Boot Linux with extlinux from EFI & GPT

Question

Last time that I tried to create Ubuntu/grub2 dual-boot on my new Asus computer, which came preinstalled with Windows 8, I almost stoned it. So,

I'm thinking to use extlinux as my bootloader for my new (triple-booted) Ubuntu this time. All my readings suggest that it is possible. But, has anyone done it before? Is it really doable? Is there anything to avoid? How exactly did you do it?

http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php/Common_Problems#ELF
which says there are now ldlinux.e32 (EFI32) or ldlinux.e64 (EFI64) additional module (ldlinux).

http://edoceo.com/howto/syslinux-uefi
in which it shows how to register syslinux.efi with EFI

However, the https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/103501/boot-partiotionless-disk-with-syslinux seems to be saying something else: "With EFI, this can only be used with legacy booting, which will read the MBR/VBR and boot accordingly. Doing so, most benefits of EFI are lost."

Any help (to boot Linux with extlinux from EFI & GPT)? Thanks.

UPDATE: Note to myself, found how to use EFI in vmware player, http://www.eightforums.com/virtualization/18753-vmware-player-uefi.html
So in case nobody answers, I can try that route, which only requires that I make it working and install a Win8 into VM before I test out the extlinux EFI boot. :-)

Answer 1

I'm pretty sure that EXTLINUX is a BIOS-only sub-tool of SYSLINUX. That said, SYSLINUX is available in an EFI form, but this EFI version of SYSLINUX does not use EXTLINUX and requires that the kernel be stored on the same partition as the boot loader itself, which will normally be on the EFI System Partition (ESP). Ubuntu doesn't set things up to do this by default, so you'll have to reconfigure your mount points or manually move your kernel to get SYSLINUX to work with Ubuntu. Overall, that's not a path that I recommend unless you know more about EFI-mode booting than somebody asking your question would be.

At the moment, the most flexible EFI boot loaders/managers are GRUB 2, Fedora's patched GRUB Legacy, and rEFInd. All of these can read Linux kernels from a Linux partition, which others can't -- at least, not without extra help. GRUB 2 has the advantage that Ubuntu (and Fedora and OpenSUSE and several other distributions) install and configure it by default; but if that doesn't go well, GRUB 2 is the most difficult Linux boot program to reconfigure manually. For ease of manual configuration, rEFInd is hard to beat, although as it doesn't ship with Ubuntu, it will take more effort to install. A caveat: I maintain rEFInd, so I'm not unbiased about it.

For more on all of these tools, see my Web page on EFI boot loaders for Linux. For more on rEFInd, see its Web page.