Distro that can install with GPT/EFI

BeaverusIV · 07-28-2011, 11:56 PM

I love using Arch on my other computers, but I recently got a Sandy Bridge for an HTPC. With that in mind which distro/how would I go about installing linux with UEFI and GPT support right from the get-go?

I tried with Arch, but all I've gotten is a PITA few days with nothing to show but a screen saying GRUB_

All suggestions appreciated.

TobiSGD · 07-29-2011, 03:43 AM

There is a special version of Grub2 in the Arch repositories that is UEFI compatible: http://www.archlinux.org/packages/?s...gged=&limit=50
Also, GPT is only supported since Grub2 or in LILO, which has a special version named ELILO for UEFI.

BeaverusIV · 07-29-2011, 03:48 AM

I have installed grub2_efi_x86_64 and also tried to use archboot (which can supposedly install uefi/gpt config) with no success. I've been toying with it for three days now, I just want something that just works now and maybe come back to Arch, unless you know someone who has got it working?

dhave · 08-18-2011, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeaverusIV

I have installed grub2_efi_x86_64 and also tried to use archboot (which can supposedly install uefi/gpt config) with no success. I've been toying with it for three days now, I just want something that just works now and maybe come back to Arch, unless you know someone who has got it working?

Ditto for me. After several failed attempts a few months back, I've been eagerly awaiting a release of Archboot that would include kernel 3.0. I had been hoping that with the new kernel I could easily install Arch on an SSD formatted with gpt and booting via efi.

I've just spent a number of hours trying this, with now success.

If anybody has a clue, let us know! I can get Arch to install to a gpt-formatted disk, but I can't get it to boot via efi.

BeaverusIV · 08-22-2011, 07:04 AM

I have some (maybe) good news for you; I got it working...

I reformatted the drive ( 200MB fat32, 5GB swap, 20GB ext4 root, rest ext4 home) with gptfdisk.
Booted from archboot in non-UEFI mode and installed with grub2-efi
Rebooted using archboot in UEFI mode to chroot the drive
Followed ArchWiki Grub2 page (except used /boot/efi/grub, not /boot/efi/efi/grub as my boot partition and uefi partition were the same).
Rebooted again in UEFI mode for hdd.

I believe this is how I got it working. I'm sorry I should have written it up when I got it to work. Main thing I can say is don't forget the configuration heading on the wiki page, it is a bit down the page so can make you think you're done when you're not.

Other than Arch, I was willing to try Gentoo but didn't get around to it.