Helsinki, we have a problem... It's Secure Boot.....! D:

[blackneos940]

Hang in there. I'm fighting the same battle right now too, on an HP netbook. I've managed to get a couple of distros to install, but there are issues that still are not letting Linux run properly on this hardware (freezes on boot and shutdown/restart).

I still kind of think that you have a BIOS setting you haven't set right yet. The "launch CSM" mentioned above is the Asus version of "Legacy boot," I think. So it will probably have to be enabled, and Secure boot disabled. Other things to turn off in BIOS are quick boot, or fast boot, if you see that. Did you enable BIOS password? That was an Asus-specific tip that was necessary before some of the other BIOS settings could be changed, but it may not apply to your particular model Asus.

On my HP, after I enabled Legacy boot, it gave me a separate selection for Boot Order in Legacy mode versus EFI mode... so I moved the CDROM and USB boot options to the top of the list so the hard drive didn't get to boot first.

It's almost enough trouble to make me use Windows again.

Nah!

Well, I enabled the User and the Administrator Passwords, and still could not find "Launch CSM" or the option to disable Fast Boot (though there IS one in 8)..... :/ So I disabled that, and STILL no luck...... D: I Hope you get YOUR issues resolved too..... :3 Wanna' Inbox, and take this discussion further......? Of course, I'll still be here: SOMEONE knows how to fix this (even if it will one day soon be ME.... ) Also, I can move priorities around to Boot this or that FIRST, but..... You can guess what happened........

 

[blackneos940]

Also, there's 666 people online..... Were I a superstitious Christian, I'd be worried.....

 

[atanere]

Well, there are problably 666 reasons that UEFI wants to take over the world too!

I have to take a break from all this fun and get back to my regular job again. I'll keep an eye on your thread and hopefully you will discover someting soon that will make it all work. I'll try to post if I learn anything new also, but I"m about out of ideas at the moment.

Cheers!

 

[ryanvade]

Just an FYI there are some Linux distributions that have paid for Secure Boot keys from M$. They include Red Hat (and by extension Fedora), Ubuntu, and Chrome OS. SUSE may have a key now but I don't know for sure.

Also, it is easier to disable Secure Boot from inside Windows. We were lucky enough to get a Lenovo all-in-one from Best buy with Secure boot disabled but Windows 8.1 installed. It was the craziest thing. When we logged into Windows we had that little overlay on the Wallpaper saying Secure Boot was not setup and bla bla bla. We installed an update and that notification went away.

But we are dual booting the system with Ubuntu and so far it is pretty good. I mention this story because eventually Secure Boot and UEFI will be a normal occurrence for Linux users. Some day...

 

[atanere]

Thanks @ryanvade

Yes, UEFI is becoming the new norm as folks buy new PCs... it is probably on just about everything now. But I really wish they would standardize the thing. And not so that you have to get into Windows to do it... meaning you'd have to accept their license agreement, go through all the new Windows user setup, etc... just to blow it away! That really is ridiculous, and luckily my HP laptop could disable Secure Boot easily enough from the BIOS menu.

I've had partial success with the latest Fedora (21), Debian (7.7) and Mint (17.1) and all of these should be UEFI-friendly. But none have been smooth, easy, or without issues. None have been a "proper" installation so that GRUB controls the boot with a default OS that I establish. The best I've managed is that I have to hit ESC at boot time to let BIOS choose which system to start, and even then the system frequently freezes on boot (and also on shutdown). I'd like to think there's a hardware or power management problem.... but Windows 8.1 seems to run just fine and dandy. And that ticks me off!

But I am hard-headed enough to think that I will win this fight and get a decent installation of something, sometime. I'd guess Ubuntu will be my next attempt... it does have a good UEFI reputation, but it isn't my favorite distro.

Cheers!

 

[ryanvade]

Thanks @ryanvade

Yes, UEFI is becoming the new norm as folks buy new PCs... it is probably on just about everything now. But I really wish they would standardize the thing. And not so that you have to get into Windows to do it... meaning you'd have to accept their license agreement, go through all the new Windows user setup, etc... just to blow it away! That really is ridiculous, and luckily my HP laptop could disable Secure Boot easily enough from the BIOS menu.

I've had partial success with the latest Fedora (21), Debian (7.7) and Mint (17.1) and all of these should be UEFI-friendly. But none have been smooth, easy, or without issues. None have been a "proper" installation so that GRUB controls the boot with a default OS that I establish. The best I've managed is that I have to hit ESC at boot time to let BIOS choose which system to start, and even then the system frequently freezes on boot (and also on shutdown). I'd like to think there's a hardware or power management problem.... but Windows 8.1 seems to run just fine and dandy. And that ticks me off!

But I am hard-headed enough to think that I will win this fight and get a decent installation of something, sometime. I'd guess Ubuntu will be my next attempt... it does have a good UEFI reputation, but it isn't my favorite distro.

Cheers!

I was able to set Linux as the default to boot in the UEFI menu. Then os-prober auto-added Windows 8.1 to the grub menu. There are some interesting UEFI utilities available for Linux that may be helpful also:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/UEFI#Userspace_Tools
efibootmgr looks promising.

 

[blackneos940]

Well, there are problably 666 reasons that UEFI wants to take over the world too!

I have to take a break from all this fun and get back to my regular job again. I'll keep an eye on your thread and hopefully you will discover someting soon that will make it all work. I'll try to post if I learn anything new also, but I"m about out of ideas at the moment.

Cheers!

Ha ha..... XD No problem, good sir..... :3 If I make some headway, I'll put it here, and you'll get the notification, so.....

Also, I guess this is what REAL Hacking INVOLVES.....

 

[blackneos940]

Just an FYI there are some Linux distributions that have paid for Secure Boot keys from M$. They include Red Hat (and by extension Fedora), Ubuntu, and Chrome OS. SUSE may have a key now but I don't know for sure.

Also, it is easier to disable Secure Boot from inside Windows. We were lucky enough to get a Lenovo all-in-one from Best buy with Secure boot disabled but Windows 8.1 installed. It was the craziest thing. When we logged into Windows we had that little overlay on the Wallpaper saying Secure Boot was not setup and bla bla bla. We installed an update and that notification went away.

But we are dual booting the system with Ubuntu and so far it is pretty good. I mention this story because eventually Secure Boot and UEFI will be a normal occurrence for Linux users. Some day...

Ok then..... :3 If I CAN get a Distro to boot, I might have GPARTED to use to delete that 8GB chunk of data, and also..... Does Arch Linux gave GPARTED on the ISO.....? :3 Also, what's a Lenovo All-In-One.....? Is it a Laptop that doubles as a Tablet.....?

 

[blackneos940]

I was able to set Linux as the default to boot in the UEFI menu. Then os-prober auto-added Windows 8.1 to the grub menu. There are some interesting UEFI utilities available for Linux that may be helpful also:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/UEFI#Userspace_Tools
efibootmgr looks promising.

Thank you for the Link, good sir..... :3 I'm on my Chromebook right now, and will try that from here..... Hope this whole Asus Secure Boot thing can be resolved soon....... Sigh..... :<

 

[ryanvade]

Ok then..... :3 If I CAN get a Distro to boot, I might have GPARTED to use to delete that 8GB chunk of data, and also..... Does Arch Linux gave GPARTED on the ISO.....? :3 Also, what's a Lenovo All-In-One.....? Is it a Laptop that doubles as a Tablet.....?

Arch does not have a GUI on the install media.

 

[atanere]

@blackneos940 -- FYI, I have had some success lately with openSUSE Linux (13.2). It may work for you to dual boot your laptop also. It seems to work with UEFI and Secure Boot enabled. The install DVD lets you choose various desktops (KDE, Gnome, XFCE, and LXDE) but for me LXDE has worked best so far. Gnome and KDE boot to a black screen which I have not tried to resolve. I have not installed XFCE yet. During installation, I also did not configure the wifi networking, but it was easy to configure after the system was up and running.

I actually used a DVD to install with an external drive. I remember you are using USB. I've read elsewhere that Unetbootin sometimes hoses up UEFI when making a bootable USB stick, so if you use that and it gives you trouble... you might try another way to burn the image to your USB, such as "dd" or maybe use Pendrive Linux in Windows. There are other methods as well.

If you get openSUSE to install, your laptop still might default to start Windows. If so, you may need to hit a key when booting (ESC, F2, F10, DEL, or whatever) to get a "Boot Options" screen. From there you should be able to choose openSUSE.

Update: XFCE boots to a black screen, same as KDE and Gnome. But all of them boot okay if you go to advanced grub options and choose recovery or compatibility. XFCE also lacks sound, but all the others have sound working.

Hope it works for you! Cheers!

 

[blackneos940]

@blackneos940 -- FYI, I have had some success lately with openSUSE Linux (13.2). It may work for you to dual boot your laptop also. It seems to work with UEFI and Secure Boot enabled. The install DVD lets you choose various desktops (KDE, Gnome, XFCE, and LXDE) but for me LXDE has worked best so far. Gnome and KDE boot to a black screen which I have not tried to resolve. I have not installed XFCE yet. During installation, I also did not configure the wifi networking, but it was easy to configure after the system was up and running.

I actually used a DVD to install with an external drive. I remember you are using USB. I've read elsewhere that Unetbootin sometimes hoses up UEFI when making a bootable USB stick, so if you use that and it gives you trouble... you might try another way to burn the image to your USB, such as "dd" or maybe use Pendrive Linux in Windows. There are other methods as well.

If you get openSUSE to install, your laptop still might default to start Windows. If so, you may need to hit a key when booting (ESC, F2, F10, DEL, or whatever) to get a "Boot Options" screen. From there you should be able to choose openSUSE.

Update: XFCE boots to a black screen, same as KDE and Gnome. But all of them boot okay if you go to advanced grub options and choose recovery or compatibility. XFCE also lacks sound, but all the others have sound working.

Hope it works for you! Cheers!

I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!! XDDDDDDDDDDD I GOT MY ASUS TO BOOT KUBUNTU!!!..... XD *NECKBEARD INTENSIFIES*

 

[blackneos940]

I did it by following this: https://github.com/lopaka/instructions/blob/master/ubuntu-14.10-install-asus-x205ta.md

Of course, in the Terminal, you replace the Ubuntu ISO name with the ISO of your choice..... I'll admit, I'm a bit wary of removing Windows, since Minecraft has had some issues with WINE, lagging and all (albeit under KDE..... Unity worked just fine)..... But really, Windows was never supposed to be on a Netbook with 2GB of RAM..... I'll just use Windows one day when I get an Alienware Laptop (with Linux as Dual-Boot..... )

Now to get the WI-FI issue fixed..... For those still watching my Progress, I'll post what I get..... Time to use what I used in Mint.....

 

[blackneos940]

Also, I found this..... :3

 

[atanere]

Great news! Congratulations!

But it should not be this hard!!! And on some computer brands, it isn't this hard. I'm very disappointed in HP right now... this netbook I have may be my last from them.

Cheers!

 

[ryanvade]

Great news! Congratulations!

But it should not be this hard!!! And on some computer brands, it isn't this hard. I'm very disappointed in HP right now... this netbook I have may be my last from them.

Cheers!

I may switch to Lenovo from now on. Though I still prefer system76

 

[blackneos940]

Great news! Congratulations!

But it should not be this hard!!! And on some computer brands, it isn't this hard. I'm very disappointed in HP right now... this netbook I have may be my last from them.

Cheers!

Thank you for all your help!..... :3 Only one thing..... I tried that Wi-Fi b43 thing, and it didn't work..... (Y'know, if it'll work on the LiveUSB/CD, it'll work on the Install)..... But.... I have no Wi-Fi, and no Sound either..... I'm on Windows now, until I can make SURE the Sound and Wi-Fi are both working.....

Anyway, is it really that hard.....? Well, I guess it WOULD have been if I hadn't found that Website.... :3 As for Computers, might I recommend a Chromebook, or perhaps a Dell....? : ) Minus the old Inspirons, they work GREAT.....

 

[blackneos940]

I may switch to Lenovo from now on. Though I still prefer system76

I've heard of those..... Do they have good performance.....? I'm not looking for much though, since all I play is PC games from the 2000's and Minecraft and Minetest, as far as Computer gaming goes.....

 

[atanere]

My wife has a Lenovo Yoga... but she won't let me try out Linux on it. I wonder why?!?!

@blackneos940 -- what does lspci tell you about your sound and wifi? You might can find drivers on the web and manually install them.

 

[blackneos940]

My wife has a Lenovo Yoga... but she won't let me try out Linux on it. I wonder why?!?!

@blackneos940 -- what does lspci tell you about your sound and wifi? You might can find drivers on the web and manually install them.

"You might can".....? A fellow Southerner, huh.....? I used to live in MN, so I'm a transplanted Southerner myself..... :3 Well, I'd have to shut this Asus down, and run that command..... BRB!.....