MX Linux Forum

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 10:37 am**

hello forum and hope everyone is well.

The laptop i am currently using has mx installed using the MBR legacy method..the laptop came with windows 10 preinstalled but i scrubbed that and installed mx..Upon one of my previous posts i was infromed that maybe i should install using the UEFI method..I have never installed this way before..my bios is set to use mbr so i assume i will need to change those.
Is there a tutorial somewhere on how to install mx this way please.?

thanks.

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 10:43 am**

Please post your QSI.

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 10:53 am**

Roughly: You can change from mbr to gpt in GParted (on live session) but, the moment you do it, the whole disk will be wiped (all grey "unallocated" space).

So, if you have no data / nothing to lose on disk, you can do it that way, and then you can either select auto-installation (it'll do all what's needed)

Regular or Custom Install.jpeg

... or create partitions manually then go on with custom installation. (and of course change Bios to uefi (from legacy) then save changes and exit before installation)

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 10:54 am**

... According to your reply we'll go on how to / what to do ...

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 11:08 am**

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-16-amd64 [6.1.67-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-6.1.0-16-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.36 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.18.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.26.0 Distro: MX-23.1_x64 Libretto July 31  2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Latitude E7270 v: N/A serial: <superuser required> Chassis:
    type: 9 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0K4CNR v: A00 serial: <superuser required> UEFI-[Legacy]: Dell v: 1.16.4
    date: 06/02/2017
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 49.2 Wh (100.0%) condition: 49.2/55.0 Wh (89.4%) volts: 8.2 min: 7.6
    model: Samsung SDI DELL 1W2Y25C type: Li-poly serial: <filter> status: full
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-6300U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Skylake gen: core 6 level: v3
    note: check built: 2015 process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x4E (78) stepping: 3
    microcode: 0xF0
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache: L1: 128 KiB
    desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 475 high: 500 min/max: 400/3000 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: powersave cores: 1: 500 2: 400 3: 500 4: 500 bogomips: 19999
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Vulnerable: No microcode
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: IBRS, IBPB: conditional, STIBP: conditional, RSB filling,
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: TSX disabled
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9
    process: Intel 14n built: 2015-16 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2
    bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:1916 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.18.0 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 361x203mm (14.21x7.99") s-diag: 414mm (16.31")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: AU Optronics 0x106c built: 2013 res: 1366x768 hz: 60 dpi: 125
    gamma: 1.2 size: 277x156mm (10.91x6.14") diag: 318mm (12.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 520 (SKL GT2)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    alternate: snd_soc_skl,snd_sof_pci_intel_skl bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:9d70 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-16-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.65 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-LM vendor: Dell driver: e1000e v: kernel port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6
    chip-ID: 8086:156f class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wireless 8260 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:24f3 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-8:4
    chip-ID: 8087:0a2b class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 3 state: down bt-service: N/A rfk-block: hardware: no
    software: no address: <filter>
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:4 sco-mtu: 96:6 link-policy: rswitch sniff link-mode: peripheral accept
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 223.57 GiB used: 45.29 GiB (20.3%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: SanDisk model: HX240GSSDM2 size: 223.57 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 5A0 scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 17.13 GiB size: 16.32 GiB (95.25%) used: 11.66 GiB (71.5%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-2: /boot raw-size: 3.13 GiB size: 3.12 GiB (99.80%) used: 336.3 MiB (10.5%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 50.88 GiB size: 49.78 GiB (97.84%) used: 33.3 GiB (66.9%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 3 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 47.0 C pch: 38.0 C mobo: 36.0 C sodimm: SODIMM C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2071 libs: 1043 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
  Processes: 191 Uptime: 45m wakeups: 2 Memory: 7.58 GiB used: 1.96 GiB (25.8%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 11:13 am**

You can (if you like) just change to Uefi. But, the moment you change the partitioning scheme (no matter from mbr to gpt or the vice versa) the whole disk will be blank.

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 3:02 pm**

Charlie Brown wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2023 11:13 am You can (if you like) just change to Uefi. But, the moment you change the partitioning scheme (no matter from mbr to gpt or the vice versa) the whole disk will be blank.

How do i go about just changing it.?

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 3:43 pm**

This is how I would do it:

1) rewrite the ISO to your USB drive, but this time specify that your write utility (Live USB Maker, Rufus on Windows, Ventoy etc) use GPT partitioning.
2) insert the USB drive into the target computer
3) on the target computer, access the bios and reset it to the factory default and then disable secure boot, if necessary. Exit bios while saving changes.
4) boot to a live session of MX 23 and take some time to make sure everything works
5) install MX using the "Automatic install using entire disk" method

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 4:14 pm**

Yep, but the auto-installation won't change the partitioning scheme, you need to do that manually beforehand if I'm not wrong.

maximus linuxos wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2023 3:02 pmHow do i go about just changing it.?

You just need to enter Bios settings. Generally it's F2 or F12 on Dells, press and hold once you start the pc. ...

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 4:28 pm**

Charlie Brown wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2023 4:14 pm Yep, but the auto-installation won't change the partitioning scheme, you need to do that manually beforehand if I'm not wrong.

maximus linuxos wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2023 3:02 pmHow do i go about just changing it.?
You just need to enter Bios settings. Generally it's F2 or F12 on Dells, press and hold once you start the pc. ...

MX's auto-install method wipes the target HDD / SDD and then re-partitions it as necessary. If it didn't anybody switching from another OS could be left in a real pickle.

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 4:35 pm**

I remember just now that it does it according to uefi setting (again, if I'm not wrong).. whether it's set to uefi or legacy (or it's just Bios) .. gpt/mbr ...

Posted: **Sun Dec 17, 2023 5:13 pm**

This Dell once had Windows 10 on it and likely Secure Boot, SATA Controller Mode and possibly Boot Order were changed to allow that MX installation in MBR mode.

The 'Enable Legacy Option ROM' was likely enabled, needed for MBR Boot Mode. My best practice recommendation is it should be disabled prior to attempting the UEFI install.

Why?

Many PCs with the 'Enable Legacy Option ROM' on/enabled will boot in UEFI [from a UEFI boot USB] and the MX Installer will detect the UEFI boot. If however the UEFI boot fails, many PCs use the 'Legacy Option' [aka CSM] as a fallback and then boot MBR Mode. The boot error may or may not flash onscreen just before MBR boot up commences. The MX Installer will detect the boot was MBR and install as such.

See page 40 to page 46 here - https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/latitude-e7270-ultrabook_owners-manual_en-us.pdf

Changing the creation of the MX Boot USB to GPT Mode is usually sufficient to get past the 'Legacy Option ROMs' being on/enabled for business grade Dell PCs. Other Dell PCs still OK to not so much.

As always the PC firmware is programmed by a human and their interpretation of the UEFI spec has been shown to vary. I've seen it in person with one of my Dell PCs (TPM was off or 1.2 only). A BIOS update flash did fix it BTW (TMP was then off/1.2/2.0).

Posted: **Mon Dec 18, 2023 10:32 am**

I tried the uefi install and i got a black screen saying there were no bootable devices found..Not certain my laptop is uefi compliant....i changed the settings in the bios and nothing happened.It is possible i may have missed a bios setting..i am not familiar with this bios approach.

Posted: **Mon Dec 18, 2023 10:57 am**

For me, setting the esp and boot flags in the ESP partition is easy to forget with Gparted.
Only one of these is required for linux (maybe esp, and boot for windows) or I transposed these requirements, but enabling both flags are fine, in fact some installers and/or Gparted fill in both when you select one of them.

Obviously as others have said, disable secure boot, and I forget, maybe change SATA to achi in bios, or do I have that reversed – anyway someone will read this and correct it.

And don't be afraid of experimenting with Gparted and custom installation, perhaps later installing a separate Data partition.
Gparted is solid, View → device information. Many find it easier to use Gparted first, then install.

++EDIT without reading the entire post, did you create an ESP partition? 100 MiB to 1 GiB Huge, maybe a few hundred or 0.5 GiB, it's normally the first partition. Maybe you don't need to create this manually with an auto-install as it would probably create it for you - I've never done an auto-install.

Good Luck

Posted: **Mon Dec 18, 2023 11:35 am**

maximus linuxos wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2023 10:32 am I tried the uefi install and i got a black screen saying there were no bootable devices found..Not certain my laptop is uefi compliant....i changed the settings in the bios and nothing happened.It is possible i may have missed a bios setting..i am not familiar with this bios approach.

Maybe post QSI from Live booted system, but re-enable UEFI first.
also post efi entries as listed by this:
Open terminal and run:

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efibootmgr -v

and wrap the terminal text shown into code brackets like those [code] here [/code] by using [</>] button.

MX Linux Forum

New UEFI install.

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