[systemd-devel] gummiboot can't be installed on ESP which is soft RAID1 metadata=0.9 partition

[Lennart Poettering]

On Mon, 14.04.14 18:01, Francis Moreau (francis.moro at gmail.com) wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> "gummiboot install" fails when ESP is MD RAID1 device using metadata 0.9
> or 1.0.
> 
> I don't think using such RAID for ESP would lead to issue.
> 
> Is there any reason gummiboot doesn't want to be installed on such
> partition ?

The installer will make sure that the ESP is on GPT and carries the right
type UUID. We do that for safety reasons, since that's the requirement
made by UEFI, and how the bootloader is found.

You cannot place the ESP on sw RAID, since the firmware might want to
write to the ESP (most won't do that, but could, and the tianocore
implemenation you use in qemu certainly does). 

So yeah, the ESP belongs on a naked GPT partition, nowhere else. And the
gummiboot installer will protect the user from accidental mistakes that
might turn the machine unbootable.

Lennart

-- 
Lennart Poettering, Red Hat