MX Linux Forum

If you're planning to install MX on used/refurbished Thinkpad(s), I would suggest you replace the disk with a new one. Everything is just much easier then :)

The MX User Manual is available online. Section 2 covers Installation. The 'How-To' of doing a standard installation begins in section 2.5.1 titled 'Detailed installation steps'.

https://www.mxlinux.org/manuals PDF in multiple languages.

j2mcgreg wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2024 12:26 pm With a machine with a broken Win 10 or Win 11 install, I would reinstall that OS as a first step (provided that the Quick Start bios control wasn't available).

Thanks MS - what a faff!

Chris

j2mcgreg wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2024 7:56 am Realize that on any laptop made within the last twelve years you will have to boot into Windows at least once to disable Fast Start Up.

The OP said they want to install Linux as the only operating system on the machine, want to install directly out of the box, and don't wish to use Windows in any way. In cases like this - given that you are able to boot into your installation media - you will not need to boot into Windows to disable Fast Startup first. Just make the installer use the whole disk for Linux, and allow it to format it (to the recommended ext4).

I have tested this on multiple systems, and have installed MX Linux on three personal modern Thinkpads. One of them came with a Windows 10 installation, two of them had Windows 11, one Win11 installation even in the default state from Lenovo. In each case, I did not change anything inside Windows prior to installation, as the end result I was after was what the OP is asking, too; I used the whole disk for the Linux installation, formatted to ext4. The most recent one was a Ryzen 5 Pro system this summer. Again, the Fast Startup setting in Windows will not interfere if literally doing what the OP is wanting to do.

@Nokkaelaein wrote:

In cases like this, you will not need to boot into Windows to disable Fast Startup. Just make the installer use the whole disk for Linux, and allow it to format it (to the recommended ext4).

That's wrong. With the advent of Win 10, the bios control "Quck Start" became the Windows feature "Fast Start Up" and the only way to disable it is within Windows 10 or 11.

j2mcgreg wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2024 10:24 am That's wrong. With the advent of Win 10, the bios control "Quck Start" became the Windows feature "Fast Start Up" and the only way to disable it is within Windows 10 or 11.

Please link a respectable and verifiable source that states you need to disable this in Windows before installing Linux if you are not installing a dual-boot system and not interested in using the existing Windows partition(s) - and instead, using the drive from scratch, creating and formatting ext4 partition(s) on the device.

Also, I repeat, I have literally done this on three modern Thinkpads, one of them having Windows 11 in factory state from Lenovo (just this summer), and turned nothing off in Windows, as I installed Linux as the sole operating system on the machine, formatting to ext4.

Nokkaelaein wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2024 10:37 am

j2mcgreg wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2024 10:24 am That's wrong. With the advent of Win 10, the bios control "Quck Start" became the Windows feature "Fast Start Up" and the only way to disable it is within Windows 10 or 11.

Please link a respectable and verifiable source that states you need to disable this in Windows before installing Linux if you are not installing a dual-boot system and not interested in using the existing Windows partition(s) - and instead, using the drive from scratch, creating and formatting ext4 partition(s) on the device.

Also, I repeat, I have literally done this on three modern Thinkpads, one of them having Windows 11 in factory state from Lenovo (just this summer), and turned nothing off in Windows, as I installed Linux as the sole operating system on the machine, formatting to ext4.

Be that as it may, 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.
As to your argument, Thinkpads may be different, but on the HP, Dell, Ideapads and MSI machines that I have worked on since the introduction of Win 10 it has been necessary to disable Fast Start Up prior to installing Linux.

j2mcgreg wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2024 11:40 am As to your argument, Thinkpads may be different, but on the HP, Dell, Ideapads and MSI machines that I have worked on since the introduction of Win 10 it has been necessary to disable Fast Start Up prior to installing Linux.

Your above "That's wrong" is not manufacturer specific. This is a well-defined claim, about installing by creating the partition(s) from scratch, to which you replied it is wrong. Again, please link a respectable and verifiable source that states you need to disable this in Windows before installing Linux, if you are not installing a dual-boot system, and not interested in using the existing Windows partition(s) - and instead, use the drive from scratch, creating and formatting ext4 partition(s) on the device. Otherwise this is just a pointless back and forth from this point onwards.

(I did a search just now, and find no such source stressing the need to do this. Instead, I can find case examples from people who, for example, forgot to disable this in Windows, on non-Thinkpad systems also, and then were stuck with a read-only Windows partition - but then decided to install Linux from scratch as the sole operating system by completely reformatting to ext4. To reiterate once more, I have installed from scratch multiple times, and have never disabled this in Windows 10/11 prior, and have never seen an official source mentioning this being necessary when installing Linux in this manner.)

@Nokkaelaein You may not have hit this in Thinkpads yet, but in Lenovo's and HP's newer models... it is most definitely "a thing" and has been for several years.

Fast Boot is a feature in UEFI/BIOS that reduces your computer boot time with initialization of a minimal set of devices required to launch active boot option.

Note the "initialization of a minimal set of devices"

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/enable-or ... s-11.4922/

https://www.cgdirector.com/what-is-fast-boot-in-bios/

https://itigic.com/fast-boot-setting-in ... ot-faster/

and a search for "fast boot bios" will lead you to MANY known links.

CharlesV wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2024 12:57 pm @Nokkaelaein You may not have hit this in Thinkpads yet, but in Lenovo's and HP's newer models... it is most definitely "a thing" and has been for several years.

Fast Boot is a feature in UEFI/BIOS that reduces your computer boot time with initialization of a minimal set of devices required to launch active boot option.

Note the "initialization of a minimal set of devices"

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/enable-or ... s-11.4922/

https://www.cgdirector.com/what-is-fast-boot-in-bios/

https://itigic.com/fast-boot-setting-in ... ot-faster/

and a search for "fast boot bios" will lead you to MANY known links.

This is different. This is the Fast Boot functionality of the UEFI/BIOS. Note how the instructions you link describe the settings in the actual BIOS/UEFI setting screen of the computer, the first step literally being "Boot to UEFI BIOS firmware settings."

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.