Grub loader on ufei machine

[Cmartineau8625]

Hi, i bought a windows 10 hp 15-bw033wm touchscreen a12 to multi boot with kali and possibly knoppix as a diagnostic machine, however i cannot rearrange my boot loader, i was wondering if there was a way to i have not thoight of, or doni have to install grub on the windows management ufei drive partition

 

[arochester]

If you want to use Kali Linux, unless you have a very good reason to do so, and can't sort out all your own problems, by yourself then Kali Linux is not for you.

Kali Linux Documentation says, amongst other things

As the distribution’s developers, you might expect us to recommend that everyone should be using Kali Linux. The fact of the matter is, however, that Kali is a Linux distribution specifically geared towards professional penetration testers and security specialists, and given its unique nature, it is NOT a recommended distribution if you’re unfamiliar with Linux or are looking for a general-purpose Linux desktop distribution for development, web design, gaming, etc. ...
If you are unfamiliar with Linux generally, if you do not have at least a basic level of competence in administering a system, if you are looking for a Linux distribution to use as a learning tool to get to know your way around Linux, or if you want a distro that you can use as a general purpose desktop installation, Kali Linux is probably not what you are looking for.

 

[Cmartineau8625]

If you want to use Kali Linux, unless you have a very good reason to do so, and can't sort out all your own problems, by yourself then Kali Linux is not for you.

Kali Linux Documentation says, amongst other things

Its more im not use to an eufi system yet, all my other systems had the origional bios, before microsoft intergraded the product key with the computer...m

 

[wizardfromoz]

Whilst I am inclined for the most part to agree with colleague @arochester , and through him, the people at Offensive Security (Kali), perhaps we can draw out from you a bit more about where you are at and what you would like to achieve?

(Wizard appears in a puff of smoke, brandishing a cup of coffee perilously near his keyboard, humming an incantation)

For starters, let's get a couple of terms clear. If you review your writings, you'll see you have used "ufei" and "eufi". It is UEFI - Unified Extensible Firmware Interface - which you can read about on Google. Both Windows and Linux have their abbreviated terms, and whether or not your first language is English makes little difference ... they take a bit of getting used to

Although I note you are using AMD, Intel plans to discontinue all support for BIOS by 2020, and AMD is likely some way along that path as well.

1. Is it the case that you have Windows 10 and Kali installed side-by-side (referred to as dualbooting), and are both working OK?
2. If YES to the above, you will likely have a menu that appears at startup, that allows you to choose between booting Kali or Windows. This is called your GRUB Menu, where GRUB stands for GRand Unified Bootloader. Is this the case?
3. If YES, can you take a clear picture with perhaps your phone and upload it to us?
4. Have you used Linux before on your other systems, and if so, which one/s? eg Ubuntu, Linux Mint, &c

Once we have the answers to these questions, we will likely have more, lol.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz ... that's DownUnder

 

[Cmartineau8625]

Whilst I am inclined for the most part to agree with colleague @arochester , and through him, the people at Offensive Security (Kali), perhaps we can draw out from you a bit more about where you are at and what you would like to achieve?

(Wizard appears in a puff of smoke, brandishing a cup of coffee perilously near his keyboard, humming an incantation)

For starters, let's get a couple of terms clear. If you review your writings, you'll see you have used "ufei" and "eufi". It is UEFI - Unified Extensible Firmware Interface - which you can read about on Google. Both Windows and Linux have their abbreviated terms, and whether or not your first language is English makes little difference ... they take a bit of getting used to

Although I note you are using AMD, Intel plans to discontinue all support for BIOS by 2020, and AMD is likely some way along that path as well.

1. Is it the case that you have Windows 10 and Kali installed side-by-side (referred to as dualbooting), and are both working OK?
2. If YES to the above, you will likely have a menu that appears at startup, that allows you to choose between booting Kali or Windows. This is called your GRUB Menu, where GRUB stands for GRand Unified Bootloader. Is this the case?
3. If YES, can you take a clear picture with perhaps your phone and upload it to us?
4. Have you used Linux before on your other systems, and if so, which one/s? eg Ubuntu, Linux Mint, &c

Once we have the answers to these questions, we will likely have more, lol.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz ... that's DownUnder

1, i actually have windows 10, kali, and fedora currently installed on my laptop.

2, Grub loads up if i boot to the hard drive, and currently the linux os's load from grub, if i dont get to my boot options quick enough my efi file loads which boots windows.

4, i have dual booted before( on an hp pavilion 620) primarily Debian, though i have tried a fewnothe flavors

 

[wizardfromoz]

That is good news to hear. It is a big plus that makes it easier for me to explain, and for you to follow. It also puts you in a category of knowing "just enough to be dangerous" ... but take no offence, I have been running Linux exclusively for 4 years and still regard myself as being in that category .

I note you have answered 1, 2 and 4 (ta - pronounced "tar", Aussie for thanks), was 3. a problem? Read on.

In "the natural scheme of things", when you are a Windows user who dual or multiboots, the Grub Menu comes into play with Linux on top of the "leaderboard" as I call it, and Windows perhaps last.

Have you done something to change this? (Grub Customizer springs to mind).

Presuming Windows was on first, as it shipped that way, did you install Kali next or Fedora (I am guessing WS 28), and did the Grub Menu order change, if so how?

See what I said about more questions? Hope you are patient with an old fart like me. On the up side, I run 40 or more Linux on each computer, so have a good idea on multi-multi-booting

Cheers

Wizard

Edited - last para, 4 to 40 ... sticky keys, lol

 

[Cmartineau8625]

It came with win10 home, then i installed kali, followed by fedra workstation 28, still unsure if i wanna switch fedora to debian but one thing at a time... when i first installed my linux os the laptop would still boot directly into windows due to me not being able to adjust my boot order, but i somehow removed my efi boot options, probably when i mounted it onto fedora. Plus side i boot into grub, and both linux installs load, i just am not sure how to direct grub to my windows install....
grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg will only detect my recovery partition

 

[wizardfromoz]

Regrets on the delay in returning

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg will only detect my recovery partition

... was that performed from within Fedora? If so, it is an incorrect command, used for BIOS. Easy mistake to make

The correct command for UEFI-based machines for Fedora is

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg

... however, that will only output the "State of the Nation" for the Distros concerned, unless you have made modifications in /etc/default/grub (OK to do), a custom script in /etc/grub.d usually 40_custom (takes a fair bit of knowledge), or grub.cfg itself (a no-no).

I'll show you a picture I took a while ago

SCREENSHOT 1 - ONE OF MY GRUB MENUS

If you can get a shot like that and post it in, that would be cool. A picture is worth a 1,000 words

Can you give us the output from within Fedora of

sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda

... that's a lowercase L

Mine is as in the Spoiler

Spoiler

[root@localhost chris]# gdisk -l /dev/sda
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.3

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

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 1953525168 sectors, 931.5 GiB
Model: TOSHIBA MQ01ABD1
Sector size (logical/physical): 512/512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 4C24CEF2-6684-44DD-83C4-C5D7E75EB5C1
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 1953525134
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 396308317 sectors (189.0 GiB)

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 1942865920 1943992319 550.0 MiB EF00 EFI System Partition
2 2048 31461375 15.0 GiB 8300
3 1943992320 1952380927 4.0 GiB 8200
4 31461376 62920703 15.0 GiB 8300
5 62920704 94377735 15.0 GiB 8300
6 94377984 125835263 15.0 GiB 8300
7 125835264 157292295 15.0 GiB 8300
8 157292544 188749823 15.0 GiB 8300
9 188749824 220207103 15.0 GiB 8300
10 220207104 251664383 15.0 GiB 8300
11 251664384 283121663 15.0 GiB 8300
12 283121664 314578943 15.0 GiB 8300
13 314578944 346036223 15.0 GiB 8300
14 346036224 367007743 10.0 GiB 8300
15 367007744 398465023 15.0 GiB 8300
16 398465024 429922303 15.0 GiB 8300
17 429922304 471865343 20.0 GiB 8300
18 471865344 513808383 20.0 GiB 8300 ArchBased
19 513808384 545265663 15.0 GiB 8300
20 545265664 576722943 15.0 GiB 8300
21 576722944 618665983 20.0 GiB 8300 ArchBased
22 618665984 650123263 15.0 GiB 8300
23 650123264 683677695 16.0 GiB 8300
24 683677696 708843519 12.0 GiB 8300
25 708843520 771758079 30.0 GiB 8300 ArchBased
26 771758080 805312511 16.0 GiB 8300
27 805312512 836769791 15.0 GiB 8300
28 836769792 861935615 12.0 GiB 8300
29 861935616 893392895 15.0 GiB 8300 Debian-based
30 893392896 935335935 20.0 GiB 8300 ArchbasedMJRO-CSM
31 935335936 977278975 20.0 GiB 8300
32 977278976 1008736255 15.0 GiB 8300
33 1008736256 1040193535 15.0 GiB 8300
34 1040193536 1071650815 15.0 GiB 8300
35 1071650816 1103108095 15.0 GiB 8300 ArchBased
36 1103108096 1186994175 40.0 GiB 8300
37 1186994176 1312823295 60.0 GiB 8300
38 1312823296 1354766335 20.0 GiB 8300
39 1354766336 1379932159 12.0 GiB 8300 InstalledUnderCSM
40 1379932160 1411389439 15.0 GiB 8300
41 1411389440 1442846719 15.0 GiB 8300
42 1751138304 1835024383 40.0 GiB 8300
43 1835024384

.. but yours will be considerably shorter.

And from either Fedora or Kali's GParted, a screenshot of your partition setup? Windows Disk Management will not reflect it as well as Linux does.

There is a product called Grub Customizer which you could put on your Fedora (haven't tried installing it on Kali) which would allow you to choose the Grub Menu order, but personally I don't recommend it but can explain why if you ask.

Personally, I would be looking to install Timeshift on both Kali and Fedora (& Debian if you get it installed), take snapshots of each, and use restored snapshots to control the Grub order of your Linux, but that would still leave Windows at the bottom.

See what you think and get back to us when you can.

Cheers

Wizard

 

[atanere]

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg

I may be wrong, but I think after the above command, you also need to:

sudo update-grub

And welcome @Cmartineau8625! You are in good UEFI hands with the Wizard. Anyone who can install 40 different distros on a single computer and make them all work is a UEFI master for sure... or, a UEFI Wizard!

Cheers

 

[wizardfromoz]

I may be wrong

... on this occasion, yes, my very good friend . But you are in good company.

update-grub

... is a "stub", first made prominent (I think) in Ubuntu itself, and then this flowed through to Ubuntu-based Distros from Linux Mint and outwards.

When invoked, it calls on

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

#note the syntax, and always use the -o

All of the other Distros-Families use the longer version instead of "update-grub".

BUT (there's always a but with Wizard), there is an exception.

Manjaro and Manjaro-based-Arch-based Distros also use it.

Cheers, I'm off for more coffee

Wizard

 

[wizardfromoz]

Personally, I would be looking to install Timeshift on both Kali and Fedora (& Debian if you get it installed), take snapshots of each, and use restored snapshots to control the Grub order of your Linux, but that would still leave Windows at the bottom.

I dashed off yesterday having mentioned Timeshift and giving no explanation for it to the OP and The Viewers. (Bad Wizard )

WIZARD'S RECOMMENDED READING, IN-HOUSE

https://www.linux.org/threads/timeshift-similar-solutions-safeguard-recover-your-linux.15241/ and

https://www.linux.org/threads/aptik-have-settings-will-travel.4529/

On the face of it, Aptik may not appear to have much relevance to this thread, but if the OP is looking to change his boot order and make other sizable changes to his environment, he may wish to safeguard Settings he spent time in setting up, as part of a "Recovery Solution". That is where Aptik can come in.

In case some ask "But does Aptik work in Distros that don't employ apt and apt-get?", up until now the answer was No".

However with the latest Aptik, developer Tony George has rewritten Aptik from the ground up, and it now supports Arch-based Distros and also Fedora, which the OP has currently. I will try these out in my own environment and report on the outcomes at the Aptik thread when done.

Cheers all, and enjoy your Linux

Wizard

 

[Cmartineau8625]

Thank you @wizardfromoz, lol after a few messups and reformats i realized it all depended on how i was booting up my dvd, or usb drive (im deffinatly got to find a newsletter or something that will keep me updated with new and upcoming technology) but as i stand at the moment grub is my bootloader, and i have 4 os's installed (windows 10, debian 9 since im more familiar with apt-get than pacman, kali for my recovery and maliciouse software scanner, and arch just cause sometimes you need a cli) at the moment windows, kali, and arch boot up and debian freezes but i think its due to a missing firmware to my network card...

 

[Cmartineau8625]

@wizardfromoz i will try to get the screenshots, and or copy of files tonight

 

[Cmartineau8625]

gave up on installing debian, but ubuntu istalled well

 

[wizardfromoz]

Oh well, stuff happens

But that's good news about the Ubuntu . Thanks for keeping us posted and

Enjoy your Linux

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

 

[Cmartineau8625]

Wasnt happy w ubuntu a while back ago cause of no root access, but sudos starting to grow on me.... lol

 

[wizardfromoz]

You can still use

sudo su

#or

sudo -i

to get the same effect?

Wiz