[SOLVED] Newbie Request, but Think I want it from Slackware People

ehartman · 03-29-2020, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samtsco

Code:

Device     Boot     Start       End   Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sda1            2048  41945087  41943040   20G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2        41945088 962594815 920649728  439G 83 Linux

I am not sure what an EFI System Partition is, and I don't think I have one, and maybe that's a nice chunk of my problem....?

I think the sda1 partition was meant to be your EFI partition, but it has the wrong partition type (it should be a VFAT one, not Linux) and it must be formatted as fat32, with the right EFI files IN them. After that, it normally is mounted in Linux as /boot/EFI (with sda2 being yoour root (/) partition).

andigena · 03-29-2020, 10:33 PM

wrong thread

gus3 · 03-31-2020, 07:58 PM

so which is the correct thread?

samtsco · 05-23-2020, 08:06 AM

ehartman gave me a clue that my problem was I configured my disk per BIOS system instructions and not for EFI. I am organizing all my files and backing them up with a new storage location. When I am done with that, I will start all over from scratch, configuring my disk and installing slackware, and will need a nice source of instructions for setting up for EFI and elilo. Because I set up for BIOS, I believe, I was not able to get Slack to run without creating a boot stick. When I do it over, I think I will not need a boot stick.

business_kid · 05-23-2020, 11:46 AM

OK. make sure tp partition with GPT partitions (use gdisk).Also set the partitions as required for EFI. Good luck.

samtsco · 06-16-2020, 03:25 PM

Just adding a note - gparted has a flags column; mine is empty. It should have a boot flag, I believe, on my root partition. I have no flags at all. I see how to flag the proper partition for boot but I am not going to bother trying it before doing what business kid said:

Quote:

OK. make sure tp partition with GPT partitions (use gdisk).Also set the partitions as required for EFI.

business_kid · 06-17-2020, 04:18 AM

You can usually toggle the boot flag on partition 1 - is it the key 'b'?

Alien Bob · 06-17-2020, 08:58 AM

Linux does not care for the 'bootable' flag on a partition. It's meant for MS DOS & Windows mainly.

ehartman · 06-17-2020, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alien Bob

Linux does not care for the 'bootable' flag on a partition.

Let's make that: lilo and/or grub do not care for ....
They determine the "bootable" partition from their config files.

gus3 · 06-17-2020, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehartman

Let's make that: lilo and/or grub do not care for ....
They determine the "bootable" partition from their config files.

If you've installed lilo or grub to a partition instead of the MBR, and you've left the MBR untouched except for partition table stuff, then the code in the MBR does care. In order to load LILO, or the zeroeth GRUB stage from a partition, that partition has to be bootable.

ehartman · 06-18-2020, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gus3

If you've installed lilo or grub to a partition instead of the MBR, and you've left the MBR untouched

Of course. I was talking about when lilo or grub do the whole work, so installed into the MBR

samtsco · 06-20-2020, 02:02 AM

I am still trying to figure out how I want to boot. I seem to have read everything I can easily find regarding lilo, elilo, MBR, EFI, UEFI, BIOS, GPT, syslinux, rEFInd, (I would include GRUB but GRUB sounds like the only thing I am sure I want to stay away from), and how to configure and install a boot system.

I guess I must kinda understand it all but ..... it doesn't click for me what my choice should be.

I can't figure out the mechanics for installing any of the options, anyway. I would have been up and running by now with elilo, which is apparently what my boot stick uses, if what I read on docs.slackware.com was true:

Quote:

During the installation Slackware prompts you about installing ELILO to the EFI partition. If you choose to install it, a directory will be created on the EFI partition (EFI/Slackware) and the ELILO EFI binary (elilo.efi) will be placed there. The directory will also hold an elilo.conf file and a copy of the kernel image (vmlinuz). You should be able to boot into your Linux system right away.

[By the way, what are the (what is a) disadvantage(s) of having the kernel in my EFI partition? I heard that was a downside.]

Fact is, when I am in setup, I can find no place where ELILO is mentioned; I cannot after all these weeks figure out a way to install it. So my main question is, when I had my son create an installation USB drive for me (to help earn his way to go to Italy), was it possible for him to create an outdated one with no ELILO option? But if that were the case, how could this installation disk then create a USB boot drive that uses ELILO?

This time, I used fdisk to create a GPT and partition my /dev/sda, and I formatted them as follows:

sda1 EFI 500M type efi FAT32
sda2 / 30G type Linux filesystem EXT4
sda3 /home 427.3G type Linux filesystem EXT4
sda4 Swap 8G type Linux swap EXT4

BrunoLafleur · 06-20-2020, 06:19 AM

From "https://docs.slackware.com/howtos:slackware_admin:installing_on_uefi_hardware" :

"To get Slackware to boot on UEFI machines, bypass the LILO installation and select ELILO installation when prompted during the install."

The EFI partition is autodetected if it exists.

For a post install of elilo, you can as root launch : pkgtool and choose "setup". Then you will have the "elilo" choice.

samtsco · 06-21-2020, 01:13 AM

Thanks BrunoLafleur!

bassmadrigal · 06-21-2020, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samtsco

[By the way, what are the (what is a) disadvantage(s) of having the kernel in my EFI partition? I heard that was a downside.]

I don't know of any downsides with this... just that you would typically have the kernel in /boot/ and on the EFI partition. Although, technically, the kernel doesn't need to be on /boot/ since it is already on the EFI, but most do it for historical reasons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samtsco

Fact is, when I am in setup, I can find no place where ELILO is mentioned; I cannot after all these weeks figure out a way to install it. So my main question is, when I had my son create an installation USB drive for me (to help earn his way to go to Italy), was it possible for him to create an outdated one with no ELILO option? But if that were the case, how could this installation disk then create a USB boot drive that uses ELILO?

From my own testing, some motherboards may provide two methods of booting a USB drive. EFI and legacy. I HAD to choose EFI if I wanted to install elilo. If I didn't, it would boot in legacy mode and then you can't install elilo.

The ISO, if provided by Alien Bob for -current or on a Slackware mirror for 14.1 and newer will already support EFI booting if you simply dd it to a device. If you generate your own ISO, there's probably ways to disable EFI, but I've not looked into them.