UEFI setup, Ubuntu and Windows UEFI Dual Boot, Linux, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch Linux

Saturday 31 January 2015

How to Switch from BIOS-Compatibility Mode to UEFI Mode

Saturday, January 31, 2015 Posted by UEFI Support , , , , , ,
When installing Windows® 7 or Windows Server® 2008 R2 on computers based on Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), you may need to switch from BIOS-compatibility mode to UEFI mode.
Some UEFI platforms support booting into a BIOS-compatible mode, and it is not always apparent whether UEFI or BIOS is the default boot option. On these computers, you might be required to use the UEFI boot options to explicitly start in UEFI mode. Otherwise, Windows Setup might run in BIOS mode, which does not give you the advantages of UEFI.

Thursday 29 January 2015

Microsoft Windows Secure Boot FAQ

Secure Boot is a security standard developed by members of the PC industry to help make sure that your PC boots using only software that is trusted by the PC manufacturer.

When the PC starts, the firmware checks the signature of each piece of boot software, including firmware drivers (Option ROMs) and the operating system. If the signatures are good, the PC boots, and the firmware gives control to the operating system.

The following versions of Windows support Secure Boot: Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and Windows RT.

FreeBSD and UEFI How to

Thursday, January 29, 2015 Posted by UEFI Support , , , , ,

Boot Process

The UEFI boot process uses an EFI System Partition (ESP) to store system bootstrap components. The ESP is a GPT or MBR partition with a specific identifier, and contains a FAT file system with a specified hierarchy.

Monday 26 January 2015

GUID Partition Table

Monday, January 26, 2015 Posted by UEFI Support , , , ,
GUID Partition Table (GPT) is a partitioning scheme that is part of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface specification; it uses a globally unique identifier for qualifying devices. It is the next generation partitioning scheme designed to succeed the Master Boot Record partitioning scheme method. Its necessity evolved to deal with several shortcomings the MBR partitioning scheme method and offers additional advantages.

Saturday 24 January 2015

Installing Ubuntu in UEFI mode

Saturday, January 24, 2015 Posted by UEFI Support , , , , ,
UEFI (~EFI) is a firmware interface that is widespread on recent computers, especially those more recent than 2010. It is intended to replace the traditional BIOS firmware interface that is prevalent on earlier machines. This page provides information about installing and booting Ubuntu using EFI, as well as about switching between EFI mode and legacy BIOS mode using Ubuntu.

Installing Ubuntu Quickly and Easily via Trial and Error


If you have a computer that is more recent than 2010 and you do not know whether or not you need to install Ubuntu in EFI mode, you should be able to get Ubuntu installed quickly and correctly using the following steps:
  • Create a LiveDVD or LiveUSB of Ubuntu (>=12.04.2) 64bit.
  • In your BIOS, disable QuickBoot/FastBoot and Intel Smart Response Technology (SRT). If you have Windows8, also disable FastStartup.
  • Boot your PC using the LiveDVD or LiveUSB and choose "Try Ubuntu". If you get a Secure boot or signature error, you may wish to disable SecureBoot as described here, then retry to boot the disk.
  • Install Ubuntu from the Live CD/DVD or Live USB in the usual manner, then reboot the PC.
  • If the PC does not load Ubuntu (but instead loads Windows, for example, as in Bug #1050940), or if the Windows entry in the GRUB 2 menu does not boot Windows (see Bug #1024383), boot your PC using the Live CD/DVD or Live USB and choose "Try Ubuntu" once again. When the live session has loaded, run Boot-Repair (see link for details). When Boot-Repair loads, click on the "Recommended repair" button, and write on a paper the URL (paste.ubuntu.com/XXXXXX/) that will appear. Then reboot the pc. Do not run Boot-Repair unless you have problems booting the computer; the expression "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies to this tool.
  • This should fix most boot problems. If this does not fix your boot problems, please create a new thread in this forum, describing your problem and indicating the URL you wrote in the previous step.

Thursday 22 January 2015

Firmware Types

Thursday, January 22, 2015 Posted by UEFI Support

BIOS

A BIOS or Basic Input-Output System is the very first program (firmware) that is executed once the system is switched on. In most cases it is stored in a flash memory in the motherboard itself and independent of the system storage. BIOS launches the first 440 bytes (Master Boot Record) of the first disk in the BIOS disk order. Since very little can be achieved by a program that fits into the 440-byte boot code area, usually a common boot loader like GRUB or Syslinux or LILO would be loaded by the BIOS, and it would load an operating system by either chain-loading or directly loading the kernel.

UEFI

UEFI has support for reading both the partition table as well as understanding filesystems. Hence it is not limited by 440 byte code limitation (MBR boot code) as in BIOS systems. It does not use the MBR boot code at all.
The commonly used UEFI firmwares support both MBR and GPT partition table. EFI in Apple-Intel Macs are known to also support Apple Partition Map besides MBR and GPT. Most UEFI firmwares have support for accessing FAT12 (floppy disks), FAT16 and FAT32 filesystems in HDDs and ISO9660 (and UDF) in CD/DVDs. EFI in Intel Macs can also access HFS/HFS+ filesystems, in addition to the mentioned ones.
UEFI does not launch any boot code in the MBR whether it exists or not. Instead it uses a special partition in the partition table called EFI System Partition in which files required to be launched by the firmware are stored. Each vendor can store its files under <EFI SYSTEM PARTITION>/EFI/<VENDOR NAME>/ folder and can use the firmware or its shell (UEFI shell) to launch the boot program. An EFI System Partition is usually formatted as FAT32 or (less commonly) FAT16.
Under UEFI, every program whether it is an OS loader or a utility (e.g. a memory testing app or recovery tool), should be a UEFI Application corresponding to the EFI firmware bitness/architecture. The vast majority of UEFI firmwares, including recent Apple Macs, use x86_64 EFI firmware. The only known devices that use IA32 (32-bit) EFI are older (pre 2008) Apple Macs, some Intel Cloverfield ultrabooks and some older Intel Server boards that are known to operate on Intel EFI 1.10 firmware.
An x86_64 EFI firmware does not include support for launching 32-bit EFI apps (unlike x86_64 Linux and Windows versions which include such support). Therefore the UEFI application must be compiled for that specific firmware processor bitness/architecture.

Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and Unified EFI (UEFI)

Thursday, January 22, 2015 Posted by UEFI Support
Defining the interface between the operating system and platform firmware

Background

The Unified EFI (UEFI) Specification (previously known as the EFI Specification) defines an interface between an operating system and platform firmware.
Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and Unified EFI (UEFIThe interface consists of data tables that contain platform-related information, boot service calls, and runtime service calls that are available to the operating system and its loader. These provide a standard environment for booting an operating system and running pre-boot applications.
The UEFI Specification was primarily intended for the next generation of IA architecture–based computers, and is an outgrowth of the "Intel® Boot Initiative" (IBI) program that began in 1998.
Intel's original version of this specification was publicly named EFI, ending with the EFI 1.10 version.
In 2005, The Unified EFI Forum was formed as an industry-wide organization to promote adoption and continue the development of the EFI Specification. Using the EFI 1.10 Specification as the starting point, this industry group released the following specifications, renamed Unified EFI.

What is UEFI?

Thursday, January 22, 2015 Posted by UEFI Support , , , ,
UEFI is a community effort by many companies in the personal-computer industry to modernize the booting process. UEFI capable systems are already shipping, and many more are in preparation. During the transition to UEFI, most platform firmware will continue to support legacy (BIOS) booting as well, to accommodate legacy-only operating systems.

UEFI stands for "Unified Extensible Firmware Interface". The UEFI specification defines a new model for the interface between personal-computer operating systems and platform firmware. The interface consists of data tables that contain platform-related information, plus boot and runtime service calls that are available to the operating system and its loader. Together, these provide a standard environment for booting an operating system and running pre-boot applications.