[ubuntu-uk] Windows 8 (a pox on it)

[Rowan Berkeley]

On 14/02/13 18:28, Dave Morley wrote:
> On 14/02/13 18:12, Rowan Berkeley wrote:
>> An Internet friend of mine (in Denmark, so beyond my physical
>> reach) just bought a brand new machine with Windows 8 on it and
>> tried to install Ubuntu direct from the website, despite my
>> detailed explanations and warnings about this. She now has no
>> Windows 8 and no Ubuntu, just a GRUB screen telling her that
>> Ubuntu can't boot because "Secure Boot" in the UEFI won't let it.
>> It would be interesting to know whether the installation direct
>> from the website would have worked if she had switched off
>> "Secure Boot" first, as I told her she had to do. The apparent
>> consensus is that it wouldn't: that only the USB stick method
>> will work. There's no way into the UEFI from where she is, is
>> there? Before anyone says, "Can't she get into it by pressing  F2 during
>> start-up?", the answer is no:
>> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-access-the-bios-on-a-windows-8-computer/
>>
> Did she install 32bit or 64bit Ubuntu,  Secure boot is only available
> on 64bit. 64bit quantal +  at that,
>
I understand what you're saying; Only 64-bit Quantal has the license key 
built into it which will cause UEFI to allow the Ubuntu package to 
install itself. I don't have this girl online. I dare say she will 
respond to my suggestions and enquiries in a day or two. I know she 
confirmed that the machine she was buying had a 64-bit architecture, 
because up to that point she was following my instructions. I think that 
she attempted to install 64-bit Quantal direct from the Ubuntu website, 
but failed to switch off "Secure Boot" in UEFI beforehand, which should 
have been done from inside Windows 8, this being the way Microsoft (damn 
them) have built it. Thus, the installation proceeded correctly, the 
license key having served its function of getting UEFI to allow the 
installation to occur. She chose the option of replacing Windows rather 
than the option of dual boot (another indication of how foolhardy she 
is, bless her). Thus, Ubuntu Quantal is in fact installed on the 
machine. But the UEFI boot architecture does not contain the traditional 
point of access by pressing F2 during start-up, so there is no way for 
her now to access it and switch off "Secure Boot". So the Ubuntu Quantal 
can't boot, and she's stuck with a GRUB screen telling her so.