[SOLVED] UEFI boot configuration using efibootmgr

Hello All,
I've been having a very frustrating time with efibootmgr on my HP Laptop.
I've been searching around for some information regarding the OS Bootmanager in UEFI boot and cannot find anything that works for me.
I'm trying to get efibootmgr to load the boot entries in the order that I specify, but, although it lists exactly what I want in the terminal, when it comes to a reboot, the OS Bootmanager is failing and writing new entries every boot and I cannot fathom why.
Please could someone point me in the direction of a good guide to UEFI boot/OS Bootmanager and it's configuration using efibootmgr? I have read info found in the Archwiki, but was hoping for something focussing on efibootmgr alone as a configuration tool.
Many thanks for your help,
Frazer
Last edited by frazer (2014-03-10 22:21:14)

It's likely that the firmware (or maybe Windows, if you're booting into Windows between boots and haven't mentioned that fact) is changing the boot order. Unfortunately, some EFIs do that, or worse.
I recommend you start by upgrading your firmware. (In some cases, this will wipe out all your boot entries, so be prepared.) If the problem continues, either file a bug report with the manufacturer or return the hardware for a refund and buy something else. The manufacturers have had a long enough time to work out such major problems with their firmware, and returning defective hardware is really the only thing we as consumers can do that will get the manufacturers' attention.
If you must keep the hardware and a firmware update doesn't help, you may just need to find a workaround. If you need advice on doing that, you'll need to provide more details about what your setup is -- in particular, what you want the boot manager's boot list to look like (as in "efibootmgr -v" output once it's configured) and how the firmware is reshaping that when you reboot.

Similar Messages

[SOLVED] Removing archiso's UEFI boot failed using xorriso

I'm trying to remove UEFI boot support of the latest archiso since I have to boot the install CD on my MacBook2,1 (which doesn't support UEFI, only supports 32-bit EFI).
I follow this guide but this is the xorriso output:
libburn : SORRY : Neither stdio-path nor its directory exist
xorriso : FAILURE : Cannot aquire drive 'stdio:~/archiso.iso'
xorriso : aborting : -abort_on 'FAILURE' encountered 'FAILURE'
Can anyone help me with this?
Last edited by mirakulous (2013-05-30 09:34:04)

Hi,
as upstream programmer of xorriso i would really appreciate
to see this fixed in the wiki ... or yielding a bug report
if xorriso is to blame.
I tried the following with success on my quite outdated
GNU/Linux system:
$ wget http://mirror.de.leaseweb.net/archlinux … 1-dual.iso
# mount -o loop /dvdbuffer/archlinux-2013.05.01-dual.iso /mnt/iso
$ xorriso -as mkisofs -iso-level 3 \
-full-iso9660-filenames\
-volid "ARCH_201305" \
-appid "Arch Linux CD" \
-publisher "Arch Linux <https://www.archlinux.org>" \
-preparer "prepared like a BAWSE" \
-eltorito-boot isolinux/isolinux.bin \
-eltorito-catalog isolinux/boot.cat \
-no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
-isohybrid-mbr "/dvdbuffer/archlinux-2013.05.01-dual.iso" \
-output "$HOME/archiso.iso" "/mnt/iso/"
(I do not have SYSLINUX development installed, but the ISO image
bears a suitable -isohybrid-mbr template at its start. So i use
that one.)
This yields
GNU xorriso 1.3.0 : RockRidge filesystem manipulator, libburnia project.
xorriso : UPDATE : 107 files added in 1 seconds
xorriso : NOTE : Copying to System Area: 32768 bytes from file '/dvdbuffer/archlinux-2013.05.01-dual.iso'
libisofs: NOTE : Aligned image size to cylinder size by 55 blocks
Written to medium : 260608 sectors at LBA 0
Writing to 'stdio:/home/thomas/archiso.iso' completed successfully.
The original ISO reports on inquiry of its content
$ xorriso -indev /dvdbuffer/archlinux-2013.05.01-dual.iso -toc
Boot record : El Torito , ISOLINUX isohybrid MBR pointing to boot image
Boot catalog : '/isolinux/boot.cat'
Boot image : '/isolinux/isolinux.bin' , boot_info_table=on
Boot image : '/EFI/archiso/efiboot.img' , platform_id=0xEF
The repacked one reports no EFI boot image that is reachable
via El Torito
$ xorriso -indev /home/thomas/archiso.iso -toc
Boot record : El Torito , ISOLINUX isohybrid MBR pointing to boot image
Boot catalog : '/isolinux/boot.cat'
Boot image : '/isolinux/isolinux.bin' , boot_info_table=on
If this does not work for archlinux users, then please tell
me the version of xorriso that fails, the necessary preparations,
the program arguments used, and the messages of xorriso.
Have a nice day
Thomas

[SOLVED] UEFI-boot on Intel-NUC

Anyone got UEFI-boot working on Intel NUC?
In BIOS i have enabled UEFI and disabled secure boot.
With the latest bootable arch media it boots okay in UEFI-mode.
ls -l /sys/firmware/efi shows a list of files.
If i boot into UEFI shell v 2.0 (from the USB) i can start arch with
fs1:\EFI\arch_grub\grubx64.efi
I have followed the installation guide and created a EFI (fat32) partition on GPT.
I tried to add the entry with both efibootmgr and bcfg, but it doesn't seem like it's being read. I find the entries with bcfg boot dump, but not in intels BIOS under (boot drive order)
It only gives me "a bootable device has not been detected" on startup
Last edited by cybe-arch (2013-08-21 10:29:30)

cybe-arch wrote:
I have followed the installation guide and created a EFI (fat32) partition on GPT.
I tried to add the entry with both efibootmgr and bcfg, but it doesn't seem like it's being read. I find the entries with bcfg boot dump, but not in intels BIOS under (boot drive order)
Please tell us the exact commands you used, and the errors you get, I don't know if I have an answer after that, but now I definitely don't.

[SOLVED] UEFI Boot Troubles (ASUS UX31A-DH51)

Hello. I'm a casual linux user - I develop on linux, but I've never really explored the system itself. In an attempt to do so, I am installing Arch on my Asus UX31A-DH51. I copied the image to my external harddrive and followed the beginner's guide; Everything seemed to be going smoothly, except when I tried to boot into the system, it didn't work.
I suspect this has something to do with the bios being UEFI. However, I followed the instructions here to modify GRUB and, when going to "Launch EFI shell from filesystem device", the screen flickers and then a popup is displayed saying "Warning: Not found". I've also tried installing gummiboot, but that didn't work either. In the BIOS, the main HD isn't displayed as one of the devices that I can boot from either.
I've read this post, and I tried again from scratch using the information, but nothing helped. I didn't try archboot, though, since I don't know where to find the ISO or how to make a USB out of it.
The steps I followed are thus (pretty much all of them follow the beginner's guide):
I created a USB from the latest Arch linux iso, using these intstructions from my desktop computer (Mint 15).
I booted into said drive, and was presented with five options. I chose the one too boot into Arch. I tested UEFI support using the method at the beginning of the Beginner's guide; this succeeded.
I connected to the internet using wifi-menu.
Using cgdisk, I erased all the existing partitions on the SSD. I then created three partitions on the drive; a 1.5G EFI System Partition (sda3) - I used the code "ef00" to make it an ESP; a 15G linux partition (sda1); and a 99G linux partition (sda2).
I formatted the partitions. I formatted sda1 and sda2 to ext4, and I formatted sda3 to FAT32.
I mounted sda1 to /mnt, sda2 to /mnt/home, and sda3 to /mnt/boot/efi (I changed "/boot" to "/boot/efi" here because of the link above; here it is again).
I ran pacstrap -i /mnt base, which completed successfully; then, I generated an fstab at /mnt/etc/fstab, which I left as default.
I chrooted into /mnt, uncommented the en_US.UTF8 locale, symlinked the America/New_York timezone, updated the hardware clock, set the hostname, and ran passwd.
I skipped setting up the initial ramdisk environment.
I setup GRUB using the commands under the UEFI section in the guide; I first exited out of the chroot to run the three commands it says to run out of chroot, and then went back into chroot and followed the rest of the steps. The only thing I changed there was to change "/boot" to "/boot/efi". GRUB installed successfully, without any errors.
I ran
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Finally, I rebooted, went into the bios, and chose "Launch EFI shell from filesystem device", which gave me "Warning: Not found". The main HD isn't listed as something I can boot from, though it is recognized as a SATA device. I'm kind of stumped after this. I also tried updating the BIOS, to no avail.
I'm feeling a little out of my depth here; hopefully someone can help me get this running. You'll probably need more info to diagnose the issue, but I'm not really certain how I should post those files from my laptop using just the arch shell. Anyhow, hopefully someone can help. In the meantime, I'm going to try the install from scratch again, reading more carefully.
Last edited by Chaosed0 (2013-09-27 18:48:25)

the.ridikulus.rat wrote:I think this is one of the brain-dead issues with some firmwares which expect /EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi to be present. Just copy a version of uefi shell to /EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi and then reboot into the system and recreate the entry using efibootmgr. For "Launch EFI shell from filesystem device", the shell application needs to be present at <EFISYS>/shellx64.efi (in the root of the efisys partition itself).
I copied "/EFI/grub/grubx64.efi" to "/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi" and created an entry using the same efibootmgr command as two posts above; still no luck. The entry still gets deleted on a reboot, the disk doesn't show up in the devices, etc. I also copied grubx64.efi to /shellx64.efi, but the bios still refuses to recognize it's there.
Here's some output of efibootmgr. This is what it looks like before adding any entries:
BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0001,0002
Boot0001* UEFI: WD My Passport 070A2003
Boot0002* Hard Drive
Here's after adding the entry:
BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0000,0001,0002
Boot0000* grub
Boot0001* UEFI: WD My Passport 070A2003
Boot0002* Hard Drive
After rebooting, it goes back to exactly like it was before adding any entries.
Here's my fstab, if it helps at all:
# /etc/fstab: static file system information
# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
# /dev/sda1
UUID=556e2aff-a493-4ca9-a62e-175a890b0d03 / ext4 rw,relatime,data=ordered 0 1
# /dev/sda3
UUID=5B17-E429 /boot/efi vfat rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro 0 2
# /dev/sda2
UUID=90dee4b7-caac-4d46-a9c6-4dae5bfc4cea /home ext4 rw,relatime,data=ordered 0 2
(Figured out how to set up ssh on my desktop, so feel free to ask for any more output or files.)

[Solved] UEFI Boot Failure

So I just got a now mobo that is UEFI and I tried loading Arch using the normal method.
i.e.( Partition, mkfs, mount, modprobe, chroot, install, reboot)
However when I arrive to what should be the boot I get a Black Screen with cursor.
I have read plenty of posts of the same issue, but to no avail.
This was using the EFIstub only, when I tried gummiboot I was unable to create EFI Boot variables. (I did check if in UEFI)
So now I am scratching my head as to what is going on.
Partitions are standard (gpt)
sda1 512M Fat32 ESP
sda2 10G Swap
sda3 100G Root
sda4 1.7T Home
Mobo is
M5A99FX ASUS
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Last edited by Teito (2013-08-30 19:43:20)

I think yuo might have forgotten to actually install and configure gummiboot.
Gummiboot is really just a boot manager. That means it does not load the kernel and initramfs as a typical bootloader would do. Instead, it simply allows the selection of an efi application and the option to pass arguments if desired/needed. The Linux kernel these days has CONFIG_EFISTUB, which allows the kernel to act as its own UEFI bootloader. So in reality gummiboot is just a menu to select that real bootloader.
So what you actually tried to do there is create a direct firmware entry. This is also using Linux as its own bootloader (via efistub). But instead, you simply append the kernel command line arguments to the bootloader (the kernel) directly in that firmware entry. So I am not sure if this was actually your intended goal or not.
I would recommend using the boot manager, and personally I like gummiboot because it is super straight forward to configure. But you are welcome to try using the direct firmware entry as well. Some would argue that the direct entry is faster, but the time it takes for my machine to load gummiboot is typically 14ms, so I consider that argument a bit silly. The advantages of being able to edit the kernel command line before booting are worth far more than 14ms, which is far less than what we used to wait for grub to load from the disk's boot sector.
In order to be absolutely sure you are getting gummiboot, you should install gummiboot (which should actually automatically install itself as /boot/EFI/gummiboot/gummiboot.efi as well as /boot/EFI/boot/bootx64.efi and attempt to make a firmware entry as "Linux Boot Manager"). But instead of trying to use the firmware entry, boot from the disk that the ESP resides on. \EFI\boot\bootx64.efi is the "default" position, so it is what the firmware is designed to search for in the event that it is booting with UEFI and a disk has been selected (instead of an efibootmgr firmware entry). If you have configured gummiboot properly, you will at least make it to the gummiboot menu and know that your UEFI is at least working… as long as you set a timeout >0.
I guess you should clarify what your actualy goal/preference is here, and then we can go from there.

[SOLVED]UEFI boot gives 'failed to install override security policy'

Hi, newb here who has hit a dead end quite early in the process of installing Arch.
When trying to boot Arch into EFI mode, it says
'failed to install override security policy'
Of course I did my research and it seems that only three other people on this planet have had the same problem, and their solutions do not work for me.
http://superuser.com/questions/615142/u … ity-policy
Overwriting EFI/boot/bootx64.efi with loader.efi enables me to see a menu where I can choose from booting Arch, UEFI shell v1 or UEFI shell v2. Still, selecting Arch results in a blank screen with two grey bars at the top and bottom of the screen, so not really not much help.
I'm not a UNIX nor an EFI wizard, so please bear with me. I'm a Windows user with some anecdotal Linux knowledge (I have installed Ubuntu countless times, wanted a bit of a challenge this time) who wanted to make the switch to the Linux ecosystem, but this error prevents me from doing so. I also tried to install rEFInd as suggested here: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=174734
But I seem to be unable to boot into any UEFI shell v2, it's also printing the errors:
ASSERT_EFI_ERROR (Status = Not Found)
ASSERT C:\svn_code...and so on )
My Windows installation is on BIOS/MBR, so I cannot install rEFInd manually using Windows, and I also cannot use the v1 UEFI shell because of the lacking bcfg command. I don't know how to procede from here. My board is an AsRock P67 Extreme4 Rev 09 with a 2.10 EFI. This board doesn't even have Secure Boot if I'm correct, I also searched every possible submenu of the EFI for an option to disable Secure Boot, but haven't found anything.
Last edited by 0x33 (2015-03-11 17:35:56)

I presume you are trying to use gummiboot?
Please post the contents of /boot/loader/loader.conf and also your gummiboot configuration file for your Arch system (if you are not using gummiboot post the config. files for whichever boot loader/manager you are using).
Load the Arch live ISO, mount all your partitions and `arch-chroot` into your system and then post the output of:
lsblk -f
# parted -l
# efibootmgr -v
Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2015-03-10 21:05:43)

HP ENVY H8-1414 beeps at boot up due to the lack of a UEFI boot source

I recently messed up my Windows installation, due to this I ordered recovery DVDs from HP. Following the instructions I was supplied with, I inserted the DVD into my computer to try to boot off of it. It did not show up in the list of boot sources when I went to the boot menu. I then realized that this likely had something to do with me disabling UEFI boot and using the legacy boot option, so I went into the BIOS to switch it to the UEFI boot option. Now when I turn it on all I get is 6 beeps, which is because my motherboard is trying to boot into a UEFI OS, but there is not one available. So my question is, what should I do now? I can't change it back to legacy boot since that requires Windows (you have to go through Windows to get to the bios) and I can't boot into Windows because it doesn't recognize the reinstall disk as a UEFI enabled device.

COMPUTER INFORMATION: HP ENVY PRODUCT NUMBER: H3Z00AA#ABAMODEL NUMBER: H8-1414 Frank, I do not receive ANY error messages at ANY time. The monitor never comes on. The monitor and graphics card are good as I have chacked them in another system. The MotherBoard does not have on-board video. (Angelica 1.2) I receive 6 beeps, usually indicates video, and then nothing. However, it is not a video hardware issue. I am 100% positive of this as the video card worked previously and works in another system. At boot monitor does not turn on (I have tried multiple monitors and keyboards) I hit F10 and I get 6 beeps, then nothing.At boot monitor does not turn on (I have tried multiple monitors and keyboards) I hit F1 and I get 6 beeps, then nothing.At boot monitor does not turn on (I have tried multiple monitors and keyboards) I hit F8 and I get 6 beeps, then nothing.At boot monitor does not turn on (I have tried multiple monitors and keyboards) I hit F6 and I get 6 beeps, then nothing.At boot monitor does not turn on (I have tried multiple monitors and keyboards) I hit F2 and I get 6 beeps, then nothing.At boot monitor does not turn on (I have tried multiple monitors and keyboards) I hit F12 and I get 6 beeps, then nothing.At boot monitor does not turn on (I have tried multiple monitors and keyboards) I hit ESC and I get 6 beeps, then nothing.At boot monitor does not turn on (I have tried multiple monitors and keyboards) I hit DEL and I get 6 beeps, then nothing. I have tried every USB port on the machine using the same combinations from above.I have tried VGA and DVI outputs.I have removed the CMOS pin from one and two and placed on 2-3 and back to 1-2 after 10 seconds.I have removed the CMOS battery for 5 minutes and then replaced. I have tried placing a UBCD disc in the DVD drive for boot.I have tried placing a Windows 7 Enterprise dvd in the DVD drive for boot.I have tried placing a linux disc in the DVD drive for boot. This has to be a bios issue, I would think. My concern is two things. First, the keyboard does not seem to stay active during boot continuosly. Therefore, I am not sure if the system is getting a key command. I have tried several keyboards and even found a legacy USB keyboard from many many years ago. Same thing with all of them. The system does not have a PS/2 port. I have also tried using several monitors pulling out a legacy 15 inch VGA monitor to a new Dell 24 inch using DVI and VGA. I know the system is not bad and there is no hardware that is bad. I know this with 100% certainty. The system worked, but the harddrive was crashing (internal mechanical issue from within the harddrive). I removed the harddrive and connected to my other system to save data before a complete drive failure. After recovering 90% of the data, the drive completely failed. Therefore, the drive was pulled from a working system.

[SOLVED] Using Apple's UEFI boot menu with Arch

Hello,
I've successfully installed arch on my mid-2012 (5,1) 11" Macbook Air, and now I'm trying to get an entry in apple's boot menu (the one that shows when you hold 'option' when starting the computer). From the author of rEFInd's install instructions (http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/installing.html#osx) it sounds like I can just add some files to `/dev/sda1` (a vfat directory that contains the stuff needed to boot macos), and then run apple's `bless` command and we're good to go. Unfortunately I've tried this a bunch of different ways, to no avail. I think some of my failure is simply because of a misunderstanding of UEFI, here are some questions I (partially) don't understand and my current understanding of them:
1. Do I even need a bootloader on a pure GPT/UEFI system? It seems like the answer is no, and I can just use the UEFI firmware and the linux kernel to load Arch (per: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/UE … ux_Kernel). Note: I'd like to have as little software between the firmware and the os, for speed and simplicity. However, I'd still like to dual boot, but it sounds like the firmware can handle showing me a menu as long as there are entries pointing to parts of each OS.
2. Will grub/rEFInd/syslinux do some of the work for me initially/on a kernel update? I think the answer is yes, which would be motivation (esp when I need to update the kernel) to just use a multibootloader and have it handle arch and the firmware pass control to either that or MacOS
3. Will `efibootmgr` brick my mac? https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/UE … FI_systems says it will, but I think the `grub-install` command uses `efibootmgr`, so should I not try grub on here (this package: https://www.archlinux.org/packages/core … fi-x86_64/ ). Also some of the other packages (like rEFInd-efi) depend on efibootmgr, so does that mean any kind of an install from them (a command from the package, not the `pacman -S pkg` command) will also brick my system? (see rEFInd-efi dependencies: https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extr … efind-efi/ )
I've been searching a bunch of different things, output of the `bless` commands I've been running, and have found the following:
* https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=148647
* Using OSX to install rEFInd manually (moving the files around and using OSXs `bless` command) http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/installing.html#osx , I used the rEFInd files from Archs repos: https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extr … efind-efi/ )
* The Wiki docs on rEFInd https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/UE … ing_rEFInd
To summarize, I'm trying to set up a dual boot between MacOS (installed) and Arch (also installed, there's just no way to boot it on my system yet) using Apple's built in menu that deals with the EFI partition on /dev/sda1 . Thanks in advance for any help!
end
Last edited by enduser (2013-03-18 12:00:17)

enduser wrote:I've successfully installed arch on my mid-2012 (5,1) 11" Macbook Air, and now I'm trying to get an entry in apple's boot menu (the one that shows when you hold 'option' when starting the computer). From the author of rEFInd's install instructions (http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/installing.html#osx) it sounds like I can just add some files to `/dev/sda1` (a vfat directory that contains the stuff needed to boot macos), and then run apple's `bless` command and we're good to go.
Not quite. That makes a boot loader bootable, but it doesn't add an entry to Apple's boot manager menu. There's a blog post somewhere by Matthew Garrett that describes the steps necessary to add something to Apple's boot manager, but I couldn't find it in a quick Web search. Maybe you'll have better luck, or be able to track down the same information somewhere else. As I recall, it involves using a separate HFS+ volume, creating two or three dummy files, and using "bless" in OS X.
1. Do I even need a bootloader on a pure GPT/UEFI system?
Yes, you do need a boot loader. It's important to distinguish between a boot loader and a boot manager, though. The former is a program that loads a kernel, and perhaps associated data, into memory and transfers control to the kernel. A boot manager presents a user interface that enables you to select which OS (or which boot loader) to launch. A boot manager is not strictly necessary, and Apple's EFI implementation includes its own simple boot manager, which is what you've been unsuccessful in configuring.
Note: I'd like to have as little software between the firmware and the os, for speed and simplicity. However, I'd still like to dual boot, but it sounds like the firmware can handle showing me a menu as long as there are entries pointing to parts of each OS.
Many people make do with the firmware's own boot manager, but this can be rather inflexible. I'm not even sure if Apple's boot manager can handle passing options to Linux kernels' EFI stub loaders. This ability is not absolutely required, but without it you must compile your options into your kernel at compile time, which greatly reduces flexibility since you can't modify the options on a per-boot basis -- say, to boot into single-user mode if this is required.
2. Will grub/rEFInd/syslinux do some of the work for me initially/on a kernel update?
The usual Arch Linux method of handling kernel updates is to overwrite an old kernel with a new one, so no boot loader/boot manager changes are required. If you want to keep numbered kernels around (as most other distributions do), GRUB provides scripts that can help automate changes, but they are required in the grub.cfg file. rEFInd can auto-detect boot loaders, and if you're using the EFI stub loader, that means that the kernel is its own boot loader, and with a proper configuration, rEFInd can detect new kernels without changing its configuration file.
SYSLINUX has some very early and very experimental EFI support. The one and only time I tried it (about a month ago), it wouldn't compile for me. (I don't know of a precompiled binary available on the Web -- the support is that new!) I don't recommend trying it unless somebody who's gotten it to work offers to help you personally.
3. Will `efibootmgr` brick my mac? https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/UE … FI_systems says it will, but I think the `grub-install` command uses `efibootmgr`, so should I not try grub on here (this package: https://www.archlinux.org/packages/core … fi-x86_64/ ).
There were reports of efibootmgr damaging Mac firmware several months ago (I believe over a year ago). Since then I've seen claims that this problem has been fixed with recent kernels (3.0 and later, IIRC), but I've seen no substantiation one way or the other. Overall, I recommend caution....
Also some of the other packages (like rEFInd-efi) depend on efibootmgr, so does that mean any kind of an install from them (a command from the package, not the `pacman -S pkg` command) will also brick my system? (see rEFInd-efi dependencies: https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extr … efind-efi/ )
On a Mac, I recommend installing rEFInd (or any other EFI boot loader) from OS X rather than from Linux. (Note that I'm rEFInd's maintainer, so that's an official recommendation from the software's developer.) Offhand, I don't know if the Arch package for rEFInd runs efibootmgr automatically on boot or just has it as a dependency because efibootmgr is the usual way to register a boot loader on UEFI systems. If the latter, it should be safe to install the Arch package for rEFInd, copy its files, and then reboot to OS X to run bless on it. It would be just as easy, if not easier, to install it completely from OS X, though.

[SOLVED] Wiki page for GPT disks and booting arch using UEFI

Hi guys, I am new to archlinux. I installed archlinux x86_64 just yesterday and I like its customisability. I also like arch wiki. Nowhere else have I seen such extensive documentation, especially about things like HAL, UDEV etc. with proper instructions. Thanks to all archers.
I have installed Archlinux x86_64 in my Dell India Studio 1537 laptop along with Windows 7 Professional x64. Both the OSes boot in UEFI-GPT setup (my UEFI is tianocore.sourceforge.net EDK DUET UEFI64 firmware booting from USB). I boot Archlinux using my own compiled grub2-bzr compiled for both BIOS and UEFI-x64. I have a 1 MB BIOS Boot Partition as required by grub2 for BIOS-GPT booting. My Archlinux system can boot both from bios and from uefi, while Windows can boot only using UEFI.
The official Archlinux installation guide talks about only MBR (or msdos disklabel) partitions and booting from BIOS based systems. With 2TB drives becoming common place and UEFI being implemented (search for Phoenix SecureCore Tiano's 1 second POST operation), I think a proper wiki page describing differences between MBR and GPT, why GPT is better, how to setup arch to boot from GPT. Another page describing steps to setup arch to boot from UEFI (either as a separate page or as an extension of GRUB2 wiki page) is also needed.
Some details regarding Pure GPT (not a Hybrid GPT/MBR setup) and/or UEFI setups :-
Partitioning tools -
GNU Parted for filesystem related tasks
GPT fdisk tool - http://rodsbooks.com/gdisk/ , http://sourceforge.net/projects/gptfdisk/ , pacman -S gdisk (in extra repo) - for non-filesystem related tasks
util-linux-ng fdisk does not support GPT disks
Bootloader - GRUB2 - vanilla grub-legacy does not support GPT and does not support UEFI (Fedora's patched grub-legacy does support both GPT and UEFI) and syslinux does not support GPT (I may be wrong here - seems a gptmbr of syslinux does help in booting from gpt but not sure).
For GRUB2 - Need BIOS Boot Partition to embed GRUB2's core.img in GPT disks - size about 1 MB max - no filesystem
In GPT fdisk partition type code - EF02
In GNU Parted or GParted - bios_grub flag on
For UEFI-GPT booting this special partition is not needed as no embedding takes place. This is needed only in case of BIOS-GPT booting.
Incase of custom kernel configuration - enable CONFIG_EFI_PARTITION for GPT support
CONFIG_EFI for UEFI support (for UEFI even above option required)
CONFIG_EFI_VARS for UEFI Runtime Variables support (optional)
Note: Although GPT is part of UEFI specification, a UEFI system is not needed to boot from/use GPT. BIOS based GPT booting is possible with GRUB2 or Fedora's patched grub-legacy (but not vanilla grub-legacy provided by archlinux). It is also possible to boot Linux in UEFI-MBR setup (again using grub2) but I have not tried it.
Even without UEFI and less than 2TB harddrives, GPT based partitioning has many advantages - secondary GPT header and Partition table, CRC32 checksums. Unique Disk GUID and Filesystem-independent Unique Partition GUIDs, multiple primary partitions (default is 128 partitions, but it can be changed). The only problamatic OS is Windows which does not allow GPT booing unless one has UEFI based system. It allows only UEFI-GPT or BIOS-MBR setups. In linux it just depends on how the bootloader is configured - not a problem with grub2.
I also propose that incase of Auto-prepare Hard Drive, the installer default to GPT for "archlinux only" installs ( ie no dual-boot or triple-boot etc.).
I did not use the official archlinux iso but used archboot 2010.04 R3 as it gave an option of installing to GPT and also provided GRUB2 during bootloader install. I have never edited any wiki page before, thats why I request some one else to start a wiki page with the information given above.
I don't know whether this is the right place, but any Windows (Vista or 7 x64 versions) and Linux dual-boot user who has UEFI-based system with GPT partitioning and wants to get rid of Hybrid MBR setup (to boot Windows) can follow this post http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/lofive … hp/t186440 (outside this forum) - this link describes the way to make Windows boot natively in UEFI-GPT setup. After doing this one can install arch using GRUB2 compiled for UEFI x86_64, and Windows will also see
Last edited by skodabenz (2011-01-30 19:32:48)

Welcome to arch, skodabenz! Offering documentation on third post - all thumbs up
You could start the wiki page in your user-space with what you have, and then invite others to join working on it. Just register a wiki account, navigate to the page you want to start, for example:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/User:skodabenz/GPT
and click on "edit this page".
As noted in the other thread, arch's legacy grub is patched for gpt support. I don't know about UEFI, but you can always open a bug report asking for the patches from fedora to be included.
edit: the page from Rod Smith is a great resource. I was absolutely terrified at first by all this screwed up GPT/MBR stuff when I tried triple-booting Arch, Win and OS x, but he really does a great job explaining what it is all about.
Last edited by hokasch (2010-05-21 15:44:08)

[SOLVED, sort of] Yet another UEFI boot issue

Hello everyone,
Let me start by saying sorry for the long (first) post.
I've ended up with a UEFI boot problem I can't solve. I've searched the forum and internet and I realize I'm not the only one who ran into problems with UEFI. Unfortunately, the problems other have had seem not similar to mine. I've spent almost 2 days now trying to figure this out, and I'm getting nowhere (though I've learnt some more about UEFI, which I guess is good). I was hoping someone here can give me some hints on how to proceed.
So lets start with the background. I recently bought a new computer (Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E530 with Windows 8) and of course I want to run ArchLinux on it (been using ArchLinux for almost 7 years now and no plans on switching). Installation went ok with only a few problems during installation that I managed to solve (or so I thought). I must admit I didn't follow the guide fully. I didn't want to remove the Restore and Windows partitions, so I figured it would be safe to reuse the existing UEFI System Partition, as long as there was enough room, which there was. Anyway, I now have a computer I can boot into ArchLinux and also Windows 8, just the way I want it, almost. There is this one final issue I haven't been able to figure out how to solve.
The problem
Whenever I reset/power on the computer, I must press Enter during the initial screen (showing a Lenovo logo, and a message about pressing Enter to interrupt normal startup). If I don't press Enter before the timeout (a second or so), the screen will go white and that's it. No beep, no message, no nothing but a white screen. A power cycle is the only way to leave this state. Occasionally the screen will be a white bar at the top and random colours below, but I'm guessing this only represents what is in graphics memory at the time (0x00, 0xFF or any other random value).
If i do press Enter however, then I'm presented with a menu where I can select what to boot; rEFInd (which is preselected) along with Windows 8 and some restore and diagnostic entries. Pressing enter will take me to the preselected rEFInd, pressing enter again (or wait for timeout) will boot linux, and I'm in. Nothing weird there. And if I select Windows in rEFInd, then windows boot, just as expected.
There is no difference whether I'm switching from Windows to Linux or Linux to Windows or just reboot the same OS I was using again. The result is the same whatever I choose to boot.
So the question is: Why do I have to select rEFInd manually and go through all these menus? Should I not be able to just power it on and let it boot the preselected rEFInd entry and continue from there, without me helping it?
Trying to solve it
Searching here and on the internet gave me some ideas on what to try, so here is a list of my attempts:
efibootmgr show me there is a rEFInd entry, and that it is the first one in boot order
I copied refindx64.efi to /boot/efi/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi (replacing an existing entry)
I've updated the EFI firmware (from Lenovo) to the latest and greatest
One other guy had almost the same issue, but with a single boot of Windows. He solved it with Microsoft Boot Manager (there is an Automatic Repair, or something). I even dared trying this, though I must admit I was a bit hesitant about letting some Microsoft program trying to repair my computer. Anyway, it said it couldn't repair my problem, nor did it say I had one, so I am none the wiser.
None of the above gave anything.
So, that's it. I guess I can live with having to press Enter on every power up/reset, but it is very annoying having to do so, and even more so when I forget it because then I'm forced to power cycle it. I hope someone reading this can figure out what's going on, because I am clueless.
Best regards,
Johan
Last edited by 6feet5 (2013-01-08 19:03:50)

WonderWoofy wrote:@srs5694, have you thought about filing a bug report/feature request about the naming scheme here? I would imagine that something coming directly from the upstream developer would be something that they should take into consideration. Also, I imagine that renaming it to refindx64.efi kind of goes against the whole "vanilla packages" thing we tout around here... so it really makes me wonder why it is done in the first place.
I've just done that:
https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/33326
It's not been very important until recently; but I've been putting a lot of effort into the ancillary support scripts (install.sh and mvrefind.sh). They necessarily rely on the files having certain names, so installing them under other names robs users of functionality.
6feet5 wrote:I've decided to try and restore the whole unit, thinking it would take maybe an hour or two. It's been running now for almost 3 hours and only completed 20%.
Good luck with that!
FWIW, it seems that the number of EFI-related bug reports on Linux forums has gone way up recently. No doubt this is because EFI is now pretty much universal on new computers, so problems that used to affect one or two people now affect dozens or hundreds, and some of those post about them.

[SOLVED] UEFI installation - booting failure

Hi All,
Setting in BIOS: UEFI boot mode, Secure Boot Off
Booting from USB in UEFI mode, everything is OK. Then I did this:
gdisk /dev/sda
create new GPT partition
cgdisk /dev/sda
Part. # Size Partition Type Partition Name
1007.0 KiB free space
1 512 Mb EFI system efi
2 6 GiB Linux filesystem root
3 122 GiB Linux filesystem home
mkfs.vfat -F32 -n efi /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/home
mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/home
Then I followed the installation guide. At the "Install a bootloader" section I tried both EFISTUB and GRUB:.
At Point 5 here https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners'_Guide#EFISTUB I created refind_linux.conf with sdax = sda2
# nano /boot/efi/EFI/arch/refind_linux.conf
"Boot to X" "root=/dev/sda2 ro rootfstype=ext4 systemd.unit=graphical.target"
"Boot to console" "root=/dev/sda2 ro rootfstype=ext4 systemd.unit=multi-user.target"
and at Point 6 X=a, Y=1:
# efibootmgr -c -d /dev/sda -p 1 -w -L "rEFInd" -l '\EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi'
GRUB is quite straightforward.
After restart I got "no bootable device" error. The strange thing is that in BIOS I can see and select "rEFInd" or "arch_grub" in booting options, but anyhow it just won't boot.
Thank you for your help.
Last edited by totolotto (2013-06-22 17:33:39)

totolotto wrote:rEFInd boot manager shows 2 Arch logos:
1) Boot EFI\arch\vmlinuz.efi from 512 MiB FAT volume
2) Boot boot\vmlinuz-linux from 6 GiB ext4 volume
This means that you've got your kernel (or possibly different kernels) stored on two partitions. The first looks like it's a kernel on your ESP, and the second looks like it's your root (/) Linux filesystem, accessed via the rEFInd ext4fs driver. To simplify your life, I recommend deleting the kernel from the ESP and using the kernel in your Linux /boot directory (that is, kernel #2). If you try to keep both of them, you'll have to copy new kernels from /boot to the ESP whenever you upgrade your kernel, and you'll end up with two entries in rEFInd that boot the same kernel, which is sort of pointless.
That said, if you don't want to use rEFInd in the long term, copying your kernels to the ESP, or reconfiguring your mount point so that the ESP is mounted at /boot and therefore your kernels get stored there automatically, can make sense. Given where you are, though, the quickest path to an efficient setup is to just ditch the kernels on the ESP and boot your kernels off of your root (/) partition's /boot directory.
totolotto wrote:With regard to "boot into Arch directly" I understand that it is possilbe with efibootmgr described here, however efrbootmgr does not work for me
Some people do like to boot their kernels directly, without using rEFInd, gummiboot, GRUB, or anything else. Note that efibootmgr isn't involved in the boot process per se; it's just used to set up the firmware's boot manager. Thus, saying you want to "boot with efibootmgr" (or words to that effect) is confusing, even to experts -- because this makes no sense, it's not clear what you really want. This uncertainty has been cleared up in subsequent posts, but I want to point it out to help you (and perhaps others who read this) communicate more clearly in the future.
FWIW, I tend to agree with WonderWoofy on this score -- although it's possible to configure the firmware to boot the kernel directly, the down sides to this approach more than outweigh whatever small speed benefits you get from it. In your case, totolotto, given the problems you're having with efibootmgr, it may not be a practical alternative -- at least, not unless and until you can overcome those problems.
WonderWoofy wrote: I think a better option would be to give rEFInd a timeout of zero. I believe there is a key (or keys?) that you can hold down to have the menu show up when the timeout is set to zero. This is how gummiboot works anyway,
rEFInd doesn't have a 0-timeout option. In rEFInd, setting the timeout to 0 disables the countdown timer, so it never times out. The closest you can get to a 0-timeout in rEFInd is setting it to 1 second. If you must have a true 0 timeout, use gummiboot. Unfortunately, that means you won't be able to read the kernel files from a Linux filesystem, but mounting the ESP at /boot can create something that works about as well. Doing this will require some significant reconfiguration from where totolotto is now, but it can be done if getting a 0-timeout configuration is important.

[SOLVED] Can't setup UEFI boot

Hi, I'm in the process of installing a newly bought laptop (Sony Vaio SVS1311P9EB). I'm able to boot from the install media and to install the system but when it comes to setting up the boot I run into some issues.
The HDD is formated with GPT with a EFI partition on /dev/sda3 (there is actually on on sda1 as well, but I think that one is for system recovery. It does lack the boot flag) and the arch system root on /dev/sda6, the partitions in between is used by Windows 7 (pre installed from factory). Works perfectly by the way...
The BIOS is set to use UEFI, "Boot mode" = UEFI. However even though i run 'modprobe efivars' the kernel can't detect any EFI variables, in fact the directory /sys/firmware/efi doesn't even exist.
This causes problems when I run (from the newbie install guide);
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=arch_grub --recheck
and
efibootmgr -c -g -d /dev/sda -p 3 -w -L "Arch Linux (GRUB)" -l '\EFI\arch_grub\grubx64.efi
The error both times are;
Fatal: Couldn't open either sysfs or procfs directories for accessing EFI variables
If I reboot the computer the BIOS ignores arch (not surprising I guess) and just jumps straight to Windows.
Any ideas how I can get around this problem?
Last edited by nojan (2012-11-07 22:27:12)

The module loads fine, but that directory does not get created. If I'm reading the wiki correctly that means that UEFI isn't being used, however that doesn't make any sense since the BIOS is setup to use UEFI
Edit: Found this link; http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions … 175411129/. Seems that the guys at H2O BIOS has decided to hardcode the paths to UEFI system files. Renaming the windows file solved the problem, although it is hack alert on the highest level!
Last edited by nojan (2012-11-07 20:20:24)

Satellite C50-B with Win 8.1 - PXE error appeares using UEFI boot mode

I have a C50-b laptop running Win 8.1 and recently needed to boot it from a usb key so eventually found the way to do that (miss the bios first boot menu) and managed to do that.
My problem is even when I have returned to uefi and set the boot order to be local disk, cd, network it asks everytime do I want to boot for PXE IP4,IP6 then IP4 and IP6 again. I have also disabled secure boot
I think some value is missing when I switched to BIOS and back to UETI boot option but where is the laptop getting the setting to tell it to PXE/Network boot when its down the list and wake on LAN is disabled.

According to the automated support on the site I should do the following for Win 8
Switch on the notebook and immediately begin tapping the F2 key continuously.
When the system setup (BIOS) appears, stop tapping F2. Tap F9 once, select 'Yes', and press Enter.
Use the cursor keys to move to the Advanced menu.
Choose System Configuration and press Enter.
Ensure that Boot Mode is set to UEFI Boot.
Press Escape to return to the Advanced menu and choose the Security menu.
Set Secure Boot to Enabled.
Press F10 once, select 'Yes', and press Enter.

SOLVED !? Recovery. Your (new) PC needs to be repaired. Boot configuration error code 0x0000034

I booted my new-ish laptop and immediately got an EXTREMELY serious pre-boot error.
"Recovery. Your PC needs to be repaired. The boot configuration data is missing some required information. file:\BCD error code 0x0000034. ... press ESCAPE to go to (pre-)boot menu." (and laptop turns off after 20 secs)
After pressing ESC and getting the (pre-)boot menu, NOTHING I tried worked !! Tried several times.
I had to use a 6 inch e-reader to access the web. After a long long search and finding little of use, I found an obscure forum post that said to press 0 during the Toshiba pre-boot.
After a long wait. That gave me the Win 8.1 maintenance window. I followed the advanced options to auto-repair my laptop. After a long wait it told me:
"Could not repair PC" !!!???
I decided to click the reboot menu from this win 8.1 windows. It was basically my only option left.
After a long reboot, it seems to have worked !?? Some of my Win 8.1 settings have been lost AGAIN; e.g. task manager default viewing settings.
CONLUSIONS (brief):
- Not having a recovery USB
- Not having a recovery DVD (useless since Win 8.1 deactivated this)
- Not having the Win 8.1 install disk
- Not knowing the pre-boot press 0 key trick
- MAKE SURE you have a recovery USB for your system (cannot use a DVD on win 8.1)
- Don't believe Win 8.1 statements saying can't repair PC !!??
I never expected this from Toshiba and a non-cheap laptop.
Satellite P70-A PSPLPC-01Y007 Win 8.1 Purchased 3 months ago.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Satellite E45t-A4300 part number PSUB2U-00K00P
Press f12 then advanced options, then Automatic repair or other options listed below:
From page 115 of your user manual-
Advanced options
Choosing this option presents you with another set of
options:
System Restore
❖ System Restore allows you to use a Restore point to
return the computer to a state at which it was performing
properly. Restore points are created:
❖ When new hardware or software is installed
❖ Manually by the user
System Image Recovery
Windows® will “Recover” the Operating system using a
specific image provided by the user.
116 If Something Goes Wrong
The Windows® operating system is not working
Automatic Repair
This feature automates the repair process. The Operating
System will automatically look for problems and repair them
if possible.
Command Prompt
The command prompt is a very powerful tool for advanced
users.
Startup Settings
In previous Operating Systems the majority of the options
found on this menu were available by pressing the F8 key
during the Windows® boot process:
❖ Enable low resolution video mode
Restarts Windows® using your current video driver at low
resolution. This allows you to reset your display settings
in the event they have been improperly set.
❖ Enable debugging mode
Starts Windows® in an advanced troubleshooting mode
❖ Enable boot logging
Creates a file that lists all the drivers that are installed
during startup
❖ Enable Safe Mode
Starts Windows® with a minimal set of drivers and
services. If the computer starts and runs in Safe Mode,
you will know the Operating System is most likely
working properly and that you should look to third-party
applications or drivers for the source of your problem.
❖ Disable driver signature enforcement
Allows drivers containing improper signatures to be
installed
❖ Disable early-launch anti-malware protection
Allows drivers to initialize without being measured by the
Anti-malware driver
❖ Disable automatic restart on system failure
Prevents Windows® from automatically restarting if an
error causes it to fail. Choose this option only if
Windows® is stuck in a loop where it fails, attempts to
restart, and fails again repeatedly.
Your support page is here - Support page
Your user guide is here - User guide
S70-ABT2N22 Windows 7 Pro & 8.1Pro, C55-A5180 Windows 8.1****Click on White “Kudos” STAR to say thanks!****

How to load the boot menu using the command line , after the configuration change ?

how to load the boot menu using the command line , after the configuration change ?

Hi @Bask-48
Welcome to the HP Forums!
It is a terrific place to find answers.
For you to have the best experience in the HP forum I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide Learn How to Post and More
I grasp you are trying to change the boot order. Here is a link to Configuring the Boot Order in the System BIOS
that will assist you.
Good Luck and Happy Holidays!
Sparkles1
I work on behalf of HP
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[SOLVED] UEFI boot configuration using efibootmgr

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