[SOLVED]Some doubts before installing (UEFI)

Question

Hi all , I recently bought a acer aspire one 756 this come with windows 8 and uefi . I want install Arch and remove w8 . but i have some doubts
first of all this is my hard drive
can i remove all partitions and then create efi , / , /home etc ?
and second when i enter the uefi boot menu see this
I guess windows boot manager is deleted (when i delete all windows partitions) , but what appears instead? grub or the boot manager I choose?
thanks in advance, and sorry for my English
Last edited by Lordii (2013-07-27 18:13:36)

Answer 1

You can remove all your partitions; however, when creating new ones, you must decide how you want to use your computer:
BIOS mode -- This is the traditional way to boot a computer. Most modern firmware supports this mode through a Compatibility Support Module (CSM), aka "legacy mode;" however, the firmware is actually much more complex than this. Using BIOS/CSM/legacy mode may be more familiar to you if you're used to a traditional BIOS-mode GRUB or other BIOS-mode boot loaders. If you want to boot in this way, I recommend converting your disk from the GPT mode it's using now to the older MBR mode. (Linux can actually boot in BIOS/CSM/legacy mode from a GPT disk, but some EFIs make this difficult, and if you subsequently decide you want Windows on the computer, the BIOS/GPT combination will cause problems.)
EFI mode -- Your computer definitely supports EFI, and this method of booting offers a few advantages, such as faster boot times and better control over boot loaders. OTOH, EFI-mode booting is still new and there are still significant glitches. Most of these are system-specific, so it's impossible for me to say whether your computer will be a difficult one in this respect. Using GPT with an EFI mode boot is highly recommended (and sometimes required, depending on the firmware).
If you go with an EFI-mode boot, be sure to create an EFI System Partition (ESP). Your partition #2 is an ESP, so you can either keep that or delete it and create a new one. Creating a new one may be preferable, since it will be empty of Windows stuff and you can make it the size you want. (I recommend 550 MiB.)
Contrary to what magicalChicken wrote, a boot loader is required to boot Linux on an EFI system. There's an Arch wiki page on the options; or you can read my own Web page on the subject. Arch requires you to set up your own boot loader, so you should be at least passingly familiar with the options before you begin. When you install your boot loader or boot manager, it should appear in your firmware's boot manager menu (your second screen shot). Windows might linger as an entry there, although some EFIs will delete it when they see that it's no longer available. If not and you want to remove it, you can use the Linux efibootmgr utility to do the job, or some other tools can do it (including some EFIs' user interfaces, although that's not universally possible).