Re: INSTALL.amd64: mention EFI System Partition requirement

On Sat, May 30, 2026 at 09:15:19PM +0900, masayoshi wrote:
> I would like to suggest a small documentation improvement for INSTALL.amd64.
> 
> In the section describing manual partitioning, it might be helpful to state more explicitly that UEFI systems require an EFI System Partition (ESP) in addition to the OpenBSD partition.
> 
> INSTALL.powerpc64 clearly states that two partitions are required: one OpenBSD partition for the installation and one MSDOS partition for the bootloader. Because this requirement is explicitly documented there, it is easy to understand.
> 
> However, when reading INSTALL.amd64, it is possible to overlook the need for an EFI System Partition during manual partitioning. In my case, I created only an OpenBSD partition, the installation completed successfully, but the system was not bootable afterward.
> 
> A short note in the manual partitioning section could help users avoid this problem, especially those who are familiar with other architectures or are performing a manual installation for the first time.
> In my case, I spent considerable time troubleshooting a non-bootable installation before realizing that the EFI System Partition was missing.

It might also be worth noting that installboot will fail if the EFI
System Partition contains additional extraneous folders or files, such
as /efi/System Volume Information from Windows. If you aren't using
Windows on the disk you can safely remove that directory and
installboot will succeed, otherwise an upgrade will claim the disk is
not bootable and will not upgrade the bootloader, even though the
installation is otherwise successful and the disk is, in fact, bootable.

-- 
Jim Lippard        [email protected]       http://www.discord.org/
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