Announcement

**SteveRiley** · May 06, 2012, 06:53 PM

The minimal CD can't be used to install *buntu in UEFI mode on PCs with a UEFI. It's missing the required EFI boot loader:

**OneLine** · May 07, 2012, 05:44 AM

At Here - Asrock

Asrock 970 Extreme 4 Manual:

3. UEFI SETUP UTILITY

3.1 Introduction
This section explains how to use the UEFI SETUP UTILITY to conf gure your sys-
tem. The SPI Memory on the motherboard stores the UEFI SETUP UTILITY. You
may run the UEFI SETUP UTILITY when you start up the computer . Please press
<F2> or <Del>during the Power-On-Self-Test (POST) to enter the UEFI SETUP
UTILITY, otherwise, POST will continue with its test routines...

Kubuntu 11.10 & 12.04

Tried with the mini.iso + CD RW

Asrock uefi setup utility

Boot > # first boot option CD/DVD drive > Reboot...installation will start

Kubuntu 12.10 pre alpha

Tried with the mini.iso + USB stick

Using the Unetbootin (repositories)

Description: installer of Linux/BSD distributions to a partition or USB drive
UNetbootin allows for the installation of various Linux/BSD distributions to a
partition or USB drive, so it's no different from a standard install, only it
doesn't need a CD. It can create a dual-boot install, or replace the existing
OS entirely.
Homepage: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net

Code:

kdesudo unetbootin

Asrock uefi setup utility > Boot > first boot option USB flash drive
and
Boot > Hard Drive BBS Priorities: Boot Option #1

Save & exit

The start screen is from the unetbootin but after that the screens are the standard mini.iso

**SteveRiley** · May 07, 2012, 01:13 PM

Welcome to the wonderful world of UEFI confusion! I'll lay out a few facts here, based on many weeks of exploring this stuff with two ThinkPads and a Samsung tablet.

If you have UEFI, you don't have BIOS. Despite the fact that in many places you'll see language like "...configure your UEFI BIOS to do such and so..." this is just sloppy.

UEFI can emulate BIOS. This is called, variously, "BIOS emulation," "compatibility mode," or "compatibility service module." Some, but not all, UEFIs expose a control mechanism that allow you switch the emulation on or off. If it's on, then some UEFIs expose a second control that allows you to choose a boot order: UEFI first/"BIOS" second, or "BIOS" first/UEFI second.

For a machine to boot into UEFI mode, the boot media must be FAT32 (FAT16 might work) and must contain the file /efi/boot/bootx64.efi (or, in UEFI-speak, \\EFI\\BOOT\\BOOTX64.EFI).

If the machine is in UEFI-only mode and you attempt to boot from media that doesn't satisfy the above requirement, the boot will fail.

If compatibility mode is on, and you've configured UEFI first/"BIOS" second:
* If the boot media is as above, the computer will boot into UEFI mode.
* If the boot media is anything other than the above, the computer will boot into BIOS compatibility mode.

If compatibility mode is on, and you've configured "BIOS" first/UEFI second, the computer will boot into BIOS compatibility mode.

Now, with some UEFIs, you can override the automatic handling. When you press whatever key your computers uses for interrupting the normal boot sequence so that you can see the menu of boot devices, this menu will vary, depending on your UEFI mode and what's present on available boot media.

If the machine is in UEFI-only mode, then only media that satisfy the above requirement will appear in the list.

If compatibility mode is on (and regardless of which ordering you've selected), the menu will display everything it can find:
* If the boot media is as above, then you will see two options: one with an indication of booting in UEFI mode, and one without
* If the boot media is anything other than the above, you will see only the compatibility mode choice (likely not labeled as such, though)

Because the mini.iso lacks /efi/boot/bootx64.efi, it can only install in BIOS compatibility mode. If you go through the process, you'll see that you don't have a /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu directory on the resulting installation, and grub-pc will be your boot loader.

To obtain a UEFI mode installation, you should use either the Live CD or the alternate CD. Here's a screenshot of the alternate CD:

Boot the image in UEFI mode to complete a UEFI install. When you do, your completed installation will have a /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu directory containing grubx64.efi and grub-efi will be your bootloader. This is now my standard way to build machines. I use this CD in expert CLI mode.

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