operating system boot mode change (021)

[ericvornoff]

I bought a HP Pavilion 15-n066sb notebook yesterday. Unfortunately it carries Windows 8 like most computers now, but that is not a great problem as I usually run a Linux distro alongside of it using a boot menu to switch between Windows and Linux. In the past I have used Ubuntu and Backtrack, and the people from Offensive Security have released a new distro based on their famous BT distro, but expanded and more developed as a true operating system, called Kali Linux, so I wanted to give this one a go. When I told ths to the HP salesman he said that would absolutely be no problem at all.

After burning the .iso on a (bootable) DVD-RW using first Power2Go's Cyberlink ISO viewer that came with te notebook, and a second copy using the full version of PowerISO, I tried to boot it up using the DVD, without success.

After a bit of reading on the HP site, I found that "HP Pavilion Notebook computers cannot be booted from a bootable CD or DVD" because Windows 8 is the operating system. It went on explaining UEFI an UEFI-compatible AMI BIOS (win 8). So to make previous windows versions compatible again, and by extension, run bootable CD/DVDs, such as the HP repair disk.

The instructions were to restart the notebook, press ESC followed by F10 to enter the BIOS, go to SYSTEM CONFIGURATION and into the BOOT OPTIONS submenu, change SECURE bOOT <enabled> to <disabled>.

Then it said I had to save changes and exit (F10), and when it restarts it will give a warning message (see subject line), one has to type a 4-digit number followed by ENTER to complete the changes made, or ESC to cancel.  It just says additionally that for more information, I should visit http://www.hp.com/go/techcenter/startup .

Problem is that at this point, only ESC works, but I am not able to type in a 4-digit code, ENTER, or anything except the ESC button?

After spending an evening trying to find the solution, and searching the HP forum, I lost my courage and am a bit too tired and too annoyed now to continue searching. I sincerely hope one of you can help me out. Thanks in advance.

PS:

Also, although the RTL3290 wifi adapter inside the notebook is just strong enough to get one or two bars (I have a bad wifi connection, over a large distance), I really need my external adapter and antenna to get a decent signal. Problem is that the drivers work under Linux and every version of Windows until Win 7, but there isn't one for Win 8. I saw it working using compatability modus in a friend's house, Microsoft also claims there are no compatability issues for the RTL8187 on their suport pages, but I can't get it to work. Maybe the issue is also related to the <disabled> compatability mode for Legacy Windows (XP, Vista, 7)? Any help o input would be appreciated.

[Sparkles1]

Hi ericvornoff,

Welcome to the HP Forums!

I would like to take a moment and thank you for using the forum, it is a great place to find answers. For you to have the best experience in the HP forum, I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide First Time Here? Learn How to Post and More.

I understand that you would like to install Linux on your system. You  need to disable secure boot , but you are getting a message to enter a 4 digit code.  Did you set a bios login password or pin on startup?  If so I believe it is asking for the same one. Here is a link to  Error: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible (Windows 7, 8,

to assist with the boot order. If you have not set a password then I suggest you do a system recovery back to factory. Performing an HP System Recovery (Windows 😎. You will get a prompt during this process, to backup your data. If you have not done one, I suggest choosing yes. to prevent data loss. Restoring Files that were Backed Up Using HP Recovery Manager (Windows 😎. I hope this has helped.

[ericvornoff]

Thanks for your reply. I have succeeded in finding the solution, turns out that it was because I have an AZERTY keyboard and the standard setting is QWERTY, so I had to type the 4 digit code followed by ENTER using the latter keyboard.

But my problems have not ended, seems that it is impossible to install the GRUB loader when Windows 8 is installed next to Linux. For that and other reasons I decided to downgrade to Windows 7, following an instruction video by 'Captain Gigabyte':

"Disable Secure Boot to downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VA9tEglUO0

He uses a HP so I thought it would solve my problems, but it turns out that the 8 pci drivers I have to install and download from a place called www.pcidatabase.com are either the wrong drivers, or written completely in Cyrillic, or simply just an 'info link'  without download links. As you see this tuff is pretty frustrating,

Next to this I am unable to install Kali linux (www.kali.org) next to windows 7. I can install the GRUB boot loader, but it seems that I cannot create a partition no matter what I try using Gparted, I just want a major ntfs partition for windows and a small fat32 partition for linux, but it forces me to use the complete disk.

In the past I never had problems creating a system with two operating systems and the GRUB boot loader, it was always pretty straightforward, I have used Windows XP, Vista and 7 on one side and Ubuntu or Backtrack (predessessor of Kali, a Ubuntu/Debian-like platform) on the other. Now I have been messing about for over a week, failure after failure and I have not been able to enjoy my new HP Pavilion laptop, frustration is what I get. The HP salesman guaranteed me that it would be no problem installing Linux next to Windows (8) but it is clear that he did not have any experience with that.

Also, I use a WIFI adapter (USB) and antenna, the chipset is RTL8187, but there is no driver for Windows 8, only for XP, Vista and 7m so that was also a reason for downgrading to Windows 7.

I need to find following pci drivers':

BLUETOOTH CONTROLLER; VEN 1814, DEV 3298

ETHERNET CONTROLLER; VEN 10EC, DEV 8136

NETWORK ContROLLER; VEN 1814, DEV 3290

PCI SIMPLE COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER; VEN 8086, DEV 9C3A

SM BUS CONTROLLER; VEN 8086, DEV 9C22

USB CONTROLLER; VEN 8086, DEV 9C31

VIDEO CONTROLLER; VEN 1002, DEV 6660

Any help woud be appreciated.

[Sparkles1]

Hi ericvornoff,

I see you have downgraded to Windows 7, as you were having  a difficulty with Linux and Windows 8. I regret you were informed that it would work by the sales representative. but were not able to do that.

Here is a link to Downloading or Updating Software and Drivers for HP Computers, to assist you.

Here is a link to Frequently Asked Questions About Linux (FAQs) to assist you.

If you are still unable to locate drivers would you private message me the serial number of your system, so I can bring up the exact specifications, and I will endeavor to locate drivers for you.

To send a private message, click on the username of the individual you are sending the message to.

Look on lower right hand side  and you should see send a private message, click on it.

[lasvegaswireman]

Sparkles1,

The OP hasn't setup a BIOS password nor anything like it. The OP received a screen like this;

after DISABLING "Secure Boot" and ENABLING "Legacy Support". The OP was requesting assistance with difficulty in entering the required code to acknowledge that the change was intentional. The OP has since identified the problem and solved it by changing the keyboard layout.

Additionally, the exact specs of the OP's model can be found on the HP Pavilion 15-n066sb Notebook PC Product Specifications page. The model information was provided in the OP's first post.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Please click the White KUDOS "Thumbs Up" to show your appreciation

[lasvegaswireman]

ericvornoff,

1. Bluetooth Controller: Ralink Bluetooth Software Driver

2. Ethernet Controller: Realtek Local Area Network (LAN) Driver

3. Network Controller: Ralink 802.11 b/g/n WiFi Adapter Driver

4. PCI Simple Comm Controller: Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) Driver

5. SMBus Controller: Intel Chipset Installation Utility and Driver

6. USB3.0 Controller: Intel USB 3.0 Host Controller Driver

7. VIDEO CONTROLLER... First, install Intel High-Definition (HD) Graphics then install AMD Catalyst™ 14.3 V1.0 Beta for Windows®

Additionally, you may need a Realtek HD Audio driver, a Realtek Card Reader driver, a Synaptics TouchPad driver, an Intel Rapid Storage Tech driver, an Intel Rapid Start Tech driver, and an Intel Smart Connect Tech driver to remove all "bangs". After installing the above drivers, please post the Windows Device Manager's "Hardware Ids" (just the string of text, please) for all remaining missing or unknown devices, as shown in the example below;

You may also wish to update the BIOS to HP Notebook System BIOS Update F.62 (Intel Processors) to;

 Fix an intermittent issue which the error code 0x000000A5 might appear when installing Windows 7.
 Fix an intermittent issue which LAN device might disappear in Dvice Manager in Window 8.
 Fix an intermittent issue which the system might get abnormal behavior while doing standby, hibernation, and restart.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Please click the White KUDOS "Thumbs Up" to show your appreciation

[lasvegaswireman]

ericvornoff,

The issues you are having may be due to the fact that the hard drive was partitioned as GPT from the factory. Because of this, both Windows 7 and Kali Linux must be booted as EFI/UEFI and the installation media must support EFI/UEFI. You will also need a EFI/UEFI compliant/ supported version of GRUB. If the media doesn't support EFI/UEFI, the installer will not be able to use the GPT disk and will require an MBR partitioned hard drive.

There are many resouces on the NET that describe your situation and have possible corrective action. Just "Google" some keywords on the subject or see Bing search "Kali on UEFI / gpt partitioned disk".

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Please click the White KUDOS "Thumbs Up" to show your appreciation

[justbegin]

15r132wm    key board locks me out, i inputted passcode for Admin login and it still gives me Sparkles1 responds what do i , please help, trying to go from 8 to 7 windows, is their any key i need to hit to input the code it ask for to complete the change to legacy mode

Thankyou

[Sparkles1]

Hi @justbegin ,

Welcome to the HP Forums!:smileyhappy:

It is a terrific place to find answers and tips!

For you to have the best experience in the HP forum I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide Learn How to Post and More

I understand that your notebook came with Windows 8 and you are trying to downgrade to Windows 7.

When you go to the bios screen it is asking you to input a pass code that is not your Admin pass code.

According to the previous poster they had to change the keyboard layout to eliminate this issue and be able to change to legacy mode.

If this did not help please contact HP support for assistance.  I am not sure if they will assist with the downgrade, but they should be able to assist with changing the mode and the boot order so you can do the installation.

Please call our technical support at 800 474 6836. If you live outside the US/Canada Region, please click the link below to get a support number for your region.

World Wide Phone Support

Please let me know the outcome either way so I will know for future reference if changing the keyboard layout worked  and what you changed it to.

Thanks in advance and good luck!

[surfix007]

Dear HP Expert,

I have the same problem I have a new HP Spectre X2 and when I change a setting in the BIOS (e.g. disable secure boot) the computer requires a 4-digit code + Enter to confirm. Except for ESC no other key works and is responsive. I tried various keyboard layouts, no luck. Any idea on how to do this?

Thanks

Rainer