Hello there!
Recently, I’ve tried to install Arch Linux on my main PC from scratch. Usually, I did it in virtual machines or laptops, and everything was fine. But this time, I faced an issue. The MSI motherboard doesn’t detect the GRUB loader at all and doesn’t boot the OS.
The Arch Linux installation process is not complex but still requires some skills. I usually follow the official Installation Guide and install GRUB (ArchLinux Wiki) as a bootloader, and use sbctl to sign images to support Secure Boot.
I use the following command to install GRUB as specified in the documentation:
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB --modules="tpm" --disable-shim-lockAs it works fine, it installs GRUB to the boot partition, and even efibootmgr shows that it added a new record to the boot list. But unfortunately, it doesn’t work on MSI motherboards. And it is not a Secure Boot issue, it doesn’t work even with disabled Secure Boot.
For some reason, MSI ignores all EFI loaders except fallback ones. These fallback loaders should be located in the specific path, defined by the EFI specification: /boot/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI.
So, to fix this problem, you need to install GRUB there. GRUB has --removable flag that is designed exactly for this purpose:
Some UEFI firmwares require a bootable file at a known location before they will show UEFI NVRAM boot entries. If this is the case, grub-install will claim efibootmgr has added an entry to boot GRUB, however the entry will not show up in the VisualBIOS boot order selector. The solution is to install GRUB at the default/fallback boot path:
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=esp --removable.
The final command:
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB --modules="tpm" --disable-shim-lock --removableMaybe it is just an issue in the motherboard firmware, or maybe it is some kind of “conspiracy theory”. Anyway, I probably shouldn’t buy MSI motherboards anymore.