After some hours of surfing the web I collected the main information on how to install a Linux distro to my laptop, which was a bit confusing at start. I need to say it was the first time i encountered a computer with UEFI instead of a BIOS which was used the previous years. I think this eventually is the direction of future generation of computers.
My system was a 64-bit laptop with win 8.1 pre-installed. Just to stay compact, I wanted the ability to dual boot. I haven't tried yet to make a clean install to a new hard disk in UEFI mode for those that are still reading. So this post is about installing your a Linux distribution alongside Windows 8 or 8.1.
Before we begin I would like to share some tips about operating system installation. The first thing someone has to check is the system hardware and the operating systems' minimum requirements. In order to be able to support the chosen distribution, compare your systems CPU, RAM and disk to the requirements. If the characteristics of your machine are beyond the minimum requirements then you are ready to go, remember as higher the better. On the other, hand if you are not you will have to choose an older or another distribution for your machine.
Basic Steps
1.Create a partition within Windows.
2.Disable Fast startup
3.Disable Secure Boot
4.Connect the USB to your computer and restart your computer.
5.Download, if not already, your Linux distro (Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, Lubuntu..etc)
6.Create a Live Linux USB, using Pendrive Linux installer.
7.On restart, hit the Boot key to view your boot settings, choose your Linux USB.
8.Partition your hard disk, with GParted.
9. Install the operating system to the partitions.
10. Finish
Notice: These processes have a high risk of Data loss if you are not sure what you are doing or lack some experience with computers. If you are completely sure you can complete this process continue. The responsibility is yours as always.
1.Create a partition within Windows.
So lets get started. Press Win+X and select Disk management to view your disks and partitions.
In my case, I had a single disk of 500GB which then i had to split. Before doing anything at all, notice the existing partitions: EFI, Windows, Recovery. These should be the default partitions of your disk. You should not mess with the EFI or Recovery partitions because you will scramble the booting process of your computer or the backup of your system!
The disk you have to partition is the one where Windows is installed which in my case is C: (Be careful, your disk could have another capital letter such as E, G, N... and so on.)
Right-click on the specified partition and find the Shrink option. Choose the space you want to give to the new installation but preserve adequate GB's for Windows to function normally. When done leave the partition as is, it will be indicated as Unallocated and will have Black colour. In the case of an already partitioned disk you could format one of your partitions for the installation.
2.Disable Fast startup
Press Win+X and select Power Options.
Click on the Choose what the power option does and uncheck the Fast Startup and Hibernate also.
3.Disable Secure Boot
The next step is to configure your UEFI firmware settings. Go to Start and press Shift+Restart to enter the settings. Yes this is a hidden function that I learned in this process! Click from the menu the Advance settings option.
Next select the UEFI Firmware option as below and restart your computer.
After you enter the settings, make sure in the security section the password is clear. If not you have to require it from your vendor. Now lets change the boot options.
Then disable the Secure Boot option. This step is necessary to boot anything else on the machine, rather than the already installed Windows.
4.Connect the USB to your computer and restart your computer.
The next step is to change the UEFI boot order so you can boot the
Live CD/DVD/USB. Put the entry below the USB or CD/DVD options, as
below. Having this step done, connect your USB and save the options of
UEFI. Then restart your machine.
5.Download, if not already, your Linux distro (Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, Lubuntu..etc)
You can download your favourite distribution of Linux from the official websites on the Net, depending on your needs. The file has to be ,which usually is in .iso format. This image will be used to install the OS to your machine.
6.Create a Live Linux USB, using Pendrive Linux installer.
Using Pendrive you are able to install your favorite operating system to a USB drive. Instructions on how to do this are at their website. After that you will have a bootable USB drive.
7.On restart, hit the Boot key to view your boot settings, choose your Linux USB.
You must see something like this in order to be able to boot correctly, the USB in my case. If it doesn't show and it directly boots in Windows, something might have gone wrong. If not we move on to step 8.
To check this out restart your computer again as in step 3 and choose the use a device option. If there isn't a USB entry to boot, repeat steps 3-8 for any mistakes.
After successfully booting the USB, the Ubuntu startup image will popup. Choose the try without installing option, in order to check your system with Linux and to move on to partitioning your hard drive in the correct format.
Next a network connection is required to install the partitioning tool GParted.
Press Cntrl+Alt+T to open a Terminal , something similar to cmd in Windows for the first timers... and copy paste this line to auto install the tool.
sudo apt-get install gparted
Then press Y or y to proceed the installation.
Once installed in Terminal, type in gparted to start. You have to create three partitions. BE EXTREMELY CAREFULL! Don't edit the partitions with the below formats and flags: ntfs, uefi, msdos, Windows. In step 1, we created some space for the installation, remember? This space is labeled as unallocated and THIS is the correct one to use. Use the tool to create a primary ext4 partion with mounting point as root /. Assign the most of your space to this one. Next create a linux swap partition, which will be used by your system as a emergency memory when the system is overloaded. The rule here, is to assign as much space as the system RAM that the machine has. And the final one is an efi partition about 300-500MB. More in detail info about these steps can be obtained here.
9. Install the operating system to the partitions.
After performing the formatting we are ready to install our distro from
desktop installer. The process is straightforward, only when selecting
the partitions for install select the uefi partition for the bootloader and the ext4 for primary. Once finished there is a final step to do. We have to repair boot problems with Windows. Continue to try out Linux when prompted and then open a Terminal and type these commands one by one:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install boot-repair
boot-repair Select the recommended option and wait until it is over. Finished! Grub will be your bootloader and now you can select which OS to boot on startup.
10. Finish
Now you can enjoy your new system, hope this information helped you overcome any difficulties of the installation... If there are any questions about the installation be free to comment and also use the community websites for further information on your specific problems.
PS: This is my first blog post! Thank you!
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