Newer systems are using uefi firmware interface. It is somewhat
difficult to install linux on uefi enabled computer, from the
perspective of a blind computer user. I am pasting some of the fixes I
collected from around the web, for my personal use. UEFI (Unified
Extensible Firmware Interface) is a standard firmware interface for PCs,
designed to replace BIOS (basic input/output system). This standard was
created by over 140 technology companies as part of the UEFI consortium,
including Microsoft. It's designed to improve software interoperability
and address limitations of BIOS. Some advantages of UEFI firmware include:
• Better security by helping to protect the pre-startup—or
pre-boot—process against bootkit attacks.
•Faster startup times and resuming from hibernation.
•Support for drives larger than 2.2 terabytes (TB).
•Support for modern, 64-bit firmware device drivers that the system can
use to address more than 17.2 billion gigabytes (GB) of memory during
startup.
•Capability to use BIOS with UEFI hardware.
Note
All 64-bit versions of PCs running Windows with a logo from the Windows
Certification Program will use UEFI instead of BIOS. To learn more about
your PC's support of UEFI, see the product info that came with your PC.
Before explaining the steps to install Ubuntu linux I want to be clear
that I have tried many ways of installing Ubuntu (Or any other distro
for that matter) from within Windows 8. No luck. Microsoft Windows
really created a big mess for all Linux distributions. If you have a
pre-installed Windows 8 system, you will probably never be able to
install Ubuntu or any other OS in the normal (LiveCD/LiveUSB) or Wubi
way. This is because Windows 8 introduced several new features, of which
2 are:
•UEFI which substitutes what we have known as the BIOS (an alternative to)
•Secure Boot which prevents anything but the installed operating system,
in this case Windows 8 from booting. This is no longer the case for
Ubuntu since 12.04.2
On a further note I want to mention something about Secure Boot taken
from the UEFI Wiki
SecureBoot
"Secure Boot" is a new UEFI feature that appeared in 2012, with Windows
8 preinstalled computers. Ubuntu supports this feature starting with
12.10 64 bit (see this article) and 12.04.2 64 bit, but as PCs
implementing support for it have only become widespread at the end of
2012 it is not yet widely tested, so it's possible that you may
encounter problems booting Ubuntu under Secure Boot.
IMPORTANT: If you do find a bug, please file a bug report against the
shim package in Ubuntu, preferably using the command:
ubuntu-bug shim
once you've installed with Secure Boot disabled. As mentioned by slangasek:
It is not required to disable SecureBoot in the firmware to install
Ubuntu on a Windows 8 machine. Ubuntu 12.04.2 and 12.10 are
SecureBoot-compatible. Any machine that ships with the recommended
Microsoft Third-Party Marketplace keys in firmware will be able to boot
Ubuntu under SecureBoot. If there is any problem file a launchpad bug
for the shim package.
So with all of this said, installing Ubuntu via WUBI is not doable (not
recommended at least from me), things like trying to boot for example
with the Windows 8 bootloader are not possible right now unless
something changes in the future (There are also some bugs related to
this in launchpad, like the one mentioned by bcbc). Apart from this,
WUBI does not work from within Windows 8 if you have UEFI with a GPT
Partition (Not MS-DOS type partition). Pleas read Does UEFI support mean
Wubi will now work on laptops shipped with Windows 8? for more information.
Not only that, but trying to install 32 bit Ubuntu is impossible. You
need the 64 bit version for everything to work correctly. Read more
about Wubi in Can I install Ubuntu inside Windows?
The following is a small guide to install Ubuntu with a Pre-Installed
Windows 8 system. The steps HAVE TO BE done in the precise order I
mention them here to get everything started. If a step is skipped or
done before another, you will most likely end up with some of the
problems mentioned at the bottom of this guide.
For the time, you need to do it via a LiveCD, LiveDVD or LiveUSB,
assuming (actually requiring) you have the following points:
•You are using a 64-bit version of at least Ubuntu 12.04.2. 32-bit
versions will not work.
•Your system came with Windows 8 pre-installed (And you do not want to
delete it)
•You are not installing Ubuntu inside of Windows 8 but rather alongside
of it. Inside of it is impossible because it needs Wubi which is
unsupported.
•Your system has UEFI activated (And can not be disabled) with Secure Boot.
•You have already created a free space for Ubuntu from within Windows 8
with at least 8 GB (I recommend to leave at least 20 GB or so, so you
can test the hell out of it).
•You made sure that you actually have free space left on the drive to
create the needed partitions and you also made sure that you did not
have all primary partitions used (In case of using an MS-DOS Scheme)
because this will create a problem with the Ubuntu installer showing you
only the "Replace Windows" option instead of the "Alongside Windows" option.
•You know how to burn a LiveCD, LiveDVD or LiveUSB from within Windows
8. If not, look for Windows apps that can do that for you. I do mine in
another PC with Ubuntu ^^.
•Windows 8 was not shutdown in either Hibernation mode or any other mode
('fast start-up' which is by default on Windows 8) that leaves it on a
saved state. Shutdown Windows 8 in the normal way, with the shutdown
option. This will prevent other problems related to this from appearing.
Read the bottom (TROUBLESHOOT) of this answer for more information
regarding this point.
•You are installing on an MS-DOS type disk scheme (You can only have 4
primary partitions as opposed to GPT Scheme) which has at least 1 Free
Primary Partition. Remember that if you are already using 4 Primary
Partitions no partitions will appear on the Ubuntu installer since there
are no more Primary partitions left to use (MS-DOS type partitions are
limited to 4 Primary ones, GPT are limited to 128). This happens a lot
on many laptops that come with 4 pre-created primary partitions. If you
are installing on a GPT type partition and want it to boot, you need to
leave UEFI enabled.
PLEASE READ THE ABOVE POINTS SINCE MANY USERS JUMP THIS PART AND WHEN
THEIR PROBLEMS ARE FOUND IT NORMALLY IS BECAUSE THEY DID NOT FOLLOW ONE
OF THEM.
Before we start we need to do the following:
Run compmgmt.msc on Windows 8. From there on, create a partition with
enough size. Note that I mention creating this FROM Windows 8 because I
have had cases where doing the partition from the LiveUSB rendered
Windows 8 unbootable, even after doing a boot repair. So to remove that
problem or have a greater chance of removing it (Or simply skipping the
problem altogether) and making sure both systems work, partition your
hard drive from within Windows 8 first.
Now follow this steps to have a working Windows 8 + Ubuntu installed on
your system:
Windows 8 + Ubuntu
We first need to know with what type of motherboard options we are
dealing with. Open a terminal (By going to the start menu and typing
powershell for example) and run the terminal as an Administrator (Right
Click the app that will show in the start menu and select Run as
Administrator). Now type Confirm-SecureBootUEFI. This can give you 3
results:
True - Means your system has Secure boot and is Enabled
False - Means your system has Secure boot and is Disabled
Cmdlet not supported on this platform - Means your system does not
support Secure boot and most likely you do not need this guide. You can
install Ubuntu by simply inserting the LiveCD or LiveUSB and doing the
installation procedure without any problems.
If you have it Enabled and have the necessary partitioning done then we
can proceed with this guide. After booting into Windows 8 we go to the
power off options and while holding the SHIFT key, click on Restart.
enter image description here
(This is a really old trick on most Windows, even since Windows 3.1
where you hold a key to do something special when rebooting)
Windows 8 will show you a totally different restart window:
enter image description here
When you get the menu above, select Troubleshoot
You will then get the following options:
enter image description here
Select UEFI Firmware Settings
NOTE - In the Spanish version of Windows 8, the option for UEFI Firmware
Settings is not available in several laptops, tested Lenovo, HP and
Acer. They do have an option to boot the computer and another custom
menu will appear which lets you do a couple of things. In the case of
Lenovo you will not have an option to install Ubuntu with Windows 8, the
only option is to remove Windows 8 completely.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PART
The system will reboot and you will be allowed to go to the BIOS (If not
press the appropriate key, some common are DEL,F2 or F10).
In this part I can't help much since each BIOS is different for each
Motherboard model. There are 2 options you can take here, both of which
are optional since Ubuntu might install without any problems at all. You
can either look for an option to disable Secure Boot or an option to
disable UEFI. In some cases you will be able to find both, it will show
in the BIOS as an option called Secure Boot or Enable UEFI.
If you find this options, then depending if you can not install Ubuntu
with Secure Boot enable then disable Secure Boot (Remember to report
this as a bug using ubuntu-bug shim), to be able to still stay in UEFI
mode and also be able to Boot with Ubuntu. In some motherboards, this
will be the only option you actually need to change and also will be the
only option you see related to UEFI because they will not offer the
possibility to disable UEFI.
DUAL BOOT ISSUES
I would also like to mention an important note here. If you happen to
install Ubuntu in Legacy Mode (No SecureBoot) you might have problems
booting both, Windows and Ubuntu at the same time since they will both
not appear on a Dual-Boot Menu. If you have Windows on UEFI for example
and you install Ubuntu on Legacy Mode, you will only be able to boot to
Ubuntu on a Legacy Mode and Windows on an UEFI Mode.
So before proceeding, make sure that you are installing Ubuntu with the
same boot options as Windows. This way you will be able to choose which
one to boot from in the same boot menu and not worry if one will work or
not. From the Ubuntu UEFI Guide you can see that there is a section that
teaches you how to know if you actually installed Ubuntu in the same
Boot setup as Windows (UEFI Mode):
An Ubuntu installed in EFI mode can be detected the following way:
its /etc/fstab file contains an EFI partition (mount point: /boot/efi)
it uses the grub-efi bootloader (not grub-pc)
from the installed Ubuntu, open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) then type the
following command:
[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "Installed in EFI mode" || echo
"Installed in Legacy mode"
So if you have ANY dual boot problems, this could be the problem. Please
read the Ubuntu UEFI Guide since it covers various ways on solving Dual
boot problems and converting Ubuntu to Legacy or EFI mode. I have
already tested this with various Ask Ubuntu members that helped me apart
from 2 Laptops I was provided with for the testing. This should then
solve any Dual Boot problems related to Windows 8 + Ubuntu, but I again
encourage anyone with problems (same or new) to file a bug report as
mentioned above. The Ubuntu Developers are working very hard in
providing an easy to install solution for all cases and this is one of
the top priorities.
Continuing with the guide, in other motherboards that do offer the
possibility to disable UEFI which would completely eliminate UEFI and
Secure Boot on it and boot in the normal BIOS like way, if you find this
is the way you want (To have a UEFI free computer and not face any of
the problems related to this) then by all means do it. I for one have
tested the Intel DZ68DB and did both case studies. Remember that doing
so will make the Dual Boot process not work in almost all cases you will
be left with a system that either Boot Windows in UEFI or Boots Ubuntu
in Legacy.
With that in mind, remember to also select the Boot Order to make sure
that it boots either your CDROM, DVDROM or USB Drive so you can boot
from your Live Ubuntu image after rebooting.
Some points we should consider before continuing:
1.If Windows 8 was installed with UEFI enabled, it is highly recommended
to stay in UEFI, although if you still want to disable it for specific
reasons you can, GRUB will create the bootable part for Windows 8. But
if you do disable UEFI and want to access Windows 8 afterwards (before
installing Ubuntu), it will not work since the boot part for Windows 8
needs UEFI (Again the Dual Boot problem).
2.If you only disable Secure Boot, there is no problem in some cases.
You are only disabling the part that creates the most problem between
Windows and Linux, which is the one that prevents Ubuntu from booting
correctly. In either case, I encourage you to first try to install
Ubuntu with UEFI/Secureboot, since in most cases it will work. if you
disable any of them and install Ubuntu, you might not be able to boot to
Windows 8 afterwards through the GRUB Boot Menu.
Now before saving, some motherboards offer a Boot Mode option. Verify
that this option is not pointing to UEFI Boot but instead to CSM Boot
(Compatibility Support Module) which provides support for Legacy BIOS
like systems.
Other systems offer a UEFI Boot option you can enable or disable.
Depending on the options I mentioned above you can set this to the one
you want.
And lastly others offer a UEFI/Legacy Boot First option where you select
which one you wish to use first. Obviously the option is self explanatory.
Now save the changes and reboot.
When the Ubuntu Live image starts, it will show rather different than
the normal one we are all used to. Do not worry, this is because Ubuntu
has an alternative boot option when a system has EFI installed. Just
select everything like you are used to. I highly recommend reading the
following article in the Ubuntu site regarding Ubuntu installations when
using UEFI. If there is a problem, then try to create a small partition
(About 250 MB of size) for the EFI part of the system. This is done in
the installation part where it asks you if you want to install on a
desired partition or used the Advanced Options. Select the advanced
options if you come up with a problem. In there, create a 250 MB
partition for EFI and the rest for GRUB and other stuff you are
accustomed to.
I think up to here you should be fine and have avoided several problems
typically found when trying Ubuntu with Windows 8 which are:
•Not booting a LiveCD/LiveDVD/LiveUSB/Wubi
•Not installing Ubuntu because of security issues (Yeah right, more
correctly monopoly issues)
•Not booting either Windows 8 or Ubuntu (not showing either one of them)
•Not letting Ubuntu create a partition
•Not recognizing the EFI part of the system
•Ubuntu not recognizing Windows 8 Partition
•Windows 8 not booting or readable because or partition changes done
from Ubuntu
TROUBLESHOOT
YOUR COMPUTER BOOTS DIRECTLY TO WINDOWS
This is a common problem and if you do not get a GRUB menu ,
re-installing or repairing grub will NOT HELP
Every BIOS is different, it my look like one of the following pictures:
UEFI 1
UEFI 2
Notice the "UEFI Boot Option Priority" or "Boot Option Menu" . Usually
Windows is the default and Ubuntu (or as in the second picture
elementary OS) will be an option.
Once you select Ubuntu on the UEFI boot menu you will then get a grub
menu. You should be able to boot either Ubuntu or Windows from the grub
menu.
Windows 8.1 Not Recognized / Ubuntu not showing option to Install Alongside
If you have followed all the steps above including making a partition
ahead of time through Windows 8.x, proceed with the normal Ubuntu
installation. When you arrive at the option to how you would like to
install it, if you do not see the option to install Alongside of it,
select "Something Else" instead of wiping the hard drive. Configure the
new partition layout on the empty space you've set aside that isn't
Windows 8.
You need to create at least 1 partition for the root system (Which shows
as the symbol "/") and set it to Ext4, another for SWAP (Virtual
Memory). The SWAP space can be as small as 128MB if you have a lot of
ram or as high as 4GB. With this 2 partitions created based on the empty
space you provided you should be ready to proceed. And one last one for
the EFI part which should be around 100MB.
When the installer asks where to put the bootloader, tell it to put it
on the partition with the type "efi". This will install GRUB which will
load once your system starts in the future which will give you the
choice of going with Ubuntu (or whatever flavor is installed) or going
to the Windows Boot Manager which will take you to Windows 8.
I would also recommend reading the following links to get additional
information of some issues and causes in this particular part:
•"Install alongside" option missing. How do I install Ubuntu beside
Windows using "Something Else"?
•How do I install Ubuntu alongside UEFI enabled Windows 8?
•How to use manual partitioning during installation?
REPAIRING THE BOOT
After finishing the installation, if you happen to have Windows 8
disabled from booting and it only boots to Ubuntu, do not worry. In
Ubuntu after it boots, open a Terminal and type the following:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install boot-repair
If you're using Trusty (14.04), the above may fail. In that case you can
follow the instructions on how to install Boot-Repair in Ubuntu, namely:
run sudo sed 's/trusty/saucy/g' -i
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/yannubuntu-boot-repair-trusty.list after you
have added the PPA repository.
Now run boot-repair.
Boot Repair will mention that we have some GRUB error, that we have an
EFI system and that Ubuntu rocks. Since Ubuntu rocks (It does not work
if Ubuntu does not rock! ^^), just click on Apply so boot repair fixes
everything. Now reboot and you should see Windows 8 and Ubuntu side by side.
For cases with rare booting problems, partitioning or using old hard
drives on newer motherboard, your solution might be checking out
FixParts which solves misaligned partitions and other partitioned type
problems.
If you are experiencing one of the following issues:
•Loosing Data when copying from Ubuntu to Windows 8 after shutting down
Windows 8
•Can not access your Windows partitions from Ubuntu getting a Disk
contains an unclean file system
This is most likely the cause of an option in Windows 8 called Fast
Startup which behaves similar to hibernation and keeps a snapshot of the
system so when you boot up, it will load faster. Since it keeps a
snapshot, anything you copy or change in Windows 8 from Ubuntu after
doing the fake shutdown will be lost (Apart from other issues found HERE).
The solution in Windows 8 is to go to:
Control Panel --> Power Options --> Choose what the power button does
In here click on "Change settings that are currently unavailable" where
you should see something like this:
enter image description here
Uncheck the option that says "Turn on fast startup". You also need to
disable hibernation. You can to this with this command (you need to be
in a console with admin rights):
powercfg.exe -h off
This should remove the hibernation file and enable partition to be
mounted in Ubuntu.
A demonstration video is now available on this issue. We can install
Ubuntu 12.04.2 (64 bit versions) onwards with SecureBoot enabled. But we
need to disable the SecureBoot after the Boot Repair step.
On 8/4/2014 6:03 AM, Krishnan wrote:
friends,
i am using del laptop with windows 8.1 operating system. my question
is can i use windows 8.1 os and linux in single machine altogether.
when i approached the local service dealer, they told that both may
not work together. please clear my doubt as early as possible.
bye.
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