On 14/02/13 18:28, Dave Morley wrote:
On 14/02/13 18:12, Rowan Berkeley wrote:
An Internet friend of mine (in Denmark, so beyond my physical
reach) just bought a brand new machine with Windows 8 on it and
tried to install Ubuntu direct from the website, despite my
detailed explanations and warnings about this. She now has no
Windows 8 and no Ubuntu, just a GRUB screen telling her that
Ubuntu can't boot because "Secure Boot" in the UEFI won't let it.
It would be interesting to know whether the installation direct
from the website would have worked if she had switched off
"Secure Boot" first, as I told her she had to do. The apparent
consensus is that it wouldn't: that only the USB stick method
will work. There's no way into the UEFI from where she is, is
there? Before anyone says, "Can't she get into it by pressing F2 during
start-up?", the answer is no:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-access-the-bios-on-a-windows-8-computer/
Did she install 32bit or 64bit Ubuntu, Secure boot is only available
on 64bit. 64bit quantal + at that,
I understand what you're saying; Only 64-bit Quantal has the license key
built into it which will cause UEFI to allow the Ubuntu package to
install itself. I don't have this girl online. I dare say she will
respond to my suggestions and enquiries in a day or two. I know she
confirmed that the machine she was buying had a 64-bit architecture,
because up to that point she was following my instructions. I think that
she attempted to install 64-bit Quantal direct from the Ubuntu website,
but failed to switch off "Secure Boot" in UEFI beforehand, which should
have been done from inside Windows 8, this being the way Microsoft (damn
them) have built it. Thus, the installation proceeded correctly, the
license key having served its function of getting UEFI to allow the
installation to occur. She chose the option of replacing Windows rather
than the option of dual boot (another indication of how foolhardy she
is, bless her). Thus, Ubuntu Quantal is in fact installed on the
machine. But the UEFI boot architecture does not contain the traditional
point of access by pressing F2 during start-up, so there is no way for
her now to access it and switch off "Secure Boot". So the Ubuntu Quantal
can't boot, and she's stuck with a GRUB screen telling her so.
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