UEFI Build Test

[technomancer]

I have a spare SATA HDD 250GB, and will install fresh everytime. I understand this is only related to testing UEFI.
All i need now is a copy of the build. I agree to the terms.
Thank you gold_finger for the tips !

Excellent. In the interests of keeping this as simple as possible, I would recommend you use a spare hard drive for these tests. If you want to use an existing hard drive already in your pc thats ok too, I just don't have the time to go through any hiccups you may encounter with existing data. We just need to concentrate on this UEFI thing only. If this ends up working on half a dozen different pc's or more, that's conformation enough for me. Cheers

@ technomancer and anyone else who may try UEFI install,

Although I don't have a UEFI computer myself, I've guided many, many people through that type of install.  Below are a few pointers.  If you run into problems, post back and I may be able to help.

Like Jerry said, if you have a spare drive use that so no risk of wiping out your main drive.  Boot the LL dvd/usb and open a terminal to make sure it got booted in UEFI mode by entering this command:

Code:

ls /sys/firmware

If you see "efi" listed in the output, you're booted correctly in UEFI mode.  If not, you're booted in Legacy mode.  Boot again and try to find a boot option specifying UEFI/EFI for the dvd/usb.  (The dvd/usb will install in same mode that it got booted in, so you need to make sure it's booted in UEFI mode before installing.  Otherwise, it will install and work in Legacy mode and you will probably not realize that is what happened.)

Once boot mode is confirmed, run installer.  If you pick first option to erase and use the whole disk, the installer should automatically create the necessary partitions: a FAT32 "EFI System Partition", an "Ext4" root partition and a swap partition.  Try that option first to see if all works well.

If you feel adventurous and want to run another test to create partitions manually and add a home partition, go ahead and do that, but don't forget to create a small (550MB), FAT32 partition near beginning of drive.  Set mount point to "/boot/efi" and make the "Device for boot loader installation" point to that partition instead of the default "/dev/sda".

If all went well with tests and you want to try dual-boot with Windows, clone Windows to spare drive (keeping original untouched), then follow this tutorial:  http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=163126

If don't have spare drive make sure you have a means of restoring Windows (if that's what is on the computer) before you run test install of LL.  There are tutorials on the Windows forums for creating a new install/restore USB.  Search there and create one if you don't already have this done.
Windows 7 Forums
Windows 8 Forums
Windows 10 Forums


P.s.
If install seems to go well but computer won't boot into it, go into your UEFI/Bios settings and make sure it is set to UEFI mode booting.  (Might not be a bad idea to disable "Secure Boot" also, just in case that is causing the problem.)