Installer fails with “Not booted with EFI” despite UEFI setup

[Satbir6]

System details

SN: MP2KDFWL, PN: 82Y9009KIN, BIOS: M3CN46WW

What's wrong?

📋 Description

When booting the Omarchy installer (Limine-based), the installation fails with:

Not booted with EFI or running in a container

Additional errors shown:

Limine config conflicts
Boot partition path issues

This occurs even though the system is configured for UEFI.

🖥️ Environment
Firmware / BIOS
Secure Boot: Disabled
USB Boot: Enabled
Platform Mode: Setup Mode
Expected boot mode: UEFI
Disk Layout (before install)
Disk 0 (Windows – untouched)
EFI partition (~260 MB)
Windows (C:)
Recovery partition
Disk 1 (target disk)
2 GB EFI partition (manually created)
~474 GB primary partition
🔍 Observed Behaviour
Installer reports non-EFI boot
Fails to proceed due to EFI requirement
Limine-related errors appear (config + paths)
🤔 Expected Behaviour
Installer should detect UEFI environment correctly
Proceed with EFI-based installation
Automatically manage partitioning
🧪 Troubleshooting Performed

1. Verified boot mode

Ran:

ls /sys/firmware/efi
In failing case: directory missing → system is actually booting in Legacy/CSM mode
2. Identified boot menu issue

Boot menu shows two entries:

USB Name (Legacy)
UEFI: USB Name (Correct)

Selecting the non-UEFI entry reproduces the issue.

3. USB creation issue (Rufus)

Initial USB created with:

GPT ✅
UEFI target ✅
NTFS ❌

Likely problem:

Rufus uses UEFI:NTFS workaround
Limine-based systems appear incompatible with this in some cases
4. Disk layout issue
Pre-created EFI partition (2 GB) on target disk
Non-standard layout may confuse installer
✅ Workaround (Confirmed)
✔️ Using Ventoy
Install Ventoy on USB
Copy ISO directly (no extraction)
Boot via:
UEFI: Ventoy USB
Select ISO from Ventoy menu
✔️ Clean disk before install

Using diskpart:

select disk 1
clean
convert gpt

Leave disk fully unallocated.

✔️ Let installer handle partitions

Do not pre-create:

EFI
Root
Swap
📌 Key Findings
Installer error is misleading — system can be UEFI-capable but booted in Legacy mode
Limine appears sensitive to:
NTFS-based boot media (Rufus default)
Incorrect EFI boot path
Pre-partitioned disks may introduce additional failure points
❓ Open Questions
Should the installer detect and warn explicitly about Legacy boot vs UEFI?
Is Limine expected to work with Rufus NTFS setups?
Could installer validate EFI presence more clearly before failing?
🔁 Repro Steps (Likely)
Create USB with Rufus (NTFS)
Boot via non-UEFI USB entry
Start installer
Observe EFI error

[Satbir6]