Separate Linux EFI partition?

[PliSsK]

I've set up a triple boot system on one drive and have the microsoft and clover folders in the first EFI partition on the drive, and a separate Archman Linux EFI partition just for Linux elsewhere. Everything is working well and Linux boots up without seemingly going into grub or at least showing grub whilst grub is starting (ideal for me). I only have 3 entries in Clover too!!

I'm really just wanting to streamline the number of partitions. Will it work if I move the contents of the Linux EFI partition to the main EFI partition and get rid of the Linux EFI partition? I would have to do that from Linux as the Linux EFI partition doesn't show up at all in Clover Configurator on the Mount tab.

My drive is currently partitioned like this:

• EFI for Clover and Microsoft
• APFS container for Catalina
• EFI for Linux
• Linux Swap space
• Linux partition
• Windows 10 partition

Last time I tried installing grub in the single EFI partition used by Windows and OS X on another drive, I could not start Windows directly from Clover as it would go into grub first, which was annoying. I could only start windows directly from Clover if I got rid of grub from that folder. However, maybe I was missing some workaround. I don't use sleep in Linux (barely use Linux at all) and have 32GB RAM. I could potentially get rid of that swap partition I guess.

 

[Going Bald]

Try copying the Linux folder of the Linux EFI partition to the other EFI folder - it should be in the same spot as the Clover and Microsoft folders. Then set the path to the folder in config.plist

 

[PliSsK]

Try copying the Linux folder of the Linux EFI partition to the other EFI folder - it should be in the same spot as the Clover and Microsoft folders. Then set the path to the folder in config.plist

Thanks. I assume you mean the Clover config.plist. That was my plan, to back up the EFI folders and give it a whirl. Will grub then override windows boot manager when booting windows from clover? Cheers.

 

[Going Bald]

Thanks. I assume you mean the Clover config.plist. That was my plan, to back up the EFI folders and give it a whirl. Will grub then override windows boot manager when booting windows from clover? Cheers.

No. There should be a Clover folder, a Microsoft folder for Win10 and a Linux folder for your Linux distro in the EFI folder.

 

[PliSsK]

In the EFI partition for linux I had one folder 'EFI' which contained an 'Archman' folder (containing 'grubx64.efi') and a 'boot' folder (containing 'bootx64.efi'). In my main EFI partition for Clover, I have 'boot' executable and 'EFI' folder. This EFI folder contains APPLE, BOOT, CLOVER and Microsoft folders. I copied across the 'Archman' folder into this EFI folder. I did not copy across the 'boot' folder from the linux EFI partition as there is already a BOOT folder in the main EFI folder and it contains similarly a 'BOOTX64.efi' file (which is larger in size than the equivalent one in the Linux EFI partition). I deleted the contents of the old Linux EFI partition. My BIOS isn't detecting grub in its new location. I tried copying across the linux bootx64.efi file into the new Archman folder but it didn't help.

 

[Going Bald]

In the EFI partition for linux I had one folder 'EFI' which contained an 'Archman' folder (containing 'grubx64.efi') and a 'boot' folder (containing 'bootx64.efi'). In my main EFI partition for Clover, I have 'boot' executable and 'EFI' folder. This EFI folder contains APPLE, BOOT, CLOVER and Microsoft folders. I copied across the 'Archman' folder into this EFI folder. I did not copy across the 'boot' folder from the linux EFI partition as there is already a BOOT folder in the main EFI folder and it contains similarly a 'BOOTX64.efi' file (which is larger in size than the equivalent one in the Linux EFI partition). I deleted the contents of the old Linux EFI partition. My BIOS isn't detecting grub in its new location. I tried copying across the linux bootx64.efi file into the new Archman folder but it didn't help.

edit config.plist to point to path to the Linux folder - there are several threads in the forum giving directions. You might also take a look at the pinned guides at the start of this forum