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I've just installed and uninstalled ubuntn and win7 on my laptop for several times, and this happened: see the pictures below.

The first one is about BIOS:
enter image description here

The second is what I got after pressed F12:
enter image description here

I don't know when it appeared for the first time. But, how could this happen?

update===========
@con-f-use: I've used a thumb drive named "Install Ubuntu" to install ubuntu, BIOS Version: 53CN14WW.
@CYREX, @jo-erlend: Yeah, it looks really cool ;) I'm wondering if this could happen on another laptop
@Col: I've pulled out all the USBs while taking those images.
@James Henstridge: I don't know if it's a EFI BIOS, how to distinguish?

update===========
Is there any test that i can run to figure out if it's a uefi/efi bios?

LiveWireBT
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Eric
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    Maybe the hard drive you installed Ubuntu on still has "ubuntu" as its disk label. Bios version and installed drives would be usefull... – con-f-use Aug 14 '11 at 13:59
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    Do you have a USB stick that had the installer on plugged in? – Col Aug 14 '11 at 14:32
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    Is this an EFI BIOS by any chance? – James Henstridge Aug 14 '11 at 14:34
  • It would probably mention it in the manual or setup screens somewhere. With EFI, it is possible to install multiple boot loaders and the firmware picks which one to boot. It is possible that the name is coming from there. – James Henstridge Aug 15 '11 at 01:36

3 Answers3

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What you see is the a UEFI BIOS. Unlike the legacy BIOS, there's MBR where the bootloaders always try to overwrite each other. Instead, bootloaders are installed in the form:

<EFI system partition>/efi/{vendor}/{file}.efi

The EFI partition is a small, FAT32 formatted partition usually located at the beginning of the hard drive. It stores the bootloaders for all the UEFI compatible operating systems you have installed.

Once a UEFI compatible operating system is installed, it copies the bootloader to the EFI partition and creates an entry in the NVRAM which points to the bootloader. In your case, ubuntu points to 

<EFI system partition>/efi/ubuntu/grubx64.efi

Windows, for example, creates an entry called "Windows Boot Manager" pointing to

<EFI system partition>/efi/microsoft/bootmgrw.efi

So, with a UEFI BIOS, you can use its boot menu to select your operating systems, set the default operating system to boot, etc.

Also, Ubuntu 11.04's installer has a bug where it will reformat your EFI partition. So, if you have Windows installed, it will no longer boot. You'll have to install Ubuntu first, then Windows.

EDIT: One more thing :) If you want Windows to show up in the boot menu, you have to boot the install DVD in UEFI mode. There should be an option for that if you look in your BIOS settings.

Hope this helps

Andrew Gunnerson
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  • well, my laptop is lenovo ideapad z475, and the lenovo engineer says that it's a legacy BIOS :( , also the BIOS looks like a legacy one as I can't use mouse, can't find UEFI Boot option :( , so, now, i'm confused, is it a UEFI BIOS or not? BTW, seems i've seen some "*.efi" files in my disk, couldn't find them now... – Eric Aug 15 '11 at 07:06
  • Is there any test that i can run to figure out if it's a uefi/efi bios? – Eric Aug 15 '11 at 07:08
  • Hmmmm...Looking at the hardware maintenance manual for your model, it seems that you have an AMD processor, which doesn't support UEFI :(. That's really strange how ubuntu shows up in your boot menu then. On my Lenovo ThinkPad W520, the ubuntu entry (looks exactly like your picture) only shows up in UEFI mode. If I change the BIOS settings to the legacy BIOS compatibility mode, it doesn't show up. – Andrew Gunnerson Aug 15 '11 at 14:28
  • Also, I can't use the mouse either--keyboard only. – Andrew Gunnerson Aug 15 '11 at 14:29
  • yes, the processor is AMD, BUT I get an EFI SHELL running after download a EFI.zip(include bootmgfw.efi and other .efi), extract to my USB and boot from the USB. – Eric Aug 16 '11 at 01:54
  • And the word "efi" or "uefi" doesn't exist in the bios, there's no "uefi boot" option. but still i can run efi shell, weird! – Eric Aug 16 '11 at 02:05
  • Hmmm...is the USB by any chance the Tianocore DUET USB? I think it allows non-EFI BIOS's to run in EFI mode :) – Andrew Gunnerson Aug 16 '11 at 05:05
  • @ChenXiao-Long let us continue this discussion in chat – Eric Aug 16 '11 at 07:07
  • Nice summary, aside from the ambiguous 2nd line (it's BIOS that uses MBR) and the clanging first line: "UEFI BIOS" is a contradiction in terms because UEFI was made to replace BIOS! Both are firmwares, and that's where the similarity ends. – underscore_d Oct 19 '15 at 23:37
1

Had the same Problem with a Phoenix SecureCore Tiano bios. To remove it I selected the ubuntu entry and pressed DEL a small x appeared at it's left. After saving and rebooting it was gone.

P3trus
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When you access the BIOS/UEFI you have the option for Fast Boot or Legacy setup for your system. You can turn off Fast Boot and select Boot Order, and in the Boot Order is the Ubuntu option. The system will use whatever you set; Fast Boot is UEFI. You should encounter a big red warming window telling you that you could screw up your system if you make the wrong choices in that section; proceed with caution.

I encountered the Ububtu bug the last time I tried to replace Windows. Ubuntu displayed an error when trying to partition the disk, and Windows immediately LOCKED the drive so nothing could be changed. I had a nice expensive brick then. When Ubuntu gets serious about itself, they will provide an installer that does all that stuff correctly and renders itself useful. Until then, run it from a virtual environment.

michael miller
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