Installing Linux: The Good, Bad and Ugly

"Just use the install media and go through the steps provided by the distro. You should not have to modify any BIOS settings in order to install Linux. Windows has a boot to USB restart option somewhere in the shutdown menu, and then boot off of the USB install media, and you should be fine," he suggested. - See more at: http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/79883.html#sthash.NsX4qJ... "

As somebody who installed Ubuntu alongside Windows 8 there are 2 main things that I had to do to get it working.

1. Turn off fast boot 2. Turn off secure boot.

In theory you shouldn't have to turn off secure boot but it won't work for me unless I do. I have a page on my blog that covers the installation and how I did it and there are over 100 comments. Some people saying "Yay it worked" and others listing different issues that they have come across.

It shouldn't be this difficult.

> 1. Turn off fast boot 2. Turn off secure boot.

I had to do this on a machine plus turn on USB Legacy mode (from memory) to get it to recognize the USB drive to allow a live distribution to boot properly.

I suspect, like all things Microsoft-vs-Linux, this currently annoying snag will eventually disappear, much like M$ in a server role. Linux is inevitable and we see changes every day. The desktop appears to be the last bastion of the WinTel monopoly, so it shouldn't be too long before the desktop hardware vendors see the light. The light being, let Linux in or face doom, as ARM and Chrome boxes are already becoming the new threat on the horizon.

I mean, c'mon. How long can Intel's NUC survive its own self-destructive schizophrenic stance of offering no included OS, but making it all but impossible to install Linux. Nailing one foot to the floor and shooting the other foot has never been a good business model. ;)

For me, Secure Boot works when using the open-source Radeon driver but not with closed-source Catalyst. I think that's because the Catalyst-enabled kernel is modified and unsigned. (Please feel free to clarify my explanation).