Hello all! I am brand new to this community and a new linux user. I decided to make the jump to learn some new skills. I guess Linux is my midlife crisis. I have an old Dell laptop that I installed Debian 12 on, a really old desktop that I installed Linux Mint on and I have 3 Raspberry pi4’s to play with and an old Server unit that is a blank slate.
I want to dive head first and through caution to the wind. I would like your opinions on
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What model Dell laptop do you have? I am getting close to installing Debian 12 on my Dell Latitude E6430 and I’m having a tough time figuring out how to set my BIOS before I attempt the install. Jay was able to do the same OS install on the same laptop according to a YouTube he posted back in 2021.
I know I have to:
Disable Fast boot;
Disable Secure boot;
but not sure about much else after that.
I’d like to ask Jay what he did but I’m not sure how to contact him.
I’m also planning to swap out the OEM Broadcom WiFi adapter for an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260.HMW before I start the install. I will be using the Debian 12 DVD full install iso on disc (not the NET install version) because I expect to not have WiFi when the install is complete and the more I can install initially the better.
Anything you can share about how you set up your BIOS pre-intall is most appreciated.
create the iso using rufus (or balena etcher; note that TailsOS stopped recommending balena because the program sends sensitive information to the owning company, identifying who writes what on their USB sticks)
press F12 to bring up the one time boot menu and boot from USB
If your system is booting in uefi mode (which it should, unless you changed to bios boot mode) then the USB should be bootable.
Btw, the full vs netinstall doesn’t make a difference in the kernel drivers you have (e.g. wifi drivers). The netinstall ISO bundles that as well. The difference with the full ISO is that you’ll install certain packages from the local repo on the ISO (like your desktop environment or CUPS if you choose them). In the netinstall you get everything from the web repo when you select them (but obviously to access the web repo, your booted env should have internet connectivity, which the netinstall provides both eth and wlan drivers).
I generally recommend people use Mint Debian Edition (LMDE), but using straight out Debian isn’t too much of a jump (I find LMDE more polished for new users).
Thank you @ThatGuyB for answering. The E6430 runs Windows 7 and the BIOS is set for Legacy. If I remember correctly there is an option to select UEFI instead of Legacy.
Should I do that and if I can, and should CD/DVD drive still be available for loading the ISO?
Aren’t the eth and wlan drivers also available on the full install version?
Maybe it’s me, but it seems that nearly 95% of the forum posts and YouTube videos basically ignore the settings needed in BIOS if one wants to load Linux onto an old computer. I wish someone would do a video about only that. There are enough videos on how to create a bootable ISO with Rufus and Etcher and what options to select when doing the install. Thaanks so much for your wisdom!
Thank you very much @ThatGuyB for this information. I found an on-line article by Roderick W. Smith entitled “Linux on UEFI: A Quick Installation Guide” that discusses the BIOS/Legacy/CSM firmware vs UEFI firmware for Linux installations on computers manufactured around 2012. This is around the date that my E6430 & E6530 laptops were manufactured. Do you know of this article? Your advice to leave the BIOS settings alone except for Fastboot and Secure Boot is well taken. It’s good to know that it should work. I’m mulling whether to try the EUFI route anyway. Your information is a good fallback method at the very least. Everything I read says configuring for EUFI will result in a more robust Linux installation. Roderick does mention that you can make thing worse for yourself with systems that have a “young” version of UEFI firmware. That’s my case. I am going to do this install in the next week or two.
Nah, not really. The only worth part of using UEFI is if you’re signing your own keys and using Secure Boot. It’s a PITA, so I don’t (still using UEFI w/o secure boot enabled). Technically speaking EFI boot payloads are better than the old grub loader at the beginning of a disk in a limited space, but it’s not something you’ll find that blocking or limiting.
If I had another latitude, I’d probably do it in uefi, only because if I ever want to move my installation on newer hardware later on, I’d just be able to clone the SATA SSD into an NVME drive of similar size and keep using my old OS.
If I never plan on moving the install, I’d go with whatever, I’m not married to either bios or uefi.
OK, so you see the benefit in terms of bootloader compatibility when moving a cloned drive (with UEFI bootloader) to a much newer machine. That’s a pretty big deal if I don’t plan to simply chuck the E6430 when it dies and start over with a new Linux install on a newer machine and then rebuild from there. I hadn’t considered that at all but you make a very good point (future-proofing). If my E6430 dies in 5-10 years then a 2017 - 2022 laptop will be the new refurb price sweetspot and it will definitely run UEFI. Thanks for mentioning it. It makes a lot of sense to at least try to switch over to UEFI for this install.
Hi @ThatGuyB , I just want you to know that I did the Debian 12 install on a GPT initialized drive for UEFI partitioning. For some reason I get very edgy when I do these kinds of changes. I just don’t want to brick my laptop. As I was saying before, there’s not a lot out there when it comes to pre-installation preparations; especially for older computers. The best value for someone who can live with an 8-10 y.o. CPU is to buy an old Dell or Lenovo and put Linux on it. Free software, free updates and the computer runs a little faster than with Windows. Thanks for suggesting UEFI instead of MBR. I appended the procedure I used for anyone who wants to load Debian 12 or any other distro onto an old Dell.
If you are using a brand new SSD you need to initialize it as GPT to ensure a UEFI format. In fact, if you open “Disk Management” (type diskmgmt.msc in the search bar) on a Windows computer and then connect your new SSD to a USB port on your computer (using a USB 3.0 to SATA HDD/SSD cable) the computer will automatically detect it and ask how you want it initialized. Just select the “GPT” option and then “Enter.” The SSD will be formatted for GPT. That’s all you need to do to ensure that Debian will install with EUFI instead of MBR (Legacy/BIOS) formatting. You really don’t need to create any partitions on it before hand. Debian will take care of that when installing.
Once you have your GPT formatted drive,
1. Place bootable DVD (with you Debian ISO image) into the CD/DVD drive and power down.
2. Open up the back of your computer and swap out the current drive (with Windows OS) for the new GPT formatted drive. Then put the back on again. Note: While the back is off, if you want to upgrade any other devices like your RAM or WiFi card, this is the time to do it. I swapped out the Broadcom WiFi card for an Intel card with Bluetooth.
3. Then power up the laptop.
4. Immediately and continually hit **F2** as it powers up and goes into the BIOS Settings.
5. In BIOS make sure Secure Boot is "Disabled" and FASTBOOT is set either to "Off" or "Thorough." (The Dell E6400 series option is "Thorough.")
6. Go to the boot "Boot Sequence" and select UEFI under "Boot List Option."
7. Hit **F10** to save changes and reboot the laptop. Otherwise just hit "Apply" and "Exit."
8. Immediately hit **F12** as the laptop reboots and the CD/DVD option should now be listed under "UEFI Boot." (The CD/DVD needs to be in the CD/DVD drive for that drive to be recognized as a bootable option.)
9. Move the cursor to the CD/DVD option under "UEFI Boot:" and hit "Enter." The laptop will boot from the bootable DVD and go to the Debian GRUB menu to begin installation.
10. Hopefully, before doing any of this, you've watched some of the 10,000 redundant YouTube videos on what options to select during the installation process.
I hope this helps others who are not sure about the procedure to pre-configure their BIOS before beginning the Linux install process on their Windows computer.