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HP ZBook Firefly 15.6 inch G8 Mobile Workstation PC

ust bought the new ZBook Firefly G 8 yesterday and wanted to install Linux on it via a bootable usb stick. Problem: In order to do so I have to change the BIOS status from UEFI to Legacy Mode. Unfortunately, this option does not exist! I uploaded some pictures which show the boot menu. I am not an expert and would appreciate any advice. If not, I am thinking of returning it and just buying a laptop that is more user friendly towards Linux users like Lenovo.  

 

Thanks a lot and have a nice day.

 

pic1.jpgpic2.jpgpic3.jpgj

4 REPLIES 4
HP Recommended

Depending on the Linux distro, many support making the USB to be UEFI friendly and the hosting PC does not need to be in Legacy BIOS mode.

What Linux distro are you trying to use?


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HP Recommended

Hallo, 

 

thank you really much for the fast answer but acutally, there is no option to change in to legacy mode at all. 

I'm running Linux Mint Debian on it, the newest version and already have a problem with the kernel. 

The ZBook starts in the secure protected boot and it seems to me, that some features are not starting right away including the recognition of the soundcards. 

HP Recommended

I am not familiar with the use of Linux and especially the Linux Mint Debian.  Assuming you are using Edition 5, even though that is the latest, it still is using an older version of the Kernel and might not be configured properly for the hardware.

See note here:

https://news.itsfoss.com/lmde-5-release/

"Linux Kernel 5.10 may not be the latest LTS release but it should be great for most hardware configurations (unless you have the latest and greatest from Intel/AMD)."

 

It might be worthwhile to try the Ubuntu based version of Linux Mint to see if that behaves better on the hardware present in the HP ZBook Firefly 15.6 inch G8 Mobile Workstation PC , since the Debian based version is still a relatively new.


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HP Recommended

Hey Chinchi42,

 

Hopefully I'm not too late to the party here 🙂

 

I believe that as of the G8 Workstation platforms (mobile and desktop?), we've removed the legacy boot option from our BIOS, so you won't be able to find an option for it. What you're seeing with some features not starting right away is probably because of the secure boot features of the Linux Kernel. When Secure Boot is enabled in BIOS (on any system, not just HP), the Linux Kernel locks itself down and will refuse to load any kernel module that isn't signed by a trusted source. This makes things like the Nvidia driver particularly hard to install.

 

If your soundcard had a kernel module that you needed to install or compile yourself, it will NOT work while secure boot is enabled unless you install your own security key into the BIOS (called an MOK, or Machine Owner Key if you're interested) and then sign the new module with it. The only way to get around this would be to get a pre-compiled and PRE-SIGNED module from the OS vendor (in this case, Mint). Generally, the big Linux distros will have access to the Microsoft signing key, which they'll use to sign kernels and drivers since that key is generally trusted by all the big hardware vendors. They'll distribute Signed versions of the kernel in addition to the normal unsigned ones.

 

It's recommended to DISABLE secure boot and fast boot in BIOS when running Linux if you don't want to deal with the hassle of setting up and dealing with a MOK. And this is a recommendation for most hardware vendors, not just HP (just in case you did decide to go for that other laptop after all).

--I am an HP Employee
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