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I'm trying to install Ubuntu as a second OS, but I'm stuck at the turn off secure boot step.

I've found out that to disable secure boot I need to switch from Legacy mode to UEFI mode. But I can't start Windows when UEFI mode is turned on. That means I need to go back to Legacy mode which doesn't have an option to turn off secure boot. I'm confused.

How should I proceed?

Fabby
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Nadiya
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    Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! :-) Just to be absolutely sure, could you [edit] your question and add the output to sudo parted --list in "try Ubuntu" mode in a terminal??? (Press [Ctrl][Alt][T] to open a terminal) – Fabby Aug 18 '15 at 19:34

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To elaborate a bit on Fabby's answer:

Modern EFI/UEFI-based computers can usually boot either in native EFI/UEFI mode or using a feature called the Compatibility Support Module (CSM), which enables them to boot using older BIOS-mode boot loaders. This latter mode is often called "legacy mode," so it has three names: BIOS, CSM, and legacy; all mean the same thing in this context, and are distinct from native EFI/UEFI-mode booting.

Secure Boot is a UEFI feature that is active only in UEFI-mode booting. Thus, when you activate BIOS/CSM/legacy support, Secure Boot is either automatically deactivated or becomes relevant only for UEFI-mode boots, depending on the design of the firmware.

If your computer is booting in BIOS/CSM/legacy mode and refuses to boot when you switch the firmware to EFI/UEFI mode, then that implies that Secure Boot is already disabled, or at least bypassed, for booting Windows. Fabby asked for the output of parted -l, and that output will indicate Windows' boot mode with certainty. Specifically, Windows boots in BIOS/CSM/legacy mode only from MBR-partitioned (aka "MSDOS") disks, whereas it boots in EFI/UEFI mode only from GPT-partitioned disks. Thus, the disk type will indicate, with 100% certainty, what the current Windows boot mode is.

As a side note, any instructions that tell you to disable Secure Boot as a matter of course are suspect. Ubuntu has long supported Secure Boot, and should install just fine (in EFI/UEFI mode, of course) on most computers with Secure Boot active. Note the word "most," however; there are a few computers on which Ubuntu's Secure Boot support does not work. IMHO, those are best dealt with on a case-by-case basis rather than issuing instructions to disable Secure Boot on all computers.

Rod Smith
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  • As usual: much better then my answer... I just couldn't resist answering "don't do anything!"... – Fabby Aug 19 '15 at 10:58
  • So how do I install Ubuntu alongside Windows with legacy mode? – Nadiya Aug 19 '15 at 13:12
  • great answer bro, but I'm a little confused. My disk type is GPT which means my BIOS is on UEFI mode and I'm running dual-boot Ubuntu along with Windows 10, each time I power on my laptop I see the notification that says Secure mode is off. I thought that once is on UEFI mode, secure mode have to be in on state. – Fingertron Oct 20 '15 at 18:54
  • Secure Boot is an optional feature of UEFI. In fact, it's possible to disable Secure Boot on most UEFI-based computers that support it. – Rod Smith Oct 21 '15 at 12:58
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Don't do anything: apparently your Windows isn't installed in UEFI mode.

(This is the first time on this site I've told someone to not do anything!)

:-)

Community
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Fabby
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