Am 30.03.23 um 19:30 schrieb mark neidorff:
*Background*: Just for the record, I started using OpenSUSE with 10.3. I have been pleased and you folks who help are great.
I have avoided UEFI for as long as I can. My old computer died a sudden death and the time has come to deal with UEFI. Fortunately for me, almost 2 years ago I came across a Dell XPS 8940, with NVMe and SSD drives, high end graphics (I'm not a gamer, so that's not a big deal for me), and the usual other bells and whistles. The deal was good because it was a return, so it has sat. I did try to install OpenSUse (don't remember the version, but it did support UEFI) but that did not go well. I looked for docs on UEFI, but they seemed to be non-existent. Now that I am "in a corner" I want to go back and see if I can get Leap 15.4 installed on this computer. I downloaded the UEFI version and have it on a DVD, so I am ready. My goal is to boot and run OpenSuse from the NVMe drive and use the SSD drive as a data backup dirve--but I will listen to any other suggestions. *Main question: * When I tried the install the first time, I noticed that drive and partition designation (for a start) were completely different under UEFI. Is there "non-technical, human readable" documentation that can walk me through repartitioning, and the UEFI installation? It can be a SUSE document or a book. Now I need to understand what I am doing so I can have a working--full sized computer again--tired of this laptop. Thank you for any help, Mark
well, if your bios is able to switch off uefi, switch it of, i by only computer who are able to do. simoN -- www.becherer.de ----------------------------------------------- - Das ist die vorlaeufig endgueltige Version! - Herbert C. Maier Dipl.-Ing. (FH) -----------------------------------------------
mark neidorff composed on 2023-03-30 13:30 (UTC-0400):
*Background*: Just for the record, I started using OpenSUSE with 10.3. I have been pleased and you folks who help are great.
I have avoided UEFI for as long as I can. My old computer died a sudden death and the time has come to deal with UEFI. Fortunately for me, almost 2 years ago I came across a Dell XPS 8940, with NVMe and SSD drives, high end graphics (I'm not a gamer, so that's not a big deal for me), and the usual other bells and whistles. The deal was good because it was a return, so it has sat. I did try to install OpenSUse (don't remember the version, but it did support UEFI) but that did not go well. I looked for docs on UEFI, but they seemed to be non-existent. Now that I am "in a corner" I want to go back and see if I can get Leap 15.4 installed on this computer. I downloaded the UEFI version and have it on a DVD, so I am ready. My goal is to boot and run OpenSuse from the NVMe drive and use the SSD drive as a data backup dirve--but I will listen to any other suggestions. *Main question: * When I tried the install the first time, I noticed that drive and partition designation (for a start) were completely different under UEFI. Is there "non-technical, human readable" documentation that can walk me through repartitioning, and the UEFI installation? It can be a SUSE document or a book. Now I need to understand what I am doing so I can have a working--full sized computer again--tired of this laptop.
From an installation perspective, UEFI doesn't really change anything. UEFI and GPT partitioning are go-togethers, dispensing with the concept of partitions termed "logical", even though *all* storage device partitions are logical. Booting from UEFI depends on presence of a small FAT partition, the EFI System Partition, or ESP, with a minimum size of 100M for most installations, and a minimum size of 260M if the installation disk is 16T or more and has 4k sector sizes lacking 512b sector size emulation. Recommended size is all over the place, from the Windows minimum of 100M to sometimes 1000M or more. For typical installations, 500M, a common recommendation, means more than 90% of available space is wasted. Last I checked, the openSUSE installers complain that 100M is too small. That warning, if it appears, should be ignored. The ESP gets mounted to /boot/efi/. My own all have 320M, as they are all multi- multiboot. Every installed distro with an installed Grub will normally have its own ESP directory, when normally mounted, in /boot/efi/EFI/. It is from the ESP partition that boot actually begins, rather than from any disk's master boot record, by the EFI BIOS reading a file, most commonly grubx64.efi. Grub operation on UEFI differs mainly on its initial launching. The tools for maintaining it, and /boot/grub2/grub.cfg, are essentially the same, but a new one, efibootmgr, independent of Grub, has been added to inquire of and manage boot order in the UEFI BIOS - to configure the location of the file to be read to initiate boot. UEFI doesn't care what you install on any more than legacy. NVME partitions go by /dev/nvme#n#p## just like ATA HDDs & SSDs go by /dev/sdX##. NVME drives use a different driver than ATA drives, but that is of no concern to installation or users. Tools exist that are capable of converting MBR partitioning into GPT partitioning if that makes any sense to try, but typically because of the need for the new ESP or other reasons it's best to start fresh with a new table and new partitions. Most UEFI BIOS present an option that goes by various labels according to computer brand or BIOS developer, but should be labeled CSM or/for "Compatibility Support Module". To ensure installation occurs in UEFI mode, it's best that it be disabled, so that the installation media has no other option than to boot in UEFI mode. The UEFI installer omits the Fn key list at the bottom of its boot screen. Any necessary edits for booting the installer are done in same manner as with an installed Grub, strike the E key and add or remove as required before proceeding. They are mainly the same as always. Many are listed on https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Linuxrc -- Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion, based on faith, not based on science. Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata
On 2023-03-30 19:30, mark neidorff wrote:
*Background*: Just for the record, I started using OpenSUSE with 10.3. I have been pleased and you folks who help are great.
I have avoided UEFI for as long as I can. My old computer died a sudden death and the time has come to deal with UEFI. Fortunately for me, almost 2 years ago I came across a Dell XPS 8940, with NVMe and SSD drives, high end graphics (I'm not a gamer, so that's not a big deal for me), and the usual other bells and whistles. The deal was good because it was a return, so it has sat.
I did try to install OpenSUse (don't remember the version, but it did support UEFI) but that did not go well. I looked for docs on UEFI, but they seemed to be non-existent. Now that I am "in a corner" I want to go back and see if I can get Leap 15.4 installed on this computer. I downloaded the UEFI version and have it on a DVD, so I am ready.
There is no UEFI or non UEFI versions of the install image. It is a single one.
My goal is to boot and run OpenSuse from the NVMe drive and use the SSD drive as a data backup dirve--but I will listen to any other suggestions.
*Main question: * When I tried the install the first time, I noticed that drive and partition designation (for a start) were completely different under UEFI.
Huh, no. The designation does not change because of UEFI. They changed because you were using an NVMEe drive.
Is there "non-technical, human readable" documentation that can walk me through repartitioning, and the UEFI installation? It can be a SUSE document or a book. Now I need to understand what I am doing so I can have a working--full sized computer again--tired of this laptop.
UEFI basically only affects normal users for the booting method, and you don't really need to know how it is done. UEFI is just the name of new BIOS. Instead of BIOS, now machines have UEFI. It has new features and capabilities. One of them, the one that pisses most people, is that the boot can be "protected" or "secured". The kernel and files that perform the booting have to be signed with a key that the BIOS (UEFI) recognizes. If the kernel is replaced with a non signed one by a bad guy, say, the machine will not boot. Theoretically. It can be disabled in the configuration of most machines. UEFI booting comes coupled with a new disk partitioning scheme. The previous system (MBR) only allowed 4 primary partitions, forcing hacks to be able to boot more systems. The new system (GPT) allows many primary partitions, and thus, many bootable operating systems in a single disk. The computer now has a tiny menu for choosing which one to boot (usually you need to press some key during boot to access it). The new scheme now says that you must place a small FAT partition anywhere in the disk that is used to hold boot code for multiple operating systems. The ESP partition (EFI System Partition) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFI_system_partition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table For practical purposes, nothing changes. You boot the installation DVD or USB, select install. It will make a partitioning proposal. If you don't like it, you change it. Just do not remove the /boot/efi partition it proposes. It will propose a root partition of type btrfs. If you want a /home partition, it will propose an XFS one. It will propose a swap partition, and enlarge it if you say you want to be able to hibernate. -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 15.4 x86_64 at Telcontar)
participants (4)
-
Carlos E. R. -
Felix Miata -
mark neidorff -
Simon Becherer