Gone are the days when Ubuntu installed without a hitch. Now there’s UEFI and Windows 8 to contend with. The Ubuntu site has this advice: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI. Here’s some advice based on my experience of installing Ubuntu on three separate machines over the past week.
1 Installing Ubuntu
- Put the iso on a pendrive/DVD in the usual way
- Turn on the machine and hit the key to bring up the boot options
- Change the settings so the machine will boot from USB first (naturally)
- If it’s UEFI, make sure secure boot is disabled and legacy boot is enabled
- Insert the pen drive and boot up. Ubuntu should boot in the usual way from the pen drive. It will then install with no problems (so far, at least.)
2 Troubleshooting
2.1 Machine won’t boot from USB/CD
This seems to be a Windows 8 feature. You need to boot up Windows 8 and do an advanced restart as follows:
- In Windows 8 goto PC Settings -> General -> Advanced startup.
- Choose Advanced Options -> Startup Settings
The machine will reboot and should hopefully find your USB/CD
2.2 Install Ubuntu alongside Windows option is missing from the install options dialog
Again, you have to boot into Windows 8 and then use the Windows disk partition manager to make a suitable partition. The Linux Partition manger doesn’t seem to work anymore
2.3 Ubuntu is installed, but machine still boots to Windows
Follow step 5 here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI
Easy! I don’t think so. Not only have Microsoft ruined their own perfectly good desktop with Windows 8, they seem to be doing a pretty good job of ruining the ease of installation for other operating systems. I wish they’d get a grip.
Tony Ballantyne Tech 