Uefi sys unable to boot [SOLVED]

[Amithiel]

Ok, so here's my new nightmare:

- Installed windows 8, so it creates an "efi" partition. Everything working. ( i don't want win8, installed just because of the partition)
- Got to bios, disable fastboot and secureboot (asus laptop)
- Boot from usb made with unetbootin (linuxmint 15)
- Detects and installs as uefi. No problems, no errors. Manual partitioning:
1 swap partition
1 efi (from windows8 )
1 ext4
- Final step, asks for reboot after the instalation. And when it reboots....direct to bios. As if no OS is installed.

OK, went mad. Was it efi fault? Trying again. This time i erased all partitions. Create 1 efi partition with 300MB size, 1 swap and 1 ext4. Install again. Result = FAIL.
OK, let me try with a DVD instead my usb pen. Result = FAIL.

This is becoming stupid. Lets try ubuntu 13.04. Installed ubuntu using the "full disk" partitioning.
Ubuntu did create that stupid efi partition. Nice, lets now format again and try linxumint 1 more time.
Manual partition, preserved the efi (created by ubuntu), and bla bla bla. Result = FAIL

Now i'm out of ideas. Had to install ubuntu 13.04 again, which i hate. Someone tell me how in earth can i install linuxmint?
OH, i tried installing in legacy mode? its also a fail. But gives me instead a nice screen saying the grub failed to install.

A little info:

Laptop: ASUS S56CM , core i7 , nvidia 2gb , ram=6gb . DIsc 1TB + 1 partition 24 GB ssd ( i'm not even using my ssd. this is already a nice nightmare, so i have decided not installing my / to that disk, to avoid possible mess)
Came with windows 8 pre installed, which i ditched. i only use linux.

[wayne128]

( i don't want win8, installed just because of the partition)
- Got to bios, disable fastboot and secureboot (asus laptop)
- Boot from usb made with unetbootin (linuxmint 15)
- Detects and installs as uefi. No problems, no errors. Manual partitioning:
1 swap partition
1 efi (from windows8 )
1 ext4
- Final step, asks for reboot after the instalation. And when it reboots....direct to bios. As if no OS is installed.

OK, went mad. Was it efi fault? Trying again. This time i erased all partitions. Create 1 efi partition with 300MB size, 1 swap and 1 ext4. Install again. Result = FAIL.
OK, let me try with a DVD instead my usb pen. Result = FAIL.

This is becoming stupid. Lets try ubuntu 13.04. Installed ubuntu using the "full disk" partitioning.
Ubuntu did create that stupid efi partition. Nice, lets now format again and try linxumint 1 more time.
Manual partition, preserved the efi (created by ubuntu), and bla bla bla. Result = FAIL

Now i'm out of ideas. Had to install ubuntu 13.04 again, which i hate. Someone tell me how in earth can i install linuxmint?
OH, i tried installing in legacy mode? its also a fail. But gives me instead a nice screen saying the grub failed to install.

A little info:

Laptop: ASUS S56CM , core i7 , nvidia 2gb , ram=6gb . DIsc 1TB + 1 partition 24 GB ssd ( i'm not even using my ssd. this is already a nice nightmare, so i have decided not installing my / to that disk, to avoid possible mess)
Came with windows 8 pre installed, which i ditched. i only use linux.

From what I read....
and guess... sorry can just guess...

Your hard disk is likely GPT formatted.
Since you already wipe everything...

Why not save some trouble by doing old way..
no point struggle with complexity of uefi/gpt....
afterall, your hard disk is only 1TB. old way, msdos format, can support upto 2TB.

If my guess is correct, that yours is GPT.
if my guess is wrong, then skip further reading.. wait for others to help.

What you then can do is...
Format the 1TB to msdos...

after that, do according to what you have written..
partition to what you like

installation should then be as per old way.. very high chance of working.. on many, yes many linux distros...

good luck

[Amithiel]

so...live boot linuxmint, format entire disk using gparted to what format? msdos not on the list. also..in the partition manager i will have to change to ext4 again!i dont understand.
sorry bit noob here

[wayne128]

I used gparted to format.

If your Live DVD or Live USB does not have gparted installed, just run this in the command

sudo apt-get install gparted


Then run it, and you will see a GUI that look like this link
http://akabaila.pcug.org.au/gpt/gpt_gparted.html

copy from the link..
Click now on the menu item Device and find an option Create Partition Table. Click on it and see a dire warning Warning. This will erase all data on the entire disk etc. Heed the warning - this is your chance to go back and re-check your settings. If you decide to proceed, click on the Advanced button. The image will change to something similar to the following.

you see a lot of selection on different format, when you click the advanced button, msdos is usually default, other are like gpt, mac, sun, etc

you set to msdos... exactly look like the last image on the link...then apply.

please note, you cannot run gparted when you boot and run from installed Linux OS and attempt to format Device..., it cannot kill itself. you must run from Linux Live DVD / USB in order for you to format the internal hard disk

[wayne128]

also..in the partition manager i will have to change to ext4 again!i dont understand.

The hard disk must have top level format.
Such as msdos, sun, gpt, mac


Then only proceed to second level, to divide the whole hard disk to various partitions.

and follow by formatting each partition to desired file system, such as
ext2, ext3,ext4
FAT16, FAT32
swap
blah blah blah.

hope that helps

[Amithiel]

Oh! I finally understand! I'm gonna try!
Any way for finding out if my disk is really in gtp? because if it isn't, it will be a waste of time :s

[wayne128]

Oh! I finally understand! I'm gonna try!
Any way for finding out if my disk is really in gtp? because if it isn't, it will be a waste of time :s

sudo parted -l

[Amithiel]

nevermind, just found in gparted. its gpt.
thanks a lot for all the info guys. i'll check back later if installation suceed

[Amithiel]

I'm very proud to announce: i'm already on linuxmint 15!!!
converting to ms-dos did the trick!
THANKS SO MUCH GUYS, I LOVE YOU ALL
Hell, i even put my 24GB ssd to use! Manual partitioning, all set the way i wanted . damn, i'm happy

[doctorwho24]

Hello Amithiel

I have a notebook very similar to yours, an Asus Ultrabook S56CA.
I have some problems with the wi-fi function key F2. Wifi is working OK, but I can't turn it off..and the led status neither works...
Did you have some problem like that, could you solve it?
I'm running Linux Mint 15 with kernel Linux K56CA 3.11.4-031104-generic #201310081221 SMP Tue Oct 8 16:21:57 UTC 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux.

Thanks!