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avasili

Score: 10 votes: 12 Format: Article

 How to install Linux on UEFI systems where GRUB fail to install?

Hi everyone,

I’m writing this because a lot of people out there are facing some issues in installing Linux on a machine that have an EFI capable bios.

A lot are complaining that GRUB is not installing properly, leaving a computer in an unusable state. Usually they get an error message at the startup: “no operating system found” or in dual booting only windows starts up.

I’m sure this is a temporary situation, and Linux Mint will find a way to install in EFI based bios and GPT formatted HDDs easily.

In a short and simple QA I will try to explain how to fix this:

Question: Why GRUB is not installing properly in my machine?
Answer: New machines have EFI capable bios. This means that by default MS Windows is installed in UEFI mode and this requires a GPT formatted Hard Disk. At the present GRUB cannot install itself in GPT partition table without a huge effort and special skills.

Question: How to make GRUB work in my machine?
Answer: The easiest way is to convert your HDD from GPT partition table to MBR partition table (or MSDOS in Linux) and after that install your Linux Mint.

Question: How can I convert my HDD from GPT to MBR partition table?
Answer: You can use a distro of your choice in live mode. In live mode, find the program GPARTED. Wait until it recognizes all your drives and select your HDD. Right click over it, and choose the option to create a new partition table. Choose MSDOS from the list. Hit ok than apply/commit all changes. ATTENTION this will erase all your data and MS Windows (or any other OS) will disappear. Your HDD is now converted in MSDOS or MBR. You can now boot your preferred distro, create your partition scheme and install Linux.

Question: Do I need to make any changes to my bios settings?
Answer: If you have a capable UEFI and LEGACY bios, put the bios in Legacy boot only or Both enabled with Legacy boot first.

Question: Can I dual boot Win7 and Linux on a UEFI capable bios?

Answer: Yes you can. If your HDD is formatted in MBR partition table (or msdos) than you can install first windows 7 and than the distro of your choice. BUT, careful, if you install windows from a DVD media it will convert your HDD in GPT partition table and dual boot will be almost impossible... (or will give you a lot of headache) to avoid this, dump the win7 iso to an usb using Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. Installing from USB will not change the hdd in GPT partition table.

I hope this little QA will be of help.

Best regards

avasili

Comments
1 month ago	Daviddd	The following worked for me in the end!! Lenove ThinkCentre Edge72 Run Mint live CD, use GPARTED to create new partition table --> "MS DOS" Make following changes in BIOS: startup - boot mode --> legacy only startup - boot priority --> legacy first security - secure boot --> disabled Then I installed Win7 from DVD (which did not convert the partition table) at the start of the disc, created a data partition leaving a space for Mint at the end, and installed Mint. The first start of Windows 7 gave an error but it clicked past and started. Now it works fine with selection of the operating systems in Grub. The main difference is that compared to Mint, Win7 seems horribly slow and brings incessant annoying pop-ups.
1 month ago	Daviddd	Thanks, a very useful and interesting article! One more little thing that should be mentioned, it wasted me a lot of time: the Windows 7 ISO file has to be bought and downloaded from Microsoft; if you use Infrarecorder to create an ISO from the Windows 7 CD, it doesn't work. As ever, the problem arises from Microsoft protecting their monopoly, not from Linux. I will have to give up and return the computer for the second time, serves them right for selling me a nasty technology I don't need without any indication in the technical datasheet.
3 months ago	avasili	You are welcome... Until now there is no solution... yet... let's see what happen in the future. :-)
5 months ago	ennoborg	Thank you! I also spent nearly two weeks to figure out how to set up things, and using GPARTED to create an MBR partition table did the trick. I have a 64 MB SSD with Windows 8 on it, and that one has a GPT partition table, and I converted the 2 TB HDD to MBR, put a 1 TB NTFS partition on that for data, and use the other TB for Mint. I have to use the BIOS setup to choose between Windows 8 and Mint, which is a bit clumsy sometimes, so I hope to find a way to configure Mint with full UEFI support some time. thanks again, Enno
5 months ago	macnow20	Thank a lot for that ! I've spent 2 weeks on looking how to sort out the problem of only Win 7 booting at the start-up! I've installed lots of different linux editions and none of them work. I finally managed to run linux Mint from a CD, but the HDD installed version is not working. Thanks a lot for useful article. Just wondering who and why has created this efi thing which annoys so many people ?
9 months ago	avasili	Thanks V... appreciated your information :) Regards
9 months ago	vinc525	That is nice information. May I add the following information: Once you finished installed Win7 on an MBR HDD, and installed Linux after that, the Grub menu will not show up until you set your BIOS to Legacy mode and then you must reinstall Grub using the following tutorial: "Reinstall grub2 from LiveCD". This tutorial can also be applied if you are booting your real Linux install. Just no need to mount the partition. Thank you. V.
10 months ago	avasili	Hi powerhouse. I don't know how much I looked around for a solution to an EFi install. Although ubuntu can be installed on GPT disks, I can't make it to boot. :) Right now I'm on legacy bios install on MBR partition with maya cinnamon 13. So far no problems at all. I hope too that Clem and the team will figure out what is the problem and possibly give us an Uefi installation of LM. I would gladly help in testing anything. :)
10 months ago	powerhouse	UEFI install is giving me fits. Thanks for providing a workaround! I'm still set on solving the UEFI install. But if I fail, I will gladly use your MBR method and dump UEFI. It is sad that there is no straight-forward 123 guide on how to install using UEFI. I've managed to create a UEFI bootable USB stick yet it is not capable of installing an UEFI boot. Even if I install grub-efi in the live USB and install it still fails to boot properly. chmode into the installed system and installing grub-efi doesn't do the job either, though all partitions and files seem to be in place. I used grub-update and grub-install to no avail. Well, as I said, if all fails, I'll be using your tutorial to get it boot the old-fashioned way. I hope very much that the Linux Mint developers will solve this issue soon. And add LVM to their install options.
1 year ago	trollboy	Good tutorial. I had my first encounter with EUFI a few weeks ago. Frustrating it was too.
1 year ago	avasili	Thanks, if any other question arises I will be happy to help further! :)
1 year ago	kazztan0325	It is nice this tutorial is adopted FAQ form, so be useful and easy to follow.
1 year ago	avasili	You are welcome. Glad you liked it!
1 year ago	Tonya	Useful article. Thank you very much!

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