I have a dual-boot laptop with Ubuntu (latest) and Windows 11 with two SSD’s. Unfortunately, it came with a measly 110mb EFI partition so I am unable to update the firmware from within Ubuntu. I’ve tried a couple of times to expand the primary EFI partition a couple of different times and have failed miserably. I’ve read that it is possible to have multiple EFI partitions on different disks and one option would be to move my Ubuntu install completely to the second disk. Does anyone know of any good end-to-end tutorials for doing something like this? Here’s my current partitioning, which is clearly not optimal:
Thanks for any pointers,
Craig
EFI partition does not need to be the 1st partition of the disk, so you may create a new EFI partition at end of the second disk and use it.
search google for ‘move efi partition’ for help.
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This is the better option
Backup your Ubuntu personal data
Disconnect, de-activate, isolate via UEFI settings or physically remove existing Windows OS drive so that only the target drive is accessible
Boot into a “Try Ubuntu” live session and check that you are in UEFI mode
Open a terminal and enter:-
[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "UEFI" || echo "Legacy"
GPT is default in 24.04.2 installer
Otherwise, create GPT on your target disk using gparted
Open gparted > Device > Create Partition Table > Select gpt
The installer will create an EFI partition automagically
Boot loader on target disk
Boot each system independently via UEFI boot screen (ideal not cumbersome)
Boot priority can be controlled by UEFI
Each OS should be installed in UEFI mode with GPT
Each drive should have an EFI partition
Each drive should have boot manager (Windows Boot Manager and Grub for Ubuntu)
De-activate, disconnect, isolate or physically remove one drive so that you can check if the other boots independently (and vice versa)
After you are happy that both disks boot and function independently, restore your Ubuntu data.
Don’t forget to remove the Ubuntu partition from your Windows disk
Also, grub can be edited to make choosing the OS a little easier.
If you create a new ESP, you have to update fstab with new ESP’s UUID and totally reinstall grub. If editing existing partitions, you have to use live installer to change partitions. You then can use Boot-Repair or full chroot to edit fstab & reinstall grub.
Be sure to have good backups before any changes.
After creating ESP, you may be able to boot into install still using Windows ESP’s version, edit fstab & do a new install of grub, not update. Keep live installer in case grub install has issues.
sudo grub-install # uses many defaults and must have correct UUID in fstab.
To create a partition in the unallocated space on 2nd disk you may use gparted from your Ubuntu, don’t need live installer.
