Can't seem to get UEFI boot working

[jglen490]

That is the basic process when using the "manual" or "something else" (or whatever it may be called now) install option in the *buntu installer. The specific partition used for the EFI is probably immaterial, but I've found that using the first partition for EFI is good. When using the manual install, you will be presented with a partitioning screen that lists what you have on your device(s) in terms of partitioning scheme, and partitions. The scheme I have in post #4, above, is what I used previously in Kubuntu 20.04 LTS and carried into my clean install for Kubuntu 22.04 LTS. So I end up with an EFI, /, /home, and swap as my partitioning scheme. You are welcome to use a swap file, but be careful as predicting the sizing needs is a science unto itself - and one I avoid.

And I have told, and continue to tell the installer to place the boot files in the EFI partition.

I don't know what Pop_OS! does WRT to EFI install procedures, nor do I know what Windows does, nor do I particularly care. As has been stated numerous times, one can have as many EFIs as one wants, where one wants. I do know that the *ubuntu installer places a Grub config file in the /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu directory, and that this file tells EFI to proceed to /boot/grub to start the OS. And it all works, consistently.

UEFI CAN be made to work with MBR/DOS partitioning (at least at one point in my experience) but that was the kludged process, and what I avoided on purpose. GPT is great, and you can dive into Wikipedia, or any number of superb references and guides for the gory details of it and UEFI. What I do know, and follow, is that the process of using EFI and the partitioning scheme that I have works beyond a doubt. Any variation, multi-OS, or other OS instructions to the contrary work only if you work at it.

And again, I thank Qqmike for the guidance that he wrote on UEFI a long time ago, and that others on this forum have elaborated on for several years. None of this is of my invention!

[Qqmike]

And again, I thank Qqmike for the guidance that he wrote on UEFI a long time ago, and that others on this forum have elaborated on for several years. None of this is of my invention!

Your comment is too generous jglen. I wrote that how-to partly so I could learn the stuff, and partly because I felt I HAD to! Ha-ha. I felt obligated because I had written the GRUB Legacy and the GRUB2 how-to's for our KFN, and no one else was doing it, although there were a FEW how-to writers carrying on elsewhere; but also a leading how-to writer quit just before the UEFI hit the scene. To learn all that new UEFI material, I really had to dig deep into the scant sources available at the time (it's all in my list of references, as you know), Rod Smith being the top expert on it all. I also fully tested everything on my own ASUS machine in Kubuntu, relentlessly. As I say, thank you for your all-to-generous compliment, jglen.

[jglen490]

I read a lot of Rod Smith's work. Certainly a deep dig, at least from my perspective and I did learn a lot from it. The fact that what you wrote came from your need to learn it, was a big factor in reading your work, too, and adapting your experiences. And, eventually it stuck, after a few re-starts , and digging into it. What is in my current set-up is the result of working through those hiccups, and it continues to just work. When the partitioning screen portrays the system's storage device(s), selecting the EFI partition option (with an appropriate sizing applied) does all the hard work - filesystem, flags, and reflecting /boot/efi as the partition's path. The installer simply furthers that by establishing a /boot/efi/EFI subdirectory with the needed software bits. I will go out on a limb and state that with a "manual/something else" *buntu install, everything happens correctly, and just works. It remains an integral part of my "LTS-only with clean install/retain /home" pattern every two years.

And you're welcome.

[Qqmike]

jglen490 👍