[gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Walter Dnes]

  This is my first UEFI install, so please pardon the questions.

1) Partitioning questions:  The standard layout example in
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Full/Installation#What_is_the_BIOS_boot_partition.3F
says...
 
> The BIOS boot partition is needed when a GPT partition layout is used
> with GRUB2 in BIOS/Legacy mode. It is not required when booting in
> EFI/UEFI mode.

  The standard layout example is...

Number   Start      End      Size     File system  Name   Flags
 1       1.00MiB    3.00MiB  2.00MiB               grub   bios_grub
 2       3.00MiB    131MiB   128MiB                boot   boot
 3       131MiB     643MiB   512MiB                swap
 4       643MiB     20479MiB 19836MiB              rootfs

  Given that my machine is incapable of booting in BIOS/Legacy mode, I
assume that the 2-megabyte partition is unnecessary, grub or no grub.
Also, given bloat over time, is 128 megabytes still sufficient for the
boot partition today?  I plan to keep 2 kernels around at all times,
"Production" and "Experimental".

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[cal]

On 12/25/20 10:28 PM, Walter Dnes wrote:
 > Also, given bloat over time, is 128 megabytes still sufficient for the
 > boot partition today?  I plan to keep 2 kernels around at all times,
 > "Production" and "Experimental".
 >

It depends on how you configure your kernel (and which modules are
built-in vs. built as loadable modules), whether you will have an
initramfs, and if so, what you include in the initramfs.

On my system (customized kernel configuration, no initramfs), I
currently have 6 kernels in /boot taking up ~80 megs of space.  Every
once in a while, I clean out the older ones to free up space.

Cal

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Peter Humphrey]

On Saturday, 26 December 2020 06:28:44 GMT Walter Dnes wrote:
>   This is my first UEFI install, so please pardon the questions.
> 
> 1) Partitioning questions:  The standard layout example in
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Full/Installation#What_is_the_BI
> OS_boot_partition.3F says...
> 
> > The BIOS boot partition is needed when a GPT partition layout is used
> > with GRUB2 in BIOS/Legacy mode. It is not required when booting in
> > EFI/UEFI mode.
> 
>   The standard layout example is...
> 
> Number   Start      End      Size     File system  Name   Flags
>  1       1.00MiB    3.00MiB  2.00MiB               grub   bios_grub
>  2       3.00MiB    131MiB   128MiB                boot   boot
>  3       131MiB     643MiB   512MiB                swap
>  4       643MiB     20479MiB 19836MiB              rootfs
> 
>   Given that my machine is incapable of booting in BIOS/Legacy mode, I
> assume that the 2-megabyte partition is unnecessary, grub or no grub.

Some people say you don't need it, but I found that I did. I suppose it's a 
quirk of the motherboard or its BIOS.

> Also, given bloat over time, is 128 megabytes still sufficient for the
> boot partition today?  I plan to keep 2 kernels around at all times,
> "Production" and "Experimental".

Mine's 1GB. It contains the most recenet kernel plus one for a small rescue 
system; also the most recent one of each that I know to work.

-- 
Regards,
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Michael]

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On Saturday, 26 December 2020 06:28:44 GMT Walter Dnes wrote:
>   This is my first UEFI install, so please pardon the questions.
> 
> 1) Partitioning questions:  The standard layout example in
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Full/Installation#What_is_the_BI
> OS_boot_partition.3F says...
> 
> > The BIOS boot partition is needed when a GPT partition layout is used
> > with GRUB2 in BIOS/Legacy mode. It is not required when booting in
> > EFI/UEFI mode.
> 
>   The standard layout example is...
> 
> Number   Start      End      Size     File system  Name   Flags
>  1       1.00MiB    3.00MiB  2.00MiB               grub   bios_grub
>  2       3.00MiB    131MiB   128MiB                boot   boot
>  3       131MiB     643MiB   512MiB                swap
>  4       643MiB     20479MiB 19836MiB              rootfs
> 
>   Given that my machine is incapable of booting in BIOS/Legacy mode, I
> assume that the 2-megabyte partition is unnecessary, grub or no grub.

Your assumption is correct.

This BIOS-GRUB partition is used on GPT partitioned drives to hold the GRUB 
2nd Stage files.

Since you're not familiar with GRUB it may help to add some background on the 
GRUB boot manager architecture.  It contains two stages, some argue 3 stages 
if you include /boot/grub/.  The Boot Loader code takes up 446 bytes and is 
stored in the MBR - sector 0 of the disk.  This is the 1st Stage.  The 2nd 
Stage contains files and drivers required by GRUB to be able to jump to and 
read the contents of any filesystems used on the OS /boot partition.  On a 
disk with a conventional DOS partition table, the 2nd stage files would be 
normally stored in the "MBR gap", the empty space in the sectors following 
sector 0 and before the OS partitions start.

This presents a problem on disks partitioned with a GPT, when installed on a 
legacy BIOS MoBo.  This is because sector 1 of the GPT partitioned disk is 
used by the GPT partitioning structure to store the partition table.  So, the 
solution for a GPT disk is to use a dedicated partition, the GRUB-BIOS 
partition, in which the 2nd Stage GRUB files can be stored.

On a UEFI MoBo, the Boot Loader code is in the UEFI firmware itself, stored in 
the EEPROM.  This code contains all requisite drivers to be able to scan the 
disk, identify the ESP partition and pick up any .efi executables in its VFAT 
filesystem.  No other boot loader MBR code is required.

3rd party Boot Managers like GRUB will install their grubx64.efi image in the 
ESP and this in turn will load any necessary drivers and files to load the 
GRUB boot menu and any selected OS kernel image thereafter.


> Also, given bloat over time, is 128 megabytes still sufficient for the
> boot partition today?  I plan to keep 2 kernels around at all times,
> "Production" and "Experimental".

I tend to keep 2 - 3 kernels at a time in the ESP.  Along with their 
corresponding System.map and kernel config files also stored there, 2 kernels 
currently occupies 26MB. This is on a Gentoo system with no other OS present 
and no 3rd party boot managers.  A laptop, which also has MSWindows OS on it, 
takes up 54MB of the ESP.  I use the UEFI firmware to switch between kernels 
and live media at boot time.  I manage the UEFI menu entries and their order 
using the efibootmgr application on a CLI, whenever I install a new kernel.  
If you switch between OSs and live media all the time, then GRUB, rEFInd, et 
al., would arguably be more convenient.

I use 250-500MB for ESP partitions and for my needs this is way more than 
adequate.  If you install 10s of multiple OSs, initramfs, and other 
applications, then you might need more space.

HTH.

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Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Walter Dnes]

On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 01:28:44AM -0500, Walter Dnes wrote
>   This is my first UEFI install, so please pardon the questions.

  More questions about partitioning...

  * I need a sample /etc/fstab listing from someone who boots UEFI.  I'm
    mostly interested in how the /boot partition is set up.

  * I need a screen capture of the output of the "print" command in
    "parted" from someone who boots UEFI.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Sat, 26 Dec 2020 14:37:14 -0500, Walter Dnes wrote:

> On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 01:28:44AM -0500, Walter Dnes wrote
> >   This is my first UEFI install, so please pardon the questions.  
> 
>   More questions about partitioning...
> 
>   * I need a sample /etc/fstab listing from someone who boots UEFI.  I'm
>     mostly interested in how the /boot partition is set up.

/dev/nvme0n1p1  /boot  vfat  defaults  1 2 
/dev/nvme0n1p2  none   swap  sw        0 0
/dev/nvme0n1p1  /      btrfs defaults  0 1

>   * I need a screen capture of the output of the "print" command in
>     "parted" from someone who boots UEFI.

Stick with gdisk, it's what you're familiar with:

% gdisk -l /dev/nvme0n1
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.5

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 500118192 sectors, 238.5 GiB
Model: WDC WDS256G1X0C-00ENX0
Sector size (logical/physical): 512/512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 0EB51C66-3333-494C-80F3-9ACB1D95325D
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
Main partition table begins at sector 2 and ends at sector 33
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 500118158
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2014 sectors (1007.0 KiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            2048         2099199   1024.0 MiB  EF00  boot
   2         2099200        18876415   8.0 GiB     8200  swap
   3        18876416       458174463   209.5 GiB   8300  main
   4       458174464       500118158   20.0 GiB    8300  spare

Note that I am using partition 1 as both the ESP and /boot. This is a
popular approach and keeps things simpler. It needs to be a FAT
filesystem on a partition of type EF00 to keep UEFI happy, but Linux
doesn't care but any of that as long as it's a readable filesystem.

Don't forget to build FAT filesystem support into your kernel.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

"Woody, I said TUCK the children in bed!" --Mia Farrow

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Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Dan Egli]

Let's see. I have done it two ways, depending on the machine. /boot is a 
separate partition, and /boot is part of / while /boot/EFI is a 
separate. I'll post both.

/boot is EFI partition:
/dev/cdrom              /mnt/cdrom      auto noauto,ro               0 0
/dev/sda1               /boot           vfat defaults                1 2
/dev/sda2               /               xfs defaults,noatime        1 1

/boot is part of /:
/dev/sda1       /boot/EFI       vfat 
defaults,noatime                                                1 2
/dev/sda3       /               xfs defaults,noatime         1 1
/dev/sda2       none            swap            defaults                 
                                      0 0


As for parted, I still use fdisk myself. I know the way I created each 
was simple enough.

fdisk> g
fdisk> n
            1
            <just hit enter>
         +128M
     t
     <ENTER>
    1
<create other partitions>

The way this works is the g command creates a new gpt table, destroying 
any other partition table, then your usual N for new, 1 for partition 1, 
enter to start at the first available point, and +128M to select a 128 
MB partition. If you're looking for the prompt for primary vs extended 
vs logical, those don't exist in gpt tables. EVERYTHING is primary. The 
t 1 changes the partition type to EFI System Partition. It's technically 
not needed as I neglected to do it to one of my virtual machines. But 
it's not a bad idea.

Now format as fat32: mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/sda1

Still, here's parted output for the /boot is ESP (EFI System Partition):
(parted) print
Model: ATA VBOX HARDDISK (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 68.7GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
  1      1049kB  135MB   134MB   fat32              boot, esp
  2      135MB   68.7GB  68.6GB  xfs

and here's the output for the one where /boot is one partition and 
/boot/EFI is a different one (and I didn't change the partition type):
(parted) print
Model: ATA VBOX HARDDISK (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 34.4GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number  Start   End     Size    File system     Name  Flags
  1      1049kB  68.2MB  67.1MB  fat32
  2      68.2MB  8658MB  8590MB  linux-swap(v1)        swap
  3      8658MB  34.4GB  25.7GB  xfs


EFI really isn't THAT complicated once you remember the restrictions. 
For example, on the first instance, using fdisk, the following is 
exactly what I did:

Command (m for help): g
Created a new GPT disklabel (GUID: 448CFABB-EBB6-AF44-8A36-A5679DB2EF76).

Command (m for help): n
Partition number (1-128, default 1):
First sector (2048-134217694, default 2048):
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-134217694, default 
134217694): +128M

Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 128 MiB.

Command (m for help): n
Partition number (2-128, default 2):
First sector (264192-134217694, default 264192):
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (264192-134217694, default 
134217694):

Created a new partition 2 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 63.9 GiB.

Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1,2, default 2): 1
Partition type (type L to list all types): 1

Changed type of partition 'Linux filesystem' to 'EFI System'.

Command (m for help): w

# mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1 -F32

#mkfs.xfs /dev/sda2
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/gentoo
mkdir /mnt/gentoo/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/gentoo/boot


Then once grub is emerged and the kernel compiled:
# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg


That's it, I swear. If you still have questions, you can keep asking the 
list, or write to me off the list and I'd be happy to help. Your choice.

-- 

Dan Egli
 From my Test Server

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Walter Dnes]

On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 02:21:51PM -0700, Dan Egli wrote

  Thanks.  I've managed to figure out parted...

Number  Start    End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
 1      1.00MiB  257MiB  256MiB  fat32        EFI   boot, esp

  I've salvaged the config files from my failed install, so that
part should be quick.  Expect a break in the questions until I get
to grub+fstab.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Walter Dnes]

On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 06:35:05PM -0500, Walter Dnes wrote
> On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 02:21:51PM -0700, Dan Egli wrote
> 
>   Thanks.  I've managed to figure out parted...
> 
> Number  Start    End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
>  1      1.00MiB  257MiB  256MiB  fat32        EFI   boot, esp

  OK, now what?  I closed parted, came back later and I see that the
filesystem type has changed from fat32 to ext3.  How do I over-ride
this?

Number  Start       End    Size    File system  Name  Flags
   1      1.00MiB   257MiB 256MiB  ext3         EFI   boot, esp

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[cal]

On 12/26/20 4:39 PM, Walter Dnes wrote:
 > On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 06:35:05PM -0500, Walter Dnes wrote
 >> On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 02:21:51PM -0700, Dan Egli wrote
 >>
 >>    Thanks.  I've managed to figure out parted...
 >>
 >> Number  Start    End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
 >>   1      1.00MiB  257MiB  256MiB  fat32        EFI   boot, esp
 >
 >    OK, now what?  I closed parted, came back later and I see that the
 > filesystem type has changed from fat32 to ext3.  How do I over-ride
 > this?
 >
 > Number  Start       End    Size    File system  Name  Flags
 >     1      1.00MiB   257MiB 256MiB  ext3         EFI   boot, esp
 >

After partitioning (in parted), did you use `mkfs.vfat -F 32
/dev/<partition ID>` to initialize the FAT32 filesystem on that
partition?

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:Parts/Installation/Disks#Applying_a_filesystem_to_a_partition

`parted` is only editing the partition table, not the filesystems
applied to those partitions.

Cal

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Walter Dnes]

On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 04:49:16PM -0800, cal wrote
> 
> After partitioning (in parted), did you use `mkfs.vfat -F 32
> /dev/<partition ID>` to initialize the FAT32 filesystem on that
> partition?
> 
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:Parts/Installation/Disks#Applying_a_filesystem_to_a_partition
> 
> `parted` is only editing the partition table, not the filesystems
> applied to those partitions.

  I did "mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1" afterwards and parted showed...

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
 1      1049kB  269MB   268MB   fat16        EFI   boot, esp

  I had never used the "-F" option before.  Anyways, I tried
"mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sda1" and parted shows...

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
 1      1049kB  269MB   268MB   fat32        EFI   boot, esp.

  So far so good; it was more a scare than a real problem.  Thanks for
that hint about "-F".

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Sat, 26 Dec 2020 16:49:16 -0800, cal wrote:

> `parted` is only editing the partition table, not the filesystems
> applied to those partitions.

And remember the partition type should be set to EF00 in parted.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

PCMCIA: People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms

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Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Walter Dnes]

On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 02:21:51PM -0700, Dan Egli wrote

> /boot is part of /:
> /dev/sda1   /boot/EFI   vfat    defaults,noatime   1 2
> /dev/sda3   /           xfs     defaults,noatime   1 1
> /dev/sda2   none        swap    defaults           0 0

  I've got an empty /boot/EFI directory on the root system (/dev/sda2),
and a 256 megabyte vfat-formatted partition as /dev/sda1.  Here's my
take on /etc/fstab...

(chroot) livecd ~ # cat /etc/fstab 
/dev/cdrom    /mnt/cdrom  auto     noauto,users,noatime,async,ro       0 0
/dev/sda1     /boot/EFI   vfat     defaults,noatime                    1 2
/dev/sda2     /           ext3     noatime,nodiratime,async,user_xattr 0 1
/dev/sda3     none        swap     sw                                  0 0
/dev/sdb      /mnt/drive0 auto     noauto,users,noatime,async          0 0
/dev/sdb1     /mnt/drive1 auto     noauto,users,noatime,async          0 0
/dev/sdc1     /mnt/drive2 auto     noauto,users,noatime,async          0 0
/dev/sdd1     /mnt/drive3 auto     noauto,users,noatime,async          0 0


  I've got two scripts in /usr/src that I run from /usr/src/linux.
The script "makeover" is run just after "make menuconfig" and
includes (amongst other things)

make && \
make modules_install && \
cp  arch/x86_64/boot/bzImage /boot/kernel.experimental && \
cp System.map /boot/System.map.experimental && \
cp .config /boot/config.experimental && \
lilo

...and the script "promote" includes...

cp /boot/System.map.experimental /boot/System.map.production
cp /boot/config.experimental /boot/config.production
cp /boot/kernel.experimental /boot/kernel.production
lilo

  Obviously won't need the "lilo" command.  Replace all references to
"/boot" with "/boot/EFI" and the kernels go to /boot/EFI which leaves
just the question of how to set up grub.  I'd like a text-based menu
that defaults to the production kernel if no keypress after 15 seconds.
Question: does grub have to be re-run or otherwise re-initialised when
I overwrite a kernel with a newer one of the same name?

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Sat, 26 Dec 2020 22:48:54 -0500, Walter Dnes wrote:

>   I've got two scripts in /usr/src that I run from /usr/src/linux.
> The script "makeover" is run just after "make menuconfig" and
> includes (amongst other things)
> 
> make && \
> make modules_install && \
> cp  arch/x86_64/boot/bzImage /boot/kernel.experimental && \
> cp System.map /boot/System.map.experimental && \
> cp .config /boot/config.experimental && \

>   Obviously won't need the "lilo" command.  Replace all references to
> "/boot" with "/boot/EFI" and the kernels go to /boot/EFI which leaves
> just the question of how to set up grub.

Kernels still go to /boot if you are using a boot manager.

> I'd like a text-based menu
> that defaults to the production kernel if no keypress after 15 seconds.
> Question: does grub have to be re-run or otherwise re-initialised when
> I overwrite a kernel with a newer one of the same name?

No.

I understand why someone used to GRUB would want to continue with it on a
UEFI system, but you have no experience of it so why are you picking the
boot manager that is hardest to configure, not to mention the most
bloated? 

Referencing your sig, GRUB is the desktop environment of boot managers,
the boot loader equivalent of emacs :)


-- 
Neil Bothwick

One-seventh of life is spent on Monday.

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Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Walter Dnes]

On Sun, Dec 27, 2020 at 09:53:27AM +0000, Neil Bothwick wrote

> I understand why someone used to GRUB would want to continue with
> it on a UEFI system, but you have no experience of it so why are
> you picking the boot manager that is hardest to configure, not to
> mention the most bloated?
> 
> Referencing your sig, GRUB is the desktop environment of boot
> managers, the boot loader equivalent of emacs :)

  I believe grub only has to be set up once, unless you often change
boot drives, etc.  If it's "set it and forget it" for a single-user,
single hard-drive system, I'm OK with a one-time complex set-up.

  My main objection to "desktop environments" is that they're full time
resource hogs.  Grub starts linux, and then goes away.  KDE and GNOME
chew up cpu cycles and ram 24/7.  The reason I got a new machine is that
a 12-year core2 duo with 3 gigs of ram doesn't cut it any more.  The
machine would be just as functional with grub as with lilo.  On the
other hand, KDE/GNOME would bring the machine to its knees.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Sun, 27 Dec 2020 14:22:44 -0500, Walter Dnes wrote:

> > I understand why someone used to GRUB would want to continue with
> > it on a UEFI system, but you have no experience of it so why are
> > you picking the boot manager that is hardest to configure, not to
> > mention the most bloated?
> > 
> > Referencing your sig, GRUB is the desktop environment of boot
> > managers, the boot loader equivalent of emacs :)  
> 
>   I believe grub only has to be set up once, unless you often change
> boot drives, etc.  If it's "set it and forget it" for a single-user,
> single hard-drive system, I'm OK with a one-time complex set-up.

They all need to be set up once, whether the config is 6 lines or 260
lines - real examples here, not made up figures.

Hmm, it seems even systemd-boot's 6 lines for 2 kernels is excessive, I
no longer use rEFInd, but it's config file is still in /boot and it is ONE
line per kernel!


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Frog philosophy: Time's fun when you're having flies.

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Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Walter Dnes]

On Sun, Dec 27, 2020 at 08:54:32PM +0000, Neil Bothwick wrote
> On Sun, 27 Dec 2020 14:22:44 -0500, Walter Dnes wrote:
> 
> >   I believe grub only has to be set up once, unless you often change
> > boot drives, etc.  If it's "set it and forget it" for a single-user,
> > single hard-drive system, I'm OK with a one-time complex set-up.
> 
> They all need to be set up once, whether the config is 6 lines or 260
> lines - real examples here, not made up figures.
> 
> Hmm, it seems even systemd-boot's 6 lines for 2 kernels is excessive,
> I no longer use rEFInd, but it's config file is still in /boot and
> it is ONE line per kernel!

  And all these years I've been using lilo.  For 2 kernels lilo.conf

* 43 lines including comments and blank lines
* 18 lines excluding comments and blank lines

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Mon, 28 Dec 2020 02:43:44 -0500, Walter Dnes wrote:

> > They all need to be set up once, whether the config is 6 lines or 260
> > lines - real examples here, not made up figures.
> > 
> > Hmm, it seems even systemd-boot's 6 lines for 2 kernels is excessive,
> > I no longer use rEFInd, but it's config file is still in /boot and
> > it is ONE line per kernel!  
> 
>   And all these years I've been using lilo.  For 2 kernels lilo.conf
> 
> * 43 lines including comments and blank lines
> * 18 lines excluding comments and blank lines

WOW! I don't know how you lived with such bloat ;-)


-- 
Neil Bothwick

There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary
notation and those who don't.

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[gentoo-user] Re: UEFI install noob questions

[Grant Edwards]

On 2020-12-27, Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org> wrote:
> On Sun, Dec 27, 2020 at 09:53:27AM +0000, Neil Bothwick wrote
>
>> I understand why someone used to GRUB would want to continue with
>> it on a UEFI system, but you have no experience of it so why are
>> you picking the boot manager that is hardest to configure, not to
>> mention the most bloated?
>> 
>> Referencing your sig, GRUB is the desktop environment of boot
>> managers, the boot loader equivalent of emacs :)
>
> I believe grub only has to be set up once, unless you often change
> boot drives, etc.  If it's "set it and forget it" for a single-user,
> single hard-drive system, I'm OK with a one-time complex set-up.

Grub itself isn't complex to set up if you just create a grub.cfg file
manually. Doing that is trivial. My config files typically range from
5 lines (single kernel) to 20 lines (a couple different
kernels). What's complex is the auto-magical, AI-driven,
devs-know-better-thab-you grub configuration generator systems that
various distros use to generate config files that are hundreds of
lines long and yet refuse to do what you want.

--
Grant

[gentoo-user] Re: [SOLVED] UEFI install noob questions

[Walter Dnes]

  I took up Dan Egli's kind offer of offline help and with that, my XPS
8940 is now booting UEFI.  Thanks Dan.  I've logged in both at the
physical keyboard and via ssh from my current desktop PC.  There's still
the usual grunt work setting up the regular user account and the usual
applications, but that shouldn't be a problem... famous last words.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [SOLVED] UEFI install noob questions

[Dan Egli]

More like off-LIST help since he was still emailing me. But I was glad 
to help him. :)

On 12/28/20 7:18 AM, Walter Dnes wrote:
>    I took up Dan Egli's kind offer of offline help and with that, my XPS
> 8940 is now booting UEFI.  Thanks Dan.  I've logged in both at the
> physical keyboard and via ssh from my current desktop PC.  There's still
> the usual grunt work setting up the regular user account and the usual
> applications, but that shouldn't be a problem... famous last words.
>