[SOLVED] UEFI Windows 7 And ArchLinux

Question

Hey guys
I had installed Windows 7 beside Arch Linux as legacy mode and everything was okay.
But now I decide to install them as UEFI mode.
When I converted my HDD to GPT, Windows created a 128MiB FAT32 Partition for itself.
Am I supposed to create any other partition for EFI boot?
Thanks
Last edited by Known (2013-06-04 08:55:40)

Answer 1

re: ESP
Known wrote:And one more question: Is it better to extend it to 512MiB?
In theory, a smallish ESP is sufficient unless you're storing big files on it (say, several Linux kernels and initrds). In practice, some people have reported problems with FAT32 ESPs smaller than 512MiB. It seems that some EFIs have buggy or finicky FAT drivers that can fail to see files or otherwise misbehave on FAT32 partitions smaller than 512MiB. If you run into that problem, you'll have to either expand the ESP or convert it to FAT16. Note, however, that the EFI spec is explicit in saying that the ESP should be FAT32, not FAT16, and the Windows installer tends to flake out if it sees a FAT16 ESP. Thus, an ESP of 512MiB or larger (I recommend more like 550MiB because of issues of the default FAT size in mkdosfs and the potential for MiB vs. MB confusions) is best if you're starting from scratch. A smaller ESP does work for many people, though.