[SOLVED] Help! I cannot bear Win 8.1 - Installing LL 2.2 on Lenovo U530?

[amandasabroad]

Awesome, thanks! Will update if things go well and/or if I run into any snags.

[ukbrian]

I used to use the free version of http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx when I was in Windows, might be of interest to you.

[gold_finger]

Good one ukbrian!  I had forgotten about Macrium.  I've never used it, but have heard many, many people say it's the best to use for cloning Windows.

@amandasabroad,
If you haven't already done your cloning, take a look at Macrium to see if that one looks easier to use.

[ukbrian]

Good one ukbrian!  I had forgotten about Macrium.  I've never used it, but have heard many, many people say it's the best to use for cloning Windows.

@amandasabroad,
If you haven't already done your cloning, take a look at Macrium to see if that one looks easier to use.

I used to use it a lot at one time and never had any problems.

You must remember to create a restore Linux ISO to do any restores with!!
if you are unlucky.

[N4RPS]

Hello!

I tried installing 2.2 and converting it to UEFI on a Dell Inspiron 3135, but I had a problem with getting the Shutdown Menu to respond in a timely fashion. To get it to shut down quickly, I had to do a CTRL-ALT-F2 and then do a CTRL-ALT-F8 to get to the Shutdown Menu in less than 60 seconds.

I was able to install LL 2.2 in Legeacy Mode on a dual-boot with Windows 8.1 UEFI. It involved pressing F12 at startup and selecting the Legacy partition with LL on it. I didn't want to have to do that, either, so I ultimately decided on 8.1/MATE Remix installed in UEFI mode for that PC.

For backing up, I'd copy the whole drive on the Lenovo using Redo Backup. That way, if you need to restore things, you will be able to pick things back up right where you left off...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[amandasabroad]

Hey everyone! Ah so it took forever just to be able to boot off a usb, I ended up disabling fast startup in win 8.1, then in the bios I disabled secure boot, but it turns out I also had to enable legacy booting just for my Lenovo to recognize the USB and boot off of it. (For reference, I changed UEFI enabled to UEFI/Legacy option enabled, which checks for UEFI first, then checks Legacy, so both options are enabled).

Now that I've booted off the LL usb, here is the output of sudo parted -l:

linux@linux: ~$sudo parted -l
Model: ATA RTFMB016JGV2BWX (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 16.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number    Start        End        Size          Type              File system          Flags
1            1049kB    16.0GB    16.0GB      primary 

Model: ATA WDC WD10SPCX-24H (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt

Number              Start        End          Size            File system            Name                          Flags
1                        1049kB    1050MB    1049MB      ntfs                      Basic data partition      hidden, diag
2                        1050MB    1322MB    273MB      fat32                    EFI system partition      boot, hidden
3                        1322MB    2371MB    1049MB      fat32                    Basic data partition      hidden
4                        2371MB    2505MB    134MB                                  Microsoft reserved partition      msftres
5                        2505MB    850GB      847GB      ntfs                      Basic data partition      msftdata
6                        957GB      984GB      26.8GB      ntfs                      Basic data partition      msftdata
7                        984GB      1000GB    16.0BB      ntfs                      Basic data partition      hidden, diag

Model: Kingston DataTraveler 3.0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 7864MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition table: msdos

Number              Start        End          Size          Type            File system            Flags
1                        4129kB      7864MB    7860MB      primary        fat32                    boot, lba

[amandasabroad]

Also to note, can't seem to find the Wifi settings anywhere (not in network settings, brief glance at dmesg showed lots of ACPI warnings -- mostly "\_SB_.PCI0.RP05.PEGP._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20131115/nsarguments-95)" -- but haven't grepped for anything wifi related yet, iwlist not installed which is what I'm used to using so, ?)

Going to leave it booted here, and see what to do next (not sure if I should install without an internet connection, finding a free ethernet cable may take a bit).

Thanks for the cloning software suggestion too ukbrian!

[rokytnji]

Code:

ip addr show

Code:

ip link show

Code:

inxi -N

Should get you started on wireless.

[amandasabroad]

ip addr show output shows lo but not connected (havent connected to ethernet) same with ip addr show

inxi -N shows:
Network:  Card-1: Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
              Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller driver: r8169
              Card-3: Amtel

In the icons in the lower left I can see the ethernet icon (shows disconnected since I havent connected anything)

Attempting to add a Wifi connection in manually through GUI nm-applet with my router's info didnt pull it up, so I'm guessing I'll have to install the drivers, but I'm not 100% sure.

[gold_finger]

Looks like /dev/sdb5 is the partition you want to shrink to make room for the LL installation if you haven't already done that.

Create the partitions you need in the resulting free space as directed in that tutorial for installing in Legacy mode to GPT drives.

Reboot when install done, then follow instructions to install Boot-Repair and convert to UEFI.  /dev/sdb2 is your "EFI System Partition", which you'll point to during conversion.  (If you can not connect to internet with ethernet cable, then put off this conversion until we can get Broadcom driver installed.)

Broadcom is going to need a special driver installed for it to work.  Since computer needs to be rebooted after a wireless driver installation for it to take effect, I'm afraid your going to have to find a way to connect through ethernet to connect to internet on that computer.

Or, your other alternative is to install while not connected to internet (yes, you can do that); then download the needed driver to a USB stick from another computer.  Install driver from there to the new computer.  Before getting into that, we need to find out if your card is even supported with a driver?

On new computer booted into live LL enter this command in a terminal:

Code:

lspci -vnn -d 14e4:

In the output find the part near the end that reads [14e4:xxxx] (numbers will be in place of the "x's").

Find your number listed on first column of the chart shown 1/4 way down on this page.

See if it says "yes" or "no" in the colored "Supported?" column next to it.

If "yes" then you'll need "firmware-b43-installer" package.

If "no", then look to last column (Alternative) and see if either "wl" or "brcm80211" are listed.  If one or both are listed, then you probably need the "bcmwl-kernel-source" driver.  (Will double check that later for you if necessary.)

If nothing is listed in either the "Supported?" or "Alternative" columns, then I'm afraid your card has no Linux driver available.  If that is the case, you'll have to decide whether or not you want to install LL (or any Linux) to the computer if wireless won't work.  Other option is to buy a $10 USB wifi dongle that will work; but you may have objections to that -- I don't know.

Report back what you find out and if you are able to connect from ethernet cable or not.  Hopefully your wireless card is supported with a driver.