Trying to configure Systemd-boot.

Gat Pelsinger · April 26

I am trying to install Arch Linux with Systemd-boot. Even worse, I am trying it with a XBOOTLDR partition and maybe chain loading it with GRUB. For those who don't know what XBOOTLDR is, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/systemd-boot#Installation_using_XBOOTLDR

So, I have a /ESP folder mounted as my EFI partition, a /boot folder mounted as my XBOOTLDR partition, where my Kernel(s) reside. When making this partition, in cfdisk, I chose the type as Linux extended boot. I am pretty sure XBOOTLDR means Linux extended boot, and even the GUID matches which is listed on the ArchWiki. And I also formatted it as ext4 and not FAT32. I don't think that should be a problem because my UEFI doesn't have to do anything with that partition but idk if bootctl supports ext4 but I heard that it does.

So at the last I ran "bootctl --esp-path=/ESP/ --boot-path=/boot/ install". I then modified ESP/loader/loader.conf as -

Spoiler

default  arch.conf
timeout  4
console-mode max
editor   no

Now, the Wiki says that there are 2 places systemd searches for boot entries. In the ESP/loader/entries/*.conf and IF using XBOOTLDR, additionally it will check in /boot/loader/entries/*.conf. So I first created the arch.conf file in the /boot/... directory because I was using XBOOTLDR. It looked like -

Spoiler

title   Arch Linux
linux   /vmlinuz-linux
initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
options root=UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx rw

Of course with the correct UUID of my root partition I got from genfstab. I will configure my fallback initramfs and intel microcode once I actually get this thing running.

But after reboot, I didn't see the entry for my Arch Linux. After a while of troubleshooting, in which I tried making another copy of arch.conf in my ESP directory inside, but later deleted it, and I tried giving the UUID of XBOOTLDR partition but still got nothing. Right now, "bootctl list", seems to detect my Kernel and my config file but I still do not see it in the boot menu.