How To Distro Hop With UEFI

Hey,

My PC has 298 GB of which approximately 179 GB is unallocated. The remaining estimated 119 GB is being used by two distro's: PCLinuxOS and Manjaro 0.8.12

When I have tried to add a new distro, having plenty of free space, I usually get a message telling me I can not proceed further due to my having four primary partitions.

I have a Swap partition of sufficient size to handle multiple distros almost 10 GB.

I installed PCLOS first and then Manjaro. I gave each approximately 12 GB for their 'Root' (/) Their Home (/home) partition was roughly 40 GB each.

{/dev/sda1 swap /dev/sda2 Extended (/dev/sda5, dev/sda6) "PCLinuxOS" /dev/sda3. /dev/sda4 "Manjaro 0.8.12"

For /dev/sda 5 & 6 I used 'Reiserfs' file system. For /dev/sda 3 & 4, I used Ext4.}

The way I look at it my root and home partitions are 'primary' thus taking up the four primary allowed. I seem ti either recall or seen somewhere, that beside 'Primary there was something called 'Logical'

Starting with PCLinux as a base could I make a new installation of Manjaro where (/) would be Primary and (/home) would be Logical?

Or would I need to start totally over with fresh installs of both Manjaro ant PCLinux?? Then make (/) primary and (/home) logical?

Would such a move allow me to install additional distros?

A thought could I make the changes in Gparted while keeping the distros as they are, just making the changes [primary & logical?]

TIA

herakles_14

Hi

I've build my desktop from scratch a long time ago and it's using the standard BIOS.

I am planning to get a laptop at some time and it has windows 8.1 with UEFI. My plan to to wipe windows off the thing and install linux.

I will be dealing with UEFI for the first time, so my question is, do I need to get an UEFI supported distro or will any linux distro detect the UEFI and install accordingly?

Thanks

Hi, So im quite new to linux and im not surprised as iv tried before to check it out and failed then (old computers problem) but i decided to have another go on a new comp recently.

UEFI mobo
Nvidia geforce 770 as output.

I need a duel boot of win7 & mint. Win7 is installed.

UEFI has caused me so many problems its just beyond me ! (i had never heard of it before i brought this comp)

booting Mint from a cd/dvd works fine.

booting from a USB fails with a blank or locked up screen at the first mint logo. (many tests with dif methods of creating live USB)

Installing mint with grub over the top of win boot loader fails , i get no options to choose between win & linux it boots straight to linux and then fails (same error as above)

I have a small SSD with win7 , there is not a lot of space on it so i want to install mint 17.1KDE on a different HDD.

After a month or so of reading testing reading testing etc i ended up getting mint installed on partitions i created on secondary HDD but i had to keep the windows boot loader in place and use easyBCD.

However now i get the choice of win7 or linux and windows still actually works (breakthrough ^^) BUT linux just crashes at boot (at the first logo) and then the monitor looses all signal?


I am soo frustrated. Mint will run of a CD but i can not get it to work in any other way , please help

Thx.

Hi,

I am new to the installation of Linux, and wish to install 3 different distro's on the same hard disk.

I have installed Centos 7 successfully as follows :

The /boot is /dev/sda2

/dev/sda1 is listed as unknown so i assume it is the Master Boot Record with Grub installed. I do obtain the option to boot to the various kernels after updating the OS.

/dev/sda3 is a Linux LVM with the various partitions i required.

When i installed the CentOS 7 the installer stated an error about the bootable partition - which was effectively /boot, so i moved this to /dev/sda2.

What i am not sure about is that if i want to install 2 other Linux OS's will i run out of /dev/sdaX assignments ?.

I read somewhere that there are 4 maximum that can be used a /boot (SDA1, SDA2, SDA3, SDA4), so does this mean i can only install one other OS ?.

Any guidance gratefully received. Thanks.

Regards,

Richard.

The installation of the latest stable on my Lenovo G505s went just fine in UEFI mode but when the installation finished I never reach grub during the bootup process. I put Refind media onto a usb stick and boot into my computer using it after that I tried to follow this guide https://wiki.debian.org/GrubEFIReinstall but I'm having some trouble.

When I start the computer with the "Refind media" it gives me 3 options where the first is

"Boot EFI\debian\grubx64.efi from 510 Mib Fat Volume" If I choose this option it takes me to grub via eufi(?) and then I can get into my computer as usual.

How can I make my computer understand that it should recognize and boot from EFI\debian\grubx64.efi, 510 Mib Fat Volume?

I found https://wiki.debian.org/EFIStub and since my
/boot/efi/EFI/debian looks like; grubx64.efi initrd.img-3.16.0-4-amd64 vmlinuz-3.16.0-4-amd64
I tried the following
Code:

# efibootmgr -c -g -L "Debian (EFI stub)" -l '\EFI\debian\grubx64.efi' -u 'root=UUID=$UUID ro quiet rootfstype=ext4 add_efi_memmap initrd=\\EFI\\debian\\initrd.img-3.16.0-4-amd-64'
efibootmgr: Could not set variable Boot0005: No such file or directory
efibootmgr: Could not prepare boot variable: No such file or directory

Code:

    [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "EFI boot on HDD" || echo "Legacy boot on HDD"
    EFI boot on HDD


     apt-get install --reinstall grub-efi

went just fine and I have /dev/sda1 mounted on /boot/efi
but when I try grub-install I get

Code:

grub-install /dev/sda
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
efibootmgr: Could not set variable Boot0005: No such file or directory
efibootmgr: Could not prepare boot variable: No such file or directory
Installation finished. No error reported.

What is going wrong here?

Code:

    update-grub
    Generating grub configuration file ...
    Found background image: .background_cache.png
    Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-4-amd64
    Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.16.0-4-amd64
    Adding boot menu entry for EFI firmware configuration
    done

Code:

file /boot/efi/EFI/debian/grubx64.efi
/boot/efi/EFI/debian/grubx64.efi: PE32+ executable (EFI application) x86-64 (stripped to external PDB), for MS Windows

but efibootmgr --verbose | grep debian gives me nothing. If I run efibootmgr without grep I get:

Code:

    efibootmgr --verbose
    BootCurrent: 0002
    Timeout: 0 seconds
    BootOrder: 2001,0003,0004,0001,0000,2002,2003
    Boot0000* USB HDD     : SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro    BIOS(2,500,00)..................3.......1...5........................................
    Boot0001* USB ODD     : SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro    BIOS(3,500,00)..................;.......9...=........................................
    Boot0002* EFI USB Device   ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(10,0)USB(2,0)0311050000HD(1,800,2d5f,55fc859c-5227-4cd5-bd64-a4fd678ba8b6)RC
    Boot0003* SATA HDD    : ST1000LM014-1EJ164                         BIOS(2,0,00).......................................................................
    Boot0004* SATA ODD    : MATSHITADVD-RAM UJ8C2                      BIOS(3,0,00).......................................................................
    Boot2001* EFI USB Device   RC
    Boot2002* EFI DVD/CDROM   RC
    Boot2003* EFI Network   RC

Here is some additonial information which might be relevant.

Code:

    # df -h
    Filesystem                 Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
    /dev/dm-1                  9.1G  2.5G  6.2G  29% /
    udev                        10M     0   10M   0% /dev
    tmpfs                      1.4G  9.1M  1.4G   1% /run
    tmpfs                      3.5G   68K  3.5G   1% /dev/shm
    tmpfs                      5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
    tmpfs                      3.5G     0  3.5G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
    /dev/sda2                  237M   35M  190M  16% /boot
    /dev/sda1                  511M  132K  511M   1% /boot/efi
    /dev/mapper/ludo--vg-home  893G  103M  848G   1% /home
    tmpfs                      713M  4.0K  713M   1% /run/user/117
    tmpfs                      713M  8.0K  713M   1% /run/user/1000

Code:

fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 0080BBEA-1B46-4EAE-9471-CC523BFCAD44

Device       Start        End    Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sda1     2048    1050623    1048576   512M EFI System
/dev/sda2  1050624    1550335     499712   244M Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3  1550336 1953523711 1951973376 930.8G Linux filesystem

GPT PMBR size mismatch (13695 != 2009726) will be corrected by w(rite).

Disk /dev/sdb: 981.3 MiB, 1028980224 bytes, 2009727 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
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: E4A93BB9-2F9C-4487-B090-91B620879E4C

Device     Start   End Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sdb1   2048 13662   11615  5.7M EFI System

Disk /dev/mapper/sda3_crypt: 930.8 GiB, 999408271360 bytes, 1951969280 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk /dev/mapper/ludo--vg-root: 9.3 GiB, 9999220736 bytes, 19529728 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk /dev/mapper/ludo--vg-swap_1: 14.4 GiB, 15439233024 bytes, 30154752 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk /dev/mapper/ludo--vg-home: 907.1 GiB, 973967720448 bytes, 1902280704 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes

How do I convert a single hard drive to GPT without losing data and without re-installing.

Current systems
Windows 7 Partition /dev/sda1 (Primary)
xubuntu 14.10 /dev/sda5 (Logical) (maybe upgraded to 15.04 when released)
Swap /dev/sda6 (Logical)

I read some guides they were not clear. They also said it is better to do a clean install of each system. None of the guides give a step by step, they always leave something out.

I am not turning on secure boot but I am turning on uefi.

I have a Mini-partition wizard boot cd that can help out but wouldn't covert a system partition.

I have a way to make an iso for xubuntu 14.10


When do you turn on UEFI in the bios before or after converting drive?





Mod, please move to correct forum if needed

I am trying to boot Linux Mint from an 8gb Sandisk USB. I changed my boot settings and it boots into what I believe is called grub? I am given two options, Boot Linux Mint, Boot Linux Mint (compatibility mode). When I select either of them all I get is a black screen. I've tried many things to get around this, messing with my graphics card settings (within grub), different USB's (another 8gb and a 32gb), I tried Ubuntu and that just doesn't boot at all I go straight back to my UEFI settings. I'm very new to Linux and I don't just want to hop in, I just want to boot from my USB whenever I want to play around with it. Thank You

Note: I'm running windows 8.1 currently on a ASUS N550JV laptop. I've been using the UUI from Pen Drive Linux.

I have a dual boot installation of Mint 17 Cinnamon (separate / & /home & swap partitions) along with WINXP (c: winxp, D: data on NTFS).

I am not happy with the cinnamon and want to install XFCE 17 (fresh download from mint website).

I have created 3-4 different usb sticks wwith the iso (thru unetbootin, YUMI, unisersal boot installer) and tried to install. The installation freezes on the second screen itself - after asking for the language, it just sits there and waits for something to happen. Tried this 3-4 times but it just keeps the wheel spinning. However, while I am trying this I am unable to use the laptop perfectly well. In fact, I am typing this while the the installation is trying to do something!

I will be very grateful for the help. I am not too well uquipped with the Linux command system and still rate myself as a newbie.

Is there any non-obscure linux distro that will boot on a computer with a atom chip without having to build the grub bootloader yourself. By non-obscure I mean opensuse,redhat,ubuntu,arch,mint.
I don't understand this whole efi/uefi thing and I don't want to know either, all I need is a stable linux computer.
Thanks

EDIT
It's a 1.3GHz Intel Atom Z3740 Bay Trail Atom processor, Asus Transformer Book T100

Did you find any way to get out with this error ? I've got the same with an extended partition...
Code:

# fdisk /dev/sda

Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.25.2).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.

Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 55,9 GiB, 60022480896 bytes, 117231408 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00015c35

Device     Boot    Start       End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *        2048  19531775 19529728  9,3G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2       19533822 117229567 97695746 46,6G  5 Extended
/dev/sda5       19533824  23558143  4024320  1,9G 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6       23560192 117229567 93669376 44,7G 83 Linux

Code:

# dmesg|less
[   84.343741] EXT4-fs (sda2): unable to read superblock
[   84.348074] EXT4-fs (sda2): unable to read superblock
[   84.352391] EXT4-fs (sda2): unable to read superblock
[   84.357159] XFS (sda2): Invalid superblock magic number
[   84.373676] FAT-fs (sda2): utf8 is not a recommended IO charset for FAT filesystems, filesystem will be case sensitive!
[   84.373891] FAT-fs (sda2): bogus logical sector size 65535
[   84.373897] FAT-fs (sda2): Can't find a valid FAT filesystem
[   84.378220] FAT-fs (sda2): utf8 is not a recommended IO charset for FAT filesystems, filesystem will be case sensitive!
[   84.378444] FAT-fs (sda2): bogus logical sector size 65535
[   84.378449] FAT-fs (sda2): Can't find a valid FAT filesystem
[   84.386262] ntfs: (device sda2): is_boot_sector_ntfs(): Invalid boot sector checksum.
[   84.386270] ntfs: (device sda2): read_ntfs_boot_sector(): Primary boot sector is invalid.
[   84.386275] ntfs: (device sda2): read_ntfs_boot_sector(): Mount option errors=recover not used. Aborting without trying to recover.
[   84.386279] ntfs: (device sda2): ntfs_fill_super(): Not an NTFS volume.
[   84.390737] MINIX-fs: unable to read superblock
[   84.395176] attempt to access beyond end of device
[   84.395185] sda2: rw=16, want=3, limit=2
[   84.395191] hfsplus: unable to find HFS+ superblock
[   84.404204] qnx4: no qnx4 filesystem (no root dir).
[   84.408959] You didn't specify the type of your ufs filesystem

mount -t ufs -o ufstype=sun|sunx86|44bsd|ufs2|5xbsd|old|hp|nextstep|nextstep-cd|openstep ...

>>>WARNING<<< Wrong ufstype may corrupt your filesystem, default is ufstype=old
[   84.417367] hfs: can't find a HFS filesystem on dev sda2