I recently installed Arch on my laptop (Dell Precision M4500). I had just changed the hard disk so I had to partition from scratch during the installation. I chose to go for a GPT partition and also set my system to boot with UEFI.
During installation, I tried to install GRUB and failed since I was using the traditional command to install to an MBR disk (grub-install /dev/sda). This failed with a message about EFI (I'm afraid I don't remember what) so I went for bootctl instead. I followed the Arch Beginners Guide to the letter:
# bootctl install
Created boot/loader/entries/arch.conf with the following contents:
title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options root=/dev/sda2 rw
And /boot/loader/loader.conf
timeout 3
default arch
I then proceeded to install the system normally. However, upon rebooting, I am presented with a black screen and no boot loader after the system POSTs. The only way to get to the bootloader is to press F12 to bring up the system's boot menu (the same one which lets—or let, when the system wasn't EFI anyway—me get to the BIOS) and then choose "linux bootloader" from the menu. This will take me to a bootloader screen where I can choose "Arch".
The menu I get when pressing F12:
If I choose "grub", I get:
choosing "grub" again just brings me straight back to the same menu.
If, from the 1st menu, I choose "Linux Boot Manager", I get a menu with an Arch entry and an "EFI default loader" entry :
Choosing "Arch" boots my Arch install and choosing "EFI default loader" takes me to the menu shown in 4 below.
If, from the 1st menu, I choose "UEFI: INT 13(RAID.0x80)", I get a menu with only an Arch entry, choosing which will boot my Arch system:
I also tried installing grub (correctly this time):
pacman -S efibootmgr grub os-prober
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/EFI --bootloader-id=grub --recheck
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
This made a new "grub" entry appear in the F12 boot menu, but selecting it takes me to a black screen and then back to the boot menu.
My grub.cfg is (comments removed):
insmod part_gpt
insmod part_msdos
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
set default="${next_entry}"
set next_entry=
save_env next_entry
set boot_once=true
else
set default="0"
fi
if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
menuentry_id_option=""
fi
export menuentry_id_option
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi
function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
}
function load_video {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
fi
}
if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
font=unicode
else
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2 98202b4b-af35-413a-b3ff-87c149c5061d
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 98202b4b-af35-413a-b3ff-87c149c5061d
fi
font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi
if loadfont $font ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
fi
terminal_input console
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then
set timeout_style=menu
set timeout=5
else
set timeout=5
fi
menuentry 'Arch Linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-98202b4b-af35-413a-b3ff-87c149c5061d' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root='hd0,gpt1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt1 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt1 9943-114D
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 9943-114D
fi
echo 'Loading Linux linux ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=98202b4b-af35-413a-b3ff-87c149c5061d rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Arch Linux' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-98202b4b-af35-413a-b3ff-87c149c5061d' {
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-linux-advanced-98202b4b-af35-413a-b3ff-87c149c5061d' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root='hd0,gpt1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt1 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt1 9943-114D
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 9943-114D
fi
echo 'Loading Linux linux ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=98202b4b-af35-413a-b3ff-87c149c5061d rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
}
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux linux (fallback initramfs)' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-linux-fallback-98202b4b-af35-413a-b3ff-87c149c5061d' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root='hd0,gpt1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt1 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt1 9943-114D
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 9943-114D
fi
echo 'Loading Linux linux ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=98202b4b-af35-413a-b3ff-87c149c5061d rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-linux-fallback.img
}
}
if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
My partition table (note the error, I don't know if that's relevant):
$ sudo parted /dev/sda print
Error: The backup GPT table is corrupt, but the primary appears OK, so that will
be used.
OK/Cancel? OK
Model: ATA TOSHIBA MQ01ABD0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 750GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 538MB 537MB fat32 boot, esp
2 538MB 32.7GB 32.2GB ext4
3 32.7GB 462GB 429GB ext4
4 462GB 479GB 17.2GB linux-swap(v1)
5 479GB 750GB 271GB ntfs msftdata
And /etc/fstab:
# /dev/sda2
UUID=98202b4b-af35-413a-b3ff-87c149c5061d / ext4 rw,relatime,data=ordered 0 1
# /dev/sda3
UUID=baa9dd1e-835c-4d88-af8a-31dc97ac7af6 /home ext4 rw,relatime,data=ordered 0 2
# /dev/sda1
UUID=9943-114D /boot vfat rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro 0 2
# /dev/sda4
UUID=8eaf91cd-f638-487b-8299-50d39342df0d none swap defaults 0 0
(My EFI partition (sda1) is mounted at /boot; should that be /boot/EFI instead?)
So, my question is, how can I get my system to boot directly into a usable bootloader without my having to press F12? I would prefer that this bootloader be grub but I could live with bootctl if necessary.
efibootmgrif you like. or just get some other menu app. usinggrubis crazy overkill - with refind your whole boot script would be half a line. using a go-between is a little silly - your firmware will just load and execute the linux-kernel if you let it.efibootmgr. I used to see it when the system was BIOS as well. Plus, the "arch" entry I defined forbootctlonly appears in the 2nd level menu I get after choosing "EFI bootloader"grubx64.efior whatever it calls itself to/boot/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi- butgrubis the only one that requires any learning cause it does all of this nonsense. All you need is an executable on the disk the efi mounts at boot that the efi knows where to find - its a lot more simple to make it the kernel. Thebootx64.efiis the default executable path. If there's something already there just back it up.