On 1/23/22 6:39 PM, deloptes wrote:
Hi all, is there a way to have a USB UEFI stick that works similar to the Debian installer - for example to boot into UEFI and recover the boot loader. One machine here seems a bit older and refuses to boot into UEFI from the USB - rendering USB obsolete as recovery option. In BIOS USB says AUTO (other option is Legacy) however if I disable Legacy keyboard does not work.
I have a computer with an Intel DQ67SW desktop motherboard (released Q1, 2011). The Setup utility allows me to select BIOS/MBR mode or UEFI/GPT mode. d-i seems to detect if the computer is running in BIOS/MBR mode or in UEFI/GPT mode, and performs an install to match. So, I installed Debian twice (via textual "Install") onto a pair of USB sticks, once in each mode. (An "Expert" installation may offer more options.)
I mostly run my computers in BIOS/MBR mode, and use the BIOS/MBR USB stick frequently.
I have limited experience with the UEFI/GPT USB stick. I need to test it on a newer computer with Secure Boot, and may need to create a third USB stick.
AIUI d-i and Debian Live are open-source projects. I believe they both support all of the above in a single image. If you have the skills, perhaps you could fork one and create your own image with the tools you want.
David