Dual boot windows 7 and linux mint on "Insyde H2O EFI" bios

[roynalnaruto]

I have a sony vaio s series laptop that makes use of insyde h2o bios.
it comes with windows 7 pre-installed. i want linux mint 14 on my laptop.
i went through some threads related to this. In one of those , dual booting isn't done , and in the other , the guy has given a step wise process for installing ubuntu..
i am new to this forum , can somebody please help me out? sad to say but i will need a step by step procedure to do the same , coz i dont have much idea about it.
thanks for your time

[viking777]

The steps for installing Ubuntu and Mint are identical, it is the same installer.
I don't have any reports of the Insyde H20 bios in my Uefi thread yet, but the F series of Insyde bioses get a good report, so maybe that bodes well, but don't quote me .
Please add your comments to this thread when you have completed your install: viewtopic.php?f=49&t=127071

There is a tutorial on installing to Uefi machines here: viewtopic.php?f=42&t=121912 although this person is not using the same bios as yourself although the steps should be similar. Unfortunately with Uefi installs there is no guarantee of anything, as you have already learned it depends entirely on the bios (firmware) chip.

[srs5694]

Some Insyde implementations disable the EFI-mode boot capabilities, enabling on BIOS-mode booting. Even on those with EFI capabilities, some manufacturers have chosen to use BIOS-mode booting with Windows 7. Others have used EFI-mode booting. Thus, your first step should be to determine what your current Windows boot mode is. This is most easily done by checking the partition table type -- MBR means a BIOS-mode boot and GPT means an EFI-mode boot. See this page for details:

http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/bootmode.html#windows

With that information in hand, you can decide whether to do a BIOS-mode or an EFI-mode Linux installation, to match the boot mode of Windows. Double-check your boot mode in the Linux installer by dropping to a shell and looking for a directory called /sys/firmware/efi. If it's present, you've booted in EFI mode. If it's absent, you've probably booted in BIOS mode. The installer's boot mode determines the mode of the Linux installation. If it doesn't match the Windows boot mode, you should check for BIOS options or the boot menu you can usually get by pressing a function key at boot time to change the boot mode for the installation medium.

[roynalnaruto]

yes the partition style in my laptop is GPT.
i read <http://ashishgrover.com/linux-and-windows-dual-boot-bios-uefiefi/> here about the same problem, but this guy hasn't told how to use rEFInd, if anybody could help me out pls

[srs5694]

Follow any generic installation guide you like, but:

• Check the installer's boot mode to be sure it's running in EFI mode. You can do this by dropping to a shell and looking for a directory called /sys/firmware/efi. If it's present, you've booted in EFI mode. If you don't see it, reboot and fiddle with your firmware options to get an EFI-mode boot.
• Be aware that there may be some differences from a BIOS-based guide when it comes to boot loader installation. Also, there's no distinction under GPT between primary, extended, and logical partitions, so you can ignore references to these in a guide intended for a BIOS-mode installation.
• If the system doesn't boot or if you run into other problems, post back with details. Problems come in many forms, so it's impossible to predict what might go wrong with your installation, short of producing a very long list!

Since you mention you want to use rEFInd, you should know that Mint doesn't come with rEFInd; you'll have to install it after installing Mint. The easiest way is to install the Debian package for rEFInd after you boot your installed system. Once that's working, you can uninstall GRUB, if you don't use it. (Note that you'll still need GRUB to boot the 3.2.0 kernel that ships with Mint 13; but Mint 14 ships with a newer kernel that rEFInd can boot directly.)

[roynalnaruto]

no i want to install mint alongside windows 7 ... and this seems too difficult to understand ... since all the guys i know have Master boot record MBR , even they cant help me out. just tell me how do i start , and i'm not too comfortable as off now with technical terms. sorry but i'm a completely newbie to this...

[srs5694]

There are very few differences at the user level between a BIOS-mode and an EFI-mode installation, and the problems you might encounter are mostly system-specific. Thus, I stand by my original post. If you have specific questions, feel free to post them. If you want a step-by-step guide, then as I said, follow any such guide you like and if you run into problems, post back with details.

[roynalnaruto]

finally!!!!!! i have linux mint cinnamon on my laptop... !!!
but the only thing that troubles me now is , the 'airplane mode' becomes 'on' automatically , and i am not able to switch 'on' the WiFi.
any help? thanks

[srs5694]

the only thing that troubles me now is , the 'airplane mode' becomes 'on' automatically , and i am not able to switch 'on' the WiFi.
any help? thanks

If nobody answers here, I suggest you start a new thread with a relevant subject line, since this problem is probably unrelated to dual-booting or Insyde's EFI implementation.