Installation on Thinkpad [Solved]

[Nokkaelaein]

This confusion also leads me to say, explicitly:

Fast Start Up is a hidden bios switch whose control has been ceded to Microsoft, but it remains a bios switch. As such it resides in the bios, a location separate from the HDD or SSD. It will remain in play even in situations where an SSD or HDD has been replaced.

Please link to Microsoft documentation or some other such source that verifies this being the case and preventing installing from scratch in the way I described.

[fehlix]

Again, Fast Boot is different from the Fast Startup feature in Windows, and what j2mcgreg is talking about is the latter.

I tend to agree with you.

[CharlesV]

Sorry post #17 disagrees - at least what I read he IS talking about the BIOS level Fast Boot.

MS has worked with many companies (Lenovo especially) to make sure that Windows can turn this Biso Feature on and off from windows settings.

That bios level feature can help things boot faster.. but the cost of that is the non initialization of some hardware on the mobo.. and this can leave you in a bad state if something took place before.

[CharlesV]

On both my latest HP's, as well as a brand new Lenovo ThinkStation , turning on or off Fast Startup in Windows changed the FastBoot Bios setting.

HP Envy Laptop 17-cw0xxx
HP ENVY x360 2-in-1 Laptop 15-ew0xxx
(Sorry I dont have a QSI for the Thinkstation)

[Nokkaelaein]

Sorry post #17 disagrees - at least what I read he IS talking about the BIOS level Fast Boot.

This was about a Fast Startup feature in Windows, in j2mcgreg's words the Fast Startup setting only settable from within Windows, somehow affecting a BIOS level setting (a hidden one, again according to j2mcgreg) in such a way that it interferes with installing Linux from scratch in the manner I described, i.e. creating a new filesystem, and formatting ext4 partition(s) from scratch. According to him, you need to reinstall Windows to change this setting to a good state. To all of this I say: this needs official info and documentation, to back up these specific claims.

Fast Boot is a different thing.

[j2mcgreg]

@Nokkaelaein wrote:

In other words, this is accessed from booting into the settings screen (accessed by a specific keypress during the bootup process), not within Windows. Again, Fast Boot is different from the Fast Startup feature in Windows, and what j2mcgreg is talking about is the latter.

It's the same thing. On machines with Win 8.1 and earlier it was a user accessible bios control called Quick Start. With Microsoft gaining the ability in Win 10 to write changes to the bios, it became a Windows switch called Fast Start Up but it still remains a bios component.

[Nokkaelaein]

It's the same thing. On machines with Win 8.1 and earlier it was a user accessible bios control called Quick Start. With Microsoft gaining the ability in Win 10 to write changes to the bios, it became a Windows switch called Fast Start Up but it still remains a bios component.

The Fast Startup feature in Windows is patently not the same thing as the Fast Boot (or Quick Start) in the BIOS. Please back up all of this from some official MS documentation or similar, please. If you can show me an MS document saying what you just said, these things being one and the same, I will instantly concede and state I'm in the wrong here. After all, this is about providing factual information on how these things are. But please, without such documents, at least do not continue just in order to "appear being right" about this.

[Kermit the Frog]

Here's a nice explanation from Zorin forums:


Shortly:

• BIOS/UEFI Fast boot: Bypasses certain hardware initialization processes during startup.

• Windows Fast Startup: Stores "Last State" instance's, On Startup, Booting back to Last State (like hibernation)

Consequently: It shouldn't require Windows to just enable/disable it.

(P.S. When Fast Boot is enabled you may not be able to enter Bios settings. In that case select reboot then retry).

[Resume]

So now @Nokkaelaein, if you're correct, what exactly are the steps?
Do I start the compter and immediately go into bios/uefi to disable secure boot, and then install MX on the entire drive?

[Nokkaelaein]

So now @Nokkaelaein, if you're correct, what exactly are the steps?
Do I start the compter and immediately go into bios/uefi to disable secure boot, and then install MX on the entire drive?

If you install on the entire drive, creating a new filesystem and formatting, just follow the installation section in the official MX Linux user manual; it goes into detail on the installation procedure. You haven't told the exact Thinkpad model you are installing onto, but in any case, it's a good idea to try googling that exact model and seeing if something of note comes up in its configuration / hardware makeup, also. On every Thinkpad I've used for MX Linux, it has gone smoothly like this, yes, with no need to alter anything whatsoever inside Windows, specifically, pre-installation. When installing from scratch, and not considering dual booting or leaving a Windows partition behind, etc. etc, I am very sceptical of any such setting that you'd first need to set within Windows. Wait a while if someone comes up with actual official documents on the contrary but I have never encountered any (setting or document, that is).