Lenovo and Arch

Vote now
http://lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?p=98

Not gonna happen, I don't even see why anyone would want to. Arch is a distro that features customisability, unlike Ubuntu. If you bought a Lenovo laptop you wouldn't want to have Archlinux preinstalled with Gnome and a bunch of other shit. Sure, you could remove it, but then you could just as well format, partition the drive how you want, install what you want, etc, etc... Gentoo is the same, but even more so since you have USE flags and compile everything.
Ubuntu is the obvious choice...

Similar Messages

Dual booting win 7 and arch: cannot install grub to partition

I have read the arch wiki page on dual booting and several other sources on line, but I am still struggling to get this to work.
I am trying to dual boot arch and windows 7 on my lenovo ideapad s205. the machine comes with windows 7 pre-installed.
I shrank the win 7 partition and added an extended partition with 3 logical partions for /boot, swap, and /.
I am able to install and run arch by installing grub to the mbr. when I do this, though, I cannot boot windows. (the windows section of grub menu.lst is uncommented and points toward hda0,0. I have tried hda 0,1 as well).
I have also tried to use the windows boot loader to load arch, as described in the arch wiki page on dual booting. The problem here is that, taking this approach, I should install grub to my /boot partition, but when I try to do this, the installer only allows me to install grub to sda or sdb (the usb stick).
I have read that grub should be able to boot linux from a logical partition. Is this so?
Is there something wrong with the arch installer that it is not giving me the option of installing to a partition rather than the mbr, or is this a problem with my partition scheme, or something else?
I am tempted to remove lenovo's recovery system, but on the other hand, I have already needed to use it several times while monkeying around with installing arch.
Thanks for any help.
UPDATE:
I now have the laptop dual-booting win 7 and arch. My solution ( adapted from here: http://helms-deep.cable.nu/~rwh/blog/?p=177) was to:
1. installed arch on the partitions I had created for it, but skipped the "install bootloader" stage.
2. in win 7, I downloaded and installed EasyBCD and made an entry for arch in it. I checked the option to "Use EasyBCD's copy of GRUB"
3. When I restarted, I got a grub error because the entry in grub's menu.lst was pointing at the wrong partitions for the kernel and root.
4. So I went back into the arch live disk, mounted the boot partition and edited menu.lst.
Now when I start the laptop, the windows boot loader starts and I can choose between win 7 and arch. when I select arch, grub4dos starts and gives me the option to start arch. this is not particularly elegant (nor is it fast), so I think this solution is less than ideal, but it does work.
I'd be interestd in any thoughts about what went wrong and what a better solution would be.
thanks.
Last edited by ratchet (2011-10-10 19:09:16)

ratchet wrote:II am able to install and run arch by installing grub to the mbr. when I do this, though, I cannot boot windows. (the windows section of grub menu.lst is uncommented and points toward hda0,0. I have tried hda 0,1 as well).
Is this a typo in your post or how it was in menu.lst? Surely it should be hd0,0 and not hda0,0? The entry I have in my menu.lst is as follows:
# (2) Windows
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
What was yours?
Last edited by JHeaton (2011-10-10 20:18:22)

Dual boot Windows 7 (64) and Arch Linux (64) problems

Hello:
I am new to Arch Linux and just finished installing the 64bit on my laptop. It had a prebuilt Windows 7 (64) installed which I kept but split the hdd from 160Gb to 80Gb and 80Gb. I installed Arch there and set 4 partitions, all of them as Logical - a 64 MB ext2 /boot partition; a 512 MB swap partition; a 15 GB root partition; and the rest as my /home partition. My partitions look like this:
Disk Drive: /dev/sda
Size: 160041885696 bytes, 160.0 GB
Heads: 255 Sectors per Track: 63 Cylinders: 19457
Name Flags Part Type FS Type [Label] Size (MB)
sda1 Primary Unknown (27) 12889.02
sda2 Boot Primary NTFS 106.93
sda3 Primary NTFS [] 73915.11*
sda5 Logical Linux ext2 65.81*
sda6 Logical Linux 509.97*
sda7 Logical Linux ext2 15002.92*
sda8 Logical Linux ext2 57549.55*
The install was succesful(this was running from the core install cd) and I installed GRUB to my /boot but when I restarted it loaded Windows 7. I have used Knoppix USB disc to boot and see my Arch Linux install files and edited the /boot/gur/menu.lst file.
In Windows I installed EasyBCD 1.7.2 and tried to get NeoGrub bootloader working as a dual boot. I tried getting rid of the boot flag for Windows with cfdisk and setting it to my (Logical) sda5. That did not work. So far the only way I have booted into my Arch Linux install has been by going to the Live CD, choosing "Boot from Existing Linux Install" and editing the command files there.
root (hd0,4)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda3 ro
initrd /kernel26.img
My goal is to get a dual boot working for Windows 7 and Arch Linux 64 and continue installing the Xorg and KDE to Arch. I just don't know what the problem is here. I don't mind reinstalling Arch if something went wrong, but I would like to keep my Windows running in order and add Arch on.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I ran the LiveCD and chose "Install to MBR hd0". I ended up with this:
setup hd(0,1)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists.....yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/iso9660_stage1_5" exists.....yes
Running "embed /boot/grub/iso9660_stage1_5 (hd0,1)".....failed(this is not fatal)
Running "embed /boot/grub/iso9660_stage1_5 (hd16)".....failed(this is not fatal)
Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 d (hd0,1) /boot/grub/stage2 p (hd0,1) boot/grub/menu.lst".....failed
Error 31: File is not sector aligned
My entry for Windows into the menu.lst looks like this:
# (0) Arch Linux x64
title Arch Linux x64
root (hd0,4)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/3841273c-d91e-41d6-9dbf-716a15d03a01 ro
initrd /kernel26.img
# (1) Arch Linux x64
title Arch Linux x64 Fallback
root (hd0,4)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/3841273c-d91e-41d6-9dbf-716a15d03a01 ro
initrd /kernel26-fallback.img
# (2) Windows 7
title Windows 7
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Experiences with Lenovo and my purchases of two laptops

Experiences with Lenovo and my purchases of two laptops (one was exchanged) and issues following with defective parts:
First.. Lenovo Return Policy:
I had ordered an E420, and by mistake in that I responded to an email advertisement while at work, and rushed through the online order (bad mistake).
When I received the E420, I didn't like the LCD or keyboard at all... and was really disappointed. While researching other customer experiences, I assumed Lenovo basically had an "all sales final" policy for Canadian Customers.
I called them the next business day after receiving the E420, and said I was disatisified with the it, and would like to exchange it for a T520. She said that is possible, but I'd have to order the T520 before I could get a return authorization (which was ok).
I ordered the T520, and within a week (I had to call and bug them once), I received the return labels for the E420, and returned it that day. It took about 10 days, for the full E420 credit to show up on my credit card, and I was very happy to see they did not charge me restocking.
Second, issues with the T520:
Within hours of opening the T520, I noticed the upper cursor key was not working. Not very good for a brand new laptop... a bit disappointing.
I called lenovo the next morning, and she apologized for the issue, and said she'd send me another keyboard asap... and the instructions. This was ok, since repairing PC's and laptops is a skill I have. The keyboard came the next day.... and I replaced it.. all good.
Next issue:
The bluetooth worked for about 3 days, and stopped working (which was a pain because I used a lenovo blue tooth mouse). Bios shows it enabled, but does not show up anymore when I do a FN F5, or in device manager. Just to be sure it wasn't an issue with software, I used the recovery DVDs to reinstall the OS... still no bluetooth.
Called Lenovo support, he had me pull battery, press the power button with no power sources connected (he said it drained any capacitors), reset bios to system defaults... reboot a few times... still no bluetooth.
He suggested I re-seat the bluetooth daughter card. While I felt comfortable with this, I was surprised Lenovo Support would suggest this, because I am sure many or most customers would not have this expertise to open a laptop without doing some sort of damage. That being said, Lenovo does have a Hardware Maintenance Guide that explains step by step procedures for replacement of parts on the T520.
I didn't do this while on the phone with him, but after going through the troubleshooting, he said a box would come to my door, and I'd have to ship my laptop away for a week or so to have it fixed.
I expressed my unhappyness with this idea as UPS/Lenovo just delivered the Laptop to my door and a week had not even passed, and I have to do without it for a week or ???.
I said, this is why purchasing a laptop online can be a huge drawback... had I purchased from "Best Buy" I could go exchange it over the counter in a few hours.
Anyways.. I asked if I could drop it off at an Authorized Lenovo Repair depot, and he said yes.. just bring the case number.
I personally don't trust "Repair Depots" by default. They scratch laptops, they leave screws out, they mark the plastic edges when separating the covers, bezels, etc because they use metal screwdrivers or are not careful when doing so.
After I got off the phone, I was able to re-seat the bluetooth card... still not resolved. I think I will call Lenovo back and ask the part to be sent to me, and I'll replace it.
Other comments:
Sound - The volume level on the T520 isn't as loud as my HP nx9420... unfortunate.. but I can live with it.
Performance: The Performance rating on my 5 year old HP nx9420 was 4.3, this new T520 was 4.6... not that much better and appears to be due to the video card rating.
Lenovo Packaging:
I was also very surprised that Lenovo ships the laptops by sending them in their own box, and not putting them in a large box with padding to protect them. That means that any rough handing by UPS, would be experienced by the laptop, which if you ever talk to people who work for UPS or other couriers admit that they work on volume/speed and not giving much priority to ensuring items are handled carefully.

The Windows experience index is only a rough guide, not a benchmark. Many people have reported having minor things wrong with the machines as shipped. Perhaps, this is due to shipping damage.
I find it interesting that you BT went out after a keyboard replacement. Mine did the same thing, and had to be replaced.
When asking for help, post your question in the forum. Remember to include your system type, model number and OS. Do not post your serial number.
Did someone help you today? Press the star on the left to thank them with a Kudo!
If you find a post helpful and it answers your question, please mark it as an "Accepted Solution"! This will help others with the same question in the future.
My TPs: Twist 2HU: i5-3317U Win 8 Pro, 4GB RAM 250GB Samsung 840 | T420 4177CTO: i5-2520M, HD+, Win 7 Pro x64, 8GB RAM, Optimus, 160GB Intel 320 SSD, Intel 6300 WiFi, BT 3.0 | T400 2764CTO: P8700, WXGA, Win 7 Ult x64, AMD 3470, 8GB RAM, 64GB Samsung SSD, BT, Intel 5300 WiFi | A20m 14.1" PIII 500 (retired). Monitors: 2x Dell U2211h IPS 100% sRGB calibrated w/ Spyder3.

[SOLVED] Dual boot windows 7 and arch Linux with seperate hard drives

Ok so I'm stuck trying to get my computer to dual boot windows 7 and arch. They are installed on different hard drives and I have grub 2 as the boot loader. I can't find any tutorials on how to do it with seperate hard drives I know how to do it if they are on the same hard drive. Also I want windows on the "first" hard drive how do I check to see which one it considers the first?
Last edited by bdawg (2012-09-21 23:15:37)

DSpider wrote:
drobole wrote:If you want to change it so that sda becomes sdb and sdb becomes sda, you should be able to do that in BIOS.
Not from the BIOS. He would need to physically open up the computer and switch the cables between them (or add another drive).
There's no actual performance increase in changing this order. Performance increase is when you have the partitions as close to the beginning of a HDD as possible, where the platters spin faster (basic mechanics, not to be confused with CD/DVD, which are being written from the inside-out to prevent errors after extended usage), and it especially doesn't apply to SSDs whatsoever.
You may be right about that. I remember I had to do this a while back but I probably switched the cables. It also messed up the drive mapping in Windows 98 if I remember correctly.

Dual booting Windows 8 and Arch Linux with UEFI

Hi all!
I'm trying to install Arch Linux on my computer where I already have Windows 8, and I'm getting a little stuck when it comes to the partitioning.
Following the beginner's guide and the method here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Un … n_in_Linux for setting up the partitions properly, regarding UEFI. My problem is that when using cgdisk to set up a new EFI system partition (ef00), I get an error message when trying to write the partition table (just saying that something went wrong). I figure the problem is that I already have a partition like this (correct me if I'm wrong), but it really looks like it succeded (see info below). So my question is: How do I preceed to keep my Windows 8 installation happy, but installing Arch? Do I remove the old EFI system partition and create a new one, or is there some method that allows me to edit the already existing one, to allow me to dual boot Windows 8 and Arch?
My partition table now looks like this:
Part. # Size Partition Type Partition Name
1007KB free space
1 500MB Windows RE Basic data partition
2 300MB EFI System EFI system partition (this one was already present on my system)
3 128MB Microsoft reserved Microsoft reserved partition
4 63.5GB Microsoft basic data Basic data partition
8 512MB EFI System EFI System partition (this is the one I tried to create when I got the error message)
5 29.5GB Linux filesystem Arch (this is where I was going to put my Arch installation)
6 22GB Windows RE Basic data partition
7 1024MB Windows RE Basic data partition
615KB free space
Just for the record; I only created partition #8 and #5.
Any help is appreciated! And sorry for beeing a total noob, but I really suck at this.

sudo make sandwich wrote:If it is possible to share ESP between OSes, how do I do this (would it be sufficent to follow this section: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners'_Guide#For_UEFI_motherboards)?
There's really very little to do to share an ESP between OSes. Most OS installers will auto-detect the ESP and use it. Problem solved. For Arch it may be a bit more effort just because Arch uses a more hands-on installation process, but I've only done a couple of Arch installations, and the last one was several months ago, so I don't recall the details clearly enough to comment.
And how big will the partition need to be? The beginner's guide says 512MB or higher.
I don't know what was in the mind of the author, but my guess is that's because that's roughly the cutoff point where mkdosfs starts creating FAT32 by default rather than FAT16. The ESP is officially supposed to be FAT32, not FAT16, although FAT16 usually works OK. It's also possible to create FAT32 on smaller partitions by using an explicit option to mkdosfs ("-F 32").
The optimal size of the ESP depends on the files stored on it. If you don't store your Linux kernels, something as small as 100MiB is usually adequate; but a few Linux kernels and their initrd files can consume twice that amount. My own recommendation is for the ESP to be 200-500MiB.
The only error message I got from cgdisk is "Problem saving data! Your partition table may be damaged!", however booting Windows again works fine. Parted did not complain about antything.
Use the "verify" function in cgdisk. That will reveal any problems with the data structures. If a verify turns up OK, then that means that cgdisk ran into some sort of disk problem. Running gdisk rather than cgdisk and using the gdisk "w" option (without making any changes) may produce a more helpful error message.

Dual boot Windows 7 and Arch from 2 seperate drives (UEFI)

Hello everyone, I've been working on installing Arch to a secondary hard drive for the past few hours, but I am trying to make sure I won't mess up my Windows 7 install. I have found several topics talking about dual booting Windows 7 and Arch, but not a whole lot on booting them from separate drives. My drives are currently setup as follows.
sda (120GB SSD for Windows 7)
sda1 (100MB System Reserved NTFS partition)
sda2 (Windows 7 install)
sdb (1TB HDD for Windows programs, files, etc)
sdb1 (1TB NTFS partition)
sdc (1TB HDD)
sdc1 (boot 512MB FAT32)
sdc2 (root 500MB ext4)
sdc3 (home 300GB ext4)
sdc4 (swap 10GB)
rest unallocated "free space"
I used Gparted to create the partitions. I ended up getting hung up on the "Create Filesystems" sections, specifically this line"
# mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdXY
Now that I am looking at it, I'm thinking the "Create Filesystems" section maybe isn't necessary because I've used Gparted?
If it isn't necessary, when I get to the "mount the EFI System Partition to /boot" section, would I simply use
# mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/boot
instead of
# mount /dev/sdXY /mnt/boot ?
The way I had this setup with Ubuntu was 3 partitions on sdc (/, home, swap) and I set my PC to boot to the sdc drive on startup. The boot loader would then give me the option to boot into Ubuntu or Windows 7, and I never had to alter the sda or sdb drives at all. Is this possible through Arch? My thinking is that even if it isn't, I should still be able to enter the BIOS boot menu and select which drive to boot manually correct? That wouldn't be too big of a deal for me because I spend 90% of my time in Linux, and only use Windows for Photoshop and gaming occasionally.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I would have just tested this out, but I am afraid of messing up my Windows install.

After several sleepless hours I had to give up and go to bed about 5 hours ago. The installation process went smoothly (or so I thought). I followed the tutorial closely and upon rebooting I was met with a blinking cursor. After some googling I found others who said I should press TAB, but nothing seemed to work.
I rebooted to the iso disk and found the "boot installed OS" option and noticed it said "Press TAB to edit". I then found the boot parameters and tried everything from hd0 0 to hd4 4. I believe I have Grub setup correctly because every option besides hd0 0 either says "Booting..." and then gets stuck, or says "That disk and partition combination does not exist". So yea, I think hd0 0 is the correct boot path, it just gets stuck with the blinking cursor.
silverhammermba wrote:
You have the right idea. You want to install a bootloader on sdc1 which will be able to boot both Arch and Windows.
Your best bet would be to use something like rEFInd. It has a "scanfor" option that should automatically detect your BIOS-configured Windows installation and add a boot option for it. Note that depending on your motherboard, you may have to switch to UEFI-only mode and Windows will be unbootable without the assistance of a UEFI program which is backwards compatible with BIOS (like rEFInd).
Thank you for the link. Considering I can't get into my install and the actual install only took about 30 minutes, I think I am going to just start from the beginning again with REFIndr. It seems much simpler. I only used Grub because I've used it before with Ubuntu, but my very limited knowledge is telling me Grub is probably the problem.
MoonSwan wrote:Just an idea: My bios has a "Boot-up Prompt" which I can invoke when it's POSTing by hitting F11. This brings me to a menu that allows me to choose which drive I want to boot up that day. I use it when Syslinux isn't working properly (Which is right now as a matter of fact ...) in order to boot Windows so I can do some SCII, for example. I, too, dual-boot but I have both OSes on different SSDs. So my 120GB Crucial SSD has Arch on it and the 240GB Kingston has Windows, SCII, Portable Apps, etc and nary the two shall meet. It makes dual-booting easier in the case of a corrupt OS or MBR or what-have-you. You may want to give your Bios a better look to see if you can do the F11 trick. It probably can and will usually tell you so at POST by printing that information on-screen along with your drives-detected and other messages (I hit Pause sometimes to read all the POST messages).
This is exactly what I was talking about doing when I mentioned:
My thinking is that even if it isn't, I should still be able to enter the BIOS boot menu and select which drive to boot manually correct?
That's good to know, because even if this next install doesn't work I think if I pull the other drives I should be able to get it working fairly easily.
Thanks again everyone.

Dual Boot Windows 7 and Arch with Shared NTFS partition.

Hi everyone,
I want to dual boot windows 7 and Arch Linux.
Here's the problem... my hard drive isn't the biggest. I want to store all my music, movies, pictures, and documents on partition that both linux and windows can access seamlessly.
I want the partition to be NTFS. -- (the programs that map an ext4 drive to Windows are trash).
Here's what I think I need.
30GB NTFS to Windows.
30GB ext4 to Arch Linux
The remainder (190ish GB) to Shared Data.
I don't want the swap partition because I have a SSD and 4GB of RAM.
What is the best way to setup my partitions? And is this even possible?
Thanks!

Not a problem. I would create:
First of four primary partitions for windows.
Second of four primary partitions for /boot
Third of four partitions is an extended partition encompassing all the space not used by the first two partitions.
Put everything else inside the extended partition.
Mine is a bit more complicated, but this should give you an idea:
ewaller@odin:~ 1005 %sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda
Password:
Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x87b33479
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 121778159 60888056 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 597366784 625135615 13884416 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 121778160 597366783 237794312 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 * 121778223 123770219 995998+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 123770283 131770589 4000153+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7 193213818 597360959 202073571 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 131781258 193213754 30716248+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 131770591 131781194 5302 1 FAT12
Partition table entries are not in disk order
ewaller@odin:~ 1006 %
Partitions 1 and 2 are Primary partitions. Partition 3 is an extended partition. All the others live in partition 3

[Solved] Windows 7 and Arch Dual boot- unable to boot into Windows7

Had to reformat computer and reinstall windows and Arch on two separate hard drives (Dual boot) .
Windows 7 was the first install on SDA: (/dev/sda1 - system reserved 100mb, /dev/sda2 - 20gb)
Arch on SDB: (/dev/sdb1- boot 94mb, /dev/sdb2- swap, /dev/sdb3 - root, /dev/sdb4 - /home)
Installed grub2 on /dev/sda. now grub bootloader loads Arch fine. Also shows Windows 7 (on /dev/sda1).
But when chosen Windows 7, it does not load and loops back again to boot loader screen.
In BIOS i have set disk drive SDB as first boot option.
If i choose SDA as first boot option in BIOS, same scenario is repeated.
I have gone through mostly all the pages related to the topic but i can not co-relate the solution
to my exact situation due to limited knowledge.
Can somebody pls help me as to how to edit grub.cfg so as to point it to load windows 7?
the entry related to windows 7 reads as follows:-
quote
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry 'Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)' --class windows --class os $menue$
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='hd0,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint$
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root F010D97410D941F0
fi
chainloader +1
unquote
for Arch set root value is hd1,msdos1 and working fine.
Thanks and regards.
Last edited by commsanjay (2012-10-14 08:08:54)

This is exactly why I have chosen to use windows MBR and syslinux
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wi … oot-loader
Last edited by ackt1c (2012-10-14 02:32:55)

Dual Booting Windows and Arch (SOLVED!)

Hello all, I'm having trouble getting a windows partition activated again. (Windows was on here for many years, then I installed arch on a separate partition.)
Here is the layout of fdisk -l:
Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 7833 62918541 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 7834 12039 33784695 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 12040 12161 979965 82 Linux swap / Solaris
sda1 is the windows partition, and sda2 is the arch partition. The linux partition SHOULD be primary bootable (have the * next to it),but all my attempts to do this have failed. (I've used "testdisk" to change the flags, but for some reason it keeps reverting back to setting sda 1 as primary bootable after a reboot or 2).
This is the pertinent section of /boot/grub/menu.lst:
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/f3be3baa-3b62-460c-8801-64b0b1cca$
initrd /boot/kernel26.img
# (1) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux Fallback
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/f3be3baa-3b62-460c-8801-64b0b1cca$
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img
# (1) Windows
title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
I have a . . . modified . . . copy of XP Professional, which comes with a recovery console to reinstall the MBR if it's necessary.
From what I've researched, I somehow need to reinstall grub to the second partition, make the second partition primary bootable, then rewrite the MBR on the first partition, and correct any command errors in menu.lst, but I haven't really figure out a way to do it.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Last edited by mongoose088 (2008-12-20 21:48:18)

I read up on some documentation of installing GRUB to the MBR.
So far, I went into ArchLive (from the cd) and did the following
grub> root (hd0,1)
grub> setup (hd0)
The installation reports success with no errors, but the problem persists. Arch linux will boot fine, but when I select XP it flashes my configuration, like so:
title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
then kicks me back to the OS select GRUB screen. Did I install it to the wrong place?
EDIT:
I decided to issue this command:
grub> setup(hd0,1)
It reported some errors, then arch couldn't mount the ntfs partition because of possible MFT cluster errors.
Using testdisk, I repaired the boot sector and MFT clusters, then using ArchLive reinstalled grub with grub>(hd0)
Arch and Arch Fallback will boot correctly, but now the windows side shows an error:
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
Loading stage2Read Error (or something to this extent)
I wonder if this error brings me closer or farther to a solution?
Thanks for the replies so far!
Last edited by mongoose088 (2008-12-20 05:41:43)

OS X and Arch dual-boot on MBP - bootloader error

I have a Macbook Pro 9,2, and I dual-boot OS X and Arch. My main Arch partition is encrypted with an LVM on LUKS setup, and my main OS X partition is encrypted with Firevault 2. I run the vanilla Arch kernel, and I use xfce as my DE. I use refind as my boot manager, and grub as the bootloader for the Arch partition. This setup has worked flawlessly for several months. I update my Arch system once per week, and last Sunday was a large update since xfce got a large overhaul (in terms of program and config files). However, since the update I cannot boot into OS X (I am posting this here instead of an OS X forum since no change occurred to the OS X system so the problem must be with a change to my Arch system).
When I attempt to boot into OS X, I am asked for my password to decrypt the partition, but then I get the following error message:
efiboot loaded from device: Acpi (PNP0A03,0)/Pci(1F12)/SATA(0,0)/HD(Part3.Sig698A
48BA-88E6-471C-9359-AD63C7EEBE74
boot file path: \System\Library\CoreServices\boot.efi
............Read error 0x6
Error loading kernel cache (0x6)
Error: Aborted returned from boot.efi
*Hit any key to continue*
Starting boot.efi
Using load options ''
efiboot loaded from device: Acpi (PNP0A03,0)/Pci(1F12)/SATA(0,0)/HD(Part3.Sig698A
48BA-88E6-471C-9359-AD63C7EEBE74
boot file path: \com.apple.recovery.boot\boot.efi
.............Read error 0x6
Error loading kernel cache (0x6)
Error: Aborted returned from boot.efi
*Hit any key to continue*
When I hit a key, I get taken back to the refind menu. If I choose OS X again, I get the same error. This cycle can be repeated ad nauseam. Booting into my Arch partition, on the other hand, works just fine, with one hiccup. While usability does not seem to be reduced, after I input my password to decrypt the Arch partition, and before I see the tty1 login, I (since Sunday) occasionally get the following error message that I have never had before:
19.636262] [drm:crypt_set_fifo_underrun_reporting] *ERROR* uncleared pch fifo underrun on pch transcoder
19.636264] [drm:crypt_serr_int_handler] *ERROR* PCH transcoder A FIFO underrun
19.331860] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x1100 SErr 0x280900 action 0x6 frozen
19.331927] ata1.00: irq_stat 0x08000000, interface fatal error
19.331974] ata1: SError: {UnrecovData HostInt 10B8B BadCRC }
19.332821] ata1.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED
19.332866] ata1.00: cmd 60/00:40:70:c1:01/01:00:24:00:00/40 tag 8 ncq 131072 in
19.332866] res 40/00:60:b0:55:2a/00:00:24:00:00/40 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error)
19.332176] ata1.00: status: { DRDY }
The "READ FPDMA QUEUED" line and those below it repeat a few time with different numbers following "cmd" and "res," but then after a few moments the messages clear off the screen and I arrive at my tty1 login screen and from there everything in Arch (including my now-upgraded DE) works normally. This error does not occur during all boots, but I cannot discern any pattern behind when I see it and when I do not. The OS X error and failure to boot occurs every time I try to boot into OS X.
I have learned a lot as an Arch user, but this problem is beyond me. Google has not been particularly friendly, understandably so given the peculiarity of the problem and my setup. I have not yet tried undoing the update I did on Sunday because (a) it would be a pain since there were >30 packages that were upgraded, and (b) I have no evidence that the upgrade was actually causative of this issue, though I may eventually attempt the downgrade out of desperation if I cannot find a solution. Note that the update I keep referencing did not including a kernel update.
I appreciate any advice or insight that you can offer.

I don't have much in the way of a solution for your problem, but to start with, what were the > 30 packages? In particular, was grub/refind updated (or anything else that would likely touch your efi partition? I know from my own messing with refind, that you can potentially 'damage' your partition layout with certain commands which maybe causing osx not to boot...
Then again, the errors may have nothing to do with your arch installation and maybe indicative of a different problem all together. Normal procedure is at this point is to backup your complete disk (clone/mirror it, read up on how to do that especially with regards to the encryption systems used), and try to diagnose for any problems the mbp maybe having.
You could use an apple rescue cd (that may no longer be available with newer mbp , I have no idea..) or maybe use a different harddisk and install osx there and see if you can get everything running 'normally' thus ruling out any funky errors with the hw. check apple's recovery options if need be.
I guess you'll just have to fiddle about a bit and try to more closely determine what the actual problem is. and again, backup your stuff!

Dual boot Mac OS X and Arch: Arch installer cannot find CD drive?

Hi, everyone! A friend convinced me to install Arch about a month ago on my desktop and I've loved it so much that I want to dual boot Mac OS X and Arch on my Macbook Pro 7.1.
So I have a Macbook Pro 7.1. I have partitioned the drive in Mac OS X and installed rEFIt. I have the Arch x86_64 disk which I know works because I installed Arch on another computer.
When I boot from CD I get the familiar Arch screen with options "Boot Arch Linux, existing OS... etc." I click boot Arch, and it starts to load. However, it says "Waiting 30 seconds for device /dev/disk/by-label/ARCH_201005 ... ERROR: boot device didn't show up after 30 seconds... Falling back to interactive prompt. /bin/sh: can't access tty; job control turned off."
After searching around the forums, some people said they had similar problems attempting to install via USB. I used "cat /proc/scsi/scsi" and my CD drive does not show up in ramfs.. What can I do to install this amazing OS on my MB Pro 7.1?
Thank you for your time!

Solved! sledgehammer and MrE (sorry, I can't spell it) in IRC helped me out. I had to download a newer iso that offers better Mac hardware support. 2010-12 iso

Win 7 and Arch dual boot [SOLVED]

There are other help threads about this, but I didn't want to hijack somebody's elses thread. Sorry for the long post, I just want to provide as much detail as possible:
I am trying to use Grub (not Grub2) to dual boot between Arch Linux and Windows 7. I had this working before using Windows XP, but when I reinstalled Windows 7 over Windows XP, Grub would no longer boot Windows.
1. If I manually choose the hd containing Windows 7 to load first in my BIOS, Windows 7 boots no problem. If I manually choose the hd with Grub and Arch to load first in my BIOS, I get a Grub menu, which boots Arch, but not Windows 7. Ideally, I think, I would like to have the internal drive with Arch ranked first, then the internal drive with Windows second in my BIOS. At least, that's how I had been doing things before blowing away XP and installing Windows 7.
2. Here is the (abbreviated) output of sudo fdisk -l
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 2048 206847 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 206848 169934847 84864000 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb3 169935570 1953520064 891792247+ 83 Linux
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 63 1028159 514048+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 1028160 3084479 1028160 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3 3084480 44050229 20482875 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 44050230 488392064 222170917+ 83 Linux
3. From that, I can tell that Arch is installed on sda: sda1 = boot partition; sda2 = swap; sda3 = root partition; sda4 = home partition.
Windows 7 is installed on sdb: sdb1 = system reserved partition (created automatically by Windows 7 during install); sdb2 = Windows; sdb3 = separate ext3 partition
4. I am comfortable editing Grub menus. This is an excerpt of mine:
# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/blah-blah-blah ro
initrd /kernel26.img
# (2) Windows
title Windows 7
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
savedefault
makeactive
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
chainloader +1
5. The error I get is "error 15: file not found" If I change the line reading "rootnoverify" to "root", I get the same error plus the bit about "filesystem unknown, partition type 0x7" so I think I'm pointing at the right partition/drive. That is, I know that partition type 0x7 is an NTFS filesystem/Windows.
6. I messed around with the Grub entry for Windows. I modified the root line to read "rootnoverify (hd1,1)", but things still did not work. I wasn't sure if I needed to bypass the "system reserved" partition created by Windows, or not. I also flip-flopped the two map lines, so they read:
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
That did not work either. I tried these combinations together, but Windows still would not boot. Always the same error message: "filesystem unknown, partition type 0x7"
7. I think I have a mapping problem given that Arch boots fine and Windows boots fine from the BIOS. However, I'm not sure how to fix this. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Culley
Edit:
Okay, so I fixed things. I just removed a bunch of stuff from my Grub entry. Even though Windows is not on the same drive as Grub, it does not need the map sections like I thought. I also removed the savedefault and makeactive entries, not sure if that made a difference or not. My new grub entry looks like this
# (2) Windows
title Windows 7
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
chainloader +1
Last edited by CulleyS (2010-09-24 15:45:12)

This is exactly why I have chosen to use windows MBR and syslinux
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wi … oot-loader
Last edited by ackt1c (2012-10-14 02:32:55)

Dual Boot Vista and Arch

Hey, I am attempting to set up my laptop to dual boot Windows Vista and Arch Linux.
The problem I'm having is after installing Arch my laptop still boots windows w/o going to the grub
I started with having Windows Vista installed on the laptop, and then shrank down the partition with vista by 30 gigs for Arch.
I was following the Arch setup guide in the wiki along with the Dual Boot Windows and Arch guide in the wiki [wiki]Windows_and_Arch_Dual_Boot[/wiki].
My partitioning Scheme is:
/dev/sda1 1.46 gb (some sort of toshiba recovery partition I believe)
/dev/sda2 117.8 gb (Vista Partition)
/dev/sda3 1 gb (Swap partition)
/dev/sda4 29 gb /root partition
According to the Dual Boot wiki article, I should install the grub to /boot, which in my case is in /root which I did.
The thing that confuses me about this is if I install the grub to /boot how do I get the grub to boot before the windows MBR?
Thanks in advanced

Mclarenf1905 wrote:
Hey, I am attempting to set up my laptop to dual boot Windows Vista and Arch Linux.
The problem I'm having is after installing Arch my laptop still boots windows w/o going to the grub
I started with having Windows Vista installed on the laptop, and then shrank down the partition with vista by 30 gigs for Arch.
I was following the Arch setup guide in the wiki along with the Dual Boot Windows and Arch guide in the wiki [wiki]Windows_and_Arch_Dual_Boot[/wiki].
My partitioning Scheme is:
/dev/sda1 1.46 gb (some sort of toshiba recovery partition I believe)
/dev/sda2 117.8 gb (Vista Partition)
/dev/sda3 1 gb (Swap partition)
/dev/sda4 29 gb /root partition
According to the Dual Boot wiki article, I should install the grub to /boot, which in my case is in /root which I did.
The thing that confuses me about this is if I install the grub to /boot how do I get the grub to boot before the windows MBR?
Thanks in advanced
It still works fine. It doesn't matter if its not in root directory. Others linux OSes have their bootloaders in the same directory and it manages to boot just fine.

Just looking steps for Lenovo and HP each model example what is link to download the driver files

DELL offers cab file and lenovo,HP what type of driver files just looking steps for Lenovo and HP each model example what is link to download the driver files and other settings used in task sequence or package

This should help you out:
Lenovo: http://support.lenovo.com/en/documents/ht074984
HP:
http://www.deploymentresearch.com/Research/tabid/62/EntryId/55/HP-takes-the-next-step-and-provides-ready-made-driver-packages-for-MDT-and-SCCM.aspx
My Blog: http://www.petervanderwoude.nl/
Follow me on twitter: pvanderwoude

Lenovo and Arch

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