On Mon, 19 Jan 2015 22:36:42 +0800 Robert Storey <[email protected]> wrote:
> I encountered an issue which hasn't been discussed here yet: support > for UEFI boot (as opposed to BIOS) and a hard disk partitioned as GPT > (as opposed to MBR). [snip] > > Anyway, today I decided that it was about time I switched from MBR to > GPT, so I went ahead and did that (for the laptop only). [snip] > Anyway, the important point is that Debian with UEFI/GPT was a > disaster. Since I was setting up for multi-booting, I tried a number > of other distros, and found that the problem is not limited to > Debian. PCLinuxOS also failed to boot, even from a memory stick. > Slackware Linux installed just fine. However, Salix (which is a > Slackware derivative boasting a fancy live CD interface) had problems > - it booted, but couldn't start Xorg. > > So the purpose of my post today is to plead with the developers to > make sure that Devuan will work fine on UEFI/GPT, unlike Debian which > seems to choke on it. Hi Robert, Nothing in my response should be construed to dispute or downplay your plead: It's just a little general information. I've heard anecdotes of the UEFI system writing to persistant memory on the motherboard in a way that an app misusing UEFI could brick the motherboard. Therefore, the only time I use UEFI is when I absolutely must have Windows on the laptop, and the Windows that came on the laptop requires UEFI. On my desktop, what I do is have root (/) be a relatively small SSD that can maintain its full size with an MBR boot. That drive has /usr, /etc, and basically all of the OS that doesn't get written. Then I have a separate, huge disk, for changeable data, such as /home as one example, and I format that GPT (but it's not UEFI because it doesn't boot). This gives me a very fast bootup and independence from UEFI, which I think needs a lot more development before it's something I want to use. Of course, your use case is dual booting with the Windows that came packaged with your laptop, and I think that might require UEFI. But pure Linux/BSD situations, consider doing what I do and using the ancient MBR system until UEFI becomes more solid. SteveT Steve Litt * http://www.troubleshooters.com/ Troubleshooting Training * Human Performance _______________________________________________ Dng mailing list [email protected] https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dng
