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The Acer Switch Alpha 12 laptop is aggravating me as I try to install other systems on it. My end goal is to boot into GRUB or possibly BCD and have the ability to choose a Linux installation with Wi-Fi access, alongside Windows 10. This really should be simple.

My network card -- an Atheros QCA6174 -- is not being recognized by the live USB, though the proper firmware is in the filesystem. I have installed Linux onto the drive, but I can't access it, as Windows 10 boots automatically without a menu. I can boot to another drive, like my USB, through the UEFI menu, but not load up another partition.

My options as I see them are to:

  1. Install and configure GRUB without being able to access git or any repositories;
  2. Get the Windows Boot Manager to display a menu I can slap a Linux boot into, instead of just loading Windows in seconds;
  3. Get my network running (again, without access to any online resources, git, apt-get, etc.) so I can install and customize GRUB my own damn self.

If anyone can help me accomplish one or more of these, I would be incredibly grateful.

Here is a list of roadblocks I've come across, so take them as notes about some stuff that definitely WON'T work:

  • There is no ethernet port on the machine, and there is only one USB port. I can't have my live USB and a wireless dongle in at the same time, meaning without access to my Linux partition, I can't use the dongle. I do not have a hub, and even if I did, the proper drivers for my dongle (D-Link DWA-130) may have the same issue as my network card.
  • EasyBCD tells me that I can't create a Linux entry after booting from EFI, and Legacy boot in the UEFI menu makes it tell me there's no boot device, so I can't even access Windows with it.
  • I don't know much about Linux, but I've installed it many times on different hardware. I can probably try commands safely, but I won't think of them myself.

EDIT -- "SOLVED" -- I installed a virtual machine, where Linux picks up my network card just fine. Not a perfect solution, but I can live with it.

Victor T
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4 Answers4

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Note: this answer assumes that you did install Ubuntu on the system already. That was not 100% clear to me from the question.

IMHO the first thing to try in problematic dual boot situations is Boot-repair. You can download it on your working Windows install and install it to USB. Then boot from this USB and select the suggested repair. In many cases that will get you the dual boot capability.

Organic Marble
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  • I am looking forward to trying this if it turns out to be a quick fix. Unfortunately, SourceForge is down right now and there are no mirrors it seems, so I'll have to wait. – Victor T Aug 26 '16 at 02:01
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I think here problem is the fastboot of Windows 10 , it creates many such issues , you can visit this link , here you can find guide to disable fastboot here.

Deepak Kumar Mahto
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  • Fast Boot is disabled, but Windows still loads automatically. – Victor T Aug 26 '16 at 01:40
  • So , your bios is in legacy mode ? – Deepak Kumar Mahto Aug 26 '16 at 01:41
  • Nope, UEFI. If I set it to Legacy, it doesn't detect a boot device, so I set it back to UEFI. – Victor T Aug 26 '16 at 01:42
  • Please add concrete information to your post that will keep this answer relevant and helpful to future users should your linked webpage go down. – captainGeech Aug 26 '16 at 01:43
  • Ohke, now i got your problem , first you have to disable the efi mode , after turning on legacy mode , you have to format your hardisk into dos mode ( guided partion table ) then you will install your windows in legacy mode , then on installing linux os , the grub will itself detect the installed os – Deepak Kumar Mahto Aug 26 '16 at 01:46
  • Let me elaborate the steps for you , if you want to dual boot on EFI you will loose all your data as we will be converting your GPT partion to MBR partition. – Deepak Kumar Mahto Aug 26 '16 at 01:54
  • On the First Step Follow this link to convert your partion to GPT, or you can simply boot into live ubuntu and open gparted , then goto device then goto partition table , then select msdos, then apply , you disk will be converted into mbr format. – Deepak Kumar Mahto Aug 26 '16 at 01:57
  • On the second step you have to install windows using an USB installer or dvd. – Deepak Kumar Mahto Aug 26 '16 at 01:58
  • Then in the last you can install linux, now grub will detect windows and will create an entry for windows in the boot menu on system startup, then you can boot your linux or windows. – Deepak Kumar Mahto Aug 26 '16 at 02:00
  • I don't have a Windows 10 key, so I am kind of afraid to do a reinstall. I will try other methods before resorting to a format, thanks. – Victor T Aug 26 '16 at 02:00
  • There is no other method , or you can use linux in virtual machine. For finding the keys, this link can help you. – Deepak Kumar Mahto Aug 26 '16 at 02:04
  • I ended up installing a VM for Linux. Thanks for the support. – Victor T Aug 26 '16 at 23:21
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I managed to install Xubuntu 16.04 alongside original Win10 on my Acer Switch Alpha 12. The only way to do it so far is to use uefi boot for Win10 and switch to Legacy boot when I need Xubuntu. WiFi on Xubuntu is working with recent kernel 4.4.0-45 but only 1Mbps and does not connect to every router. I tried kernel 4.6 with the same result. There is also an issue with waking up the keyboard. To make it work after waking up device from sleep, you need to de-touch it and retouch again. Beside that everything works fine. We need to wait a while for better drivers for Atheros QCA6174. To install Xubuntu I used dongle: DELOCK 62653 USB 3.0 3-Port Hub + 1x Gigabit LAN but I reckon you manage without.

Peter
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I found the way to get sorted problem with waking up the keyboard: Replace Light-Locker with Gnome Screensaver (on Xubuntu): sudo apt-get remove --purge remove xscreensaver sudo apt-get remove --purge light-locker sudo apt-get install gnome-screensaver

Now I can suspend folding the keyboard and after reopen keyboard wakes up fine. On Gnome Screensaver also pops up Onboard virtual keyboard.

Peter
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