Installing Arch Linux after Windows 7 64bit dual boot

Total noob here ^^
Im trying to install Arch Linux after my installation of Windows 7, without fucking up that one...
I freed up 50GB and removed it from my Windows boot partition, so Arch can be installed there, I have almost absolutely no experience with this kind of stuff since I've only used Ubuntu and Kali Linux before.
I've got a working arch image on my usb stick and i somehow can't figure out, how to install it without touching the existing partitions.
Is it possible to create a working dual boot, without changing my windows configuration?

yes its possible. What research have you done in order to install Arch. We do not hand hold here in this community. Go read up the appropriate wiki pages and ask specific questions with details in case you get stuck.
Start with the Beginners Guide.

Similar Messages

Installed arch linux on windows 8 laptop and with GNOME

Hi all,
I am trying to learn more about linux and decided to go the Arch Linux way. I've battled through a bunch of issues before I got to this point so I might have fudged something along the way.
The current issue is that I install GNOME, and it boots up into GNOME, and I select my username and type my password, and then I see black screen with blinking cursor for 10 seconds after which I am returned to GNOME login screen. It doesn't do a system reboot before going back to the login screen.
The only way to stop this is to put in my livecd arch-linux usb drive and then delete GNOME, after which arch linux will boot back into terminal. (I wish I knew how to do this without using the usb drive)
What should I look at for hints? I don't see any output when this loop happens.
Thanks!

Ok that works and I can log in. However I don't see any familiar drives mounted. Anyway, I have the output from journalctl. Here it is
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost systemd[1]: Started User Manager for UID 120.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost org.a11y.Bus[311]: Activating service name='org.a11y.atspi.Registry'
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost org.a11y.Bus[311]: Successfully activated service 'org.a11y.atspi.Registry'
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost org.a11y.atspi.Registry[318]: SpiRegistry daemon is running with well-known name - org.a11y.atspi.Registry
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost gnome-session[307]: gnome-session[307]: WARNING: Could not parse desktop file orca-autostart.desktop or it references a not found TryExec binary
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost gnome-session[307]: WARNING: Could not parse desktop file orca-autostart.desktop or it references a not found TryExec binary
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.UPower' unit='upower.service'
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Daemon for power management...
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.UPower'
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost systemd[1]: Started Daemon for power management.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost upowerd[335]: (upowerd:335): UPower-Linux-WARNING **: energy 49.705840 bigger than full 49.698200
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost systemd[1]: Mounting FUSE Control File System...
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost kernel: fuse init (API version 7.23)
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost systemd[1]: Mounted FUSE Control File System.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.ColorManager' unit='colord.service'
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Manage, Install and Generate Color Profiles...
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost gnome-session[307]: Entering running state
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.ColorManager'
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost systemd[1]: Started Manage, Install and Generate Color Profiles.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.RealtimeKit1' unit='rtkit-daemon.service'
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost systemd[1]: Starting RealtimeKit Scheduling Policy Service...
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.RealtimeKit1'
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Successfully called chroot.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Successfully dropped privileges.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Successfully limited resources.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Running.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Canary thread running.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Watchdog thread running.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost systemd[1]: Started RealtimeKit Scheduling Policy Service.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (II) intel(0): EDID vendor "SHP", prod id 5153
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (II) intel(0): Printing DDC gathered Modelines:
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (II) intel(0): Modeline "3200x1800"x0.0 373.25 3200 3248 3280 3360 1800 1803 1808 1852 -hsync -vsync (111.1 kHz eP)
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Successfully made thread 381 of process 381 (/usr/bin/pulseaudio) owned by '120' high priority at nice level -11.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Supervising 1 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost colord[374]: /usr/lib/colord/colord-sane: error while loading shared libraries: libsane.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Supervising 1 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Successfully made thread 389 of process 381 (/usr/bin/pulseaudio) owned by '120' RT at priority 5.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost rtkit-daemon[382]: Supervising 2 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.bluez' unit='dbus-org.bluez.service'
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'dbus-org.bluez.service': Unit dbus-org.bluez.service failed to load: No such file or directory.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost pulseaudio[381]: [pulseaudio] module-gconf.c: Unable to read or parse data from client.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost pulseaudio[381]: [pulseaudio] module.c: Failed to load module "module-gconf" (argument: ""): initialization failed.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost pulseaudio[381]: [pulseaudio] main.c: Module load failed.
Mar 07 18:34:57 localhost pulseaudio[381]: [pulseaudio] bluez5-util.c: GetManagedObjects() failed: org.freedesktop.systemd1.LoadFailed: Unit dbus-org.bluez.service failed to load: No such file or directory.
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.locale1' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.locale1.service'
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Locale Service...
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.locale1'
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost systemd[1]: Started Locale Service.
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost gnome-session[307]: Gjs-Message: JS LOG: Failed to launch ibus-daemon: Failed to execute child process "ibus-daemon" (No such file or directory)
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.GeoClue2' unit='geoclue.service'
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Location Lookup Service...
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='fi.w1.wpa_supplicant1' unit='wpa_supplicant.service'
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost systemd[1]: Starting WPA supplicant...
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Successfully activated service 'fi.w1.wpa_supplicant1'
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost systemd[1]: Started WPA supplicant.
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.GeoClue2'
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost systemd[1]: Started Location Lookup Service.
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost polkitd[247]: Registered Authentication Agent for unix-session:c1 (system bus name :1.15 [gnome-shell --mode=gdm], object path /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale C)
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost gnome-session[307]: Gjs-Message: JS LOG: No permission to trigger offline updates: Polkit.Error: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Error.Failed: Action org.freedesktop.packagekit.trigger-offline-update is not registered
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost org.gnome.OnlineAccounts[311]: goa-daemon-Message: goa-daemon version 3.14.3 starting
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.UDisks2' unit='udisks2.service'
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Disk Manager...
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost udisksd[428]: udisks daemon version 2.1.4 starting
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost dbus[209]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.UDisks2'
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost udisksd[428]: Acquired the name org.freedesktop.UDisks2 on the system message bus
Mar 07 18:34:58 localhost systemd[1]: Started Disk Manager.
Mar 07 18:34:59 localhost gnome-session[307]: Gjs-Message: JS LOG: GNOME Shell started at Sat Mar 07 2015 18:34:58 GMT+0000 (UTC)
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost gdm-password][441]: pam_unix(gdm-password:session): session opened for user asadali by (uid=0)
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[1]: Starting user-1000.slice.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[1]: Created slice user-1000.slice.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[1]: Starting User Manager for UID 1000...
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: pam_unix(systemd-user:session): session opened for user asadali by (uid=0)
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Session c2 of user asadali.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd-logind[207]: New session c2 of user asadali.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[1]: Started Session c2 of user asadali.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Starting Sockets.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Reached target Sockets.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Starting Paths.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Reached target Paths.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Starting Timers.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Reached target Timers.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Starting Basic System.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Reached target Basic System.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Starting Default.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Reached target Default.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[445]: Startup finished in 4ms.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost systemd[1]: Started User Manager for UID 1000.
Mar 07 18:35:11 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (II) AIGLX: Suspending AIGLX clients for VT switch
Mar 07 18:35:32 localhost gnome-session[453]: WARNING: IceLockAuthFile failed: Permission denied
Mar 07 18:35:32 localhost gdm-password][441]: pam_unix(gdm-password:session): session closed for user asadali
Mar 07 18:35:32 localhost gnome-session[453]: gnome-session[453]: WARNING: IceLockAuthFile failed: Permission denied
Mar 07 18:35:32 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (II) AIGLX: Resuming AIGLX clients after VT switch
Mar 07 18:35:32 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (II) intel(0): switch to mode [email protected] on eDP1 using pipe 0, position (0, 0), rotation normal, reflection none
Mar 07 18:35:32 localhost gdm-session-worker[441]: <3>GLib: Source ID 39 was not found when attempting to remove it
Mar 07 18:35:32 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (--) synaptics: DLL0665:01 06CB:76AD UNKNOWN: touchpad found
Mar 07 18:37:09 localhost gdm-password][475]: pam_unix(gdm-password:session): session opened for user asadali by (uid=0)
Mar 07 18:37:09 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Session c3 of user asadali.
Mar 07 18:37:09 localhost systemd-logind[207]: New session c3 of user asadali.
Mar 07 18:37:09 localhost systemd[1]: Started Session c3 of user asadali.
Mar 07 18:37:09 localhost gdm[213]: GLib-GObject: g_object_set_data: assertion 'G_IS_OBJECT (object)' failed
Mar 07 18:37:09 localhost gdm[213]: GLib-GObject: g_object_get: assertion 'G_IS_OBJECT (object)' failed
Mar 07 18:37:09 localhost gdm[213]: GLib-GObject: g_object_set_data_full: assertion 'G_IS_OBJECT (object)' failed
Mar 07 18:37:09 localhost gdm[213]: gdm_display_get_timed_login_details: assertion 'GDM_IS_DISPLAY (display)' failed
Mar 07 18:37:10 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (II) AIGLX: Suspending AIGLX clients for VT switch
Mar 07 18:37:30 localhost gnome-session[484]: WARNING: IceLockAuthFile failed: Permission denied
Mar 07 18:37:30 localhost gnome-session[484]: gnome-session[484]: WARNING: IceLockAuthFile failed: Permission denied
Mar 07 18:37:30 localhost gdm-password][475]: pam_unix(gdm-password:session): session closed for user asadali
Mar 07 18:37:30 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (II) AIGLX: Resuming AIGLX clients after VT switch
Mar 07 18:37:30 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (II) intel(0): switch to mode [email protected] on eDP1 using pipe 0, position (0, 0), rotation normal, reflection none
Mar 07 18:37:30 localhost gdm-session-worker[475]: <3>GLib: Source ID 40 was not found when attempting to remove it
Mar 07 18:37:30 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (--) synaptics: DLL0665:01 06CB:76AD UNKNOWN: touchpad found
Mar 07 18:37:34 localhost gdm-Xorg-:0[241]: (II) AIGLX: Suspending AIGLX clients for VT switch
Mar 07 18:38:21 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Getty on tty4...
Mar 07 18:38:21 localhost systemd[1]: Started Getty on tty4.
Mar 07 18:38:27 localhost login[503]: pam_unix(login:session): session opened for user asadali by LOGIN(uid=0)
Mar 07 18:38:27 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Session c4 of user asadali.
Mar 07 18:38:27 localhost systemd-logind[207]: New session c4 of user asadali.
Mar 07 18:38:27 localhost systemd[1]: Started Session c4 of user asadali.
Mar 07 18:38:27 localhost login[503]: LOGIN ON tty4 BY asadali
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost kernel: usb 1-2: USB disconnect, device number 2
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost systemd-udevd[163]: error opening USB device 'descriptors' file
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost colord[374]: /usr/lib/colord/colord-sane: error while loading shared libraries: libsane.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost kernel: usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 6 using xhci_hcd
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost colord[374]: /usr/lib/colord/colord-sane: error while loading shared libraries: libsane.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost colord[374]: /usr/lib/colord/colord-sane: error while loading shared libraries: libsane.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ether
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost kernel: rndis_host 1-2:1.0 usb0: register 'rndis_host' at usb-0000:00:14.0-2, RNDIS device, 02:56:06:5d:63:36
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver rndis_host
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost colord[374]: /usr/lib/colord/colord-sane: error while loading shared libraries: libsane.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Mar 07 18:40:43 localhost kernel: rndis_host 1-2:1.0 enp0s20u2: renamed from usb0
Mar 07 18:40:49 localhost sudo[526]: asadali : TTY=tty4 ; PWD=/home/asadali ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/systemctl restart dhcpcd
I only posted a piece of it.
By the way, I got this file by using startX (becuase otherwise i didnt have permissions), used > to output it to a file, mounted a usb flash drive, copied it to flash drive, used a windows computer to copy the file to my ubuntu laptop (because the folder wouldn't show up in the ubuntu computer) and then posted it here. There has to be a better way to post a debug manage on here.

Arch linux through vmware in dual boot

Hi guys,
I've reinstalled arch again on a fake (intel) raid system with dual boot with Windows 7. Right now arch runs just fine natively on the machine, but I want to set it up so I can run it from vmware in windows as well. I have most things figured out but I have a small problem which I have yet to tackle.
Natively the disks are mapped through dmraid in the following manner (etc/fstab):
/dev/mapper/isw_cidbgaibjd_Systemp3 /boot ext2 defaults 0 1
/dev/mapper/isw_cidbgaibjd_Systemp5 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/mapper/isw_cidbgaibjd_Systemp6 / ext4 defaults 0 1
/dev/mapper/isw_cidbgaibjd_Systemp2 /mnt/Win7 ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
/dev/mapper/isw_cidbgaibjd_Datap1 /mnt/Data ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
To access from vmware in Win7 I have set up vmware to map the physical (raid) drive where the arch partitions are for the virtual machine. The difference is that in Win7 the raid drive /dev/mapper/isw_cidbgaibjd_System is seen as /dev/sda (vmware abstracts the raid drive as a regular scsi/sata drive).
I've used mkinitcpio to generate a separate profile "kernel26-vmware" to load different hooks to boot arch linux in a virtual machine and create a separate runlevel (runlevel 7) to load different daemons at boot and added a new entry in grub to load the kernel26-vmware mkinitcpio image and go into runlevel 7. The only problem remaining is to switch out /etc/fstab so that it loads proper device paths to the raid drive partitions e.g.:
/dev/sda3 /boot ext2 defaults 0 1
/dev/sda5 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/sda6 / ext4 defaults 0 1
/dev/sda2 /mnt/Win7 ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/Data ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
So the question is, is there anyway to tell mkinitcpio to rewrite fstab at boot with what I want depending on if I'm booting arch natively through dual boot, or booting from vmware in Win7? I've seen that mkinitcpio has "FILES" directive which enables it to load additional custom files. Can this be used to load two separate fstabs and a small script that will ovewrite /etc/fstab on boot?
Last edited by digivampire (2009-09-24 17:32:48)

Nevermind, I figured out the solution. Since UUIDs are preserved on the filesystem, setting fstab to use /dev/disk/by-uuid... works when booting both native and from vmware.

[SOLVED]How to install Arch Linux UEFI to dual-boot?

Hey,
so I have a Lenovo G50-70 on which I want to have a Windows-Arch dualboot. I followed the Beginner's Guide, installed Arch but ended up with an inaccessible Windows. I could boot into Windows from the BIOS utility, but not from the gummiboot bootloader.
The guide said if I wanted to dual-boot, I must leave windows EFI partition alone, which I did. I have my Windows partitions set up the Windows way, with the system reserved and EFI and recovery partitions, and I have my Windows partition of course and a data partition. After that I have some unallocated space, on which I made the Arch partitions, /dev/sda6 as an ESP partition for the EFI files, /dev/sda7 as root, /dev/sda8 as swap and /dev/sda9 as /home. The install process went without any error, then I made some configurations and installed dosfstools & efibootmgr. After that, I installed gummiboot and ran "gummiboot --path=/boot install". After that I created the configuration files exactly like in the guide, unmounted the partitions, rebooted and saw that there's no (easy) way getting into Windows. So my question is: how can I install Arch to have a working dual-boot system?
Thanks for any help in advance!
Regards, Matteussz
Last edited by Matteussz (2015-02-11 20:41:37)

Hey,
Writing to you on my working dual-boot with ArchLinux (Windows 8.1 64-Bit, UEFI)
So first step I've done is creating free space of an existing partition in the windows disk management (windows button and r and then type diskmgmt.msc). At this step, you have to record which partition your efi partition is (just take a look at your efi partition and remember the mb of this partition for later)
Then go into the uefi settings (bios) and disable secure boot as well as fast boot, otherwise it could cause data crash.
Boot your Arch Live CD and follow the beginners guide all the way along till you reach the disk management.
If you want to have swap, you can create yours right now, should be a primary partition of about 4gigs.
Next partition is gonna be your home, system partition (I've didn't created two partitions for home and for the system but you could do this as well as just go with one partition) this partition gonna be formatted in ext4
Next step, you have to mount your windows-efi partition in /boot/efi but don't format it dont remeber if it asks you how to use the partition but if so, just use as fat32.
After the disk management go ahead with your arch installation and follow the beginners guide. (Make sure you're using the grub bootloader)
After finishing the installation, restart your system, hopefully you will recognize the opening grub menu. (but dont scare, windows wont show in the grub menu at this time so you have to boot your arch)
Arrived in arch linux type the command
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Reboot and your done with your Arch Linux, Windows 8 dual boot, hopefully

Keyboard and mouse not working when installing arch linux 2014.01.05

trying to install arch linux 2014.01.05 dual iso but when I boot the live cd my keyboard and mouse (both wired) arent detected.
please help

I am from australia > melbourne victoria and usually type in english us or english australian (which keymap do I use in the arch linux install process?) arch linux still does not detect my kb and mouse when on desktop (usb keyboard)...stumped.
Last edited by yoshiserry (2014-01-27 07:44:05)

Dual-Booting Arch Linux and Windows 7

Hello,
I am attempting to set up a dual-boot configuration with Windows 7 (installed first), and Arch Linux. When I went to install, I read in the documentation that the AIF doesn't support installing GRUB to a separate partition other than the MBR on the drive. I want to install GRUB separate from the Windows MBR so I can use Easy BCD to chainload the two bootloaders (i.e. installing GRUB on /dev/sda5 instead of /dev/sda). I went through the installation process and tried to install GRUB manually via the instructions given in the documentation. But when I went to boot Arch, I was greeted with the GRUB shell instead of the boot menu. What did I do wrong? And is there any easier way to install Arch this way given that I do not want to overwrite the Windows bootloader? I went ahead and wiped the Linux partitions on my drive, so I am going to do the install again once I have some suggestions.
Thanks!

joshuawagner147 wrote:
hyperreal_logic wrote:
To the original poster:
If you want to chainload both Windows and Arch Linux using your preferred boot manager, you'd have to create a separate 'boot' partition when installing Arch Linux. When you are in the Arch installation, create a separate partition of about 500 MB, then create the root partition of whatever size you need, and then create swap partition if necessary. So your HD would resemble something like this: /dev/sda5=boot partition of 500 MB; /dev/sda6=root partition of ## MB/GB; and /dev/sda7=swap partition of (RAM * 2) GB. Then continue with the Arch installation procedure until you get to the end where you are prompted to install a boot loader. Choose GRUB, and install it to the 'boot' partition on /dev/sda5. This will allow you to chainload Arch via Easy BCD. What happens is Easy BCD will pass the message to GRUB on /dev/sda5, and GRUB will then load your Arch root system on /dev/sda6.
I hope this helps. I support your choice in using Easy BCD to chainload Windows and Linux. Software is, after all, about choice. Furthermore, you've presented a good reason to use Easy BCD as the main boot loader, which is to save you from unnecessary tinkering with the GRUB shell or Live CDs and whatnot. However, if you don't want to create the separate 'boot' partition, then you'll have no other choice but to use GRUB or syslinux on the MBR.
Thanks. Yes...I followed the procedure just like you described. I figured that my problem was that I didn't create a separate /boot partition, so I reformatted the partitions I created and redid the install. However, I was not able to install GRUB in the AIF; I had to reboot into the Live CD and install GRUB to my boot partition manually. All is good now as I have a working dual-boot now. Arch Linux has been a sort of learning curve for me, but I have gained valuable knowledge and experience by using this distro.
Yes. I didn't want to mess with GRUB or NTLDR. I know that reinstalling NTLDR is not that difficult, but I didn't want to mess with it at all. It just seemed easier to chainload GRUB to NTLDR using EasyBCD. I'm a sort of "distro-hopper" anyhow, and using this method allows me to cleanly remove any distro I install without having to mess with GRUB or reinstalling NTLDR.
Thanks!
Glad to hear! Yes, Arch Linux is a wonderful distribution, and one of my favorites. It's great for not-so-newbie beginners to learn from. pacman is one of my favorite package managers, as there is always the latest stable software available in the Arch repos. Glad everything worked out. Have fun with Arch!

[SOLVED]Arch Linux, and Windows 8.1 Dual Boot issue

Hi guys. I recently bought a new laptop, and decided to run Arch Linux and Windows 8.1. I installed Windows 8.1 first as recommended by the beginners guide, and then installed Arch Linux. I made sure UEFI was enabled in my BIOS, and made sure everything was on a GPT partition. The install itself went fine. My laptop loads grub, and Arch Linux shows up and boots, but there is no option to boot into Windows 8.1. The only way I can boot into Windows 8.1 is by accessing my motherboard, and choosing to launch the windows boot manager instead of the grub launcher. How can I get Windows 8.1 to show up in grub? Thanks in advance guys.
Last edited by Painguy (2014-08-20 20:19:37)

Painguy wrote:
-----------Edit------------------
Yeah just ran this after installing os prober
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
and it works now. Sorry for the crazy posts guys. Thanks for the suggestions and help.
Yeah I'm sure I'm doing something wrong lol. I did not install OS-Prober. I think that's where the issue is. I'm missing the menu entry in grub.cfg right? Do I just run os prober or do I have to manually edit grub.cfg.
If that's not the case then here is what I did up until now. What I did was start with a blank SSD drive. I used cgdisk to make the disk use a GPT partitioning scheme. I installed windows 8.1 and checked in windows to make sure it boots into UEFI-GPT mode and it does. I then installed arch linux using the beginners guide. I made sure to use cgdisk to create any extra partitions, and installed GRUB to the efi partition that windows had created ( I did not format this partition ). I then finished the installation and rebooted, and Grub only shows arch linux. I don't think I'm dealing with anything MBR related. I made sure I used the GPT partitioning scheme....i think lol.
All you need to do is run os-prober then run grub-mkconfig. It should pick up Windows at that point.

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.

Dual boot arch linux and windows

I recently installed arch linux. However, I have a windows 7 installation on a separate hard drive (/dev/sdb), and it is not detected by grub. I have tried to use os-prober, and grub-mkconfig to generate my configuration file, but I think these programs are in grub2-common, and this conflicts with the package grub. When I do uninstall grub, and replace with grub2-common, I can generate the config file, but grub brings me to the grub prompt, and will not boot. Can I use grub-mkconfig without uninstalling grub, or do I have to create grub.cfg and edit it manually? Thank you in advance!

skunktrader wrote:
grub reads /boot/grub/menu.lst. You need to edit this file manually to add windows 7
Read this
It works! You are a genius!!!!!!! Thank you so much!!

Resize Windows XP to install Arch Linux

Me again! Hi! Well my Dad finally gave me permission to install Arch on our computer (hes a bit paranoid..) But I need some help.. I boot archlive and when I go into Cdisk to setup the partitions, Windows Controls the ENTIRE partition on the Hard drive.. How can I resize it so I can install Arch Linux onto the system?

skottish wrote:
arch0r wrote:first of all defragment windows
+100000000000000000000
Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeefinitely. (Emphasis on the "Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeefinitely")
If you're not careful, it's very easy to lose data from Windows partitions due to fragmentation.
Not to discourage or anything. Just be careful.

Install Arch Linux with UEFI and GPT

Hi, I purchased a new laptop and I created a partition with Windows 8 (default OS on laptop) and another partition where I want to install Arch Linux.
When I tried to install Arch Linux not boot from CD. After searching in Google I downloaded the latest Arch Linux ISO (2012-12-01) and tried again.
This time CD started without problems but when I used cfdisk showed an error with GPT partition. I went back to search in Google and I read about gdisk and gfdisk and I try it but when I partitioning to install Arch Linux partition show that may cause damage. I searched and searched without success and I wonder if there is a Arch Linux GPT install guide or if someone knows how to install Arch Linux with GPT and a Windows 8 partition in UEFI.
Thanks and regards.

Hi again, finally I got "install" Arch Linux but when I reboot the follow message appears:
"No Booteable Device, Hit any key."
I don't know if I broke Windows Boot Manager, UEFI or both...
I tried to reinstall GRUB but was unsuccessful.
Can anyone help me?
Thanks and regards.

Cannot backup Windows 7 (dual-boot) image to external HD (formated as Mac OS Extended)

I cannot backup my Windows 7 (dual-boot) image to my external HD (formated as Mac OS Extended). I installed MacDrive 8.0 hoping to solve the problem but Windows 7 gives me an error when I try to create a backup: "...drive is not formatted as NTFS, cannot use as backup...".
I also tried making an Image of the Windows 7 partition through Disk Utility but was not allowed to do so.
I am not sure where else to go from here. I need to keep my external hard drive formatted as Mac OS Extended but I also need to backup my Windows 7 partition. I only have the single external at the moment. Is there a way to backup my Windows 7 partition?
Thanks

Winclone will backup your Windows partition to a Mac formatted drive.
Just search for Winclone on this forum and on Goggle.

Failure to install Arch Linux via netinstall AIF; PGP key issues

Hello,
I'm am attempting a fresh install Arch Linux on a clean machine: Dell 1420, 4GB RAM. I am using the archlinux-2012.02.09_04-00-01-netinstall-dual.iso installer.
Installation progresses nicely through the package selection (I choose core, core-dev, xfce, and xorg packages only, to keep it simple for now). The packages download quickly, and then the installation fails during installation indicating that none of the PGP keys are known for any of the downloaded files. The process essentially aborts and I press 'Continue' returning me to the main menu. I have repeated this process several times.
What needs to be done to install Arch Linux?
Thanks.

Hi,
Thanks, I have been through the Beginners Guide. I just want to get Arch Linux to "start" with a very basic GUI. during one of my installation iterations I did install only 'core' files, but the same failure occurred. so I'm at a loss as to how to get even a basic installation to take hold. Thoughts on the pgp key issues?
Thanks.
Update: I've switched to using the default net installer (2011.08.19) and the installation succeeded!
Last edited by zaleksf (2012-02-12 05:12:32)

Archwiz Script for installing Arch Linux

I created a new Bash Script Project called Archwiz, located on github flesh/archwiz ,
its still in Beta for a few reasons, I never figured out how to get computer translations working in the script so I can Localize it, and I never figured out all the details to get an AUR custom repo working and lastly I didn't get the Asynchronous downloads to work right, so there are all disabled in this script.
This script was a fork of another script found here Archlinux Ultimate Install Script.
The Script itself has several files, the wizard.sh is a library, that allow programmers to use this library as an API for writing scripts, so its usefully to anyone that wants an API to write Bash Scripts, but the script itself scripts a script that is saved as configuration files, then executes the script inside itself, so you can look at all the configuration files before running it.
The script was written for use by anyone, but mostly targets programmers like myself who need to setup a machine to use as a work station and want it set up a certain way every time, although this script is far from finished, I have a lot of tweaking to do to it before it would be completely there, but as it is, I can get up and running on a machine with little effort, so this make it ideal for a Linux Administrator who has to install thousands of OS's and have them configured all the same way, but works great for someone just wanting to install Arch Linux.
The Project is Self Documenting and Self Localizing, although currently only English works, but the po files are there, so it would be easy enough if you wanted to localize it; but the computer translation function I started would be the correct way to do this.
The scripts makes use of a custom repo, so remove it when finished, the script should do this for you, but just to let you know, it downloads the core to the flash drive, this way it can install very fast, once you install it one, it has all the files on it to install on another computer without an Internet connection, well at least that was my thinking, I never did get the AUR custom repo to work, but the idea is to have all the files on the flash so you do not need to use up bandwidth installing Arch Linux on a new machine, just install it, then run pacman updates.
The Idea of a Wizard is to make the life of those installing an OS, much easier, they have the Option to do a Custom install, or a Wizard install, even an Automatic install to pre-configure machines.
The script determines if you have UEFI Bios or not, and formats and configures the Hard Drive correctly, and gives you full control over the partitioning of the drive, within the bounds of the tools used, so its very flexible, it uses systemd, so boot time on my machine is 10 seconds flat, and that's because I mount a lot of network drives and map them at boot time, I got 2 seconds boot time with mounting, so the packages are not perfect, but they do work.
I only tested GDM, since I installed every Desktop Manager and configuration for my needs, this was the only one I got to work for all of them, but I normally use KDE or Mate, but I ran into issues with Mate and went back to KDE, so I could get back to work.
This script was designed to Format the Drive you install it to, so do not use this on a Partitioned Drive, it will format the hard drive, so you are warned once more during the install, but this could be fixed, I had to abandon the project to finish another, so the script is as it is, but could give someone a great start if they want to folk it and finish it, so fork me.
See the help.html for details.
Last edited by Flesh (2013-02-28 00:31:54)

Moving to Community Contributions...

Trying to install Arch Linux on a HP-dv2000 laptop

I am able to start up from, the CD no problem. I get the Arch Linux menu. What I think is the problem is maybe a resolution issue because as I go to install it, the screen looks wonky and I can't see the command line properly. I know when I install Ubuntu for example, the installation screen looks off to one side. Only after installing the nvidia driver after successfully installing Ubuntu does the screen look the way it supposed to.
I think the same think is happening here when trying to install Arch Linux. Any suggestions on how I can resolve this? This is a big deal for me because for the first time, I think I am going to learn a ton of stuff about Arch Linux. I am willing to take the plunge following the beginner's guide along the way.
Thanks for the help!!

ArchLinux is designed to run whether in VirtualBox or on a real machine.
If you have a TV connector plugged in it will chop some regular lines at the bottom to make up for the difference in TV resolution.
There are a couple of packages related to nvidia hardware, nouveau is one of them. Just do a pacman -Ss nvidia for possibilities of things you might need to install. Your nvidia hardware is a little newer, so probably nvidia is the package you'll need instead of nouveau.
Are you using X? When you install the proper xf86-video-* driver it shouldn't have any problems with X. If modesetting is turned off, then some resolutions may not be made available (especially in Gnome), so it is best to keep it turned on if at all possible (kernel default).
Last edited by nomorewindows (2012-03-12 17:19:55)

Installing Arch Linux after Windows 7 64bit dual boot

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