trouble switching to surface Linux kernel

[fickle mirage]

I have arch running with secure boot on a surface pro 5, and seemingly downloaded the surface Linux kernel, but It wont show up in the grub boot menu and I have no idea how to switch to it. if anyone is familiar with surface Linux please help

[timber island]

I’m not sure but u may have to turn secure boot again idk much but it may be worth a try

[fickle mirage]

ive disabled secure boot, but im still not sure how to load the kernel

[frigid schooner]

run mkinitcpio -P to make an initramfs for the custom kernel and regenerate the grub config

[fickle mirage]

This seems to have had some effect, but the boot menu I'm given still only shows "arch Linux" which boots the default kernel and "UEFI Firmware settings".

[fickle mirage]

I've realised that what I assumed was the "grub boot menu" looks completely different to every photo of it online. I don't know what this is

[frigid schooner]

oh.. thats.. systemd boot

try copying /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf to /boot/loader/entries/surface and editing it where you change the title, /vmlinuz-linux to /<name of kernel. just run ls inside of /boot to find it>, and /initramfs-linux.img to <initramfs of kernel. ls in /boot to find the name>. no need to change options though

[fickle mirage]

my /boot/loader/entries is empty

[frigid schooner]

output of lsblk?

[frigid schooner]

cat /boot/loader/loader.conf?

[frigid schooner]

hm..

[fickle mirage]

iis it bad?

[frigid schooner]

im probably going to have to search around a little. kind of expected atleast the loader.conf to contain something

unless..

[frigid schooner]

are you using a UKI?

[fickle mirage]

sorry, how would i check that?

[frigid schooner]

cat /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

[frigid schooner]

this may be weong actually ^. clearly going to have to read up a little

[fickle mirage]

it came up with a long list. im not sure what to look for

[frigid schooner]

ls /boot/EFI?

[frigid schooner]

aha. so it is in fact a uki. also. i did in fact miss the mkinitcpio conf check. i shouldve asked for a check on cat /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux preset

[fickle mirage]

ooh

is that good?

[frigid schooner]

well, it automatically reads out the efi entry from /boot/EFI/Linux, which means we just have to modify/add an entry for your kernel in its own config so it builds a UKI for the other kernel as well

could you run ls /etc/mkinitcpio.d? just in case the kernel created its own preset there

[fickle mirage]

it seems to have done so, yes

[frigid schooner]

open it in your favorite editor and:
comment out default_image (just add a # to the front)
uncomment default_uki (remove the #)

afterwards, save and preferably run cat on both files as i wish to doublecheck that the default .efi locations match (essentially using the linux.preset as a sanity check)

[fickle mirage]

am i to do the same to linux.preset too or just surface?

[frigid schooner]

just want the output from running cat on linux.preset. it shouldnt be modified however

[fickle mirage]

understood

[frigid schooner]

feel free to also uncomment default_optns from the surface preset. afterwards save and run mkinitcpio -P. after a reboot, the entry should appear

[frigid schooner]

(basically why i asked for linux.preset as a sanitycheck)

@fickle mirage wait. i made a small mistake

[fickle mirage]

?

[frigid schooner]

in default_uki, the /efi/EFI part should be changed to /boot/EFI as it is in linux.preset. small oversight on my end

after that you should be able to run mkinitcpio -P and reboot

[fickle mirage]

it worked

this has taken me a week to do, bless your heart @frigid schooner

[frigid schooner]

relevant page if you have issues next time:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Unified_kernel_image#.preset_file

also. please follow the steps given below:

... solved