Arch Linux

nikinbaidarr

Member

Registered: 2021-05-06

Posts: 93

Liveusb not listed on acer laptops

I'm trying to install arch on a Acer Aspire Lite 14 but my boot able arch live image is not being listed.

This is what my arch liveusb looks like:

.
├── arch
│   └── boot
│       └── x86_64
│           ├── initramfs-linux.img
│           └── vmlinuz-linux
├── boot
│   └── memtest86+
│       ├── LICENSE
│       └── memtest.efi
├── EFI
│   └── BOOT
│       ├── BOOTIA32.EFI
│       └── BOOTx64.EFI
├── loader
│   ├── entries
│   │   ├── 01-archiso-linux.conf
│   │   ├── 02-archiso-speech-linux.conf
│   │   └── 03-archiso-memtest86+x64.conf
│   └── loader.conf
├── shellia32.efi
└── shellx64.efi

I can boot this on my other Dell PC so I am sure this isn't a USB or has anything to do with the iso I downloaded.

I also verified the signature:

$ pacman-key -v archlinux-2025.12.01-x86_64.iso.sig
==> Checking archlinux-2025.12.01-x86_64.iso.sig... (detached)
gpg: Signature made Mon 01 Dec 2025 10:01:12 PM +0545
gpg:                using EDDSA key 3E80CA1A8B89F69CBA57D98A76A5EF9054449A5C
gpg:                issuer "pierre@archlinux.org"
gpg: Note: trustdb not writable
gpg: Good signature from "Pierre Schmitz <pierre@archlinux.org>" [full]
gpg:                 aka "Pierre Schmitz <pierre@archlinux.de>" [unknown]

Some notes and What I've tried so far:

1. The BIOS version on my acer is V1.07
1. This computer does not seem to support Legacy boot. It only supports UEFI.
1. I have tried disabling Secure boot and modifying the UEFI variables

1. I have tried disabling Secure boot and modifying the UEFI variables

What I tried modifying is the Authorized Signatures (db) and Forbidden Signatures (dbx). I added
`./EFI/BOOT/BOOTx64.EFI` from my live usb to the authorized signatures and removed all entires from the dbx var. (I didn't delete the dbx var itself). Yet, my archiso is not listed in the bootable devices menu.

Moreover, I have managed to get Fedora workstation 43  working on this computer.

Can someone provide me guidelines on how I may proceed in order to install arch linux on this system?

CodingFox

Member

Registered: 2024-07-15

Posts: 15

Re: Liveusb not listed on acer laptops

Just try to use some other USB port, sometimes firmware just does not boot from one port. Otherwise you could also try to boot it from a grub console.

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Read the wiki and search Google!
PC Specs:
Base: Dell OptiPlex 3020, Videocard: AMD Radeon R5 240, CPU: Intel Core i5-4570, RAM: 16GB(8x8), OS: Arch Linux

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 14,623

Re: Liveusb not listed on acer laptops

The archlinux iso uses a special method to present both a legacy/mbr and uefi/gpt boot.
Some firmware don't recognize that correctly.

The BIOS version on my acer is V1.07

Is that the latest version ?
Please post your exact model.

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Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky