No UEFI tile and no option/function key for BIOS at startu

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum but I have been reading up on threads trying to find a solution to my problem. I am trying to boot from USB in order to start using Ubuntu but my problem is that when I go to the advanced settings - troubleshoot - there is no UEFI Firmware Settings, which, from what I have gathered is necessary to be able to boot Ubuntu from my USB flash drive. So far the solution that most people have is that there is no UEFI on that particular computer/type of windows 8, and on the startup screen to press f2, f11, esc, etc but there is no indicator as to what key is is on the ACER splash screen, similar to this. scn101.jpg Photo by Kizwan_Chronos | Photobucket
Therefor, I cannot get into BIOS? I have lost many hours of sleep over this matter and I am finding it very frustrating... Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you so much.

Acer Aspire|M
Aspire M5-481T

Not the Windows boot menu...
You need to use the laptop's boot menu to select the USB:
Boot the BIOS with F2 and enable the boot menu -> that will be F12 so reboot and press F12 with the usb inserted. If the usb is on the list, select it.

Which seems logical right? But NONE of the function keys do anything. I cannot get to the BIOS with f2, nor f1 nor escape, and it gives me no option to either, just an Acer splash screen with the little windows 8 dotted circle loading spinning thing

What... :shock:

You do have a BIOS right?
Try DEL key.

The new Acers might use other combinations...

Enabling the boot device menu

Acer said:

On most Acer systems, you can use the F12 key on boot to select the drive or network from which loading the operating system. In case the F12 option does not work, you may need to enable this function.

SOLUTION

Enabling the F12 function:

1.Power on the system. As soon as the first logo screen appears, immediately press the F2 key, or the DEL key if you have a desktop, to enter the BIOS.
2.Press the right arrow key to select Main.
3.Use the arrow keys to navigate to F12 Boot Menu, and press ENTER.
4.Select Enabled, and press ENTER.
5.Press the F10 key to save changes and restart the system.

Click to expand...

I haven't downloaded one but it is a 4 month old (relatively new) computer, and I just assumed that it would either have a bios pre installed or, have the uefi firmware setup! But if it has neither am I screwed?

Hmmm...
Acer does have F2:



Acer Aspire M5-481T | User Manual

At least for the laptops.

Thank you Ray!
It's is DEL for the desktops then.

(I don't have Acer desktops, from there all my unclear posts)

MrLaSir said:

I haven't downloaded one but it is a 4 month old (relatively new) computer, and I just assumed that it would either have a bios pre installed or, have the uefi firmware setup! But if it has neither am I screwed?

Click to expand...

Some details for slow guys like me:
The one computer with the issue, Is it a laptop or a desktop?

It is a laptop, and I have had many computers before and for all the startups it was straightforward, press blah blah to get into the bios but look at the link I posted in the original post, and that is all I get on startup, pressing f2 does absolute nothing. :/

Try this link:

Accessing the UEFI (BIOS) setup on a Windows 8 system

I figured it out, you just have to hit f2 really, really fast, I switched over to legacy mode once in bios, is that okay?

New models have a 0s timeout to get in the BIOS.

You have to be very fast: directly press the button, even multiple times... you'll eventually see something.

I hope it's not locked with some kind of password but nevertheless, F2 should get you in there as all user manual mention.

MrLaSir said:

I figured it out, you just have to hit f2 really, really fast, I switched over to legacy mode once in bios, is that okay?

Click to expand...

Nice.

If Ubuntu has uefi support (12.04.2 or higher and in x64) then it will boot with UEFI and you don't need legacy mode enabled.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI

It runs in legacy...
Already tried it on UEFI and it works there as well.

Once you get in, you can set the time out to 2 seconds, that should be enough to hit F2. Yah, putting it in Legacy mode is the best bet.

Hopachi said:

Hmmm...
Acer does have F2:

View attachment 25940

Acer Aspire M5-481T | User Manual

At least for the laptops.

Click to expand...

Link to manual posted above didnt worked for me with 404 error
Theres some new if someone needs Acer ASPIRE M5-481T User Manual