I recently built a new PC which is running Win10. Now I want to add a 2nd SSD on which I would like to install Manjaro (been using it for about 6 years now).
Since my old PC was still using BIOS instead of UEFI I am a bit unconfident on how to install Manjaro including the GRUB menu to choose from when booting. I read a lot but the more I read the less I seem to knowâŚ
I found this great video on YT where it is perfectly explained imo:
In short:
Download and boot into Manjaro
Install it with manual partitioning (not sure wether I will install a separate /home partition though)
First and foremost, download your favorite flavor of Manjaro, verify that the checksums match those on the site, and then âburnâ them to a CD/DVD or USB stick.
Next, shut down Windows completely â âfast bootâ must be disabled, because itâll leave your Windows filesystems in a half-open state, with as a result that they will be read-only in GNU/Linux.
Enter your UEFI firmware configuration utility â this is usually accomplished by pressing F11 or some other key during boot-up. Which key you need to press will usually flash on the screen for a few seconds.
In your UEFI settings, you must disable CSM, also known as âlegacy modeâ, âlegacy BIOS modeâ, âBIOS emulationâ, or something like that. Also make sure that Secure Boot is switched off. Save your settings and continue booting.
Boot up from the CD/DVD/USB and begin the installation.
Your drive will contain a partition designated as âEFI system partitionâ, or something of the likes. This partition will be approximately 260 to 300 MiB in size. The installer might complain that this is too small, but you can ignore that warning.
Create your partitions â whether manually or automatic. Then, choose your mountpoints. The EFI system partition must always be mounted at /boot/efi. Your root partition must be mounted at /. If you create a separate /home partition, make sure you set the mountpoint for that too.
If you create a swap partition, then that has no mountpoint. Depending on the amount of RAM you have in your machine, you may not need a swap partition, unless you plan on hibernating the machine â i.e. suspend-to-disk. In that case, your swap partition should be about 1.5 to 2 times the size of your RAM.
The GRUB boot loader will automatically be installed in the EFI system partition. When the machine boots, youâll have the option of choosing an operating system straight from within the UEFI firmware boot menu, and every time you choose Manjaro, you will see another boot menu â this is the GRUB menu â which will also contain an entry for booting Microsoft Windows.
One last piece of advice⌠Microsoft Windows prefers the hardware clock to be in local time, while GNU/Linux prefers the hardware clock to be in UTC.
It is possible to force Windows into using UTC as well, but this requires changing a registry parameter, and I cannot tell you how to do that â I donât use Windows. On the other hand, it is perhaps easier to tell GNU/Linux to use local time as well.
The reason why this is important is that if both your operating systems are set to a different hardware clock time, then there will be a discrepancy in the shown time. So they both need to have the same setting for the hardware clock.
Thank you very much for this very detailled reply! I will dive into this much more as soon as I have a few free hours. I miss ManjaroâŚ
After a quick read I think it ist basicly the approach described in the video
Could you tell me please why I need a separate /boot/efi partition and not using the one that is already there?
I donât want to replace Win10, Iâd like to have a dual boot machine.
Strictly speaking, itâs not necessary. The whole idea of an EFI system partition is that itâs shared among all installed operating systems.
However â and hereâs the catch â it is not uncommon for a Microsoft Windows update to screw up the contents of the EFI system partition, and as such, prevent you from booting anything other than Windows.
Such is the price you pay for using The Devilâs Operating System⢠â and Iâm not talking about Manjaro here.
@fahrer17 Ermanno from EF linux has a second video called âUpdate on Dual Bootâ on youtube where he describes the second method with a separate boot/efi partition. Check it out.
So I created, mounted and flagged the partitions as shown by Ermanno respectively as I understood Aragornâs post (itâs not the first time I install a Linux ):
When hitting NEXT I get this error message (which Ermanno didnât get):
It basicly says that Manjaro needs a EFI system partition otherwise it wonât start.
What did I miss or am I doing wrong or can I simply ignore this message?
Since I was too confused I stopped the installation.
You chose to install the /boot/efi onto the same partition as the existing Windows bootloader (the 100 MiB FAT32), is it? It looks like.
Have you thought of placing the /boot/efi partition onto a separate 200-300 MiB partition?
Make sure to set the right flags.
No, I didnât try to install anything in /boot/efi, instead I changed the existing Win10 efi partition to mount in /boot/efi including flag âbootâ as it was shown in Ermannoâs video. Actually I only created a /home and a / partition.
I donât have a problem creating more partitions as long as I can be sure not to mess up my existing Win10 installation (my kids would kill me if they donât have access to their Steam games anymore . I know I can fix this but I wonât have the time before X-mas).
In Ermannoâs video everything seemed quite simple so Iâd like to prefer this method. If it isnât possible anymore Iâll have to go the other way of course
both ways have pros and cons. You will have to make a choice.
Not sure if 100 MiB is enough for Manjaro. In my last installation it asked me to provide at least a 300 MiB boot partition. I created a separate one instead of extending the existing Windows boot and installation was smooth without any issues. You might have to extend the boot partition first. Again, set the flags correctly.
Make sure that you understand what you are doing. Generally speaking you can can always correct the bootloader afterwards if anything goes wrong. I think Ermanno also shows how to correct things.
Edit: I read the error message again and it says that you require at least 300 MiB as boot. You only have 100 MiB currently. If you extend the boot partition, do NOT select âformatâ partition!!
OMG, now I know what you mean with Ermannoâs Update video
I always thought it is about updating the bios/efi partition. Instead it is an update of his previous video.
Whatever, it was very interesting!
When creating the new Manjaro efi partition: Where do I place it? On my first (=Win) SSD or on my 2nd (=Manjaro) SSD?
yeah, Ermanno explains 2 different boot partition setups with dualboot in these videos.
where to place it? I guess it wouldnât matter much. To keep disk 1 clean you might opt for disk 2.
You can always wipe disk 2 and start over again, just in case.
donât consider this a recommendation. you will have to make your own choices based on your desired outcome. good luck!
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