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## 47 uefi installs later...

Refracta Development, Scripts, etc.
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### 47 uefi installs later...

by fsmithred » Sun Jul 10, 2016 2:19 pm

I'm getting there. I can install in uefi as the first install, as a subsequent install, encrypted install, as a non-uefi install (works if it's not the first linux), add, remove or rename bootloaders, boot from grub command line, and other goodies, but I'm still not convinced that this is the way to go.
It's actually pretty easy to do. The problem is trying to account for all possible configurations and all possible screw-ups.
Problems/Issues
Buggy and non-standard uefi implementations on hardware make it impossible to predict what a user will face, and there's a real potential for major disaster and a high potential for confusion. (Three weeks of this, and I'm still confused.)
Conflicting grub packages - grub-pc or grub-efi? Which one should be installed in the refracta iso? (It is possible to install to bios hardware when grub-efi is installed, but you have to keep a copy of /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/<modules> someplace where the package manager won't find it, but also where you can tell chrooted grub in the new installation where to find it to do grub-install.) It's either that or include the necessary packages in the iso, so the user can install whichever ones they need, or use a network connection to install them. And I don't like any of those solutions.
Why do we need this again? Just for people who dual-boot with windows 8+? Or are there motherboards that do uefi only? (if so, they should be renamed mofoboards.)
Note: I think uefi support is needed for creating a snapshot and for a live-usb, so that you can boot live media on computers that use uefi. That way, you don't have to go mucking around in someone else's setup to change the boot method. We already have that in the latest refractasnapshot (beta) and refracta2usb-2.3.0.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Warnings?

fsmithred
  Posts: 2101
  Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:13 pm

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### Re: 47 uefi installs later...

by golinux » Sun Jul 10, 2016 2:28 pm

Your perseverance is impressive! I am dreading the day I will need a new mobo. Shouldn't your rename maybe be mofuboards?
May the FORK be with you!

golinux
  Posts: 663
  Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 1:23 am

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### Re: 47 uefi installs later...

by AlexRey » Tue Jul 12, 2016 8:14 am

http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/index.html
Managing Secure Boot
http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/secureboot.html
Don't know if it is of any use or if you are already aware of it but i've seen people mention rEFInd in the above links as an alternative to Grub uefi boot.
Apparently instead of using Ubuntu keys you can make your own but i'm unsure how that works with secure boot as this all too confusing for me.

AlexRey
  Posts: 72
  Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:43 am

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### Re: 47 uefi installs later...

by fsmithred » Tue Jul 12, 2016 11:46 am

Thanks, yes, I've been reading those pages, and I have tried rEFInd (just on a usb stick). It works well, and I've considered either recommending it or including it with the tools. As for the confusing stuff, I agree that it's confusing, and maybe it was meant to be that way.
@golinux: No need to fear. If you only put one operating system on the computer, it's pretty easy and safe.

fsmithred
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  Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:13 pm

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### Re: 47 uefi installs later...

by golinux » Tue Jul 12, 2016 2:10 pm

> fsmithred wrote:@golinux: No need to fear. If you only put one operating system on the computer, it's pretty easy and safe.

Unfortunately both my computers have multi-boot but on different disks - Debian, Refracta and Devuan. No Winders though . . . Am I screwed for any future experiments? Still on legacy BIOS thankfully . . .
May the FORK be with you!

golinux
  Posts: 663
  Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 1:23 am

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### Re: 47 uefi installs later...

by figlfdev » Tue Jul 12, 2016 10:34 pm

> golinux wrote:Am I screwed for any future experiments? Still on legacy BIOS thankfully . . .

i feel there is a common sense answer to this question, but im also using legacy bios and i presume (certainly hope) that refracta will continue to support this? (particularly in the 32bit version, where it is needed most, though also in 64 bit hopefully)
sorry to repeat, its probably been brought up before.
seems like the right time to repeat though, since golinux asked (i would also like to know the latest plan.)

figlfdev
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  Joined: Tue May 31, 2016 6:23 pm

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### Re: 47 uefi installs later...

by fsmithred » Tue Jul 12, 2016 10:49 pm

Multiple linux installations on uefi is a no-brainer. If you can get one linux installed and running, you can install the second one without uefi support (well, there's a little trick involved in that) and then boot into the first one and run update-grub. The second linux will be added to the boot menu. In other words, you can boot more than one linux from a single bootloader, just like you can now.
The trick is that the second linux is added to a multi-boot usb that already supports uefi.
And there's one gotcha, too - if the second linux is installed on an encrypted partition, the first one won't see it with update-grub. That's true with both bios and uefi. In that case, you add a menuentry to etc/grub.d/40_custom before running update-grub.
Yes, bios boot will be supported until all the bios boot machines have gone to hardware heaven. (Or at least as long as the bootloaders keep supporting it.) i386 (686) will be supported as long as Debian continues to make a 686 kernel, and beyond that if Devuan finds another source for one.

fsmithred
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  Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:13 pm

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### Re: 47 uefi installs later...

by fsmithred » Mon Jul 25, 2016 6:36 pm

You can do a manual uefi install with the amd64_beta2 iso:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/refrac ... 5_1116.iso

Code: Select all
  `UEFI INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS (EXPERIMENTAL)
  1. The easy way:
  If you already have a linux installation on the computer that boots
  uefi, and you plan to keep that linux, you can use the regular
  refracta installer. Use Expert Install, and select "Do not install
  bootloader."
  When the install is complete, reboot into your first linux and run
  update-grub, or do whatever you do to add a boot menu entry for the
  new installation.
  2. The experimental, semi-manual uefi installation:
  Don't mess with this if you don't know what you are doing!
  These instructions are probably not complete and can't account for all
  the non-standard variations in uefi implementation used in motherboards.
  Be prepared to hose your system. (Back up important stuff first.)
  Read this:
  http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/index.html
  This iso will boot bios or uefi. To install on uefi hardware, run
  /home/user/bin/refractainstaller-yad_test03 -d
  There is only Expert Install.
  Leave the box checked for "Do not install bootloader"
  Create efi partition if one does not already exist. It should be the
  first partition on the first hard drive. In gparted, make a fat32 partition,
  around 200-300MB (or bigger if that causes problems) and set the esr flag.
  (The boot flag is added automatically.)
  When the script pauses, run commands to mount the efi partition and
  install grub. The grub-efi-amd64 deb package is in the root directory,
  where it is available for installation before running grub-install.
  Add an entry to /target(/)etc/fstab for the efi partition (probably /dev/sda1)
  /dev/sda1 /boot/efi vfat defaults 0 1
  mkdir /target/boot/efi
  mount $efi_part /target/boot/efi
  chroot /target
  in chroot...
  dpkg -i /grub-efi*.deb
  grub-install /dev/sdX (probably /dev/sda)
  edit (/)etc/default/grub if desired.
  update-grub
  exit
  Then close the pause window and finish the installation.
  If you created a separate boot partition, make sure it's mounted before grub-install.
  The boot partition will be mounted at /target_boot by the installer, but that's only
  good for copying files. The boot partition needs to be mounted to the target system, and
  the efi partition then needs to be mounted to /boot/efi in the target system. These last
  two mounts can be done in the chroot.
  mkdir /target_boot/efi
  chroot /target
  in chroot...
  mount $boot_partition /boot
  mount $efi_part /boot/efi
  Then you can install the grub-efi deb and run grub-install, the same as above.
  dpkg -i /grub-efi*.deb
  grub-install /dev/sdX (probably /dev/sda)
  edit (/)etc/default/grub if desired.
  update-grub
  exit
  `

fsmithred
  Posts: 2101
  Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:13 pm

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