Re: Debian 7 and UEFI/GPT

[Bret Busby <bret.busby@gmail.com>]

Okay.

In thinking about this further, I remembered that, due to the
malicious nature of MS Win8, it is installed with the nasty
UEFI->Secure Boot mode, which maliciously disables the installation of
any additional operating systems.

And, I remember that the only way to amend that, to enable additional
operating systems to be installed, is to bypass the Secure Boot mode.

So, I decided to check, using Boot-> <F2> to find the boot mode.

That shows the Boot Mode, as "Legacy".

So, I switched the Boot Mode to UEFI, and "Secure Boot" is shown as "Enabled.

So, I shifted the active position, to try to toggle the "Secure Mode"
setting, to "Disabled".

But, the active position by passes the "Secure Boot" field, thus
indicating, to me, that, with the UEFI Boot Mode, the Secure Boot can
not be disabled, so, in UEFI, it appears to be MS Win8, or nothing.

Now, to the right of the frame, in which those settings may be altered
(where they can be altered), is, under "Item Specific Help",
"Select boot type to Dual type, Legacy type or UEFI type"

Down the bottom of the screen, is "F5/F6 Change values"

But, in toggling through the Boot Mode values, using each of <F5> and
<F6>, the "Dual option is not available - not "greyed out" as being
not selectable - simply not displayed as an option.

So, the only Boot Mode options, are "UEFI" -> "Secure Boot Mode"
"Enabled", and "Legacy.

In booting into the UEFI Boot Mode, (after a while) MS Win8 boots.

I can not (at this stage) do anything with it - I have forgotten the
login password (I have to find whether I can reset that, and, if so,
how).

In then rebooting, into the <F2> Setup Utility, and selecting Legacy,
as the Boot Mode value, I get the Ubuntu GRUB menu, allowing me to
boot into either Debian or Ubuntu Linux.

The <F2> Setup Utility displays, in the Title Bar, "InsydeH20 Setup
Utility Rev. 3.7".

The solution, at this stage, appears to be to use the <F2> Setup, to
change between UEFI and Legacy BIOS boot modes, thence to select which
operating system, I want to boot.

I believe that, unless and until the "InsydeH20 Setup Utility" is
upgraded, to allow the UEFI -> Secure Boot Mode to be turned off,
and/or, the Boot modes to include provision of the stated "Dual type"
Boot Mode, the solution that I have described, is the only available
solution, to allow me to boot into any one of the three installed
operating systems mentioned above.

-- 
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
 you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
 Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
 "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
 A Trilogy In Four Parts",
 written by Douglas Adams,
 published by Pan Books, 1992

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