UEFI boot on Asus Sabertooth 990FX

sgarcia

I just got a new Asus Sabertooth 990FX motherboard (with associated processor and memory) as well as a 64G SSD to be the new system drive.

That means that in addition to dealing with new motherboard issues, I get to install a new system onto a new drive. I figured as long as I'm starting with a new drive, I'd try to install it using the EFI boot process. This motherboard supports BIOS boots as well as (reputedly) EFI boots. Almost all of the EFI supporting boot manager installation procedures seem to expect that you're doing them from a system already booted in EFI mode. Since the new kernels can provide their own EFI bootloader if properly configured, this would seem to be do-able, if a bit fiddly.

But so far, I've had no luck at all. My old disk still boots fine in MBR mode (once I switched all fstab and grub references from sda to sdb.) But the boot process doesn't even give me a failed boot from the SSD -- it skips right to the old disk unless I disable sdb completely, at which point it just tells me to insert boot media.

Here's what I've got set up. Using gparted I created GUID partitions

platojones · Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 1:12 am Post subject:

Welcome to the UEFI club...it's a wild ride...but kinda fun once you get over the dizzyness.

You're on the right track, but I think you skipped a few steps. A EFI system partition isn't enough to get the UEFI interface (or BIOS) to see a bootable disk...it needs the proper boot structure and the boot system files...otherwise, there's nothing there for the UEFI interface to work with and it'll just skip the whole thing. I'm using grub2, and my grub boot file is /boot/efi/EFI/Boot/BOOTX64.EFI...it's just the grub2 bootloader UEFI application. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My board (an ASUS RIVE), has an option in the boot EXIT menu to launch an EFI shell...you might want to see if yours has that...or something similar. I didn't find the EFI shell very useful though.

My advice would be to decide which way you want to go with your boot loader (for instance, if you want a multi-boot system, I would say go with grub2...if only Gentoo, then maybe set up a direct EFI kernel boot. There are other options like rEFInd, whose author has some posts here in the forums).

Here's a few links that helped me get thru it all:

http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/UEFI

http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2

http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/

Lot of very good info in the ArchLinux docs too...

Anyway, your partition layout is very similar to the one I used as well...so I can say that will definitely work with grub2.

If you decide to go with grub2, I can help a bit on that, since that's the way I went...but I'm no expert, by any means.

srs5694 · Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 5:22 am Post subject:

Platojones has provided some good basic information. I'd like to elaborate a bit, though....

The EFI/boot/bootx64.efi file on the ESP is a sort of "default" or "fallback" EFI boot loader. Theoretically, EFI systems should boot using the boot loaders described in NVRAM, and they should provide some sort of boot manager to let you select from among these. Of course, if you're starting from scratch, you won't have any entries there. Normally, OS installers create suitable NVRAM entries, but with Gentoo you'd have to set it up yourself with the efibootmgr utility from an EFI boot, so you'd need to use something like an Ubuntu live CD (which has EFI support) to add your NVRAM boot loader entries. Some EFI implementations provide menus from which you can add boot loaders to the NVRAM list, too. Many EFI implementations provide poor options or are flaky in one way or another. Thus, it's often easier to use the EFI/boot/bootx64.efi name for your primary boot loader (ELILO, GRUB, rEFInd, an EFI-enabled kernel, or whatever).

You might consider downloading the rEFInd CD image. (See the Getting rEFInd page for links.) With any luck, it will boot in EFI mode and, if you've installed other boot loaders on your disk, will let you launch them. If you've got an otherwise working Gentoo system, this will get Gentoo up and running in EFI mode, you can emerge efibootmgr, and add an NVRAM entry for the boot loader you want to use. (Note: I'm rEFInd's maintainer.)

FWIW, I've got a Web page on EFI boot loaders. In my experience, the kernel's EFI stub loader is the most reliable EFI boot loader for Linux, but to make it practical you'll need either a good boot manager in your EFI or a separate boot manager such as rEFInd. ELILO comes next in reliability, followed closely by Fedora's patched GRUB Legacy. GRUB 2 comes dead last in my experience; it's very finicky and unreliable. That said, there are significant system-to-system differences in boot loader reliability. Some people have no problems with GRUB 2, for instance, and others can't get GRUB Legacy or ELILO to work. You may need to try two or three before you find one that works. Fortunately, EFI makes trying new boot loaders relatively painless compared to the same process in BIOS, at least once you've wrapped your brain around the way EFI handles boot loaders.

Xytovl · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 15 Mar 2009 Posts: 92

There is a lot of voodoo in EFI boot, I am sure firmwares are as buggy as BIOS are.

I have a working setup on a Samsung laptop (pheonix firmware), here is parted output:

srs5694 · Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 3:19 pm Post subject:

jathlon · Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 2:19 am Post subject:

I'm playing with a Sabertooth 990FX board as well. I just stuck mine under my old Phenom X6 and threw more ram and a pair of GT 570's on it. (Playing in Blender is my current obsession).

The easiest way I found to boot into UEFI mode was to use a CD. Probably due to my own lack of knowledge I never figured out how to get the UEFI boot mode to happen with a USB stick. Might have also been a limitation of the firmware interface. (Yea, let's go with that) Using a CD the UEFI option was obvious.

The first boot CD I burned was Kubuntu, so that was were I began my odyssey. There may be others but by the time I stumbled on the concept of using a boot CD I was sick of downloading distros and using various methods to install the iso's to the flash drives, so Kubuntu was what I used to do my install.

Hope that's enough to get you started in the right direction for the simple reason that I'm still not really sure what the h*** I did that got it going.

Good luck,

joe

sgarcia · Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 8:39 pm Post subject:

Thanks to everyone.

I guess what I need to do is boot from an EFI enabled CD. I have been using the Gentoo DVD as my install platform, but I didn't even think to check whether it boots into EFI mode. I had already downloaded the rEFInd CD image, but hadn't tried it either. I'll do that when I get home tonight.

I may also try copying my EFI enabled kernel to EFI/boot/bootx64.efi and see if it will work even without installing a boot manager first, but that will be mainly just to see if I can do it. Ultimately rEFInd is probably going to be my method, but we'll see once I get it booted the first time (to the new disk.)

I had set up a /boot partition as well as the ESP which will be mounted at /boot/efi:

srs5694 · Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 10:53 pm Post subject:

Sgarcia, your partitioning looks reasonable from an EFI point of view. There are ways you can optimize what you put on an SSD vs. a spinning disk, but that's a whole different topic....

Anyhow, if your kernel is properly compiled and if its options are right, setting it up as EFI/boot/bootx64.efi on the ESP will probably get it booted and working. The problem is that the command-line options can be a bit fiddly for the EFI stub loader. For instance, the initrd specification has to be a complete path from the ESP's root, and I'm pretty sure it needs to use backslashes rather than the more normal (in Linux) slashes as directory separators. Thus, you might need to recompile the kernel a few times before you get it right, or (much easier) launch it manually from an EFI shell. Other options include using Ubuntu or some other EFI-enabled system to get started and chroot into the Gentoo installer; or install in BIOS mode and then switch boot modes after you've got at least a basic Gentoo system up and running.

jathlon · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 1:01 am Post subject:

sgarcia · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 1:33 am Post subject:

Well, the rEFInd CD didn't boot at all. When I go into the boot menu, I only see one entry for the CD.

I'm currently downloading the Ubuntu 12.04 CD -- maybe that will make it happier and the boot menu will show me two options.

I hadn't seen the "Exit" menu from the firmware before. When I trigger the EFI shell I get what looks like a missing library error -- I can't cut and paste that, maybe I should write it down next time.

Here's the command line I have compiled into my kernel:

platojones · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 1:48 am Post subject:

Getting booted up with a UEFI enabled linux kernel was the toughest part for me...I finally did it by loading the Archlinux archboot ISO image on a USB (not the normal Archlinux install ISO). Nothing ever worked for me when booted from cdrom...including Ubuntu.

sgarcia · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:13 am Post subject:

jathlon · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:14 am Post subject:

I'm also running the latest "bios" from ASUS for the board. Version no. 1102.
Not sure if that actually makes a difference or not. Never tried the CD thing until after I updated.

joe

platojones · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:34 am Post subject:

sgarcia · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 4:08 am Post subject:

Well, mixed success. I upgraded to firmware 1102, but as near as I can tell it didn't make any difference. Neither the CDROM nor the USB gives me any indication of being UEFI, and they both boot into the BIOS mode.

I downloaded the newer Archlinux, but it still boots in BIOS mode.

I downloaded the older EFI shell, and it *does* boot now, so I'm encouraged. But the help command runs off the top of the terminal, so I think I'm going to have to study its commands from the web and take it up later. Then we hope the kernel I created was properly configured to boot...

This is obviously going to be a multi-day project. :/
_________________
Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.

platojones · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 11:38 am Post subject:

srs5694 · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 5:55 pm Post subject:

jathlon · Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 12:02 am Post subject:

What are you using for a cd/dvd player? I've got just a low end Liteon SATA CD/DVD writer/player. And like platojones suggested, I have to hit F8 while the firmware is still loading to get to the boot media selection screen.

Isn't being an early adopter of new tech fun.

joe

jms.gentoo · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 07 May 2009 Posts: 102

hey just joining the efi boot club.
I advise you to use http://www.sysresccd.org
It's well done
its based on gentoo, its kernels are efi enabled ,one can use it as a gentoo install cd

well as from me I try to install gentoo on a macbookpro.
goal dual boot with osx at the moment.
and using grub2 efi gpt
I have efi working (looks like)
I get into grub2 boot menu but have problem there (file missing or modules)
using grub-2.00-beta4
with a fat partition for /boot and I use as efi
and partition for /usr another for portage and another for home..

sgarcia · Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 11:36 pm Post subject:

Gar! Had this whole post almost finished when my nVidia card at work "fell off the bus." Grr.

I had a few minutes yesterday to work on this.

srs5694 · Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 11:48 pm Post subject:

jathlon · Posted: Sat May 12, 2012 12:10 am Post subject:

sgarcia · Posted: Sat May 12, 2012 3:43 am Post subject:

Woohoo! I'm posting this from an EFI booted Ubuntu disc! Had to manually set up the network and remove network manager which kept disconnecting me. And endure my first real brush with Unity. But that doesn't matter. It's in EFI mode!

The magic formula? Unplug the DVD from the SATA II port and plug it into the SATA III. Makes no sense, but it seems to be working.

The UEFI option now appears in the firmware settings, and F8 gives me a UEFI option. I didn't even bother trying the EFI shell, went straight to the DVD boot.

Oh, and I renamed the EFI and GRUB2 directories and then renamed them back, and now everything is happy. Black magic. Maybe it was sacrificing that goat.

Now I'll try working my way through the actual setup. That may be tomorrow's project.
_________________
Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.

srs5694 · Posted: Sat May 12, 2012 4:21 am Post subject:

jathlon · Posted: Sat May 12, 2012 12:27 pm Post subject: