[kwlug-disc] Linux on Windows 8 laptops with UEFI

[Chris Irwin]

FWIW, I'm dual-booting Fedora 20 and Windows 7, both in UEFI, using refind
[1] as a boot manager, though you could also use grub. It works pretty
well, as I can swap my Windows disk in and out of my laptop, and it either
does or doesn't show in the boot list. I have refind launch Linux directly,
rather than chaining through to grub. My laptop doesn't support secure
boot, and I haven't tried refind in that situation. Apparently refind has
the ability to support dual-booting both UEFI and legacy systems, so it
might be a nice middle-ground if you don't want to go completely UEFI yet.

However, I was recently working on my Dad's Windows 8 laptop, and took the
opportunity to fiddle around with it. What I learned:

* Fedora 20 has the necessary signatures to boot with secure boot on from
USB (dd the live iso to usb from my laptop)
* Windows 8 will boot with secure boot turned off
* Windows 8 can't switch from UEFI to legacy bios (Neither can Linux
without manual effort, though)
* Windows 8's backup program is called Windows 7 File Recovery. Not
applicable here, but funny anyway. Their developers might try porting `sed`
before Windows 9...

It might be that disabling secure boot in your bios is also disabling UEFI,
which makes it seem like Windows needs the former, when it really only
needs the latter.

1. http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/





On Sun, Apr 6, 2014 at 5:50 PM, CrankyOldBugger
<crankyoldbugger at gmail.com>wrote:

> If you're dual-booting.  If you're running straight Ubuntu, you can turn
> it off.
>
> Mind you, not all distros support UEFI/Secure boot yet.  Ubuntu was one of
> the earlier adopters, but I can't speak for all the distros.  You'll have
> to investigate.
>
>
>
> On 6 April 2014 17:34, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
>
>> So, to extrapolate from there ...
>>
>> Windows will require secureboot, and Linux is OK with either secureboot
>> off or on. So, it is best to keep secureboot on and install Linux.
>>
>> Am I understanding what you said correctly?
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Apr 5, 2014 at 8:05 PM, CrankyOldBugger <
>> crankyoldbugger at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have done both dual boot Ubuntu and Win8 on my laptop, now I run just
>>> Ubuntu 13.10.
>>>
>>> I found that if you install Ubuntu (by itself or in a dual boot) on a
>>> UEFI machine, then the state of the UEFI/Secure boot at the time of install
>>> must be the same when you're running Ubuntu.  In other words, Ubuntu will
>>> work regardless of UEFI/Secure boot, but when you install Ubuntu it looks
>>> at whether or not UEFI is on or off and installs the necessary pieces
>>> accordingly.  So if you do the install with UEFI off, you can't turn it on
>>> later, or vice versa.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 5 April 2014 15:36, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> So, it has been many years since I got a new laptop.
>>>>
>>>> Nowadays, there is UEFI and secure boot, and all that on Windows 8
>>>> laptops.
>>>>
>>>> Would secure boot and UEFI be problematic if one wants to get a new
>>>> laptop and make it dual boot?
>>>> Would they prevent Linux from being installed and/or co-exist with
>>>> Windows?
>>>>
>>>> Any experience with newer hardware with Linux?
>>>> --
>>>> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
>>>> 2bits.com, Inc.
>>>> Fast Reliable Drupal
>>>> Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
>>>> Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
>>>> Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
>>>> For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple,
>>>> and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
>> 2bits.com, Inc.
>> Fast Reliable Drupal
>> Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
>> Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
>> Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
>> For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and
>> wrong." -- H.L. Mencken
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> kwlug-disc mailing list
>> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
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>>
>
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-- 
Chris Irwin
<chris at chrisirwin.ca>
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