blog/data/2013-05-27-linux-easynote-lv.txt

   1 Title: How to install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8
   2 Tags: english, debian
   3 Date: 2013-05-27 15:20
   4
   5 <p>Two days ago, I asked
   6 <a href="http://www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/How_can_I_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8_.html">how
   7 I could install Linux on a Packard Bell EasyNote LV computer
   8 preinstalled with Windows 8</a>.  I found a solution, but am horrified
   9 with the obstacles put in the way of Linux users on a laptop with UEFI
  10 and Windows 8.</p>
  11
  12 <p>I never found out if the cause of my problems were the use of UEFI
  13 secure booting or fast boot.  I suspect fast boot was the problem,
  14 causing the firmware to boot directly from HD without considering any
  15 key presses and alternative devices, but do not know UEFI settings
  16 enough to tell.</p>
  17
  18 <p>There is no way to install Linux on the machine in question without
  19 opening the box and disconnecting the hard drive!  This is as far as I
  20 can tell, the only way to get access to the firmware setup menu
  21 without accepting the Windows 8 license agreement.  I am told (and
  22 found description on how to) that it is possible to configure the
  23 firmware setup once booted into Windows 8.  But as I believe the terms
  24 of that agreement are completely unacceptable, accepting the license
  25 was never an alternative.  I do not enter agreements I do not intend
  26 to follow.</p>
  27
  28 <p>I feared I had to return the laptops and ask for a refund, and
  29 waste many hours on this, but luckily there was a way to get it to
  30 work.  But I would not recommend it to anyone planning to run Linux on
  31 it, and I have become sceptical to Windows 8 certified laptops.  Is
  32 this the way Linux will be forced out of the market place, by making
  33 it close to impossible for "normal" users to install Linux without
  34 accepting the Microsoft Windows license terms?  Or at least not
  35 without risking to loose the warranty?</p>
  36
  37 <p>I've updated the
  38 <a href="http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv">Linux Laptop
  39 wiki page for Packard Bell EasyNote LV</a>, to ensure the next person
  40 do not have to struggle as much as I did to get Linux into the
  41 machine.</p>
  42
  43 <p>Thanks to Bob Rosbag, Florian Weimer, Philipp Kern, Ben Hutching,
  44 Michael Tokarev and others for feedback and ideas.</p>