Attempts to dual-boot Ubuntu 12.04 and Windows 8

[jneedle29]

Recently, I got a new laptop (Vaio T Series Ultrabook; can't remember the specific model number) with Windows 8. I've heard great things about Linux and Ubuntu, so I decided to try to dual boot the two of them. My first attempt used Wubi (which I now know isn't the right way to go), and through some hackery I got Ubuntu 12.04 to work on the laptop but not Windows 8. I tried fixing it, and in so doing have deleted Ubuntu from my laptop. I've been looking at the following links so far to solve my problem: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI, https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide#Ca...ot_into_Ubuntu, and most recently, https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootPartition. With this last one, I got to step 6, but the GRUB location box is grayed out, even though I made the partition. What's going on here?

[oldfred]

I have not seen an UEFI system need the separate /boot partition. Leave /boot inside your / (root) partition. If you want extra partitions /home and/or a NTFS partition for shared data make more sense.

With UEFI, grub is installed into its own folder inside the efi partition that already exists.

If you have an Ultrabook you need to remove the RAID info that Intel SRT creates.
Intel Smart Response Technology
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support...ts/chpsts/imsm
Some general info in post #3
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2071242

ubuntu 12.10 & Windows 8 oem Sony T & Intel SRT
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2090605

Ubuntu on hard drive, re-enable SRT post #19 details
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2129157

Disable the RAID, it was using the Intel rapid management thingy and telling it to disable the acceleration or the use of the SSD. If you have a different system, just disable the RAID system then install Ubuntu. Once installed you can then re-enable it.
sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/sda
sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/sdb

You will need to use the dmraid command prior to running the Ubuntu Installer so that it will be able to see the partitions on the drive because otherwise with the raid metadata in place it will see the drive as part of a raid set and ignore its partitions.

Ultrabooks also have dual video which may create issues. If booting with nVidia you will need the nomodeset boot parameter and then once booted will proably want to install bumblebee. nVidia just started to support dual video with its very latest release, but you may need the kernel that will be in 13.10 to fully utilize that video driver.


nVidia Optimus and Ubuntu explained
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1657660
Bumblebee:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bumblebee
http://www.webupd8.org/2013/04/set-u...bumblebee.html
12.10 with bumblebee
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2077451

Released 319.17 certified driver May 2013 only uses nVidia so power consumption high
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-d...17-driver.html
Some discussion of limits of new nVidia driver with some Optimus support
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2142215

See also link in my signature for more info.

Other threads with Sony, may be similar.
Sony Vaio T13
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2127699
Sony T & Intel SRT ubuntu 12.10 & Windows 8 oem
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2090605
Sony Vaio [SOLVED] dual boot ubuntu 12.10 & windows 8 problem
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2094761
Sony SVE15125CXS Notebook Only could Install in BIOS mode, Boot-Repair to UEFI dual boot works
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...0#post12562570
Sony VAIO E Series Windows 8/Ubuntu 12.10 Dual Boot, EFI help UEFI screens shown
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2087991

[jneedle29]

Thanks for responding. I don't think the nVidia thing's an issue for my laptop.
I tried dealing with the SRT stuff, but I couldn't find anything about it.

Long story short, I tried to follow the steps on https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI, including doing boot-repair after my laptop went straight into Windows8. Even after running boot-repair, it still skipped straight into Windows8. My paste link is http://paste.ubuntu.com/5942224. I don't know what I'm reading on it; any advice?

Btw I tried installing 13.04 this time, just in case a more advanced version might make this easier.

Tried the boot-repair again, this time with secure boot enabled (I don't think it changed much). This time it told me to type the following lines into the command prompt:

sudo chroot "/mnt/boot-sav/sda8" dpkg --configure -a
sudo chroot "/mnt/boot-sav/sda8" apt-get install -fy
sudo chroot "/mnt/boot-sav/sda8" apt-get purge -y --force-yes grub*-common shim-signed linux-signed*
sudo chroot "/mnt/boot-sav/sda8" apt-get install -y --force-yes grub-efi-amd64-signed shim-signed linux-signed-generic

my new paste page is: http://paste.ubuntu.com/5942417/

Doesn't seem to have done much though- Windows still boots right up. No GRUB or anything

[oldfred]

Since you have both grub & Windows boot loader in the efi partition, you do have to go into UEFI and choose to boot the ubuntu entry.

Sometimes you have to either turn on secure boot or turn it off. Some Windows only boot with it on, although they should work with it off. You do not yet show signed kernels for Ubuntu installed so secure boot for Ubuntu will not work yet.

[jneedle29]

Since you have both grub & Windows boot loader in the efi partition, you do have to go into UEFI and choose to boot the ubuntu entry.

I don't understand what that means. (Also, I have re-disabled secure boot. No change.)

[oldfred]

In UEFI do you have boot choices for Windows & ubuntu? This example that someone posted shows 2 ubuntu entries but you should only have one.

[jneedle29]

No, I'm not getting anything resembling that.

[oldfred]

BootInfo report does a dump of what data UEFI should show. I do not know which you really see as dump has three entries like this:

This starts at line 1170, also 1181 & 1188 have similar entries.

BootOrder: 0001,0003,0000,2001
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager	HD(1,800,82000,110f443f-c07f-464c-9a7f-f5001b8d1c7b)File(EFIMicrosoftBootbootmgfw.efi)RC
Boot0001* ubuntu	HD(3,363800,82000,4becfe8f-ac20-40ed-8ff6-d46e28071199)File(EFIubuntushimx64.efi)
Boot0003* Windows Boot Manager	HD(3,363800,82000,4becfe8f-ac20-40ed-8ff6-d46e28071199)File(EFIMicrosoftBootbootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...4................
Boot0004* EFI DVD/CDROM (MATSHITADVD-RAM UJ8C2)	ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(1f,2)03120a00040000000000CD-ROM(1,6168c,11c0)RC
Boot2001* EFI USB Device	RC

[jneedle29]

Yea, my BIOS/UEFI screens seem to be relatively bare-bones; I'm not seeing anything even asking me for a boot device anywhere

[jneedle29]

ran boot-repair again. It's weird- those lines about the boot order look different this time; there's no sign of ubuntu at all:

 chroot /mnt/boot-sav/sda8 efibootmgr -vBootCurrent: 0005
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0003,0001,0004,0002,0000,2001
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager	HD(1,800,82000,110f443f-c07f-464c-9a7f-f5001b8d1c7b)File(EFIMicrosoftBootbootmgfw.efi)RC
Boot0003* Windows Boot Manager	HD(3,363800,82000,4becfe8f-ac20-40ed-8ff6-d46e28071199)File(EFIMicrosoftBootbootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...4................
Boot0005* EFI DVD/CDROM (MATSHITADVD-RAM UJ8C2)	ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(1f,2)03120a00040000000000CD-ROM(1,6168c,11c0)RC
Boot2001* EFI USB Device	RC

link: http://paste.ubuntu.com/5942601/

I don't think I changed anything since the last time; where'd it go?