UEFI Blues

[n2ize]

As I mentioned in another post I have been recruited to install Fedora 19 Linux on an OEM Windows 8 Laptop (Dell 15R) such that the system will be dual bootable, Windows or Fedora.

The Good news is that I got Fedora 19 installed and so far iut works flawlessly. Wireless card, video, sound card etc. all recognied and working flawlessly. It's the smoothest Fedora install I have evber performed on a new laptop.

Now, for the "bad" news. Since it is an OEM machine with Windblows 8 pre-installed is comes with UEFI and secure boot enabled... which according to documentation Fedora is supposed to be able to handle. Theoretically I should be able to install Fedora on a system with UEFI/Secure boot enabled. However, the only way I could get the install media to boot was to turn off secure boot, turn off UEFI boot and boot in Legacy mode. At that point I probably should have stopped and done some more research but, having Fedora running from the install media and the "install now" button right there the temptation to start the install was too great. I hit the button. I figured the Anaconda installer wuld give me a choice of if/where to install the boot loader (GRUB2) so that I don't overwrite the MBR. Well, unfortunately the new version of Anaconda didn't. It went it's merry old way and installed GRUB2 without asking me anything. Or, maybe I missed something. In any event the install completed. Problem is that now I can only boot into Linux, (which works flawlessly... Fedora 19 is a great distro). If I go into the BIOS and re-enable UEFI I can no longer boot into either Windows nor Fedora. I either have to be able to get Windows 8 to boot from GRUB2 or I have to reinstall the Windows 8 /UEFI bootloader and perhaps I can boot into both or, preferably get both Fedora and Windows to boot via secure/UEFI mode. But at present I am not exactly sure how to go about this. I have never played around with a secure boot laptop. It would have made my life a lot easier if Dell included Windows 8 install media with the system That weay I could put the whole damned thing into Legacy mode, reformat and partition the drive, re-install windows, install Linux and be done with it. But since they don't give you the Windows install media there is no use wishing for it. To make matters worst I am under extreme pressure to get this shit done ASAP !!

In other words any hints, ideas, suggestions, friendly advice, unfriendly advice, etc. is welcome. I could sure use it right now.

[KC2UGV]

Fedora can handle UEFI, however, it doesn't come with the proper certificates to boot in authenticated mode (aka secure boot). For that, you would need RHEL.

[n2ize]

Fedora can handle UEFI, however, it doesn't come with the proper certificates to boot in authenticated mode (aka secure boot). For that, you would need RHEL.

Hmmm... so what options do I have ? Do I call Dell and see if they will send me the Windows 8 discs and just reformat the drive, put the BIOS in Legacy mode wit secure boot shut down and install Windows and then Linux ? That seems like the simplest option. Only problem is it will take a few days to get the Windows media, assuming Dell will provide it. Will those disks install in non secure/non UEFI mode ? Or will I have to buy a whole new Windows Installation media from Microsoft ?

If this were my laptop this would be a non issue. I would dump Windows completely, reformat the drive and just install Linux. I'd be a happy camper right now.

[KC2UGV]

Hmmm... so what options do I have ? Do I call Dell and see if they will send me the Windows 8 discs and just reformat the drive, put the BIOS in Legacy mode wit secure boot shut down and install Windows and then Linux ? That seems like the simplest option. Only problem is it will take a few days to get the Windows media, assuming Dell will provide it. Will those disks install in non secure/non UEFI mode ? Or will I have to buy a whole new Windows Installation media from Microsoft ?

If this were my laptop this would be a non issue. I would dump Windows completely, reformat the drive and just install Linux. I'd be a happy camper right now.

Put the BIOS in non-legacy mode, and just disable secure boot. Both OS's should be able to boot, however, Fedora might need to be re-installed (Since grub isn't configured correctly).

[n2ize]

Put the BIOS in non-legacy mode, and just disable secure boot. Both OS's should be able to boot, however, Fedora might need to be re-installed (Since grub isn't configured correctly).

Sounds cool man. I'll give that a try first . If it don;t work I'll let you know. In a worst case scenario I'll be willing to spring for a copy of RHEL. In the meantime even if I need to reinstall Windows my brother will be able to use the machine in Linux for a couple days till I get Winders back up.

But I'll give your suggestion a try. I'll set UEFI mopde forward (on) , Legacy mode (off) and secure Boot (off) and see if I can get anywhere. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks so far for the help. Right now my mind is jumbled with too many ideas so your suggestion is appreciated.

[n2ize]

Okay, I turned off secure boot and I enabled UEFI. Now I can still boot into Linux but there is no option to do a Windows 8 boot. If I can configure GRUB to point to the right partition and add a label there is a chance I may be able to boot into windows. Not quite sure how to do this manually because it was usually done manually (by giving me a choice to add options) during installation using the old version of Anaconda. It looks like Grub was installed into a /boot partition which from what I have read is a good thing. Now if I can get GRP to point me to the correct windows boot load partition I might be able to conclude this nightmare and get on with my life.

Otherwise, everything is working great on the Linux end.

[n2ize]

Okay, so far nothing I tried can get Windows to boot. Apparently I munged it up pretty bad when I did the Fedora install. I managed to get Dell to agree to send me new Windows 8 re-installation discs. Perhaps I can do an ordinary Legacy BiOS install and then put Linux back on. That is, provided the OEM discs will let me. That would make life so much easier. If I must do a secure UEFI boot via both operating systems I'd rather give my money to Redhat for a signed copy of RHEL than give my money to Micro$$ofty for a copy of Windblows.

Like I said earlier. If this were for me I'd be perfectly contented with a single boot Linux only laptop. But I am doing this install for someone else whop would like to have dual booting. Linux/Windblows 8

The discs will take 2 or 3 business days to get here. In the meantime the good news is the laptops is 100% usable (wireless, video, audio, etc. working flawlessly). In fact I am almost tempted to keep it for myself. Quad core, 64 bit, 6 Gigs of RAM it blows away my antique 2.4 Gig 32 bit desktop system.

Speaking in terms of Gigs, I have a music gig coming up this Sunday. Not sure if I'll attend or not.

[n6hcm]

so many would conclude that this was not a problem :)

[n2ize]

so many would conclude that this was not a problem :)

Oh, it is indeed a problem. A major PITA. It's not a problem if you plan to chuck windows and just use Linux or just use OEM Windows but if you are trying to implement a dual boot system it's a royal PITA. To make matters worst its new (relatively speaking) and thus there is a lot of conflicting info out there, misinformation, and general confusion. There are at least a few workarounds that I can try. Since I'll have the install discs I might be able to turn secure boot off and do a legacy bios install of Windows and Linux, just as I would do with an older non-UEFI/non-secure boot system. If that works I'll be in business. The other possibility is a UEFI/Secure Windows install followed by a RHEL UEFI/secure install which should work since RHEL is supposedly signed by Microshaft so it should work. By the time it's all said and done I should be an expert in this... or just lucky. My best advice, if you plan to build a dual boot system buy a non OEM Windows machine, partition the drive and install in non-secure legacy mode. I am sure that over the next couple of years better instructions and workartounds will be available on line. Right now it's all sketchy, trial and error, and hit or miss.

[WØTKX]

Dear Wormwood;

That's what you get for messing with a Windows OS.
Even an Advocate such as you can't escape the pain.

Regards,

Screwtape