Arch Linux Netboot Environment under grub legacy

I am trying to boot under grub legacy with the following menu.lst entry:
Arch Linux Netboot Environment
root (hd0,5)
kernel ipxe.krn
initrd conf.ipxe
boot
This does not work. Do you have any suggestion?
Last edited by francois.e (2013-01-07 02:49:52)

Indeed - more information is needed.
What is your partitioning scheme, is sda6 your /boot parition?  Are your kernel and intrd in /boot/grub/?  This would be unusual, but it is what that entry implies.  Also, where is your root partition specified?
You also don't need the boot command in the menu.lst.  I don't know if it would cause a problem, but I've never seen it there.  In addition to the links in cfr's signature, you should (have already) read the wiki page on grub legacy.
Last edited by Trilby (2013-01-06 04:35:54)

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    So what is there in the MBR boot sector? Nothing?
    How does the firmware know what to boot if there's no 0xEF BIOS boot partition and no Grub stage 1 in the MBR boot sector?
    Also, how does installing Grub stage 1 to a partition work? Does it have to be at the beginning of the partition? Wouldn't that overwrite some existing data?
    I'm especially puzzled since many guides to installing Vista on a macbook recommend simply formatting as MBR, and installing as normal, which I suppose entails having the Windows installation process write its boot code to the MBR, ie the equivalent of installing grub stage 1 to /dev/sda rather than to the /boot partition, as the Macbook article suggests.
    Any input is appreciated.
    P.S. I realize it's probably simpler, if I just want to dual boot Windows and Arch, to install Windows 7 in UEFI-GPT mode, let it create the EFI System Partition, and then install GRUB 2 to that partition, but I'm still curious about the UEFI-MBR boot process.
    Last edited by padavoine (2012-06-06 09:35:10)

    padavoine wrote:
    CSM in UEFI firmwares do the exact same job as normal BIOS firmware.
    So it's something specific to the Mac that it's able to boot from a partition's VBR while ignoring the MBR?
    The reason that warning is given is because grub-legacy modifies more than just the MBR boot code region.  It can overwrite some parts of GPT header.
    Not true, the instruction is given in the context of an MBR format, not in the context of a GPT format, so there's nothing to overwrite and Stage 1.5 should be safely embeddable in the post-MBR gap.
    In BIOS boot (normal case in non-UEFI firmwares or CSM in UEFI firmwares) does not read the partitition table (atleast it is supposed to be dumb in this regard), it simply launches whatever boot code exists in the 1st 440-byte of the MBR region.
    So again, you're saying it's specific to the Mac UEFI that it lets you choose a partition whose VBR to load, regardless of what's in the MBR?
    I haven't used Macs so I can't comment on Mac firmware behaviour. But normal BIOS firmwares (legacy and CSM) launch only the MBR boot code and not the partition boot code. We need some chainload capable boot manager in the MBR to launch the partition VBR.
    grub-legacy does not know anything about GPT. So when you install grub-legacy to /dev/sda, it install the MBR boot code (stage1) and stage 1.5 code to the (supposed) post MBR gap. Since there is no actual post MBR gap in GPT (which has been taken over by the header and partition table), grub-legacy does not check for GPT and it assumes the post MBR gap actually exists which is invalid in case of GPT. grub-legacy embeds the stage 1.5 code in GPT header and table region (which grub assumes to be unused post MBR gap) and thus corrupts it.
    0xEF is the MBR type code for UEFISYS partition. grub stage 1 (used in grub-legacy, not in grub2) is the 440-byte boot code stored in MBR for use in BIOS boot.
    That's precisely my point: with neither proper executable code in the MBR (since grub was installed to a partition, not to the MBR) nor a UEFI system partition, what does the firmware default to, and how does it know what partition to boot from?
    In that case it might fallback to UEFI Shell (if it exists)  or give an error similar to the case where BIOS does not find any bootable code in 440-byte MBR region.
    So even with bootcamp/CSM, the disk also needs to be MBR partitioned. So Macs use something called "Hybrid GPT/MBR" ( http://rodsbooks.com/gdisk/hybrid.html ) where the MBR table is synced to match the first 3 partitions in the GPT table.
    I know what Bootcamp does, and that's not what I was referring to. I was referring to standalone Vista installs. I wasn't puzzled at the fact that they were using MBR, I was puzzled at the fact that contrary to the recommendations for the standalone Arch install on the wiki (with MBR partitioning, not GPT), they didn't do anything to try and prevent Windows from writing to the MBR.
    You can't prevent Windows from overwriting the MBR region. You have to re-install the bootloader (grub2/syslinux etc.) after installing Windows. That is the reason why it is recommended to install Windows first and linux later.
    Thats not true. I actually find it is much easier to install Windows UEFI-GPT using USB rather than a DVD.
    I haven't done it since the only UEFI system I own has no DVD drive, but I was under the impression that it was simply a matter of choosing DVD UEFI boot in the firmware's boot menu.
    format the USB as FAT32 and extract the iso to it. That it.
    No, thats not it, precisely, it doesn't work out of the box with a standard Windows install USB, you need to fiddle around:
    2.3 Extract bootmgfw.efi from [WINDOWS_x86_64_ISO]/sources/install.wim => [INSTALL.WIM]/1/Windows/Boot/EFI/bootmgfw.efi (using 7-zip aka p7zip for both the files), or copy it from C:\Windows\Boot\EFI\bootmgfw.efi from a working Windows x86_64 installation.
    2.4 Copy the extracted bootmgfw.efi file to [MOUNTPOINT]/efi/microsoft/boot/bootmgfw.efi .
    Most of the Windows isos already have /EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI file, so no need to extract the bootmgfw.efi file.
    There is no difference between in BIOS booting in UEFI firmwares and BIOS booting with legacy firmware.
    There has to be a difference, at least in the Mac firmware (sorry, I keep switching), since legacy firmware, AFAIK, cannot chainload a bootloader in a partition's VBR without there being some sort of "stage1" code in the MBR.
    No idea about Mac EFI. Apple made a spagetti out of UEFI Spec. To actually understand how Mac firmwares work, read the blog posts by Matthew Garrett of Redhat, about his efforts in getting Fedora to boot in Macs.

  • System encryption using LUKS and GPG encrypted keys for arch linux

    Update: As of 2012-03-28, arch changed from gnupg 1.4 to 2.x which uses pinentry for the password dialog. The "etwo" hook described here doesn't work with gnupg 2. Either use the openssl hook below or use a statically compiled version of gnupg 1.4.
    Update: As of 2012-12-19, the mkinitcpio is not called during boot, unless the "install" file for the hook contains "add_runscript". This resulted in an unbootable system for me. Also, the method name was changed from install () to build ().
    Update: 2013-01-13: Updated the hook files using the corrections by Deth.
    Note: This guide is a bit dated now, in particular the arch installation might be different now. But essentially, the approach stays the same. Please also take a look at the posts further down, specifically the alternative hooks that use openssl.
    I always wanted to set up a fully encrypted arch linux server that uses gpg encrypted keyfiles on an external usb stick and luks for root filesystem encryption. I already did it once in gentoo using this guide. For arch, I had to play alot with initcpio hooks and after one day of experimentation, I finally got it working. I wrote a little guide for myself which I'm going to share here for anyone that might be interested. There might be better or easier ways, like I said this is just how I did it. I hope it might help someone else. Constructive feedback is always welcome
    Intro
    Using arch linux mkinitcpio's encrypt hook, one can easily use encrypted root partitions with LUKS. It's also possible to use key files stored on an external drive, like an usb stick. However, if someone steals your usb stick, he can just copy the key and potentially access the system. I wanted to have a little extra security by additionally encrypting the key file with gpg using a symmetric cipher and a passphrase.
    Since the encrypt hook doesn't support this scenario, I created a modifed hook called “etwo” (silly name I know, it was the first thing that came to my mind). It will simply look if the key file has the extension .gpg and, if yes, use gpg to decrypt it, then pipe the result into cryptsetup.
    Conventions
    In this short guide, I use the following disk/partition names:
    /dev/sda: is the hard disk that will contain an encrypted swap (/dev/sda1), /var (/dev/sda2) and root (/dev/sda3) partition.
    /dev/sdb is the usb stick that will contain the gpg encrypted luks keys, the kernel and grub. It will have one partition /dev/sdb1 formatted with ext2.
    /dev/mapper/root, /dev/mapper/swap and /dev/mapper/var will be the encrypted devices.
    Credits
    Thanks to the authors of SECURITY_System_Encryption_DM-Crypt_with_LUKS (gentoo wiki), System Encryption with LUKS (arch wiki), mkinitcpio (arch wiki) and Early Userspace in Arch Linux (/dev/brain0 blog)!
    Guide
    1. Boot the arch live cd
    I had to use a newer testing version, because the 2010.05 cd came with a broken gpg. You can download one here: http://releng.archlinux.org/isos/. I chose the “core“ version. Go ahead and boot the live cd, but don't start the setup yet.
    2. Set keymap
    Use km to set your keymap. This is important for non-qwerty keyboards to avoid suprises with passphrases...
    3. Wipe your discs
    ATTENTION: this will DELETE everything on /dev/sda and /dev/sdb forever! Do not blame me for any lost data!
    Before encrypting the hard disc, it has to be completely wiped and overwritten with random data. I used shred for this. Others use badblocks or dd with /dev/urandom. Either way, this will take a long time, depending on the size of your disc. I also wiped my usb stick just to be sure.
    shred -v /dev/sda
    shred -v /dev/sdb
    4. Partitioning
    Fire up fdisk and create the following partitions:
    /dev/sda1, type linux swap.
    /dev/sda2: type linux
    /dev/sda3: type linux
    /dev/sdb1, type linux
    Of course you can choose a different layout, this is just how I did it. Keep in mind that only the root filesystem will be decrypted by the initcpio. The rest will be decypted during normal init boot using /etc/crypttab, the keys being somewhere on the root filesystem.
    5. Format  and mount the usb stick
    Create an ext2 filesystem on /dev/sdb1:
    mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1
    mkdir /root/usb
    mount /dev/sdb1 /root/usb
    cd /root/usb # this will be our working directory for now.
    Do not mount anything to /mnt, because the arch installer will use that directory later to mount the encrypted root filesystem.
    6. Configure the network (if not already done automatically)
    ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0
    route add default gw 192.168.0.1
    echo "nameserver 192.168.0.1" >> /etc/resolv.conf
    (this is just an example, your mileage may vary)
    7. Install gnupg
    pacman -Sy
    pacman -S gnupg
    Verify that gnupg works by launching gpg.
    8. Create the keys
    Just to be sure, make sure swap is off:
    cat /proc/swaps
    should return no entries.
    Create gpg encrypted keys (remember, we're still in our working dir /root/usb):
    dd if=/dev/urandom bs=512 count=4 | gpg -v --cipher-algo aes256 --digest-algo sha512 -c -a > root.gpg
    dd if=/dev/urandom bs=512 count=4 | gpg -v --cipher-algo aes256 --digest-algo sha512 -c -a > var.gpg
    Choose a strong password!!
    Don't do this in two steps, e.g don't do dd to a file and then gpg on that file. The key should never be stored in plain text on an unencrypted device, except if that device is wiped on system restart (ramfs)!
    Note that the default cipher for gpg is cast5, I just chose to use a different one.
    9. Create the encrypted devices with cryptsetup
    Create encrypted swap:
    cryptsetup -c aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 -s 256 -h whirlpool -d /dev/urandom create swap /dev/sda1
    You should see /dev/mapper/swap now. Don't format nor turn it on for now. This will be done by the arch installer.
    Important: From the Cryptsetup 1.1.2 Release notes:
    Cryptsetup can accept passphrase on stdin (standard input). Handling of new line (\n) character is defined by input specification:
        if keyfile is specified as "-" (using --key-file=- or by positional argument in luksFormat and luksAddKey, like cat file | cryptsetup --key-file=- <action> ), input is processed
          as normal binary file and no new line is interpreted.
        if there is no key file specification (with default input from stdin pipe like echo passphrase | cryptsetup <action> ) input is processed as input from terminal, reading will
          stop after new line is detected.
    If I understand this correctly, since the randomly generated key can contain a newline early on, piping the key into cryptsetup without specifying --key-file=- could result in a big part of the key to be ignored by cryptsetup. Example: if the random key was "foo\nandsomemorebaratheendofthekey", piping it directly into cryptsetup without --key-file=- would result in cryptsetup using only "foo" as key which would have big security implications. We should therefor ALWAYS pipe the key into cryptsetup using --key-file=- which ignores newlines.
    gpg -q -d root.gpg 2>/dev/null | cryptsetup -v -–key-file=- -c aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 -s 256 -h whirlpool luksFormat /dev/sda3
    gpg -q -d var.gpg 2>/dev/null | cryptsetup -v –-key-file=- -c aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 -s 256 -h whirlpool -v luksFormat /dev/sda2
    Check for any errors.
    10. Open the luks devices
    gpg -d root.gpg 2>/dev/null | cryptsetup -v –-key-file=- luksOpen /dev/sda3 root
    gpg -d var.gpg 2>/dev/null | cryptsetup -v –-key-file=- luksOpen /dev/sda2 var
    If you see /dev/mapper/root and /dev/mapper/var now, everything is ok.
    11. Start the installer /arch/setup
    Follow steps 1 to 3.
    At step 4 (Prepare hard drive(s), select “3 – Manually Configure block devices, filesystems and mountpoints. Choose /dev/sdb1 (the usb stick) as /boot, /dev/mapper/swap for swap, /dev/mapper/root for / and /dev/mapper/var for /var.
    Format all drives (choose “yes” when asked “do you want to have this filesystem (re)created”) EXCEPT for /dev/sdb1, choose “no”. Choose the correct filesystem for /dev/sdb1, ext2 in my case. Use swap for /dev/mapper/swap. For the rest, I chose ext4.
    Select DONE to start formatting.
    At step 5 (Select packages), select grub as boot loader. Select the base group. Add mkinitcpio.
    Start step 6 (Install packages).
    Go to step 7 (Configure System).
    By sure to set the correct KEYMAP, LOCALE and TIMEZONE in /etc/rc.conf.
    Edit /etc/fstab:
    /dev/mapper/root / ext4 defaults 0 1
    /dev/mapper/swap swap swap defaults 0 0
    /dev/mapper/var /var ext4 defaults 0 1
    # /dev/sdb1 /boot ext2 defaults 0 1
    Configure the rest normally. When you're done, setup will launch mkinitcpio. We'll manually launch this again later.
    Go to step 8 (install boot loader).
    Be sure to change the kernel line in menu.lst:
    kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/mapper/root cryptdevice=/dev/sda3:root cryptkey=/dev/sdb1:ext2:/root.gpg
    Don't forget the :root suffix in cryptdevice!
    Also, my root line was set to (hd1,0). Had to change that to
    root (hd0,0)
    Install grub to /dev/sdb (the usb stick).
    Now, we can exit the installer.
    12. Install mkinitcpio with the etwo hook.
    Create /mnt/lib/initcpio/hooks/etwo:
    #!/usr/bin/ash
    run_hook() {
    /sbin/modprobe -a -q dm-crypt >/dev/null 2>&1
    if [ -e "/sys/class/misc/device-mapper" ]; then
    if [ ! -e "/dev/mapper/control" ]; then
    /bin/mknod "/dev/mapper/control" c $(cat /sys/class/misc/device-mapper/dev | sed 's|:| |')
    fi
    [ "${quiet}" = "y" ] && CSQUIET=">/dev/null"
    # Get keyfile if specified
    ckeyfile="/crypto_keyfile"
    usegpg="n"
    if [ "x${cryptkey}" != "x" ]; then
    ckdev="$(echo "${cryptkey}" | cut -d: -f1)"
    ckarg1="$(echo "${cryptkey}" | cut -d: -f2)"
    ckarg2="$(echo "${cryptkey}" | cut -d: -f3)"
    if poll_device "${ckdev}" ${rootdelay}; then
    case ${ckarg1} in
    *[!0-9]*)
    # Use a file on the device
    # ckarg1 is not numeric: ckarg1=filesystem, ckarg2=path
    if [ "${ckarg2#*.}" = "gpg" ]; then
    ckeyfile="${ckeyfile}.gpg"
    usegpg="y"
    fi
    mkdir /ckey
    mount -r -t ${ckarg1} ${ckdev} /ckey
    dd if=/ckey/${ckarg2} of=${ckeyfile} >/dev/null 2>&1
    umount /ckey
    # Read raw data from the block device
    # ckarg1 is numeric: ckarg1=offset, ckarg2=length
    dd if=${ckdev} of=${ckeyfile} bs=1 skip=${ckarg1} count=${ckarg2} >/dev/null 2>&1
    esac
    fi
    [ ! -f ${ckeyfile} ] && echo "Keyfile could not be opened. Reverting to passphrase."
    fi
    if [ -n "${cryptdevice}" ]; then
    DEPRECATED_CRYPT=0
    cryptdev="$(echo "${cryptdevice}" | cut -d: -f1)"
    cryptname="$(echo "${cryptdevice}" | cut -d: -f2)"
    else
    DEPRECATED_CRYPT=1
    cryptdev="${root}"
    cryptname="root"
    fi
    warn_deprecated() {
    echo "The syntax 'root=${root}' where '${root}' is an encrypted volume is deprecated"
    echo "Use 'cryptdevice=${root}:root root=/dev/mapper/root' instead."
    if poll_device "${cryptdev}" ${rootdelay}; then
    if /sbin/cryptsetup isLuks ${cryptdev} >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    [ ${DEPRECATED_CRYPT} -eq 1 ] && warn_deprecated
    dopassphrase=1
    # If keyfile exists, try to use that
    if [ -f ${ckeyfile} ]; then
    if [ "${usegpg}" = "y" ]; then
    # gpg tty fixup
    if [ -e /dev/tty ]; then mv /dev/tty /dev/tty.backup; fi
    cp -a /dev/console /dev/tty
    while [ ! -e /dev/mapper/${cryptname} ];
    do
    sleep 2
    /usr/bin/gpg -d "${ckeyfile}" 2>/dev/null | cryptsetup --key-file=- luksOpen ${cryptdev} ${cryptname} ${CSQUIET}
    dopassphrase=0
    done
    rm /dev/tty
    if [ -e /dev/tty.backup ]; then mv /dev/tty.backup /dev/tty; fi
    else
    if eval /sbin/cryptsetup --key-file ${ckeyfile} luksOpen ${cryptdev} ${cryptname} ${CSQUIET}; then
    dopassphrase=0
    else
    echo "Invalid keyfile. Reverting to passphrase."
    fi
    fi
    fi
    # Ask for a passphrase
    if [ ${dopassphrase} -gt 0 ]; then
    echo ""
    echo "A password is required to access the ${cryptname} volume:"
    #loop until we get a real password
    while ! eval /sbin/cryptsetup luksOpen ${cryptdev} ${cryptname} ${CSQUIET}; do
    sleep 2;
    done
    fi
    if [ -e "/dev/mapper/${cryptname}" ]; then
    if [ ${DEPRECATED_CRYPT} -eq 1 ]; then
    export root="/dev/mapper/root"
    fi
    else
    err "Password succeeded, but ${cryptname} creation failed, aborting..."
    exit 1
    fi
    elif [ -n "${crypto}" ]; then
    [ ${DEPRECATED_CRYPT} -eq 1 ] && warn_deprecated
    msg "Non-LUKS encrypted device found..."
    if [ $# -ne 5 ]; then
    err "Verify parameter format: crypto=hash:cipher:keysize:offset:skip"
    err "Non-LUKS decryption not attempted..."
    return 1
    fi
    exe="/sbin/cryptsetup create ${cryptname} ${cryptdev}"
    tmp=$(echo "${crypto}" | cut -d: -f1)
    [ -n "${tmp}" ] && exe="${exe} --hash \"${tmp}\""
    tmp=$(echo "${crypto}" | cut -d: -f2)
    [ -n "${tmp}" ] && exe="${exe} --cipher \"${tmp}\""
    tmp=$(echo "${crypto}" | cut -d: -f3)
    [ -n "${tmp}" ] && exe="${exe} --key-size \"${tmp}\""
    tmp=$(echo "${crypto}" | cut -d: -f4)
    [ -n "${tmp}" ] && exe="${exe} --offset \"${tmp}\""
    tmp=$(echo "${crypto}" | cut -d: -f5)
    [ -n "${tmp}" ] && exe="${exe} --skip \"${tmp}\""
    if [ -f ${ckeyfile} ]; then
    exe="${exe} --key-file ${ckeyfile}"
    else
    exe="${exe} --verify-passphrase"
    echo ""
    echo "A password is required to access the ${cryptname} volume:"
    fi
    eval "${exe} ${CSQUIET}"
    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    err "Non-LUKS device decryption failed. verify format: "
    err " crypto=hash:cipher:keysize:offset:skip"
    exit 1
    fi
    if [ -e "/dev/mapper/${cryptname}" ]; then
    if [ ${DEPRECATED_CRYPT} -eq 1 ]; then
    export root="/dev/mapper/root"
    fi
    else
    err "Password succeeded, but ${cryptname} creation failed, aborting..."
    exit 1
    fi
    else
    err "Failed to open encryption mapping: The device ${cryptdev} is not a LUKS volume and the crypto= paramater was not specified."
    fi
    fi
    rm -f ${ckeyfile}
    fi
    Create /mnt/lib/initcpio/install/etwo:
    #!/bin/bash
    build() {
    local mod
    add_module dm-crypt
    if [[ $CRYPTO_MODULES ]]; then
    for mod in $CRYPTO_MODULES; do
    add_module "$mod"
    done
    else
    add_all_modules '/crypto/'
    fi
    add_dir "/dev/mapper"
    add_binary "cryptsetup"
    add_binary "dmsetup"
    add_binary "/usr/bin/gpg"
    add_file "/usr/lib/udev/rules.d/10-dm.rules"
    add_file "/usr/lib/udev/rules.d/13-dm-disk.rules"
    add_file "/usr/lib/udev/rules.d/95-dm-notify.rules"
    add_file "/usr/lib/initcpio/udev/11-dm-initramfs.rules" "/usr/lib/udev/rules.d/11-dm-initramfs.rules"
    add_runscript
    help ()
    cat<<HELPEOF
    This hook allows for an encrypted root device with support for gpg encrypted key files.
    To use gpg, the key file must have the extension .gpg and you have to install gpg and add /usr/bin/gpg
    to your BINARIES var in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf.
    HELPEOF
    Edit /mnt/etc/mkinitcpio.conf (only relevant sections displayed):
    MODULES=”ext2 ext4” # not sure if this is really nessecary.
    BINARIES=”/usr/bin/gpg” # this could probably be done in install/etwo...
    HOOKS=”base udev usbinput keymap autodetect pata scsi sata usb etwo filesystems” # (usbinput is only needed if you have an usb keyboard)
    Copy the initcpio stuff over to the live cd:
    cp /mnt/lib/initcpio/hooks/etwo /lib/initcpio/hooks/
    cp /mnt/lib/initcpio/install/etwo /lib/initcpio/install/
    cp /mnt/etc/mkinitcpio.conf /etc/
    Verify your LOCALE, KEYMAP and TIMEZONE in /etc/rc.conf!
    Now reinstall the initcpio:
    mkinitcpio -g /mnt/boot/kernel26.img
    Make sure there were no errors and that all hooks were included.
    13. Decrypt the "var" key to the encrypted root
    mkdir /mnt/keys
    chmod 500 /mnt/keys
    gpg –output /mnt/keys/var -d /mnt/boot/var.gpg
    chmod 400 /mnt/keys/var
    14. Setup crypttab
    Edit /mnt/etc/crypttab:
    swap /dev/sda1 SWAP -c aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 -s 256 -h whirlpool
    var /dev/sda2 /keys/var
    15. Reboot
    We're done, you may reboot. Make sure you select the usb stick as the boot device in your bios and hope for the best. . If it didn't work, play with grub's settings or boot from the live cd, mount your encrypted devices and check all settings. You might also have less trouble by using uuid's instead of device names.  I chose device names to keep things as simple as possible, even though it's not the optimal way to do it.
    Make backups of your data and your usb stick and do not forget your password(s)! Or you can say goodbye to your data forever...
    Last edited by fabriceb (2013-01-15 22:36:23)

    I'm trying to run my install script that is based on https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=129885
    Decrypting the gpg key after grub works, but then "Devce root already exists." appears every second.
    any idea ?
    #!/bin/bash
    # This script is designed to be run in conjunction with a UEFI boot using Archboot intall media.
    # prereqs:
    # EFI "BIOS" set to boot *only* from EFI
    # successful EFI boot of Archboot USB
    # mount /dev/sdb1 /src
    set -o nounset
    #set -o errexit
    # Host specific configuration
    # this whole script needs to be customized, particularly disk partitions
    # and configuration, but this section contains global variables that
    # are used during the system configuration phase for convenience
    HOSTNAME=daniel
    USERNAME=user
    # Globals
    # We don't need to set these here but they are used repeatedly throughout
    # so it makes sense to reuse them and allow an easy, one-time change if we
    # need to alter values such as the install target mount point.
    INSTALL_TARGET="/install"
    HR="--------------------------------------------------------------------------------"
    PACMAN="pacman --noconfirm --config /tmp/pacman.conf"
    TARGET_PACMAN="pacman --noconfirm --config /tmp/pacman.conf -r ${INSTALL_TARGET}"
    CHROOT_PACMAN="pacman --noconfirm --cachedir /var/cache/pacman/pkg --config /tmp/pacman.conf -r ${INSTALL_TARGET}"
    FILE_URL="file:///packages/core-$(uname -m)/pkg"
    FTP_URL='ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch'
    HTTP_URL='http://mirrors.kernel.org/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch'
    # Functions
    # I've avoided using functions in this script as they aren't required and
    # I think it's more of a learning tool if you see the step-by-step
    # procedures even with minor duplciations along the way, but I feel that
    # these functions clarify the particular steps of setting values in config
    # files.
    SetValue () {
    # EXAMPLE: SetValue VARIABLENAME '\"Quoted Value\"' /file/path
    VALUENAME="$1" NEWVALUE="$2" FILEPATH="$3"
    sed -i "s+^#\?\(${VALUENAME}\)=.*$+\1=${NEWVALUE}+" "${FILEPATH}"
    CommentOutValue () {
    VALUENAME="$1" FILEPATH="$2"
    sed -i "s/^\(${VALUENAME}.*\)$/#\1/" "${FILEPATH}"
    UncommentValue () {
    VALUENAME="$1" FILEPATH="$2"
    sed -i "s/^#\(${VALUENAME}.*\)$/\1/" "${FILEPATH}"
    # Initialize
    # Warn the user about impending doom, set up the network on eth0, mount
    # the squashfs images (Archboot does this normally, we're just filling in
    # the gaps resulting from the fact that we're doing a simple scripted
    # install). We also create a temporary pacman.conf that looks for packages
    # locally first before sourcing them from the network. It would be better
    # to do either *all* local or *all* network but we can't for two reasons.
    # 1. The Archboot installation image might have an out of date kernel
    # (currently the case) which results in problems when chrooting
    # into the install mount point to modprobe efivars. So we use the
    # package snapshot on the Archboot media to ensure our kernel is
    # the same as the one we booted with.
    # 2. Ideally we'd source all local then, but some critical items,
    # notably grub2-efi variants, aren't yet on the Archboot media.
    # Warn
    timer=9
    echo -e "\n\nMAC WARNING: This script is not designed for APPLE MAC installs and will potentially misconfigure boot to your existing OS X installation. STOP NOW IF YOU ARE ON A MAC.\n\n"
    echo -n "GENERAL WARNING: This procedure will completely format /dev/sda. Please cancel with ctrl-c to cancel within $timer seconds..."
    while [[ $timer -gt 0 ]]
    do
    sleep 1
    let timer-=1
    echo -en "$timer seconds..."
    done
    echo "STARTING"
    # Get Network
    echo -n "Waiting for network address.."
    #dhclient eth0
    dhcpcd -p eth0
    echo -n "Network address acquired."
    # Mount packages squashfs images
    umount "/packages/core-$(uname -m)"
    umount "/packages/core-any"
    rm -rf "/packages/core-$(uname -m)"
    rm -rf "/packages/core-any"
    mkdir -p "/packages/core-$(uname -m)"
    mkdir -p "/packages/core-any"
    modprobe -q loop
    modprobe -q squashfs
    mount -o ro,loop -t squashfs "/src/packages/archboot_packages_$(uname -m).squashfs" "/packages/core-$(uname -m)"
    mount -o ro,loop -t squashfs "/src/packages/archboot_packages_any.squashfs" "/packages/core-any"
    # Create temporary pacman.conf file
    cat << PACMANEOF > /tmp/pacman.conf
    [options]
    Architecture = auto
    CacheDir = ${INSTALL_TARGET}/var/cache/pacman/pkg
    CacheDir = /packages/core-$(uname -m)/pkg
    CacheDir = /packages/core-any/pkg
    [core]
    Server = ${FILE_URL}
    Server = ${FTP_URL}
    Server = ${HTTP_URL}
    [extra]
    Server = ${FILE_URL}
    Server = ${FTP_URL}
    Server = ${HTTP_URL}
    #Uncomment to enable pacman -Sy yaourt
    [archlinuxfr]
    Server = http://repo.archlinux.fr/\$arch
    PACMANEOF
    # Prepare pacman
    [[ ! -d "${INSTALL_TARGET}/var/cache/pacman/pkg" ]] && mkdir -m 755 -p "${INSTALL_TARGET}/var/cache/pacman/pkg"
    [[ ! -d "${INSTALL_TARGET}/var/lib/pacman" ]] && mkdir -m 755 -p "${INSTALL_TARGET}/var/lib/pacman"
    ${PACMAN} -Sy
    ${TARGET_PACMAN} -Sy
    # Install prereqs from network (not on archboot media)
    echo -e "\nInstalling prereqs...\n$HR"
    #sed -i "s/^#S/S/" /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist # Uncomment all Server lines
    UncommentValue S /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist # Uncomment all Server lines
    ${PACMAN} --noconfirm -Sy gptfdisk btrfs-progs-unstable libusb-compat gnupg
    # Configure Host
    # Here we create three partitions:
    # 1. efi and /boot (one partition does double duty)
    # 2. swap
    # 3. our encrypted root
    # Note that all of these are on a GUID partition table scheme. This proves
    # to be quite clean and simple since we're not doing anything with MBR
    # boot partitions and the like.
    echo -e "format\n"
    # shred -v /dev/sda
    # disk prep
    sgdisk -Z /dev/sda # zap all on disk
    #sgdisk -Z /dev/mmcb1k0 # zap all on sdcard
    sgdisk -a 2048 -o /dev/sda # new gpt disk 2048 alignment
    #sgdisk -a 2048 -o /dev/mmcb1k0
    # create partitions
    sgdisk -n 1:0:+200M /dev/sda # partition 1 (UEFI BOOT), default start block, 200MB
    sgdisk -n 2:0:+4G /dev/sda # partition 2 (SWAP), default start block, 200MB
    sgdisk -n 3:0:0 /dev/sda # partition 3, (LUKS), default start, remaining space
    #sgdisk -n 1:0:1800M /dev/mmcb1k0 # root.gpg
    # set partition types
    sgdisk -t 1:ef00 /dev/sda
    sgdisk -t 2:8200 /dev/sda
    sgdisk -t 3:8300 /dev/sda
    #sgdisk -t 1:0700 /dev/mmcb1k0
    # label partitions
    sgdisk -c 1:"UEFI Boot" /dev/sda
    sgdisk -c 2:"Swap" /dev/sda
    sgdisk -c 3:"LUKS" /dev/sda
    #sgdisk -c 1:"Key" /dev/mmcb1k0
    echo -e "create gpg file\n"
    # create gpg file
    dd if=/dev/urandom bs=512 count=4 | gpg -v --cipher-algo aes256 --digest-algo sha512 -c -a > /root/root.gpg
    echo -e "format LUKS on root\n"
    # format LUKS on root
    gpg -q -d /root/root.gpg 2>/dev/null | cryptsetup -v --key-file=- -c aes-xts-plain -s 512 --hash sha512 luksFormat /dev/sda3
    echo -e "open LUKS on root\n"
    gpg -d /root/root.gpg 2>/dev/null | cryptsetup -v --key-file=- luksOpen /dev/sda3 root
    # NOTE: make sure to add dm_crypt and aes_i586 to MODULES in rc.conf
    # NOTE2: actually this isn't required since we're mounting an encrypted root and grub2/initramfs handles this before we even get to rc.conf
    # make filesystems
    # following swap related commands not used now that we're encrypting our swap partition
    #mkswap /dev/sda2
    #swapon /dev/sda2
    #mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3 # this is where we'd create an unencrypted root partition, but we're using luks instead
    echo -e "\nCreating Filesystems...\n$HR"
    # make filesystems
    mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/root
    mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/sda1
    #mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/mmcb1k0p1
    echo -e "mount targets\n"
    # mount target
    #mount /dev/sda3 ${INSTALL_TARGET} # this is where we'd mount the unencrypted root partition
    mount /dev/mapper/root ${INSTALL_TARGET}
    # mount target
    mkdir ${INSTALL_TARGET}
    # mkdir ${INSTALL_TARGET}/key
    # mount -t vfat /dev/mmcb1k0p1 ${INSTALL_TARGET}/key
    mkdir ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot
    mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot
    # Install base, necessary utilities
    mkdir -p ${INSTALL_TARGET}/var/lib/pacman
    ${TARGET_PACMAN} -Sy
    ${TARGET_PACMAN} -Su base
    # curl could be installed later but we want it ready for rankmirrors
    ${TARGET_PACMAN} -S curl
    ${TARGET_PACMAN} -S libusb-compat gnupg
    ${TARGET_PACMAN} -R grub
    rm -rf ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot/grub
    ${TARGET_PACMAN} -S grub2-efi-x86_64
    # Configure new system
    SetValue HOSTNAME ${HOSTNAME} ${INSTALL_TARGET}/etc/rc.conf
    sed -i "s/^\(127\.0\.0\.1.*\)$/\1 ${HOSTNAME}/" ${INSTALL_TARGET}/etc/hosts
    SetValue CONSOLEFONT Lat2-Terminus16 ${INSTALL_TARGET}/etc/rc.conf
    #following replaced due to netcfg
    #SetValue interface eth0 ${INSTALL_TARGET}/etc/rc.conf
    # write fstab
    # You can use UUID's or whatever you want here, of course. This is just
    # the simplest approach and as long as your drives aren't changing values
    # randomly it should work fine.
    cat > ${INSTALL_TARGET}/etc/fstab <<FSTAB_EOF
    # /etc/fstab: static file system information
    # <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
    tmpfs /tmp tmpfs nodev,nosuid 0 0
    /dev/sda1 /boot vfat defaults 0 0
    /dev/mapper/cryptswap none swap defaults 0 0
    /dev/mapper/root / ext4 defaults,noatime 0 1
    FSTAB_EOF
    # write etwo
    mkdir -p /lib/initcpio/hooks/
    mkdir -p /lib/initcpio/install/
    cp /src/etwo_hooks /lib/initcpio/hooks/etwo
    cp /src/etwo_install /lib/initcpio/install/etwo
    mkdir -p ${INSTALL_TARGET}/lib/initcpio/hooks/
    mkdir -p ${INSTALL_TARGET}/lib/initcpio/install/
    cp /src/etwo_hooks ${INSTALL_TARGET}/lib/initcpio/hooks/etwo
    cp /src/etwo_install ${INSTALL_TARGET}/lib/initcpio/install/etwo
    # write crypttab
    # encrypted swap (random passphrase on boot)
    echo cryptswap /dev/sda2 SWAP "-c aes-xts-plain -h whirlpool -s 512" >> ${INSTALL_TARGET}/etc/crypttab
    # copy configs we want to carry over to target from install environment
    mv ${INSTALL_TARGET}/etc/resolv.conf ${INSTALL_TARGET}/etc/resolv.conf.orig
    cp /etc/resolv.conf ${INSTALL_TARGET}/etc/resolv.conf
    mkdir -p ${INSTALL_TARGET}/tmp
    cp /tmp/pacman.conf ${INSTALL_TARGET}/tmp/pacman.conf
    # mount proc, sys, dev in install root
    mount -t proc proc ${INSTALL_TARGET}/proc
    mount -t sysfs sys ${INSTALL_TARGET}/sys
    mount -o bind /dev ${INSTALL_TARGET}/dev
    echo -e "umount boot\n"
    # we have to remount /boot from inside the chroot
    umount ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot
    # Create install_efi script (to be run *after* chroot /install)
    touch ${INSTALL_TARGET}/install_efi
    chmod a+x ${INSTALL_TARGET}/install_efi
    cat > ${INSTALL_TARGET}/install_efi <<EFI_EOF
    # functions (these could be a library, but why overcomplicate things
    SetValue () { VALUENAME="\$1" NEWVALUE="\$2" FILEPATH="\$3"; sed -i "s+^#\?\(\${VALUENAME}\)=.*\$+\1=\${NEWVALUE}+" "\${FILEPATH}"; }
    CommentOutValue () { VALUENAME="\$1" FILEPATH="\$2"; sed -i "s/^\(\${VALUENAME}.*\)\$/#\1/" "\${FILEPATH}"; }
    UncommentValue () { VALUENAME="\$1" FILEPATH="\$2"; sed -i "s/^#\(\${VALUENAME}.*\)\$/\1/" "\${FILEPATH}"; }
    echo -e "mount boot\n"
    # remount here or grub et al gets confused
    mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /boot
    # mkinitcpio
    # NOTE: intel_agp drm and i915 for intel graphics
    SetValue MODULES '\\"dm_mod dm_crypt aes_x86_64 ext2 ext4 vfat intel_agp drm i915\\"' /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
    SetValue HOOKS '\\"base udev pata scsi sata usb usbinput keymap consolefont etwo encrypt filesystems\\"' /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
    SetValue BINARIES '\\"/usr/bin/gpg\\"' /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
    mkinitcpio -p linux
    # kernel modules for EFI install
    modprobe efivars
    modprobe dm-mod
    # locale-gen
    UncommentValue de_AT /etc/locale.gen
    locale-gen
    # install and configure grub2
    # did this above
    #${CHROOT_PACMAN} -Sy
    #${CHROOT_PACMAN} -R grub
    #rm -rf /boot/grub
    #${CHROOT_PACMAN} -S grub2-efi-x86_64
    # you can be surprisingly sloppy with the root value you give grub2 as a kernel option and
    # even omit the cryptdevice altogether, though it will wag a finger at you for using
    # a deprecated syntax, so we're using the correct form here
    # NOTE: take out i915.modeset=1 unless you are on intel graphics
    SetValue GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX '\\"cryptdevice=/dev/sda3:root cryptkey=/dev/sda1:vfat:/root.gpg add_efi_memmap i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 i915.i915_enable_fbc=1 i915.lvds_downclock=1 pcie_aspm=force quiet\\"' /etc/default/grub
    # set output to graphical
    SetValue GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT gfxterm /etc/default/grub
    SetValue GRUB_GFXMODE 960x600x32,auto /etc/default/grub
    SetValue GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX keep /etc/default/grub # comment out this value if text only mode
    # install the actual grub2. Note that despite our --boot-directory option we will still need to move
    # the grub directory to /boot/grub during grub-mkconfig operations until grub2 gets patched (see below)
    grub_efi_x86_64-install --bootloader-id=grub --no-floppy --recheck
    # create our EFI boot entry
    # bug in the HP bios firmware (F.08)
    efibootmgr --create --gpt --disk /dev/sda --part 1 --write-signature --label "ARCH LINUX" --loader "\\\\grub\\\\grub.efi"
    # copy font for grub2
    cp /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 /boot/grub
    # generate config file
    grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
    exit
    EFI_EOF
    # Install EFI using script inside chroot
    chroot ${INSTALL_TARGET} /install_efi
    rm ${INSTALL_TARGET}/install_efi
    # Post install steps
    # anything you want to do post install. run the script automatically or
    # manually
    touch ${INSTALL_TARGET}/post_install
    chmod a+x ${INSTALL_TARGET}/post_install
    cat > ${INSTALL_TARGET}/post_install <<POST_EOF
    set -o errexit
    set -o nounset
    # functions (these could be a library, but why overcomplicate things
    SetValue () { VALUENAME="\$1" NEWVALUE="\$2" FILEPATH="\$3"; sed -i "s+^#\?\(\${VALUENAME}\)=.*\$+\1=\${NEWVALUE}+" "\${FILEPATH}"; }
    CommentOutValue () { VALUENAME="\$1" FILEPATH="\$2"; sed -i "s/^\(\${VALUENAME}.*\)\$/#\1/" "\${FILEPATH}"; }
    UncommentValue () { VALUENAME="\$1" FILEPATH="\$2"; sed -i "s/^#\(\${VALUENAME}.*\)\$/\1/" "\${FILEPATH}"; }
    # root password
    echo -e "${HR}\\nNew root user password\\n${HR}"
    passwd
    # add user
    echo -e "${HR}\\nNew non-root user password (username:${USERNAME})\\n${HR}"
    groupadd sudo
    useradd -m -g users -G audio,lp,optical,storage,video,games,power,scanner,network,sudo,wheel -s /bin/bash ${USERNAME}
    passwd ${USERNAME}
    # mirror ranking
    echo -e "${HR}\\nRanking Mirrors (this will take a while)\\n${HR}"
    cp /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.orig
    mv /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.all
    sed -i "s/#S/S/" /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.all
    rankmirrors -n 5 /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.all > /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    # temporary fix for locale.sh update conflict
    mv /etc/profile.d/locale.sh /etc/profile.d/locale.sh.preupdate || true
    # yaourt repo (add to target pacman, not tmp pacman.conf, for ongoing use)
    echo -e "\\n[archlinuxfr]\\nServer = http://repo.archlinux.fr/\\\$arch" >> /etc/pacman.conf
    echo -e "\\n[haskell]\\nServer = http://www.kiwilight.com/\\\$repo/\\\$arch" >> /etc/pacman.conf
    # additional groups and utilities
    pacman --noconfirm -Syu
    pacman --noconfirm -S base-devel
    pacman --noconfirm -S yaourt
    # sudo
    pacman --noconfirm -S sudo
    cp /etc/sudoers /tmp/sudoers.edit
    sed -i "s/#\s*\(%wheel\s*ALL=(ALL)\s*ALL.*$\)/\1/" /tmp/sudoers.edit
    sed -i "s/#\s*\(%sudo\s*ALL=(ALL)\s*ALL.*$\)/\1/" /tmp/sudoers.edit
    visudo -qcsf /tmp/sudoers.edit && cat /tmp/sudoers.edit > /etc/sudoers
    # power
    pacman --noconfirm -S acpi acpid acpitool cpufrequtils
    yaourt --noconfirm -S powertop2
    sed -i "/^DAEMONS/ s/)/ @acpid)/" /etc/rc.conf
    sed -i "/^MODULES/ s/)/ acpi-cpufreq cpufreq_ondemand cpufreq_powersave coretemp)/" /etc/rc.conf
    # following requires my acpi handler script
    echo "/etc/acpi/handler.sh boot" > /etc/rc.local
    # time
    pacman --noconfirm -S ntp
    sed -i "/^DAEMONS/ s/hwclock /!hwclock @ntpd /" /etc/rc.conf
    # wireless (wpa supplicant should already be installed)
    pacman --noconfirm -S iw wpa_supplicant rfkill
    pacman --noconfirm -S netcfg wpa_actiond ifplugd
    mv /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf.orig
    echo -e "ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=network\nupdate_config=1" > /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
    # make sure to copy /etc/network.d/examples/wireless-wpa-config to /etc/network.d/home and edit
    sed -i "/^DAEMONS/ s/)/ @net-auto-wireless @net-auto-wired)/" /etc/rc.conf
    sed -i "/^DAEMONS/ s/ network / /" /etc/rc.conf
    echo -e "\nWIRELESS_INTERFACE=wlan0" >> /etc/rc.conf
    echo -e "WIRED_INTERFACE=eth0" >> /etc/rc.conf
    echo "options iwlagn led_mode=2" > /etc/modprobe.d/iwlagn.conf
    # sound
    pacman --noconfirm -S alsa-utils alsa-plugins
    sed -i "/^DAEMONS/ s/)/ @alsa)/" /etc/rc.conf
    mv /etc/asound.conf /etc/asound.conf.orig || true
    #if alsamixer isn't working, try alsamixer -Dhw and speaker-test -Dhw -c 2
    # video
    pacman --noconfirm -S base-devel mesa mesa-demos
    # x
    #pacman --noconfirm -S xorg xorg-xinit xorg-utils xorg-server-utils xdotool xorg-xlsfonts
    #yaourt --noconfirm -S xf86-input-wacom-git # NOT NEEDED? input-wacom-git
    #TODO: cut down the install size
    #pacman --noconfirm -S xorg-server xorg-xinit xorg-utils xorg-server-utils
    # TODO: wacom
    # environment/wm/etc.
    #pacman --noconfirm -S xfce4 compiz ccsm
    #pacman --noconfirm -S xcompmgr
    #yaourt --noconfirm -S physlock unclutter
    #pacman --noconfirm -S rxvt-unicode urxvt-url-select hsetroot
    #pacman --noconfirm -S gtk2 #gtk3 # for taffybar?
    #pacman --noconfirm -S ghc
    # note: try installing alex and happy from cabal instead
    #pacman --noconfirm -S haskell-platform haskell-hscolour
    #yaourt --noconfirm -S xmonad-darcs xmonad-contrib-darcs xcompmgr
    #yaourt --noconfirm -S xmobar-git
    # TODO: edit xfce to use compiz
    # TODO: xmonad, but deal with video tearing
    # TODO: xmonad-darcs fails to install from AUR. haskell dependency hell.
    # switching to cabal
    # fonts
    pacman --noconfirm -S terminus-font
    yaourt --noconfirm -S webcore-fonts
    yaourt --noconfirm -S fontforge libspiro
    yaourt --noconfirm -S freetype2-git-infinality
    # TODO: sed infinality and change to OSX or OSX2 mode
    # and create the sym link from /etc/fonts/conf.avail to conf.d
    # misc apps
    #pacman --noconfirm -S htop openssh keychain bash-completion git vim
    #pacman --noconfirm -S chromium flashplugin
    #pacman --noconfirm -S scrot mypaint bc
    #yaourt --noconfirm -S task-git stellarium googlecl
    # TODO: argyll
    POST_EOF
    # Post install in chroot
    #echo "chroot and run /post_install"
    chroot /install /post_install
    rm /install/post_install
    # copy grub.efi file to the default HP EFI boot manager path
    mkdir -p ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot/EFI/Microsoft/BOOT/
    mkdir -p ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot/EFI/BOOT/
    cp ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot/grub/grub.efi ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot/EFI/Microsoft/BOOT/bootmgfw.efi
    cp ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot/grub/grub.efi ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI
    cp /root/root.gpg ${INSTALL_TARGET}/boot/
    # NOTES/TODO

  • Recovering earlier installed Windows 7 after installing Arch Linux

    I'm trying to boot windows on my ASUS notebook.
    There was windows 7 from the very beginning (disks C:\ and D:\), then I divided disk D:\ on several partitions and installed Arch Linux. I overwrited Windows boot information by boot part of Linux. Now I want to recover windows, that I still have on hard drive. It doesn's matter what there will be: dualboot or only windows (but dualboot is prefered).
    Disk info:
    [jhon@fckrsns ~]$ sudo fdisk -l
    Disk /dev/sda: 698.7 GiB, 750156374016 bytes, 1465149168 sectors
    Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
    Disklabel type: gpt
    Disk identifier: 1AFC9DFF-CD3B-4CE1-8CAF-41C3E5B75772
    Device Start End Size Type
    /dev/sda1 2048 411647 200M EFI System
    /dev/sda2 411648 673791 128M Microsoft reserved
    /dev/sda3 673792 586731519 279.5G Microsoft basic data
    /dev/sda4 586731520 691589119 50G Linux filesystem
    /dev/sda5 1412718592 1465147391 25G Windows recovery environment
    /dev/sda6 691589120 901304319 100G Linux filesystem
    /dev/sda7 901304320 1412718591 243.9G Microsoft basic data
    [jhon@fckrsns ~]$ lsblk
    NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
    sda 8:0 0 698.7G 0 disk
    ├─sda1 8:1 0 200M 0 part /boot
    ├─sda2 8:2 0 128M 0 part
    ├─sda3 8:3 0 279.5G 0 part
    ├─sda4 8:4 0 50G 0 part /
    ├─sda5 8:5 0 25G 0 part
    ├─sda6 8:6 0 100G 0 part /home
    └─sda7 8:7 0 243.9G 0 part
    sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom
    [jhon@fckrsns ~]$ lsblk -f
    NAME FSTYPE LABEL UUID MOUNTPOINT
    sda
    ├─sda1 vfat 4DEB-D6D2 /boot
    ├─sda2
    ├─sda3 ntfs OS 62364BE9364BBCB3
    ├─sda4 ext4 c4da4683-871a-49fa-96a3-4da11387d31d /
    ├─sda5 ntfs Recovery 8ECE4F50CE4F2FAF
    ├─sda6 ext4 3eba01c6-e422-4542-8442-16064c74a563 /home
    └─sda7 ntfs 3B29E7794F6CD932
    sr0
    OS partition (/dev/sda3):
    [jhon@fckrsns /]$ ls /run/media/jhon/OS
    altera Boot djvureader DrWeb Quarantine eSupport hiberfil.sys MSOCache N56VM.BIN pagefile.sys Program Files Recovery SecurityScanner.dll VisualCLibs
    AsusVibeData bootmgr Documents and Settings eclipse Games Intel MS.Office.2007.Portable.micro.v.1.16 N56VZ.BIN PerfLogs Program Files (x86) $Recycle.Bin System Volume Information Windows
    AVScanner.ini BOOTSECT.BAK DOSBox_SIM END gcc Keil_v5 mtd NVIDIA ProgramData Qt R.G. Catalyst Users
    I tried to recover MBR with different ways:
    with syslinux:
    [jhon@fckrsns /]$ sudo dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda
    0+1 records in
    0+1 records out
    440 bytes (440 B) copied, 0.0226394 s, 19.4 kB/s
    with ms-sys:
    [jhon@fckrsns /]$ sudo ms-sys --partition /dev/sda1
    Start sector 2048 (nr of hidden sectors) successfully written to /dev/sda1
    Physical disk drive id 0x80 (C:) successfully written to /dev/sda1
    Number of heads (255) successfully written to /dev/sda1
    [jhon@fckrsns /]$ sudo ms-sys --mbr7 /dev/sda
    Windows 7 master boot record successfully written to /dev/sda
    But there is still no way to boot windows.
    I run grub-mkconfig before and after these manipulations with MBR:
    [jhon@fckrsns ~]$ sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
    Generating grub configuration file ...
    Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-linux
    Found initrd image: /boot/initramfs-linux.img
    Found fallback initramfs image: /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img
    No volume groups found
    done
    [jhon@fckrsns /]$ sudo os-prober
    /dev/cdrom: open failed: No medium found
    No volume groups found
    I installed rEFInd, now I have two choices on boot screen: vmlinuz-linux, which it founded, and my earlier installed grub bootloader.
    Maybe I missed something, but i don't know what exactly.
    Last edited by Jhon (2014-09-28 16:45:38)

    Now I know that I don't need MBR at all (but google told me that recovering windows = recovering MBR..)
    Are there any ways to recover boot information on EFI system partition from Linux without using Windows Live CD and it's bootrec.exe?
    I have bootmgr and bootmgfw.efi files on /dev/sda3 (partition with windows installed), what else I need? Simple copy of bootmgfw.efi to /boot/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi and addition of custom menu item to /etc/grub.d/40_custom does'nt work. There is Windows now in rEFInd and GRUB menus, but there is error on loading.

  • [VIDEO TUTORIAL] Installing Arch Linux on GPT/LVM/GRUB2

    Hello everyone,
    I've recently switched over from running my machine on LVM with a MSDOS partition style, and I was tired of the limitations of it. Such as 4 primary partions or 3 primary and 1 extended. It was also hindering my flexibility since I had to make 1 primary partition that was /boot, which forced me to make an initram image if I wanted to put my / inside of the LVM. The only way I could truly fix all my problems was to move away from GRUB-Legacy (Which I love since it's so easy to configure) over to GRUB 2(Which is not as bad as I thought it was).
    I made this video to help people trying to do this combination. I also included the links to further information in the videos' description. It contains a link to GRUB 2 Architecture and moving over to GRUB (on IBM's site), and also ArchWiki resources for further reading.
    I hope you enjoy it.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69X9ZYA41xU
    After you finish doing this, you will end up with this style:
    GPT Partition Layout w/ Protective MBR.
    /dev/sda1 - BIOS Boot Partition
    /dev/sda2 - Linux LVM (arch is name of LVM)
    --> /dev/arch/boot - ext2
    --> /dev/arch/swap - swap
    --> /dev/arch/root - ext4
    --> /dev/arch/home - ext4

    As a complete newbie to partitioning on Linux I'd like to say how grateful I am to for making this.
    You've kept it clear, clean and simple which I appreciate.
    As most of my ventures into installing Linux is usually accompanied with a graphical installer a great deal of this is fairly alien. It could be nice to have a wiki entry just laying out a few examples for partitioning and setting up arch in various simple and exotic ways.
    Again, thank you for this contribution. (While I quickly transcribe the steps in your video and ready the 'man' command)
    Edit:
    Basic step by step transcription
    [root@archiso ~]# modprobe dm-mod
    [root@archiso ~]# dhcpcd
    [root@archiso ~]# pacman -Syy gptfdisk
    [root@archiso ~]# gdisk /dev/sda
    GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.1
    Partition table scan:
    MBR: not present
    BSD: not present
    APM: not present
    GPT: not present
    Creating new GPT entries.
    Command (? for help): [n]
    Partition number (1-128, default 1): [RETURN]
    First sector (34-[max], default = 34) or {+-}size{KMGTP}: [RETURN]
    Information: Moved requested sectory from 34 to 2048 in
    order to align on 2048-sector boundries.
    Use 'l' on the experts' menu to adjust alignment
    Last sector (2048-[max], default = [max]) or{+-}size{KMGTP}: [+32MB]
    Current type is 'Linux filesystem'
    Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300): [EF02]
    Changed type of partition to 'BIOS boot partition'
    Command (? for help): [n]
    Partition number (2-128, default 2): [RETURN]
    First sector (34-[max], default = 67584) or {+-}size{KMGTP}: [RETURN]
    Last sector (2048-[max], default = [max]) or {+-}size{KMGTP}: [RETURN]
    Current type is 'Linux filesystem'
    Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300): [8E00]
    Changed type of partition to 'Linux LVM'
    Command (? for help): [w]
    Final checks complete. About to write GPT data. THIS WILL OVERWRITE EXISTING PARTITIONS!!
    Do you want to proceed? (Y/N): [y]
    OK: writing new GUID partition table (GPT).
    The operaton has completed successfully.
    [root@archiso ~]# pvcreate /dev/sda2
    [root@archiso ~]# vgcreate arch /dev/sda2
    [root@archiso ~]# vgdisplay
    [root@archiso ~]# lvcreate -L 100M -n boot arch
    [root@archiso ~]# lvcreate -C y -L 1G -n swap arch
    [root@archiso ~]# lvcreate -L 10G -n root arch
    [root@archiso ~]# lvcreate -l 100%FREE -n home arch
    [root@archiso ~]# lvscan
    [root@archiso ~]# mkfs.ext2 /dev/arch/boot
    [root@archiso ~]# mkfs.ext4 /dev/arch/root
    [root@archiso ~]# mkfs.ext4 /dev/arch/home
    [root@archiso ~]# mkswap /dev/arch/swap
    [root@archiso ~]# /arch/setup
    Prepare Hard Drive
    3 Manually Configure block devices, filesystems andmountpoints
    Partition Access Method
    dev directly by /dev/* (most intuitive but devicefile names can change
    Manage Filesystems
    /dev/sda1 raw - 32MiB N
    /dev/mapper/arch-boot raw - 100MiB N > [IGNORE]
    /dev/mapper/arch-home raw - 91000MiB N > filesystem (re)created? [NO] > ext4 home
    /dev/mapper/arch-root raw - 10240MiB N > filesystem (re)created? [NO] > ext4 root
    /dev/mapper/arch-swap raw - 1024MiB N > filesystem (re)created? [NO] > swap
    Choose bootloader
    [SKIP]
    Configuration
    mkinitcpio > HOOKS="...lvm2..."
    DONE
    Exit
    [root@archiso ~]# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
    [root@archiso ~]# mount -t proc /proc /mnt/proc
    [root@archiso ~]# mount -t sysfs /sys /mnt/sys
    [root@archiso ~]# chroot /mnt /bin/bash
    [root@archiso /]# dhcpcd
    [root@archiso /]# pacman-db-upgrade
    [root@archiso /]# pacman -Syy grub2-bios
    [root@archiso /]# grub_bios-install --boot-directory=/boot --no-floppy --recheck --debug /dev/sda
    [root@archiso /]# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
    [root@archiso /]# exit
    [root@archiso ~]# reboot
    login
    [root@host ~]# $EDITOR /etc/default/grub
    #GRUB_GFXMODE=auto
    #GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
    #GRUB_COLOR_NORMAL="light-blue/black"
    #GRUB_COLOR_HIGHLIGHT="light-cyan/blue"
    [root@host ~]# chmod -x /etc/grub.d/10_linux
    [root@host ~]# $EDITOR /etc/grub.d/40_custom
    menuentry "Arch Linux" {
    insmod lvm
    set root=(arch-boot)
    linux /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/arch/root ro
    initrd /initramfs-linux.img
    menuentry "Arch Linux Fallback" {
    insmod lvm
    set root=(arch-boot)
    linux /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/arch/root ro
    initrd /initramfs-linux-fallback.img
    [root@host ~]# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
    [root@host ~]# reboot
    Last edited by Earnestly (2012-01-09 11:51:45)

  • (Arch) Linux Myths

    I have recently noticed that online forums and Linux user communities in particular are prone to developing what I'd like to call "technology myths".
    Most of the problems and solutions given on forums are anecdotal in nature. Problems are rarely sourced to the actual code and suggestions are often casual or incomplete which is of course natural for this kind of communication. However, as certain solutions are being repeated without clear feedback, some notions take deeper roots in the collective consciousness thus becoming myths. Let me illustrate with an example.
    How often have you seen people posting glxgears results? How often have you seen people replying "glxgears is not a benchmark"? Could you actually explain why it's not suitable to be one? The explanation is out there.
    Another example could be the myth that exporting INTEL_BATCH=1 increases performance on Intel integrated GPUs. I have seen this in circulation for a long time, despite the fact that the actual code that could be triggered by this environment variable has been removed a long time ago.
    As Arch Linux is rolling-release and a lot of code is being replaced rather rapidly, old and tried solutions are likely to become obsolete fast. I'd like to ask the Community to share their examples of other widely circulated myths and help keep an updated and sourced list of them (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Myths) so others will not waste their time trying solutions which are sure to fail.

    In my experience, outdated wiki pages tend to propagate this stuff, along with blog entries. The trouble with blog entries is that they're often fire-and-forget, which means that solutions that might have been necessary a while ago are now unsuitable or unnecessary.
    Wiki pages have no such excuse, being more fluid than blogs posts. This is particularly prevalent on the Arch Wiki, as Arch is a distribution with a small number but a large variety of (mostly) technically-experienced users who will often go to great lengths to increase performance or to accomodate for Rube Goldberg machine-like hardware or network setups. Thus, there are a lot of hacks on obscure pages (not, say, the Beginner's Guide or the major pages).
    What we need is a major overhaul and review of many of the shorter and more obscure wiki pages, such as any of the ones under Request:Correction and Request:Expansion. I've "rescued" a few pages from this purgatory, but many pages have sat there for months or years and I do not have the experience or knowledge to improve them. I think that we could gain a great deal from more community awareness about improving the wiki and trying to encourage people to edit more. Rather than the same editors working on more mainstream pages and ignoring or barely touching the more arcane ones, it might be preferable to have people with little editing experience but more technical experience to take a look at some of the pages, capitalizing on the cumulative knowledge of our userbase a bit more.
    Just a thought.

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