- This topic has 25 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated Aug 29-1:05 pm by Brian Masinick.
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Posts
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anticapitalX
Current Situation
Hello fellow Linux enthusiasts! I’m preparing to migrate from Legacy BIOS to UEFI boot mode for a fresh antiX25 installation and would love to hear from your experiences and get some guidance.Current Setup:
– Running Legacy BIOS mode (confirmed via
ls /sys/firmware/efi
– directory doesn’t exist)
– Complex partition table with multiple Linux partitions
– Planning complete HDD wipe for clean antiX25 installation
– Want to switch to UEFI for better performance and modern featuresCurrent Partition Layout:
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type /dev/sda1 * 2048 145285119 145283072 69.3G 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT /dev/sda2 145291262 554885118 409593857 195.3G 5 Extended /dev/sda3 554885120 964484729 409599610 195.3G 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT /dev/sda4 964485120 976773118 12287999 5.9G 83 Linux /dev/sda5 227209216 350087167 122877952 58.6G 83 Linux /dev/sda6 452487168 503687167 51200000 24.4G 83 Linux /dev/sda7 401285120 452485119 51200000 24.4G 83 Linux /dev/sda8 350089216 401283071 51193856 24.4G 83 Linux /dev/sda9 503689216 554885118 51195903 24.4G 83 Linux /dev/sda10 145291264 227209215 81917952 39.1G 83 LinuxKnown Issues:
– Partition 2 doesn’t start on physical sector boundary
– Partition table entries not in disk order
– Currently backing up all data for complete fresh start1. Hardware Compatibility Check
– How can I verify if my hardware actually supports UEFI? (System is from ~2015)
– What are the reliable methods to check UEFI support before making the switch?
– Are there any specific hardware components that might cause issues?2. BIOS/UEFI Settings
– What specific BIOS settings should I change when switching from Legacy to UEFI?
– Should I disable Secure Boot initially, or can antiX25 handle it?
– Any experience with CSM (Compatibility Support Module) settings?3. Installation Process
– Best practices for creating UEFI bootable antiX25 USB?
– Recommended partition layout for UEFI antiX installation?
– How large should the EFI System Partition be?4. Potential Issues & Solutions
– What problems did you encounter during Legacy → UEFI migration?
– Any specific antiX-related UEFI quirks I should be aware of?
– Graphics card compatibility issues with UEFI?
– Network driver problems after switching?5. Recovery & Backup Strategy
– What’s your recommended backup strategy before making this change?
– How to prepare for potential rollback to Legacy if things go wrong?
– Essential tools to have ready during the migration?What I’m Looking For
✅ Personal experiences with Legacy to UEFI migration
✅ Specific steps you followed for similar hardware
✅ Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
✅ antiX-specific UEFI installation tips
✅ Hardware compatibility insights
✅ Recovery strategies if things go wrongMy Plan So Far
1. Complete data backup (in progress)
2. Verify UEFI support in BIOS
3. Change BIOS settings to UEFI mode
4. Create UEFI bootable antiX25 USB
5. Wipe drive and create GPT partition table
6. Install antiX25 with proper EFI configurationAm I missing anything critical?
—
System Info:
– Hardware: ~2015 system
– Target OS: antiX25 (upcoming release)
– Current: Legacy BIOS multi-boot setup
– Goal: Clean UEFI-only antiX25 installationThanks in advance for sharing your knowledge and experiences! Any tips, warnings, or success stories would be greatly appreciated. 🙏
Update: Will post results and any issues encountered during the actual migration process.
Let's accept antiX as it is
Pure and Elegant by its natureSystem: Kernel: 6.1.60-antix.1-amd64-smp arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0 clocksource: tsc available: hpet,acpi_pm parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.60-antix.1-amd64-smp root=UUID=6a9f8e5d-64d9-472f-a50f-e3017465d083 ro quiet selinux=0 Desktop: IceWM v: 3.4.5 info: tint2 dm: slimski v: 1.5.0 Distro: antiX-23.1-runit_x64-full Arditi del Popolo 20 February 2024 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm) Machine: Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 33668DG v: ThinkPad Edge E530c serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required> Mobo: LENOVO model: 33668DG serial: <superuser required> UEFI-[Legacy]: LENOVO v: J0ET15WW (1.05 ) date: 08/02/2013 Battery: ID-1: BAT0 charge: 16.5 Wh (100.0%) condition: 16.5/40.4 Wh (40.7%) volts: 12.1 min: 10.8 model: LGC 45N1049 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: full Memory: System RAM: total: 6 GiB note: est. available: 5.4 GiB used: 3 GiB (55.6%) RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. PCI Slots: Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. CPU: Info: model: Intel Core i5-3320M bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge gen: core 3 level: v2 built: 2012-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6 model-id: 0x3A (58) stepping: 9 microcode: 0x21 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: 3094 high: 3097 min/max: 1200/3300 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 3093 2: 3092 3: 3097 4: 3094 bogomips: 20753 Flags: acpi aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon avx bts clflush cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept erms est f16c flexpriority flush_l1d fpu fsgsbase fxsr ht ibpb ibrs ida lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pebs pge pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdrand rdtscp rep_good sep smep smx ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xsave xsaveopt xtopology xtpr Vulnerabilities: Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected 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 status: Unknown: No mitigations Type: retbleed status: Not affected 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: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: conditional, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected Type: srbds status: Vulnerable: No microcode Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected Graphics: Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: Lenovo driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-7 process: Intel 22nm built: 2012-13 ports: active: LVDS-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0166 class-ID: 0300 Device-2: NVIDIA GF119M [GeForce 610M] vendor: Lenovo driver: N/A alternate: nouveau non-free: series: 390.xx+ status: legacy (EOL~2022-11-22) last: release: 390.157 kernel: 6.0 xorg: 1.21 arch: Fermi code: GF1xx process: 40/28nm built: 2010-2016 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1058 class-ID: 0300 Device-3: Chicony Integrated Camera [ThinkPad] driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 2-1.6:3 chip-ID: 04f2:b2ea class-ID: 0e02 Display: server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xcompmgr driver: X: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus 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: LVDS-1 model: LG Display 0x033b built: 2011 res: 1366x768 hz: 60 dpi: 101 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red: x: 0.620 y: 0.369 green: x: 0.357 y: 0.604 blue: x: 0.149 y: 0.102 white: x: 0.314 y: 0.329 size: 344x194mm (13.54x7.64") diag: 395mm (15.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768 API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel crocus platforms: device: 0 drv: crocus device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: crocus surfaceless: drv: crocus x11: drv: crocus inactive: wayland API: OpenGL v: 4.2 vendor: intel mesa v: 22.3.6 glx-v: 1.4 es-v: 3.0 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) device-ID: 8086:0166 memory: 1.46 GiB unified: yes Audio: Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo 7 driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1e20 class-ID: 0403 API: ALSA v: k6.1.60-antix.1-amd64-smp status: kernel-api with: apulse type: pulse-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.3 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl Network: Device-1: Broadcom BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter driver: wl v: kernel modules: bcma pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4727 class-ID: 0280 IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> IP v4: <filter> scope: global broadcast: <filter> IP v6: <filter> scope: link Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Lenovo driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 2000 bus-ID: 0c:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200 IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> IP v4: <filter> scope: global broadcast: <filter> IP v6: <filter> scope: link WAN IP: <filter> Bluetooth: Device-1: Broadcom BCM20702A0 driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-1.3:4 chip-ID: 0a5c:21f4 class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter> Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 4.0 lmp-v: 6 sub-v: 220e hci-v: 6 rev: 1000 class-ID: 7c010c Info: acl-mtu: 1021:8 sco-mtu: 64:1 link-policy: rswitch sniff link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio, telephony Logical: Message: No logical block device data found. RAID: Message: No RAID data found. Drives: Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 103.78 GiB (22.3%) SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD5000LPVX-08V0TT2 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1A03 scheme: MBR Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: HL-DT-ST model: DVDRAM GT80N rev: LN81 dev-links: cdrom,cdrw,dvd,dvdrw Features: speed: 24 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 24.41 GiB size: 23.86 GiB (97.74%) used: 19.99 GiB (83.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda8 maj-min: 8:8 label: Sda10 uuid: 6a9f8e5d-64d9-472f-a50f-e3017465d083 ID-2: /media/master/Sda3 195 raw-size: 195.31 GiB size: 195.31 GiB (100.00%) used: 83.79 GiB (42.9%) fs: ntfs dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 label: Sda3 195 uuid: 56481EF93A4E6D4E ID-3: /media/master/smb-190.254.241.1-MasterHybrid raw-size: N/A size: 187.25 GiB used: 162.57 GiB (86.8%) fs: cifs dev: /dev/MasterHybrid Swap: Alert: No swap data was found. Unmounted: ID-1: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 69.28 GiB fs: ntfs label: N/A uuid: 02BE701DBE700C03 ID-2: /dev/sda10 maj-min: 8:10 size: 39.06 GiB fs: ext4 label: 42GB uuid: 4bf9e388-4c59-46b6-b5aa-108d784dc978 ID-3: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 1 KiB fs: <superuser required> label: N/A uuid: N/A ID-4: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 size: 5.86 GiB fs: swap label: N/A uuid: 946a0335-12f3-4dcf-8887-ff736fb34cec ID-5: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 size: 58.59 GiB fs: ext4 label: Sda7 62 uuid: d9456933-9990-4438-84ff-247368578e9f ID-6: /dev/sda6 maj-min: 8:6 size: 24.41 GiB fs: ext4 label: 24GB uuid: eb0c19d1-352b-484d-b790-b756ac290c5a ID-7: /dev/sda7 maj-min: 8:7 size: 24.41 GiB fs: ext4 label: BTRFS Forks uuid: 446feec5-1af0-4478-95c1-2b96292df971 ID-8: /dev/sda9 maj-min: 8:9 size: 24.41 GiB fs: ext4 label: 25GB uuid: 54d881e7-b9eb-452c-9e37-9528a9efa6be USB: Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900 Hub-2: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 8087:0024 class-ID: 0900 Hub-3: 1-1.2:3 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 100mA chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900 Device-1: 1-1.2.2:5 info: [Maxxter] Optical Gaming Mouse [Xtrem] type: mouse,keyboard driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s (183 KiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.0 power: 100mA chip-ID: 18f8:0f97 class-ID: 0301 Device-2: 1-1.2.3:6 info: SZH USB Keyboard type: keyboard,HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s (183 KiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.0 power: 98mA chip-ID: c0f4:03a0 class-ID: 0300 Device-3: 1-1.3:4 info: Broadcom BCM20702A0 type: Bluetooth driver: btusb interfaces: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 chip-ID: 0a5c:21f4 class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter> Hub-4: 2-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900 Hub-5: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 8 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 8087:0024 class-ID: 0900 Device-1: 2-1.6:3 info: Chicony Integrated Camera [ThinkPad] type: video driver: uvcvideo interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 200mA chip-ID: 04f2:b2ea class-ID: 0e02 Hub-6: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900 Hub-7: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900 Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 78.0 C mobo: N/A Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 0 fan-2: 0 Repos: Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 1960 libs: 974 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,synaptic Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/antix.list 1: deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/antix-archive-keyring.gpg] http://mirror.neolabs.kz/mx/packages/antix/bookworm bookworm main nonfree nosystemd Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/anydesk-stable.list 1: deb http://deb.anydesk.com/ all main Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bookworm-backports.list 1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-backports main contrib non-free non-free-firmware Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 1: deb http://ftp.am.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://ftp.am.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware 2: deb http://security.debian.org/ bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/librewolf.list No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/liquorix.list Processes: CPU top: 5 of 224 1: cpu: 99.9% command: antix-mount-samba-shares started-by: bash pid: 3749 mem: 2.27 MiB (0.0%) 2: cpu: 24.4% command: firefox-bin pid: 10640 mem: 491.5 MiB (8.8%) 3: cpu: 7.8% command: code-oss pid: 11045 mem: 235.0 MiB (4.2%) 4: cpu: 5.0% command: md5sum pid: 11248 mem: 1.01 MiB (0.0%) 5: cpu: 3.2% command: zsh pid: 11250 mem: 8.06 MiB (0.1%) Memory top: 5 of 224 1: mem: 531.7 MiB (9.6%) command: firefox-bin pid: 4217 cpu: 2.2% 2: mem: 491.5 MiB (8.8%) command: firefox-bin pid: 10640 cpu: 24.4% 3: mem: 292.1 MiB (5.2%) command: ./hiddify pid: 4181 cpu: 2.2% 4: mem: 235.0 MiB (4.2%) command: code-oss pid: 11045 cpu: 7.8% 5: mem: 199.7 MiB (3.6%) command: firefox-bin pid: 4887 cpu: 0.2% Info: Processes: 224 Uptime: 13h 50m wakeups: 0 Init: runit v: N/A runlevel: 2 tool: service Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9 default: Bash v: 5.2.15 running-in: roxterm inxi: 3.3.31Let's accept antiX as it is
Pure and Elegant by its nature
Brian Masinick
1. Hardware Compatibility Check
– How can I verify if my hardware actually supports UEFI? (System is from ~2015)
– What are the reliable methods to check UEFI support before making the switch?
– Are there any specific hardware components that might cause issues?That system ought to be able to support UEFI. The good news is you can do it.
The less exciting situation is that if you want to keep all of those other
setups, I’d start now (if not already) and create ISO Snapshots of the ones
you want. I do PERSONAL ISO Snapshots on mine because I can get 100% of
everything I need for myself.2. BIOS/UEFI Settings
– What specific BIOS settings should I change when switching from Legacy to UEFI?
– Should I disable Secure Boot initially, or can antiX25 handle it?
– Any experience with CSM (Compatibility Support Module) settings?If you are going to wipe the disk, replacing BIOS with UEFI involves
creating a file system using GPT partitions instead of the old
“Windows-like” IDE partitions. Once you create a GPT partition
scheme, you want about an approximately 100 MB fat32 or vfat partition;
that’s where the EFI stuff goes. Then you can create as many other
partitions as you wish.On one of my older systems with a disk, they are sda partitions.
If you have a newer SSD, it may be an nvme0 partition naming scheme.
Look at my “What are you here with” topic that Rok and I regularly
write in, and you’ll get a good idea what a typical NMME disk
with GPT partitions look like. Find my Dell Inspiron 5558 and
you can see a GPT setup with a pre NVME SSD setup too.I can give you more later; try digesting that first; ask
questions if unclear.The guy that came up with refind – I believe his name is Rod,
he has a lot of good stuff about going from BIOS to EFI and
he even wrote his own boot loader; I keep it around for whenever
GRUB acts up – that’s not often, and I’ve been pretty good
with old GRUB, EFI GRUB and rod’s refind tool, plus syslinux;
I’ve done LILO in the past too, so I know ’em all to some degree
and I can certainly help “translate” anything you look up and
have difficulty figuring out; based on your questions, they are
very good ones, and as you dig in, I think you may conquer the
other questions; if not, I’ll be happy to help you out some more
later on, OK?--
Brian Masinick
Alternate "Search B":
This search pageXunzi_23
Please note, there are more, and more serious exploits circulating for UEFI
including some which are non removable by normal means.,
as less machines use trad BIOS it is unlikely much effort will be directed at it.Here users will stick to BIOS boot whenever possible.
Brian Masinick
Please note, there are more, and more serious exploits circulating for UEFI
including some which are non removable by normal means.,
as less machines use trad BIOS it is unlikely much effort will be directed at it.Here users will stick to BIOS boot whenever possible.
I believe you @Xunzi_23.
The only reason I use EFI/UEFI/GPT is because certain hardware appears to require it.When I load only one OS on a system then I create one filesystem (root – /) and create a swap file instead of a swap partition, then I use whatever the installer uses with the single file system; it may default to BIOS on antiX; I don’t remember because it was a year ago or longer that I have built such a system.
Irregardless I tend to agree with you; old, infrequently used hardware and software is typically less targeted than the latest stuff; it’s less expensive and the bad guys want a big haul for their trouble!
--
Brian Masinick
Alternate "Search B":
This search pagestevesr0
Hi anticapitalX,
In response to how to check if my computer (motherboard?) supports UEFI, this page discusses that:
https://www.pcsuggest.com/check-bios-uefi-motherboard-info-in-linux/I would respect both Brian’s and Xunzi’s comments.
Side comment, regarding MBR vs GPT. You can switch to GPT without having to go from BIOS to UEFI.
For further info on a range of booting options, as Brian suggested, Rod Smith’s many webpages are recommendable.
Brian Masinick
Thanks. Let me say that since I have become familiar with EFI, and it WAS a big deal for me because I was using hard drive technology years after SSD became available.
I got a really high capacity HDD on my Dell Inspiron 5558 laptop so I didn’t pursue SSD for years and then I got an Acer Chromebook 715 with SSD and the performance was, and still is impressive. This model didn’t get the Chromebook Plus designation, properly because both Acer and Google wanted to promote newer hardware and software, yet to this day the 715 works great.
HERE was a big mistake: because the Acer Chromebook worked so well, I then got an Acer Aspire 515, the variation with good price performance.
I had to hack a bit to replace Windows with Linux on this hardware and I remember having to use different distributions to get the wireless card support I needed, then superimpose that stuff to get antiX functional. I remember @anticapitalista provide a suggestion or two about kernels that would support the card.
Their Acer firmware, as fast as the processor was, turned out to be equally poor, to the extent that I wouldn’t recommend Acer for anything other than Chromebook or Windows loyal users. Unless Acer pre-installs a Linux distribution for you I would not buy one again.
That was part two of my EFI and boot loader struggle. It turns out it wasn’t boot loader issues it was vendor firmware issues! I got an HP-14 and had much better results.
Along the way I picked up an SSD for my Dell laptop, had my usual coordination issues working on small laptop internal parts but I managed to remove the HDD and a couple of hours later successfully install a SSD. I played it conservative and didn’t attempt to install an NVME SSD into the Dell but the SSD I did install reduced the capacity but greatly improved performance.
I didn’t have any issues with the EFI and GPT approach, but I do respect the views of @Xunzi_23 in areas where some people want to be extra cautious.
The age old BIOS worked for a very long time for me, and the newer technology coupled with fast SSD devices on 3-4 of my systems have satisfied me.
Rod Smith has excellent information; anyone lacking information on disk technology can learn something from him.
There are on line articles you can read and there may be books if you prefer that method of learning. I searched the Internet, and used his boot loader until I became proficient in the newer stuff. To this day his boot loader is a life saver if your system is difficult to boot for any reason.
Side comment, regarding MBR vs GPT. You can switch to GPT without having to go from BIOS to UEFI.
For further info on a range of booting options, as Brian suggested, Rod Smith’s many webpages are recommendable
- This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by Brian Masinick.
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Brian Masinick
Alternate "Search B":
This search pageBrian Masinick
https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ is the page about refind.
https://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/index.html is another very good page that talks about BOTH boot loaders AND boot managers, and shares a lot of good information about both.
If you are not completely certain what you are doing with boot loaders but you ARE willing to do a lot of reading and your own research, as Steve also said, Rod Smith has some really solid information.
For average every day stuff he says that either GRUB 2 or even the Linux stub loader are sufficient; GRUB 2 is probably the one to pick ordinarily, BUT if you do continue to have problems his boot loader, refind will definitely still get the job done. The mere fact that the guy doesn’t constantly toot the horn for his own stuff is also a fair assessment that he’s pretty honest with his comments. I’ll say it though: IF Grub gives you issues, don’t hesitate to consider refind; no matter where I’ve tried it, refind works. I don’t often need it, but I’ll pull it in occasionally; any weird problems I find, no big deal; it’s able to accurately identify what’s actually on the system as far as boot loaders, whether they have a working OS behind them or not, so that’s adequate proof to me that his boot loader technology is engineering accurate.
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Brian Masinick
Alternate "Search B":
This search pageBrian Masinick
3. Installation Process
– Best practices for creating UEFI bootable antiX25 USB?
– Recommended partition layout for UEFI antiX installation?
– How large should the EFI System Partition be?Don’t mix BIOS and EFI; do one or the other.
Whether it’s mandatory or not, IF you go with EFI, also switch to GPT partitions.
EFI should be at least 100 MB, I can easily support six distributions on EFI that
size provided that the EFI is used ONLY for boot entries and preferably only ONE
of the distributions controls the EFI; IF some other new installation tries to
control it, unless I agree, if it insists, I boot that new system, update GRUB
there, then boot back to antiX, RELOAD grub-install from my antiX, then REMOVE
the boot loader EFI entry for that other system in the /boot/efi/EFI directory
so that I don’t keep oscillating between multiple boot loaders!That’s a little trick and hack that I’ve made up. I use boot recovery in
either antiX or MX Linux if some other OS tries to get in the way. The
tools in MX Linux are actually very good at this too; I’ve had THEM give
me BACK control to my main antiX image more than once, so that’s another
handy trick; we have tools too, but a couple of times their boot tool
worked better for some strange reason; (it may have been operator error
on my part, but MX and antiX have always complemented each other well
in my many installations over the years, just as antiX complemented
the OLD MEPIS very well when antiX was the “new kid in town”! 🙂--
Brian Masinick
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4. Potential Issues & Solutions
– What problems did you encounter during Legacy → UEFI migration?
– Any specific antiX-related UEFI quirks I should be aware of?
– Graphics card compatibility issues with UEFI?
– Network driver problems after switching?I think I’ve already covered the first dash point.
antiX handles UEFI just fine.
no graphics card or network issues; any such issues
that arise with either of these are typically NOT
related to the boot loader unless you have some
very weird boot options you have to use; I do not
have to deal with that at all and haven’t on
any system other than the broken Acer I got rid of
and that wasn’t antiX; it was terrible vendor firmware
and system console that Acer used instead of developing
a configuration like the best hardware vendors.--
Brian Masinick
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5. Recovery & Backup Strategy
– What’s your recommended backup strategy before making this change?
– How to prepare for potential rollback to Legacy if things go wrong?
– Essential tools to have ready during the migration?As also recommended earlier, I ALWAYS start my setups with ISO Snapshot.
Here’s my particular method; you can do whatever is most suitable for you.
First I get my new ISO image and put it on a Flash Drive and install it;
then I add my favorite software and do an ISO Snapshot when I’m done.HOWEVER, if I am REBUILDING a disk configuration to install a complete
collection of different stuff, different file organization, etc., I’d
use a different order of operations:1) I would snapshot ANYTHING I want to use or reinstall, so in other
words, back it up; my method is to do so with a complete ISO SNAPSHOT.IF you have a backup of some kind for every image, even a disaster can
be fixed by putting it on another system or rebuilding everything.
Since it is SO important to have a backup, instead of hurrying through
this process, I would test every single backup.If you choose to do ISO SNAPSHOT images like I do, that makes it easy
to test them because most, if not all of them, should be bootable, so
before you build the next environment, test each image for at least
an hour or two; if nervous, run em for a couple of days to make sure
you don’t miss a thing.It might be a good idea to grab Rod Smith info and snag a copy of
refind in case you run into unexpected boot loader issues; that’ll
help you navigate through them; you may not NEED it, but it sure
will help if you end up battling something with UEFI that you are
unprepared to fully understand at first; his books and his boot
loader will help with that learning without a doubt; many years
ago his stuff saved the day for me.--
Brian Masinick
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Your last items:
What I’m Looking For
✅ Personal experiences with Legacy to UEFI migration
✅ Specific steps you followed for similar hardware
✅ Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
✅ antiX-specific UEFI installation tips
✅ Hardware compatibility insights
✅ Recovery strategies if things go wrongMy Plan So Far
1. Complete data backup (in progress)
2. Verify UEFI support in BIOS
3. Change BIOS settings to UEFI mode
4. Create UEFI bootable antiX25 USB
5. Wipe drive and create GPT partition table
6. Install antiX25 with proper EFI configurationAm I missing anything critical?
—
System Info:
– Hardware: ~2015 system
– Target OS: antiX25 (upcoming release)
– Current: Legacy BIOS multi-boot setup
– Goal: Clean UEFI-only antiX25 installationI think we have now covered them all; write back if you need more
help. Steve seems to have gone through this “fun” before too, so
if I’m not around he may be a good additional resource.Good luck! I think you are planning well, so YOUR OWN research
will greatly assist you in being 100% successful with this upcoming
change; I think you have plenty of time so be patient; do all the work
and you may end up being one of our top experts in this area!--
Brian Masinick
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antiX runs just fine on pure-UEFI. I think you are making this harder than it has to be at the outset.
I have several Intel NUC’s with the latest “visual bios”, which makes it super-easy to turn into pure-csm, pure-uefi, or a mix. And here is the real problem:
If you are picking up these machines second-hand, aside from disabling secure-boot, (and which many of my modern mini-pc’s have that disabled by default), you should always reset the bios back to factory defaults, before you start flipping things around.
Why? Because uncle-Ferd read somewhere on the interwebZ to goose-up his machine for performance, they tweak things they have no clue about. Hence my recommendation if you are getting one second hand, is to reset the bios before you do anything else. You can also have mis-matched or not-truly compatible stuff, like the wrong ram speeds, wrong channels for ssd’s, and totally hackey combinations of cables and adapters that are 10 years or more beyond the machines design. In some cases it works, in other cases it doesn’t. And aging HD’s can be suspect too. I won’t mention GRC because it makes people angry.
Then we try to support that without knowing. 🙂
Other problems are those trying to boot 25 different distros with 3rd-party boot managers, etc. But we aren’t told.
Start from baseline: Reset the bios to factory. Enable uefi-only if you have that option. Burn a read-only bootable antiX stick with dd or whatever util you have. Use THAT to install to ANOTHER usable fresh stick with live-usb-maker. Does that work? You’ve cut out any boot-manager shenanigans, hd’s, and other possible failure points. Now Install if you like to the hard drive. Or like me, groove on usb sticks and family only. 🙂
It’s really that simple, it doesn’t have to be such a complicated process. UEFI-only works fine.
Brian Masinick
“Other problems are those trying to boot 25 different distros with 3rd-party boot managers, etc”
You’re right, but even then, there are people from out of the “past” when many more of us had
fuller heads of hair and that hair was much closer to it’s original color, who experimented
with how many systems they could boot within one environment.I don’t know how many disks the guy had, but one fella got 100 systems booting; it may have
been GRUB Legacy, and it may have been BIOS instead of UEFI, but you’re right; if anything
UEFI and EFI, combined with the GPT CAN handle it: here’s one quote I got from some AI
rendering of a Wiki page, but I believe this particular comment:“GPT, or GUID Partition Table, is a modern standard for partitioning disks that allows for larger disk sizes and more partitions compared to the older Master Boot Record (MBR) scheme. It is part of the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) standard and supports disks up to 9.4 zettabytes, making it suitable for contemporary storage.”
So if this monstrosity can handle over 9 zettabytes, I think it can easily handle our 64 GB to 512 GB typical setups and much more.
I’ve used UEFI and GPT on systems over ten years old and I’m using it on my current Lenovo T14 too.
@Xunzi_23 mentioned some potential issues and I’m NOT here to dispute his findings, but I’m also here to affirm that I’ve been using this stuff (late to the game at that) for at least 7-8 years now and it’s been around for over a decade, and even if there are defects, the much more disagreeable systemD stuff, well over 250 versions later, still has defects reported, and though we don’t “like it” around these parts, it’s also running on enterprise grade systems without constant failure (even if there are defects).
Like the ever pragmatic @PDP-8, I’ll also try to ease your fears: defects or not, different or not, changes or not, it’s not going to be a big problem.
I’ve written about and answered all of the questions. If you want to be conservative and safe (no reason not to be), just make certain you back everything up and/or provide yourself at least one or two alternatives in case you hose something up: I’ve done it before: I was working on reorganizing something; I thought I was on a different system and when I looked up, I was wiping out a configuration on hardware with at LEAST six different distributions!
Did I panic? Of course not, because I follow my own advice. I have CDs, DVDS, and Flash Drives galore. On my older systems I can STILL install ancient software. Though I’ve gotten rid of some stuff, I still have more than enough. On my more modern equipment, I’ve been using ISO SNAPSHOTS and remastered images on Flash Drives for several years now. If it all gets wrecked, I have some cloud based things as another resource to recover from, but that’s backup of backup. Mostly I have recent vintage USB Flash Drives that have been used and verified; they are my easiest backup and recovery. If you have that, DON’T worry, be happy: you’ve done what you need to do, defects or no defects.
It’ll work; @PDP-8, @stevesr0 and I are capable of assisting you, and there are most certainly others out there too.
Go for it and stick with your plan; it’s MORE than solid.
--
Brian Masinick
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This search pageYep things should go smoothly. One thing in the past regarding older machines, is that sometimes we fight over specifications, versus what the actual manufacturer’s metal hardware wants.
Like what the size of the fat32 partition should be. Should it be 50, 128, 256, 512mb ?? Some machines stick to spec, other’s don’t when on your actual table. Back when I was partitioning and formatting manually, I always made it 512mb. To account for the actual metal corner-case machines that for whatever reason, expected it to be 512mb despite the spec! Lots of hair-pulling over that one. So with today’s storage devices, I just remember 512mb and be done with it to cover all cases and not scratch my head…
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