hy im trying to install arch as the third os on my windows / ubuntu machine and i cant figure it out how to set the grub bootloader i have already read the friendly manual but probably also due to my non native English origins i coudnt find an answer to my question witch is during the arch install should i reinstall grub with grub-install ? i would prefer to keep the old (ubuntu) one also because its already customized but unfortunately i cant…if i dont install it i dont have the directory /boot/grub in witch i should place the grub.conf file so should i just create this directory ? i have tried with os-prober correctly activated to generate a new grub.conf but it doesnt pick up the arch install …, what are the files i must have to make grub recognize those partitions as a new os to witch assign a new boot entry …

  • mectx02@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Btw sorry if I keep sending pictures of the screen instead of screenshots just a lazy boy😅

    Work smarter, not harder :)

    Those file formats are fairly typical for most Linux installations, so that rules out GRUB drivers.

    Your most recent screenshot shows evidence of an encrypted volume for your Arch install. I would have a read on the archlinux wiki and give that a shot first. In addition, while you’re in Ubuntu, they have update-grub that will auto-generate GRUB’s config file for you, so that might help with a couple of problems.

    Beyond that, you might have to use an alternate bootloader, as GRUB doesn’t seem to have very good support for LUKS at the moment. Alternatively, you could remove the LUKS encryption from your Arch install, but I’m not aware of how feasible that solution is since I don’t use it.

    • DNOS@reddthat.comOP
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      1 year ago

      Hy thanks Yeah i have encrypted only the lvm partition so Ubuntu should be fine i dont think this error Is related to that… i have already read the wiky about encryption and seems likes i have done everything right i have modified the GRUB.conf file accordingly … But i agree its strange since i dont have any prompt asking me of decrypting that partition …

      Yeah i know about update-grub notthing changes same output …

      The problem Is that i cant make anything register by GRUB i Will bet that even removing the encryption Will not add the new arch entry … since eventhow os-prober recognize It and says adding the os wont show anything … thats why i thought in a First Place about a Copy of a file which i couldn change of some backup file used since since new One Is somehow broken …

      • mectx02@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Apologies for the longer delay this time, but I needed to have a play with a similar scenario since I haven’t worked with LVM.

        I set up a VM with Kubuntu (just out of preference; everything else compared to Ubuntu should be the same) and Archlinux similar to your setup (sans LUKS encryption - only wanted to test one thing at a time). I started with installing Kubuntu and letting it do LVM however it wanted, then shrunk it down and installed Archlinux afterwards.

        When I was using Ubuntu’s GRUB and letting it do the configuration, it could “find” the Archlinux partition, but it refused to boot it on the basis of “can’t find kernel image” error. Manhandling it produced similar results - it just refused to boot.

        Using Archlinux’s GRUB, however, worked flawlessly. It even detected and booted up Kubuntu just fine.

        Having a look at the GRUB configuration files, it looks like there’s a difference between the options…

        Kubuntu’s GRUB config for booting Archlinux:

        menuentry 'Arch Linux (on /dev/mapper/vgkubuntu-archlinux)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-linux--/dev/mapper/vgkubuntu-archlinux' {
                        insmod part_gpt
                        insmod lvm
                        linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/mapper/vgkubuntu-archlinux rw loglevel=3 quiet
                        initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
                }
        

        Archlinux’s default GRUB config:

        menuentry 'Arch Linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-42a47177-8802-48bf-93d1-376419d431e5' {
                load_video
                set gfxpayload=keep
                insmod gzio
                insmod part_gpt
                insmod lvm
                insmod ext2
                set root='lvmid/F8XGRm-mOlV-RmRq-sFoj-IBYw-7D8q-lNxCOg/ubT282-XqAq-DvJg-fj4H-bfpQ-1P4f-5215v9'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint='lvmid/F8XGRm-mOlV-RmRq-sFoj-IBYw-7D8q-lNxCOg/ubT282-XqAq-DvJg-fj4H-bfpQ-1P4f-5215v9'  42a47177-8802-48bf-93d1-376419d431e5
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 42a47177-8802-48bf-93d1-376419d431e5
                fi
                echo    'Loading Linux linux ...'
                linux   /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/mapper/vgkubuntu-archlinux rw  loglevel=3 quiet
                echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
                initrd  /boot/initramfs-linux.img
        }
        

        Notice a difference?

        Granted, there’s a lot of extra fluff in there, but I noticed that it looks like GRUB has no idea where the root is for the LVM when using (K)Ubuntu’s config. Which is, frankly, just lazy - if you go the other way, Archlinux correctly recognizes the required defaults for booting the other operating system. (I suspect a bug report should be filed, but, eh.)

        So, here’s an option:

        1. Boot into Archlinux and have it install its GRUB. (Yes, an extra grub installation with grub-install is necessary since the EFI needs to point to the Archlinux install.)
        2. Generate a GRUB configuration file within Archlinux. (os-prober should work just fine on Archlinux since I’ve seen their version generating much more workable configurations for other operating systems.)
        3. Copy over the theming from Ubuntu’s GRUB into Archlinux’s GRUB config. (This is mostly just for style points - you can theme GRUB however you like).

        Hopefully that works a little better.

        • DNOS@reddthat.comOP
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          1 year ago

          Wow thanks so much such a dedication this time i thought i have tried them all … yeah i should probably have mentioned that i have only arch on lvm while Ubuntu Is still on a normal partition like Windows but i think your test Is still usefull since somehow while i was trying to make arch appear on the boot screen by mounting all its partition from Ubuntu and generating a new GRUB file and fstab i got the same error you had of loading the kernel First i Will defently give It a shot… since its Easier to recognise what grub I’m using if I don’t theme them the same way I will skip that step … I have a feeling that notthing will change because I have already tried to reinstall grub with gru-install (I believe im not removing it first but I’m installing a new one on top ) but I always get the themed one on boot …

          • mectx02@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            If you reinstall GRUB from ArchLinux and get the Ubuntu themed one on reboot, might be wort going into your UEFI/BIOS and manually selecting which EFI file to boot from. Probably would be labeled “arch” or something similar.