UEFI boot options

[kender]

Let me make this clear, first and foremost-  I am NOT asking for help with linux. I am asking for help with UEFI boot order settings.  I have installed Windows 8.1 Professional and Linux in a dual-boot configuration.  Unfortunately, unless I press F9 to boot from the linux partition, it boots directly to windows without displaying my boot manager.  I have tried various solutions in the UEFI partition but it appears that the BIOS is interfering and the BIOS options on this laptop are so locked down, I can only change the order of boot devices.  Am I missing something?  Is there a way to change the boot order that I have missed?  I waive all liability as far as making the OS unusable from following any advice given.  I can always re-install, just so long as nothing bricks the firmware.

[CherylG]

First thing-I am not  Linux knowledgable. My first guess would be you have Secure Boot enabled in BIOS which prevents booting from anything other that C:\ unless you tap F9.

[kender · Accepted solution]

Linux knowledge is not necessary here. This is an OS independent issue. Yes, I do have Secure Boot enabled but that shouldn't be a problem because the kernel and bootloader I'm using are signed. Basically, that's all Secure Boot does. It only allows boot loaders signed with Microsoft's digital signature, which is built into the UEFI standard to run. This prevents rootkits from altering the bootloader to elevate access levels on boot up because an altered boot loader doesn't hash to the same signature when checked. Alternative operating systems like Linux can have their bootloaders signed by Microsoft for something like $99. "C:\" is an artifact of Windows and is limited to that OS. It has absolutely nothing to do with UEFI other than the fact that it can reside on a GPT partition, and absolutely nothing to do with Secure Boot. The only partition Secure Boot has anything to say about is the EFI partition (where all of the boot loaders reside), which is definitely NOT C:\. In fact, you can't even see it from Windows unless you know how to mount it.

I ended up solving the problem myself, about an hour ago. I had to delete the HP directories from the EFI partition, disabled the windows bootloader option altogether (again, in the bootloader configuration files on the the EFI partition), and then made sure GRUB (the bootloader I'm using for Linux) had an entry for Windows. It's working now. My boot loader loads and let's me pick which OS I want to run. Both boot fine. This must be an HP imposed limitation because I haven't had problems like this on any of my other machines. Until I removed the HP garbage from the EFI, it would reset all of my changes every time I rebooted.

I love HP hardware. I don't buy pre-built systems from anybody else and many of my clients buy HP hardware (and are happy with it) on my recommendation. The price is right, the cooling is excellent (a huge problem on most laptops), and your machines last forever. It is sad HP isunnecessarily locking down configuration. BIOS has less and less options on each new release. I would hate to have to take my business and recommendations elsewhere, but if this trend continues, eventually I'll have to.