SOLVED - Looking for a Arch based distro that will install on a legacy bios system?

[okjeeper]

I have a little older desktop that doesn't have a UEFI bios. It's a quad core 16 gig system. I know I can install arch linux however I just don't want that level of difficulty. Tried a few arch based distros and they all require an EFI partition to run. I was able to get MX Linux running on it. I just want a simple install without all the manual config that stock Arch requires.

I have run Garuda, Manjaro and a few other Arch based on my laptop which supports UEFI without issue.

I just hate letting this older system that still runs solid just sit and do nothing.

I appologise if this has been discussed i just can't find any current info on current live installs.

 

[Deleted member 137406]

Just choose a distro Arch or Arch based or any Linux distro they all should install without any problem.

I use 15 year old desktops and can run any Linux disto I choose without any problems.

EndeavoursOS is a good Arch base choice give it a look.

EndeavourOS

A terminal-centric distro with a vibrant and friendly community at its core

endeavouros.com

 

[okjeeper]

So is there something special I need to do using the Calamares installing? Maybe I am doing something wrong cause it installs and reboot all I get is a black screen with a cursor in the top right? Maybe I am just doing something wrong? I have tried letting it setup the partition for me and I have done it manually.

I used rufus to create the usb live install.

 

[Deleted member 137406]

I'd use Etcher I've never had any good results with Rufus.

balenaEtcher - Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives

A cross-platform tool to flash OS images onto SD cards and USB drives safely and easily. Free and open source for makers around the world.

www.balena.io

What kind of graphics card do you have.

Nvidia is sometimes problematic with Linux.

 

[okjeeper]

It's an AMD based vid card, AMD 64bit CPU using an older MSI board which at the time was top if the line lol.

I have run linux on it however it's been some time. THe live thumbdrives loads perfectly fine and will run without issue. I just can't seem to get it to install. It's almost as if there is no bootloader loading.

 

[Brickwizard]

Rufus is known to be problematic, as previously suggested try Etcher, if you are given the choice at the start of the installation, choose legacy boot, you say it has an AMD vid card, so I am assuming it's an AMD/ATI card, depending on its age you may need to download and install legacy drivers ,

I know Endeavour OS has a hybrid installation for the bios,this means..
The ISO is fully compatible with legacy-Bios systems and an ISO has ISO filesystem (iso9660),
Partitioning is MBR and not GPT.

Try Endeavour using Etcher to burn the ISO to your pendrive.

 

[okjeeper]

Just went through the installer of EndeavourOS and used etcher to make the thumb drive vs rufus. The installer still sad my system would not boot without an EFI partition. I setup the partition as MBR vs GPT. did 1 single partition mounted as / for simplicity sake. It's going through the install process and reboot. Upon reboot I get the same black screen with flashing cursor top left.

It's almost as if grub isn't installing to the MBR. I am really at a loss at this point. I have installed Garuda on my laptop which is a 2 yr old 8th gen i7 Dell Latitude. Works beautifully side by side with win10. I have to keep windows on it for work purposes.

So maybe there is something special I am not doing with the Calamares installer to force it to install properly on a legacy bios system but I am at a loss at this point.

I can manually install stock Arch linux and get it up and running to CLI. Grub works with it and all that stuff. I can install MX Linux ( which I don't care much for) and it works as well. About to toss the desktop up on the closet and forget about it.

 

[okjeeper]

I solved the issue/mystery. The mobo is an MSI non-UEFI. However it has a feature called Affinity 2.2tb that lets you load large than 2.2 tb HD's on the legacy bios. The installers detect this as a UEFI even though it is not. I had been activating this to select what to boot using the F12 key. After some serious digging through older posts I found that with MSI to load the bios boot menu you have to use F11. Once I did that the Calamares installer then recognized the system as legacy and now installs and boots perfectly.

What a major pain but well it's solved. I have now installed 3 different distros with no issue.
I appreciate everyone's assistance.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Now THAT is really interesting, and welcome to linux.org

I love it when they solve problems themselves, you'll make people like me redundant and I can retire and sip cocktails on a beach somewhere.

An added bonus, @okjeeper with Endeavour is that its Developer, @joekamprad has been a Member here, and if he is unaware of the MSI issue, he will be aware of it now.

Joe, aka "Der Doktor" has other presences at their Forum , and HelpChat .

I also run Endeavour, in my somewhat large stable.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz