Transition from BIOS (Legacy) to UEFI

[ReggieMoto]

I have an older Pavilion, from about 2010. The motherboard is a Foxconn Aloe and the BIOS is AMI 5.09. I am currently running Windows 10 Pro. I want to install Ubuntu alongside Windows and have been unable to do so. The PC does not recognize the flash drive as a bootable device, and it also won't boot the Ubuntu ISO from a DVD. So there's that.

What I want to do is upgrade the system from BIOS to UEFI and then try to install Ubuntu alongside the Windows install from there. From everything I've read online it seems to be a relatively straightforward process using MBR2GPT except for the final step. From the docs: "Launch your motherboard firmware settings screen and change it from Legacy BIOS to UEFI. The procedure to change from Legacy BIOS to UEFI depends on your motherboard manufacturer."

Not 100% sure what "Launch your motherboard firmware settings screen" means, but if that's the BIOS settings one can drop into upon reboot/restart  I haven't seen anything on that screen or any other in there that provides me the ability to change from Legacy BIOS to UEFI.

Does anyone here have an experience with doing this type of conversion on an older Pavilion running that old of a BIOS?
Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@ReggieMoto 

Some newer BIOS versions have the ability to operate either in UEFI mode or Legacy (CSM) mode -- but if yours has that, there will be an option to select either mode.  If that option is not there, your PC can only operate in BIOS (legacy) mode.

As to installing Linux, HP only warranties their PCs for usage with the OS that comes preinstalled.

IF you replace that with a Linux distro, or add a Linux distro, then you assume full responsibility for maintaining that -- including solving any problems with booting the other OS and/or installing the other OS.

Modern PCs with UEFI, instead of the older BIOS, are especially difficult to install because you have to go into the UEFI settings and make several changes before you can even boot from a USB stick -- and we are unable to assist in that work.

Your best bet for support now is to contact the support forum of the distro you are using.

Since you want to use Ubuntu, go here: https://ubuntuforums.org/

Good Luck

[ReggieMoto]

Thanks for the reply, WAWood.

>

> If that option is not there, your PC can only operate in BIOS (legacy) mode.

>

That's pretty much the conclusion I came to myself. In fact, from what I've read here and elsewhere, I suppose I'm lucky this machine runs Windows 10 at all. It barely does which was part of the decision behind installing Ubuntu alongside it as I think that OS would be a better fit for the computer. However, that's neither here nor there as I've decided to junk this PC and I've already ordered another.

>

> As to installing Linux, HP only warranties their PCs for usage with the OS that comes preinstalled. IF you replace

> that with a Linux distro, or add a Linux distro, then you assume full responsibility for maintaining that -- including

> solving any problems with booting the other OS and/or installing the other OS.

>

Not an issue, given the age of the thing it was already out of warranty.

>
> Modern PCs with UEFI, instead of the older BIOS, are especially difficult to install because you have to go into

> the UEFI settings and make several changes before you can even boot from a USB stick.
> 

That has not been my experience. I recently installed Ubuntu alongside windows on a new Envy 360 laptop from flash and it went very smoothly. I don't anticipate any issues on the new Pavilion, and even it there are any I have resources I can draw from to help me out of a jam if I am unable to work through them myself.

Thanks again for the reply.