[Bug 1077643] Re: Ubuntu+Kubuntu dual boot, UEFI both use /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu - i.e it overwrites the previous UEFI entry.

[Roderick Smith]

Since you're using rEFInd, if you're using recent enough Linux kernels
(3.3.0 or later), you can bypass GRUB entirely. To have it pick up your
kernels automatically you may have to do some reconfiguration:

1. Set up separate /boot partitions for each distribution. Use FAT (not
   supported by most distributions but eaiser from an EFI perspective),
   ext2fs, ext3fs, or ReiserFS on these partitions. Give each /boot
   partition's filesystem a unique name (say, "Ubuntu boot"). Move your
   kernels, initial RAM disks, and other files to these new /boot
   partitions and update your /etc/fstab entries appropriately.

2. If you use ext2fs, ext3fs, or ReiserFS on the /boot partitions, install
   the appropriate EFI filesystem drivers that ship with rEFInd. This step
   is unnecessary if you use FAT on your /boot partitions.

3. Edit refind.conf and uncomment the "scan_all_linux_kernels" option.

4. Optionally set the "default_selection" option in refind.conf to point to
   whichever installation you want by specifying the /boot partition's
   filesystem name, which you set in step #1.

5. Create a refind_linux.conf file in each of your /boot partitions.
   It should include kernel options (except for the initrd specification)
   and a description, as in:
       "Boot normally" "root=/dev/sda3 ro"
   This is a minimal example; you should probably check your GRUB setup
   to see what options you're using from GRUB. This file can have
   multiple lines, which gives you extra options that you can select
   by pressing F2 or Insert when you highlight your kernel in the
   main rEFInd screen.

6. Optionally copy whatever icons you want for each distribution from the
   rEFInd icons subdirectory to /boot/.VolumeIcon.icns. In the case of
   Ubuntu/Kubuntu, you may want to create a variant for Kubuntu.

7. Reboot. Your system should show new icons for the Linux kernels, which
   rEFInd can boot directly.

You can test this for just one distribution if you like, without
endangering your ability to boot anything. Obviously, repartitioning to
create separate /boot partitions is the riskiest and trickiest part of
this procedure. It's easy to set this up on a fresh install, of course.

Once set up, this system requires no additional maintenance; since
rEFInd actively scans for new boot loaders on every boot, it will
display any new kernels you install, with no need for the sort of post-
kernel-install scripts that GRUB requires. The main drawback of a
configuration with so many Linux distributions is the proliferation of
boot loader entries if you keep multiple kernels around for each
distribution. If you limit yourself to one or two kernels per
distribution, though, this shouldn't be too bad.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1077643

Title:
   Ubuntu+Kubuntu dual boot, UEFI both use /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu  - i.e
  it  overwrites the previous UEFI entry.

Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid

Bug description:
  Hi

  I have a UEFI system running various OS's.

  i.e

  opensuse, arch, ubuntu, kubuntu

  My issue is that both ubuntu + kubuntu share the same UEFI folder -
  /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu meaning that when I install the 2nd (of the 2
  ubuntu based os's) it overwrites the previous UEFI entry.

  I can still access the other on via grub, however I like to use rEFInd
  to boot into os's, I believe it detects os's my folder within
  /boot/efi/EFI/

  How can I change it so that kubuntu for example uses
  /boot/efi/EFI/kubuntu ? and thus has a seperate entry with the UEFI
  menu ?

  (i.e opensuse, arch are fine as they have seperate UEFI entries
  anyway.)

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