rEFInd on a Bootable USB and on System

I just installed LXQT, (was mainly KDE Plasma)

I had a problem a few days ago that I couldn’t boot my system and reinstalled.
Happened again an hour ago, but I could fix it.

So, I searched and want to create an rEFInd bootable USB drive, just i case, and to try it before installing on my system.

I read and tried a lot till finaly I downloaded the ISO from rEFInd download | SourceForge.net and burnt it to USB:

 sudo dd if=refind-cd-0.13.2.iso of=/dev/sdc1

I got the files:

file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/banners
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/keys
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/CREDITS.txt
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/docs
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/refind
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/LICENSE.txt
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/mvrefind
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/refind-install
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/NEWS.txt
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/refind-mkdefault
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/EFI
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/boot.catalog
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/mkrlconf
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/fonts
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/COPYING.txt
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/mountesp
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/README.txt
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/SHELLS.txt
file:///run/media/limo/rEFInd_0.13.2/refind-bin-0.13.2.img

on the flash disk. (some are folders I’m sure you can notice)

But didn’t boot, said something like missing operating system!

What’s the easiest way to do it?
Is it more reliable than Grub?
Anything to be done to avoid boot problems?

1 Like

I don’t mind having a Grub bootloader on a bootable usb.

But according to what I read I have the impression that rEFInd is a bit more reliable. Though I’m not sure I got it right.

P.S. Manjaro is the only OS on the laptop.

Hello,

While we offer refind package trough our repository, hence you can install it on your installed system by following the instructions (disregard the dual boot part)

for a Manjaro ISO using refind as default, you would have to build your own spin.

1 Like

Thanks bogdancovaciu

for a Manjaro ISO using refind as default, you would have to build your own spin.

Means I have to create my own Manjaro! :scream:
Oh, no… I won’t do it.

So, I better focus on:

  • Just create a bootable USB with Grub or rEFInd, just in case it won’t boot again.
  • Is there anything I can do to "bulletproof’ my already installed Grub?
    I will appreciate any help.

Thanks

Manjaro boot loader is a bit more special than a default grub. You can keep a Manjaro install media and boot from it whenever you encounter an issue and boot from it and chroot the system to repair whatever breaks.

What do you mean “bulletproof” ? Is already at 100% functionality and reliability, or is breaking on you for no reason and often ?

You have to first find the reason why you system failed to boot. The bootloader can break only if you start to use grub customizer or add random boot parameters …

How you concluded was the boot loader the issue?

1 Like
Manjaro boot loader is a bit more special than a default grub. You can keep a Manjaro install media and boot from it whenever you encounter an issue and boot from it and `chroot` the system to [repair](https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/GRUB/Restore_the_GRUB_Bootloader) whatever breaks.

I’ll take note of this. Thanks.

What do you mean “bulletproof” ? Is already at 100% functionality and reliability, or is breaking on you for no reason and often ?

You have to first find the reason why you system failed to boot. The bootloader can break only if you start to use grub customizer or add random boot parameters …

I don’t really know why, I never tried to play with Grub, or even think about it before it happened.

How you concluded was the boot loader the issue?

AFAIK, the bootloader is the first hing to start running! Another reason maybe?! I don’t know.

Just to update you, I am now booted from the USB (Grub) after I did

sudo grub-install –boot-directory=/dev/sdc1 

Now, I believe whatever happens, I can boot from USB and follow the link you gave me GRUB/Restore the GRUB Bootloader - Manjaro
to fix.

By the way yesterday I just had a black screen, fixed by following a few instructions I found ALT+F3… etc. and issuing some commands (to fix Grub, which worked)
What do you think might have caused this problem if it is not the bootloader?

Thank you very much for your help and for the link.

By the way, regarding the formatting of quotes … just select the text you want to quote and a popup will show to Quote, and the quote will be properly formatted. Example:

And will look like this

Is the BIOS, but we digress … To see the Grub Boot Menu you can press Esc or the Shift on your keyboard, after the BIOS loads, so you know if grub is working or not. You can have multiple kernels too and select from that menu, if a kernel fails to load. You can also boot with fallback initramfs so will show any failure and load only the default selection of drivers and not your custom configs …

You accessed TTY, that means that was past grub. Your DM failed or the SDDM (if you use KDE Plasma)

What commands ?

2 Likes

Sorry! I am relatively new to the forum and to Manjaro. Though I started Linux and happily lived with it since 2000, end of 2013 unfortunately I had to use Win$ as I was so busy to overcome the EFI stuff! At that time forums were much simpler not that feature rich.
So, now I’m a bit old man and retired I had some time to get back to Linux. :grinning:

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience.

2 Likes

No need for that, no inconveniences.

Yes, I remember as you mentioned it was TTY.
I issued a few commands (can’t remember) that I found searching!

I installed Manjaro KDE Plasma initially, then currently I installed LXQT as I had some issues with the system freezing (my thread here) and Fabby helped me a lot.
But I was still unhappy with performance so I am trying now LXQT.

But .bash_history or .zhistory (depending if you are using bash or zsh) are remembering each command performed over time. Those are hidden files in your home directory that you can open in a text editor, or you can find the past command via Terminal just using the up and down arrow keys …

Well, that is this forum for, to help each other.

Are you installing them fresh or over the existing system via pacman or pamac install from the same user account?

1 Like

One of them was

sudo update-grub  

It is done anyway.

And this is the main thing making me addicted to Linux (was mainly SuSe/OpenSuSe that time where I contributed a lot), and I hope I can do even better here.

I simply installed it over the existing system through pamac. And I’m happy with both!

Because you did this

you had to, but that was not because grub was corrupted … it had changes in parameters :slight_smile:

Welcome to the club :partying_face:

That is the goal. Cool cool.

Ah, also, maybe you could enable early KMS for your iGPU, because you are using the i915 driver. In some cases it helps.

This! The other thread.
Ok. I hope I won’t need it again.

mmm … my graphics are ok.
Why should I enable?

Is not a requirement. It helps in some cases to sped up boot time. It will not have a lot of graphical speed boost tho, but for example, if fails, then there will be displayed a graphic panic message at boot …

1 Like

Thank a lot Fabby
I believe I marked a post there as solution (the check box). I’ll double check.

Ok, post no. 4 checkbox marked.

I really appreciate your support. I’m running a stable kernel now, which is better than the one I had. KDE ran much better. But LXQT is much more responsive than KDE Plasma. :+1:

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 2 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.