Multi-Boot Windows/Linux with rEFInd

[Member PenguinGuy]

Hi,

What’s the best way to multi-boot Windows with antiX & other Linux distros in 2021?

Is it still rEFInd?

My USB rEFInd no longer gets to a boot screen after reformatting it from antiX to rEFInd (though I tried to manually create an ESP in rEFInd before installing antiX & it was able to boot).

Sometimes I can get to a black screen that says to insert a disk (even though the USB seems to have all the files & can be formatted & read in OS).

I reformatted the USB with a check for bad blocks, but it still won’t boot.

Anyways, I was thinking of manually installing rEFInd & maybe other OSes using installers (like MX Linux) in antiX until I can get a new USB or fix this one.

There’s no boot guard or secure boot, etc issues.

You can see more about my system here: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/unbootable-ssd-with-19-4-full-install/#post-66302

• This topic was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by PenguinGuy.

[Member Xecure]

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I don’t actually get what you are trying to do.
Are you installing rEFInd in the USB or in the hard-drive?

For the USB, I have no idea.
For install in the system, you just need a big enough EFI partition >100MBs) and install it there (either with the debian semi-automatic install or with the detailed instructions in the refind website).

I had it working in my old tablet before it died, and could perfectly see:
* my antiX installed system (installed with EFI)
* my windows10 installed system
* any of my live-USBs I connected before booting the system (very handy for not having to enter the UEFI bios to select boot device).

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Member PenguinGuy]

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Xecure wrote:

I don’t actually get what you are trying to do.
Are you installing rEFInd in the USB or in the hard-drive?

For the USB, I have no idea.
For install in the system, you just need a big enough EFI partition >100MBs) and install it there (either with the debian semi-automatic install or with the detailed instructions in the refind website).

I had it working in my old tablet before it died, and could perfectly see:
* my antiX installed system (installed with EFI)
* my windows10 installed system
* any of my live-USBs I connected before booting the system (very handy for not having to enter the UEFI bios to select boot device).

What I’m thinking of doing is using the debian package of rEFInd to install it on my SSD version of antiX.

However, the rEFInd site says this installs scripts which may corrupt & break the boot of your OSes & it is better to install it with a USB drive.

I’m avoiding a USB install because it seems the boot ability on my USB drive is worn out & doesn’t work after installing antiX (although it still formats & the files are readable).

I actually read a thread where you helped a user with a similar issue, but it wasn’t clear whether they actually installed rEFInd or another multi-boot system in the end.

Does that help?

[Member Xecure]

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I installed rEFInd in the EFI partition on installed.

PenguinGuy wrote:

However, the rEFInd site says this installs scripts which may corrupt & break the boot of your OSes & it is better to install it with a USB drive.

I think they mean install rEFInd from live-USB instead of doing the installation from inside the installed environment. I did it the manual way described in the website (haven’t tested the debian package yet, as I wanted to understand what every step did, as I also wanted to enable touch in the rEFInd config)

Worst case scenario (if something goes wrong) is going with antiX-live USB and use Boot repair to regenerate the EFI file for antiX and re-set it as first EFI option.

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Member PenguinGuy]

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Xecure wrote:

I installed rEFInd in the EFI partition on installed.

PenguinGuy wrote:

However, the rEFInd site says this installs scripts which may corrupt & break the boot of your OSes & it is better to install it with a USB drive.

I think they mean install rEFInd from live-USB instead of doing the installation from inside the installed environment. I did it the manual way described in the website (haven’t tested the debian package yet, as I wanted to understand what every step did, as I also wanted to enable touch in the rEFInd config)

Worst case scenario (if something goes wrong) is going with antiX-live USB and use Boot repair to regenerate the EFI file for antiX and re-set it as first EFI option.

Well, that’s kind of the problem I’m trying to explain (I can’t boot with a USB so I can’t use or depend on a USB).

Basically if I can’t know the Debian install will work with antiX then I’m not going to be able to take that risk right now.

If it does work, it would probably be a good addition to the antiX package installer (since multi-boot has been posted many times before in this forum but with no easy answer).

• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by PenguinGuy.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by PenguinGuy.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by PenguinGuy.

[Moderator BobC]

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Why not just run each OS from a separate USB?

If installing to a hard drive or SSD, antiX and Debian (up to 16 total distros) should be able to both be installed and bootable via Grub without trouble.

Or maybe I just don’t understand the problem. KISS is always wise unless you have infinite time to invest.

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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BobC wrote:

Why not just run each OS from a separate USB?

If installing to a hard drive or SSD, antiX and Debian (up to 16 total distros) should be able to both be installed and bootable via Grub without trouble.

Or maybe I just don’t understand the problem. KISS is always wise unless you have infinite time to invest.

I agree with BobC. IF you intend to run from USB, put each distribution on a separate USB. It works well that way, and antiX has several ways to use the USB effectively.

If you are intending to install, again I agree; GRUB is definitely able to support many distributions. I’ve used at least a dozen distributions from a single GRUB boot loader and it works fine.

--
Brian Masinick

[Member Xecure]

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PenguinGuy wrote:

I’m avoiding a USB install because it seems the boot ability on my USB drive is worn out & doesn’t work after installing antiX (although it still formats & the files are readable).

I understand USB doesn’t seem to b an option.
If you cannot install it manually as described by the rEFInd website, then using the refind debian package should work to install to the EFI partition.
I will try it out now.

EDIT: just installed the refind package from the debian repos
sudo apt install refind
After installing it asked if I wanted to install the binary to ESP (the EFI partition), I said yes and, when done, rebooted. It automatically showed the refind bootloader and all my antiX installations (and the Windows installation). I selected the one I am using right now and it booted properly.

So, the requirements:
1. Having an EFI partition (ESP).
2. Having the antiX EFI bootloader installed in the ESP.
3. Accept to install refind to the EFI partition.

Note: I installed the 0.12.0-1 refind package, but the 0.11.3-1 version (in stable) should work the same.

Now I will set back my antiX EFI as first boot option, as this was just an experiment and on my laptop I prefer to boot directly to antiX.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Xecure. Reason: Refind is working

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Member seaken64]

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I’m a little confused about what is happening with your USB. But I think you want to make up a SEPARATE USB for rEFind. Do not attempt to use the same USB with antiX. You need two USB drives.

Unless you are saying you are having a hardware problem with your USB port and can’t boot from it?

I know some newer computers are making it harder to dual boot. But on all my UEFI systems I can use a hot key at boot that allows me to select which device to boot from. Sometimes the ESC key and sometimes F12, or something else. I put the rEFind USB in the USB port, hit F12 then select the appropriate USB drive then rEFind loads and I can choose my selection from there. Or I use Legacy boot, which for me is preferable, but apparently not always available in the BIOS/UEFI setup anymore.

Seaken64

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