Can you post additional information on how you did this. I have tried Fedora 17, 18 , and 19 as well as Ubuntu 12.04 and 12.10. I am unable to save edits to /sys/firmware/efi/efivars =( I can copy the file to /root, edit it there, but can not copy back from /root to /sys/firmware/efi/efivars What OS and version / kernel did you use to make these edits ?
Wow this is great information but seems I cannot get a usb to boot with UEFI set .. if I do legacy it boots but your gems do not.... error mount point not found .... the .../efi/.... is not there. I've been using Unix/Linux for years but not at your level for sure. I rest to defaults and opened the F12 (boot) key but under UEFI only shows Win 8 , as it should.What did this old fart miss.
Ah, Isn't there an option "Secure Boot" in your BIOS? (If there is, but you can't change it: Set a Supervisor Password in the Security Tap). Once "Secure Boot" is disabled you should be able to boot linux via UEFI and get the /sys/firmware/efi directory.
Thanks, I had already done that as per your original post, which is awesome. I set the USB as first in boot order and when I hit the F12 with usb (bootable) it still only shows the Toshiba HDD as only boot device. Feel real dumb here but have to continue if i ever want the Virtual setting active. BTW I was able to install VMPlayer 4.0 and the virtuals and with the Quad 1450 performs well even without the V4 settings active. You have me hooked on learning how you do all this so I'll wait for a response which I really appreciate knowing the many many more knowlegabe tech seeking your wisdom. Remember doing similar stuff using masm in the OLD DOS days ... probably before you were born, sure shows how much I have fallen behind in being "on top of it" ... Thanks again Boz
Thanks zuvieltext! I plan on using this for visualization projects when I receive the laptop. Have you noticed any problems with enabling SVM or running virtual machines?
I really appreciate this information! I just successfully applied it, after half a day's struggle. Mostly because every Debian ISO I tried had a different problem. Eventually I said, to hell with Debian as a live-usb (Debian is fine on-disk, but the live support is lacking... only stable has livecd builds, and stable has too old of a kernel). What worked for me: 1) Ubuntu 13.10 beta ISO (amd64 is a must) written to USB with win32 disk imager 2) No hex editor is built in to the live environment, so use "xxd" to convert the binary to "hex-text", edit that in vi, and use "xxd -r" to convert it back. Be careful! 3) Be sure to use "sudo" when writing the file back to the efivars space So simple, yet it took me so much struggle to get there!
The only problem was: enabling SVM. Other than that: I had no problem running various combinations of Linux and Windows XP/7/8 as Host or Guest [with VirtualBox, KVM or VirtualPC.] If you have a specific request: let me know.
Nice one. That was the answer I was hoping for. I'm collecting the machine today. It'll be running VMs within VMs for a final year project I'm doing (they don't have to run fast, just run!).
Hey, Such a great resource. Before I dig into trying this, do you think this will work for Acer V7, it uses the same bios version. I'm trying to force the laptop to use the nvidia chip rather than the intel Optimus integration in bios. For some reason, the Optimus configuration is neglecting the onboard chip (according to a lot of readings I found). Any thoughts?
This is partly OT: If you want to discuss things further you should open a new thread. There are many v7. I think the way to unlock the hidden page/settings could be identitcal, however the bios may use different offsets [you'll have to extract the HII (Human Interface Infrastructure) Forms and look for the varstore offset]. You can download the "Phoenix Tool" (needed to extract the "Setup" UEFI Module from the DxE of your bios) right from this site. For other tools: uefidump.pl or the fwts (firmware testing suite) you'll have to pay a visit to google. Maybe you can also find additional ressources at the bios-mods.com too. Erm, as I stated earlier: I don't know what sort of v7 you got. But if your laptop doesn't have a hardware MUX (which is the case for most/all? newer models) you need the integrated Intel GFX. Otherwise the LCD and all the video outputs will be "dead" (until you reset the CMOS).
Can't manage to get it to boot of USB in UEFI mode. I have Secure Boot set to Disabled, but the Boot Menu only ever lists the hard drive unless I chose Legacy Boot Mode. BIOS 2.09 Any ideas?
I'll follow post 10 later today when I get the necessary ISO. I have various USB sticks, all of which I've booted from before. I'll post my findings
I did have trouble using my bootable USB stick in the USB 2.0 port (on the right), and had to move it to the USB 3.0 port (on the left). My loptop would freeze after a few minutes after booting using USB port on the right. Thanks so much for the instruction in the original post. Following your directions, I was able to accomplish this effortlessly. (I have BIOS UEFI version 2.06. I used ubuntu-13.10-beta2-desktop-amd64.iso burned with win32diskimager.exe to usb stick. and Ghex to edit.)
I have BIOS 2.09 and unending difficulty getting Linux to boot. Finally I found Linux Mint 15 Cinnamon would boot to the command line (but no GUI, lots of "display not found") I'm currently stuck with having access to the Setup-XXXXXXXXXXXX file but no means of editing it. Ghex isn't preinstalled. I tried connecting to the wifi from the command line, but I get associated only to disconnect a second later. Gonna try a few more distros before I give up.