Solved UEFI Mode keeping my USB from being seen to boot from

Or at least I think thats what's happening.

In the past under windows 7 or any other OS you can tell Bios to boot from USB. (or from your version of a quick boot options on system start) I cant do this now. The option wont show. I have read if you disable secure boot and or UEFI mode this will allow the USB to be seen at boot but if you do this you can no longer boot windows 8.

It doesn't make since to me they would force you to have to go into bios and change this setting each time you want to switch from a hard drive booted windows 8 or load a live version of another OS from a USB at boot time - so I must be missing something or not understanding something right.

I have tried asking the HP people and getting answers out of them is worse than pulling teeth. Since this new UEFI thing is windows 8 related, I thought i'd ask here to see if anyone can shed some light.

Since this new UEFI thing is windows 8 related

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uEFI is not Windows 8 related.
Technical Note: UEFI BIOS vs. Legacy BIOS - YouTube


http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15458-uefi-bootable-usb-flash-drive-create-windows.html

What are you trying to do?

I know UEFI is a new type of Bios but to me it's related to windows 8 because windows 8 supports it - to the point when the OEM sets up your system they have to set it up using UEFI instead of Legacy the regular Bios.

I'm trying to get my PC to see the Bootable USB at boottime ( The USb is already set up with a live version of an operating system on it from that OS companies instructions) and boot into that live OS. It's a Non Linux, non Mac OS called Haiku but I also plan to test a few Amiga Operating systems, some Linux, some BSD and perhaps some Mac.. in short.. I need to be able to boot anything from USB I want to at boottime - just like i used to be able to do.

Dark rider said:

I know UEFI is a new type of Bios but to me it's related to windows 8 because windows 8 supports it - to the point when the OEM sets up your system they have to set it up using UEFI instead of Legacy the regular Bios.

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Windows 7, Windows 8 & Ubuntu (linux) support uEFI.
Windows 7, & Ubuntu (linux) do not support Secure Boot in uEFI.

I'm trying to get my PC to see the Bootable USB at boottime

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USB bootable Pendrives need to formated in FAT32 to boot in uEFI mode.

theog said:

Windows 7, Windows 8 & Ubuntu (linux) support uEFI.
Windows 7, & Ubuntu (linux) do not support Secure Boot in uEFI.

USB bootable Pendrives need to formated in FAT32 to boot in uEFI mode.

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???!! I thought you said UEFI didn't have anything to do with Windows 8? Well it has a heck of a lot to do with Microsoft and their plans for controlling your PC. Fat32 is a Microsoft file format.

Naturally Haiku, Linux BSD and the rest will not be using Fat32 and Microsoft Knows this.. they aren't stupid. ( matter of opinion) It give credence to the thoughts everyone always voice about MS trying to shut out the ability to dual boot windows and another OS. I didn't buy a Microsoft computer. I bought a HP computer that happens to have a Microsoft operating system in it. I dont remember signing a disclaimer saying this PC is set up by request of Microsoft to use UEFI which stops you from dual booting any other OS but one which Microsoft deems acceptable. If I had know that, I would have never bought the garbage (Windows 8) . I'd have asked BestBuy to install a copy of windows 7 on the machine. I'm not saying this is Microsoft's fault.. I blame BestBuy and HP for not being clear on this when they sell you a PC.

I do understand these limitations can be overcome if drivers are written for each OS.. like Ubuntu and Fedora did. But this may take a year or more for each OS I'd want to boot. That's no good. MS should not have forced OEM's to install Windows 8 via UEFI locking up peoples systems when no one else has UEFI drivers. That's dirty, underhanded and criminal in my opinion. Didn't MS get busted for anti-trust and locking out competition in the past? (rhetorical) MS should have been a big enough company to wait until everyone had drivers for UEFI before they forced this issue. They Knew people would be upset at this.

I wont shoot the messenger, Thank you for the info. There must be another way around this problem. Any more ideas anyone?

To install Linux with a USB Pendrive, drive would need to formated in FAT32
ubuntu - Booting linux from usb using EFI - Unix and Linux

Secure boot: technical types spreading half-baked information

Linux distributions are making slow progress on implementing measures to ensure that their images available for download are bootable on hardware that has secure boot turned on.


Secure boot is a feature of the UEFI, the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, a replacement for the BIOS.

Microsoft has implemented this feature on hardware certified for Windows 8 in a way that requires the exchange of cryptographic keys; since the company controls the key-signing authority, anyone who wants to create a bootable medium has to necessarily obtain a key from Redmond.

Misinformation is rife about secure boot, simply because people confuse UEFI with secure boot and think that support for the former means support for the latter. Many so-called technical types are as guilty as others of spreading wrong information.

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mjg59 | Secure Boot distribution support

“Microsoft's real aim is to kill the aftermarket in used computers that have Win 8 installed by not allowing you to install something other than Windows”

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Microsoft could just have refused to sign UEFI bootloaders. They didn't. That doesn't really fit in with what you're claiming.

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That's interesting theog but it still doesn't get me any further to loading Haiku (or BSD, Amiga OS etc) from my USB drive.

“Microsoft's real aim... [no it wasn't to stop people from booting other Os's like Linux] is to kill the aftermarket in used computers that have Win 8 installed by not allowing you to install something other than Windows”

You know what that is? It's called Spin, and every company uses it from the Corporation of The United States of America down to the kid running for class president in Jr high.

Your link about the EFI bootloader is interesting. I'll have to ask the Haiku people if there is a way i can apply it to Haiku. Thanks.

Edit: did you read all the comments? Wow that guy Sam is being a real jerk to Matthew. That is a pretty entertaining read.

I have done my research over the past 24 hours, getting advice from Linux and other OS creators, reading everything I can on UEFI and Secure Boot and I have come to the conclusion that:

Until this industry grows up and it's commonplace for every non Microsoft OS to have either working bootloaders for UEFI or have obtained a Secure Boot key from Microsoft, ( or are intent on always switching manually from UEFI and Legacy Bios Mode - if you have this option - a real pain in da butt) if you plan to dual, triple or quad boot with with Windows 8 - DO NOT Buy a computer that comes preinstalled with Windows 8 OR disable UEFI mode and Only use Legacy Bios mode. Those are really your two best options to ensure compatibility. It's sad they try to force UEFI on us when it causes more problems at this point than it is able to solve at this very early stage. UEFI has some Great features but if having it means you cant use your own computer the way you want to - it's no good and not worth having.

Hey Microsoft, I'm kicking you out of My sandbox. I'm going back to Legacy Bios mode so you and your UEFI Secure Boot buddies cannot be bullies on My playground.

Edit: There is a 3rd option which is to make sure your PC manufacturer has the right options in Bios for your computer. See post number 13 here: http://www.eightforums.com/hardware...ping-my-usb-being-seen-boot-2.html#post184113

OEM manufacturer's PC with
uEFI/BIOS firmware
Secure Boot
Three HDD's

HDD one has Windows 8 install in uEFI mode.
HDD two has Windows 7 install in uEFI mode.
HDD three has Ubuntu (Linux) install in uEFI mode.

As seen from Disk management.



As seen from Paragon 12.

Yes but thats Ubuntu. We already know Ubuntu has a workaround as does Fedora and a few others. Ubuntu I don't want to use. I want to use Mint 14, Zorin 6, Vector 7 (All Linux) and also Haiku, the Amiga OS and BSD Isotope 9.0 (Non Linux) There is simply not a good solution for me with these now.. Ubuntu and Fedora are not that popular, most people use other OS's. Making all these work with UEFI is a nightmare if it's even possible which it wont be at all for most of them.

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The original motivation for EFI came during early development of the first Intel–HP Itanium systems in the mid-1990s

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uEFI/bios firmware has been around a long time.

theog, you make this point because I said it was still early in this game I assume.. you see fit to point out the err of my ways... Well I'm right. We are both right. UEFI has been around a while but it's still new enough that it's not used by everyone.. in fact not used by most Pc users. I of course came across this info in my studies. I do appreciate your challenging me to keep up with the issues though.

I liken it to XP 64 bit. Sure, it worked back then but there were no 64 bit apps for it hardly and the implementation was buggy. I'm sure many folks here remember that. I even tried it. Or Electricity.. been around since the dawn of time yet it wasn't made practical until a couple of guys named Tesla and Edison figured out how to tame it.This is just how it happens with just about everything. New tech is always slow to catch on and grow.

I have to mention now that It may be just an issue dealing with my HP computer Because, Microsoft requires that all non ARM systems have the ability to turn Secure Boot off, which is why I cant see my USB in UEFI mode. This is a requirement of Microsoft's Hardware Certification Requirements for server and client computers. My system refuses to work properly it seems. I cannot disable Secure Boot while leaving UEFI working. The instructions for disabling Secure Boot while continuing to operate in UEFI mode are here: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/17058-secure-boot-enable-disable-uefi.html#post183590

I have contacted HP about this issue. ( HP is known for not giving full access to bios settings) More Info on Secure Boot as it pertains to Microsoft's Hardware Requirements can be found here: If I buy a computer with Windows 8 and Secure Boot, will I still be able to install Linux? - Super User And Here: Windows Hardware Certification Requirements for Client and Server Systems See sections 14, 17 and 18.