Hi,

I've been trying to install slackware64 14.2 for UEFI under GPT partition.
I created EFI partition, Swap, Data and started setup.
It seems that no problem so far but when I skipped lilo configuration and it should elilo configuration should be prompt but nothing happened.
Please advise if I missed something.
Thanks.

Hardware: Dell Latitude E5450
Slackware version: slackware64 14.2

There is a script called eliloconfig in /usr/sbin. If you run this, it will install elilo for you.
Note that you will need an initrd image if you're using the generic kernel, but not if you use the huge kernel. If you are going to use an initrd, you must create it first (that's Slackware, folks!). There's an extremely helpful script in /usr/share/mkinitrd/ mkinitrd_command_generator.sh that will print out a suitable command for doing it.

did you format the efi partition as fat32 before you started setup?

I think you can just run "eliloconfig" after the installation wizard?

Some things is needed so that it finds your EFI like you have to label the partition as EFI partition and format it as FAT32 as mentioned by colorpurple21859.

I think I also had problems with it not finding EFI and running elilo config. where I had a very old install dvd or booted the USB not in UEFI mode but in legacy mode, so make sure you boot your install media in UEFI mode if you want to install with UEFI.

Maybe check some other things in your BIOS like disabling secure boot and fast boot, also enable booting things in UEFI or even disable legacy mode if you want to.

2 members found this post helpful.

I think trite has got it: you must have booted your install in legacy mode and that's why you were offered lilo instead of elilo. When you are in legacy mode, the directory /sys/firmware/efi does not exist and that's what installation scripts check for.

You need to go into your UEFI and make sure legacy mode is switched off. The other things trite mentioned like fastboot and secure boot must be off too. Then boot from the install disk, mount your EFI system partition on /boot/efi and run eliloconfig, first making sure that /boot/vmlinuz points to the huge kernel so that you won't need an initrd. You can switch to the generic kernel with initrd later if you like.

1 members found this post helpful.

Hi shai-hulud

I have a Dell Latitude 5490 under Slackware current and I had also problems with elilo at beginning.

What you need :

- no special initrd

- a boot hierarchy formatted in FAT32 : /boot/efi/EFI

- Under this repo, you create a Slackware repository

- In this repository put :

-> elilo-x86_64.efi ( you can find it in the /boot repository of Slackware )
-> vmlinuz-huge-4.x.x depends upon your version of kernel
-> elilo.conf containing ( modify with your locations of root partition and numbering of the kernel ):

chooser=simple
default=Linux
image=vmlinuz-huge-4.19.19
label=Linux
root=/dev/nvme0n1p7
append="root=/dev/nvme0n1p7 vga=normal ro"

Then I use refind which simplifies the boot sequence : http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/

if everything is set up right should get a message about "adding efi partition to fstab" during the setup target partition stage of the setup

Couldnt say its the issue, but when I have formatted and had a clean install that issue usually comes about when I forget to format the (EFI) partition in Fat32

Hi folks,

Just wanted to say that I have done many install of Slackware64 14.2 in full UEFI mode on several machines, and it always showed me the screen for LILO during installation, except that it specifically mentioned that my system is using UEFI and that I should skip to ELILO installation, which I did.

Now I had the experience with a PC where the BIOS was in some funny mode labeled as Legacy/UEFI. Then, LILO installation was shown as usual, but after I skipped it, Slackware finished the installation without having installed a bootloader, similar to what shai-hulud is describing.

So, shai-hulud, check your UEFI firmware settings (aka BIOS) carefully for these things. Try to disable all sorts of fastboot/secure boot/legacy/BIOS/MBR, whatever.

Also, as colorpurple21859 rightly pointed out, your EFI partition might not be ready. It should be formatted to FAT32. One indication that the system recognized the UEFI setup and EFI partition is that around the screens for choosing partitions for swap and / the system asks you to confirm which partition is the EFI partition because it has to mount it at /boot/efi. So, if you remember getting this screen or not, it will help detecting the source of the problem.

Finally, if you can't install ELILO, or if you manage to install it but don't like it or if you want to multiboot several OS and you want something a bit more sophisticated, there is GRUB. You might want to check this out: https://docs.slackware.com/howtos:sl...slackware#grub

All the best.

That's not a "funny mode". That's the legacy mode that all PC UEFIs have to support by law. It's often well hidden under some such name as csm (which stands for Compatibility Support Mode) because they don't actually want you to use it.

When UEFIs first came in, a lot of Linux installation discs couldn't handle them, which would have prevented Linux from ever being installed on these machines. So manufacturers were required to provide the legacy mode, where the UEFI emulates a BIOS. Nowadays all the major Linux distros support native UEFI booting but I don't know whether the smaller distros do.

I don't know any law about UEFI, just an Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Specification. Let's quote its current version (2.8 March 2019) on the topic of migation from Legacy to UEFI:
I do not assume anything about what "they" (who, exactly?) want. CSM means Compatibility Support Module and is defined in the Intel ® Platform Innovation Framework for EFI Compatibility Support Module Specification. This CSM as developed by Intel for its own usage is somehow an implementation of the the last quoted paragraph above of the UEFI specification.


I agree that it is often not easy to find one's way in the console interface of the firmware boot managers, and assume that's for following reasons:

• The firmware developer do not always pay much attention to the ergonomics of the console boot manager interface.
  
• The presentation of this interface varies across implementations, as the UEFI specification does not state any requirement on this regard.
  

But it is understandable that the firmware providers want to avoid the burden of supporting ad vitam aeternam this additional level of complexity, that represents a lot of work for them, in addition to the huge work of implementing the new interface.

To go half way back to the topic, in my opinion it's about time to say good bye to both lilo and elilo and use GRUB instead, as GRUB 2.04 release is nearing.

Have a good day.

But GRUB is so bloody complicated! I really hate it.

Maybe this https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...7/#post5810474

If you want to write grub.cfg by hand or edit it, yes. But few users do that.

Other way around, Didier! Writing a grub.cfg by hand is a relatively simple operation, provided that you know how to do it. The LFS chapter on booting with GRUB is very good on this. What is insanely complicated is the gaggle of shell scripts that most distros use to manage GRUB.