Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon (Code name - Rosa)
Linux Mint is a very popular Linux distribution which is based on Ubuntu LTS version 14.04 Linux distribution. Linux Mint 17.3 is a long term support release which will be supported until 2019 that means you will be receiving all the software as well as security updates.Today we will focus on installing the Linux Mint 17.3 in pure UEFI mode. I recently bought ACER E5-571 laptop with Linpus Linux pre-installed and thought to install Linux Mint on the same. I wanted to install Linux Mint as my main operating system or you can say a pure Linux box. I faced lot of issues due to new UEFI mode and secure boot. After doing lot of research on Google and going though many articles I couldn't find a way to install the Linux Mint as a single boot with UEFI mode and secure boot enabled.
In the below article I would present the method I used to install the Linux Mint 17.3 (Rosa) with UEFI mode and secure boot enabled.
Lets Start --
before start lets see what Linux Mint official website says about the UEFI and secure boot -
UEFI support
UEFI is fully supported.Linux Mint is not certified by Microsoft (and should not need to be). If your computer is using "secureBoot", turn it off.
Note: If you really need secureBoot, you will need to use rEFInd and sign the kernel with a MOK).
Linux Mint website says there is a full support for UEFI mode but we should disable the secure boot. Lets try to install the Linux Mint with secure boot enabled in UEFI mode.
Step 1: Prepare the installation media -
Download the disk image from Linux Mint official website and use to install the system. If you have to create a USB drive (which is true in my case) follow the below steps -
If you are using the Linux Mint or Ubuntu system, right click on the image file and select 'Make bootable USB Stick'. This will open the USB IMAGE WRITER tool; select the USB drive letter and click on the 'Write' button. It will take some time and you should be ready with your USB installation media. This will create a EFI bootable USB disk.
If you are using Windows to create EFI bootable USB disk, use the 'Win32 Disk Imager' tool create the USB media or you can use any third party tool to create USB media such as 'Rufus'
Step 2: Boot the live media -
Once you boot your machine with bootable disk, you should be present with the Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon Live Desktop as below:
Step 3: Check if system Booted in the EFI mode -
To check the if the system booted in EFI mode, check the following Directory Structure is present -
/sys/firmware/efi/efivars
if the above directory structure is present, system is booted in EFI mode.
Step 4: Start the Linux Mint Installation -
Double click on the Install Linux Mint icon on the desktop to begin with installation -
Click Continue twice and stop at Installation Type
Step 5: Select Installation Type -
At this screen you must choose your installation type. The options available are:"Erase disk and install Linux Mint". This will delete any files on your disk.
"Encrypt the new Linux Mint installation for Security".
"Use LVM with the new Linux Mint installation", This will set up Logical Volume Management.
"Something else" You can create or resize partitions yourself, or choose multiple partitions.
As we would be installing the Linux Mint in UEFI Mode, select 'Something Else' -
Step 5: Create Partition Scheme -
Create the below Partition Scheme to Support EFI mode -
1. EFI Boot Partition - 200MB
2. SWAP Partition - 1024 MB or double of your main memory
3. Creating / partition with rest of HDD.
Note - you can create /boot, /home partitions if required, for this example I am going to create only / partition.
Refer the below screen-shots -
Creating EFI Partition-
Final Partition scheme should look like -
Click 'Install Now' and install the partitions and begin the Linux Mint installation.
Now you need to provide the below information during installation process -
Your location
Keyboard layout Selection
Create new user and password and start the installation.
Restart your machine. Congratulations; you installed the Linux Mint in pure UEFI mode.
But wait; to check if your newly installed system is actully booted in UEFI mode. run the below command at Terminal:
If it runs perfectly and produce a result similar to the above. You have the system running in UEFI mode.
Some issues I faced after installation and solution-
1. No Bootable device found.
2. Accidentally installed the Mint in BIOS mode rather then UEFI
3. Convert the BIOS installation to UEFI