ESP, not use literal 'esp'.

OMG I missed the disclaimer at the top of the Limine page! You're right, thank you!

Wayward9

Member

Registered: 2026-02-27

Posts: 4

Re: Failed to load Limine boot loader on a new VirtualBox installation

Now I ran into a frustrating issue and I have no clue where I went wrong this time. I keep getting error messages like in this screenshot:

I'm also unable to get any network connection when I previously had it and am honestly kinda at a complete loss what to do right now. I tried following the wiki to a tee but it feels like I just hit an unexpected roadblock out of nowhere...

Wayward9

Member

Registered: 2026-02-27

Posts: 4

Re: Failed to load Limine boot loader on a new VirtualBox installation

Now I ran into a frustrating issue and I have no clue where I went wrong this time. I keep getting error messages like in this screenshot:

https://i.imgur.com/J7Ne4z4.png

I'm also unable to get any network connection when I previously had it and am honestly kinda at a complete loss what to do right now. I tried following the wiki to a tee but it feels like I just hit an unexpected roadblock out of nowhere...

Update: Idk what that was but I was having issues getting internet because I didn't configure the networking properly. I installed the networkmanager and enabled it in the live iso and then rebooted and it worked!