install debian to windows 10 machine

[technosinga]

hi,

I want to install debian to windows 10 without any media. Downloaded win32-loader. But after running it, after boot up, there is a menu of two items, start Windows 10 or Continue to install Debian. If I choose second item, it loops back to the menu.
Using F key to enter boot menu, it has 3 items:

Boot Mode : [UEFI]
Secure Boot: [Enabled]
Boot Priority Order:
1. Windows Boot Manager <version>

I cannot edit the menu. Can't even access the items with Up/Down keys.

Surfing the web reveals that Debian has to support UEFI and Secure Boot has to be disabled.
How to have dual boot of Debian and Linux?
I can't use netinstall because the bios does not seem to support boot from another media.

[technosinga]

ok, a little progress. In boot menu, select 'Security', it allows me to create a Supervisor Password. After that, I can disable secure boot. But after 'Save and Exit', I get the boot selection menu with 'Windows 10' or 'Continue to install Debian'. When I choose the second choice, it loops back to the selection menu, as before.

[acewiza]

Have fun. Virtualbox is fun, too.

[bw123]

I can't use netinstall because the bios does not seem to support boot from another media.

That's insane, maybe if you post some specifics on the machine someone has a better way to get installed.

[technosinga]

Been busy with something else. Back to working on the problem.

The machine is a ACER Swift 3, with i7-8550 processor, running BIOS version 1.03.
Surfing reveals posts about installing Ubuntu, Mint and Archlinux on it but none about Debian.
Anyone here has installed Debian on a Acer Swift 3 machine, dual booting with Windows 10?
Would like to hear from you.

[dotlj]

The instructions for installing Ubuntu and Mint will be very similar, even instructions for installing Arch won't be very different.
The key things are preparing a bootable install image on say USB flashdisk, changing BIOS settings to boot from the USB flashdisk, then installing the system.
As you have an Intel i7 processor, you need the amd64 install image.

From the Mint post, substitute the Mint image with the Debian image.

Press F2 at ACER splash screen to get to BIOS settings. Find Supervisor password and create a password. Then, go right in the tabs and set Secure Boot to [disabled]. Press F10 to save and exit.

Reboot computer and this time press F12 to enter boot option. Select your USB (or whatever your ISO is written to) and hit enter. This should bring you to a similar boot selection screen, allowing you to choose something along the lines of “Debian stretch (compatibility mode)”. Choose this option and allow Debian to boot.

Install Debian like you normally would, however do not choose the “Boot alongside windows 10” (or whatever version of windows you have). Choose something else and follow the guidelines for properly partitioning your hard drive and installing the operating system. After everything is installed, you can restart your computer, following Debian instructions to unplug your USB and hit enter.

Once again, press F2 at the ACER splash screen and enter BIOS. You'll have to enter the password you set for supervisor to enter BIOS settings if you didn't clear it in one of the earlier steps. This time, go to the Secure Boot option again and set it to [Enabled]. Return to the supervisor password page you started on and scroll down to something along the lines of “Give permission to UEFI to run these files”. Hit enter on this option and you'll be taken to a page that says HDD0 along with possibly other options. Select and hit enter on HDD0 (assuming this is where you installed your OS. if you're not sure then don't worry; it probably is). Next, choose EFI and enter it, and then Debian and enter that. You'll see among a few others an option named 'grubx64.efi'. Press enter on this option and give it a name; I called mine 'Debian Stretth'. Hit enter twice and then F10 to save settings.

Re-enter BIOS settings for the final time by pressing F2 at the splash screen and entering your password. Go to the Boot tab and set your newly named option (in my case Debian Stretch) as the top priority by pressing F5 or F6. Now just exit with F10 and you'll be almost done.

As you have some unusual hardware, you will need to edit /etc/default/grub
You can use a root terminal and leave out the sudo

Script Edit:

Here's the most important step. Turn on your notebook, going into the newly created linux mint OS option and do all the updates in the terminal once your desktop loads (sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade). Next, open the terminal and type: sudo nano /etc/default/grub Go to the line where it says 'GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"' and change it to: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash modprobe.blacklist=dw_dmac,dw_dmac_core" On your keyboard, with the script still open, press 'Control + X', then 'Y' and 'Enter' to save and exit. Now write 'sudo update-grub' in the terminal.

[technosinga]

Thanks for the reply and suggestions.

Allow me to clarify my situation.
I want to install with win32-loader from Windows 10.

The error I am getting is similar to what is discussed in this thread: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo ... bug=824648.
But I don't understand the solution, if any, offered, in that discussion.
I am using 64-bit i7-8550 CPU, running a 64-bit Windows 10.

I read that win32-loader auto-detects whether a CPU is 64-bit or 32-bit and adjusts itself accordingly.

Why am I still getting the 0xc000007b status for the g2ldr.mbr file?

[technosinga]

Miss out something important, and that is, I have checked that my 128G SSD which holds the Windows 10 is a GPT disk.

Recollection:
64-bit CPU, 64-bit OS, GPT disk.

Would win32-loader have any problem with them?

[dotlj]

I don't use Windows or win32-loader, sorry, I can't comment on that. Most people use Debian installation media to install Debian. Hopefully someone will come soon to help with this.

[Wheelerof4te]

I want to install debian to windows 10 without any media.

Don't know if something like that is even possible. You need Debian install .iso in order to install Debian, duh. Or some kind of virtualisation.

Using F key to enter boot menu, it has 3 items:

Boot Mode : [UEFI]
Secure Boot: [Enabled]

To install and use Debian, you need to have Secure boot turned off.

I cannot edit the menu. Can't even access the items with Up/Down keys.

See above.
Honest advice is to first try Ubuntu. You can come back to Debian when you've gained some experience.

I have checked that my 128G SSD which holds the Windows 10 is a GPT disk.

This is fairly limiting disk space for even just Windows. Answering exactly why you want Debian on that particular laptop will be very helpful.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

I want to install debian to windows 10 without any media

First enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux by running this command from an Administrator prompt:

Code: Select all

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -OEnable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

Then use the Ubuntu shell to install a Debian system to the disk by following this guide:

https://www.debian.org/releases/stretch ... 03.html.en

[Dai_trying]

There is another option, you could use a Windows installer to install Linux, I do recall Ubuntu offering a WUBI install (or something like that) and I have seen a Debian derivative (Q4OS) that has an installer for using in the Windows environment. There is a forum post with instructions and links and although still classed as "experimental" it could give you a Debian (based) installation without using external media.I have read other users have tried and succeeded with it so it could be useful to you.
Once you have it installed there are many desktop environment options available and all the usual debian repositories are available. This is based on the current stable (Stretch) version.

If you do run into any issues the developers are usually quick to respond and help.

[Thorny]

I don't know if it works or not and can't test it because I don't use Windows but the Stretch install DVD1 has an autorun.inf that opens setup.exe also on the DVD1.

Of course, that doesn't conform to "without any media".

[debutano]

Referring to previous posts:

It is possible to install Debian without any media, that's what win32-loader is for. It is supposed to initiate the installation of Debian from within Windows, using the internet.

As the posting shows, using it on system with 32-bit CPU and 32-bit Windows is no problem.

Perhaps it is not ready for 64-bit system? Can some Debian experts confirm?

[Jonathan Mansbridge]

I am trying to install debian on a Z8 windows 10 machine. I have downloaded a ,iso which has an autorun. The machine appears not to respond to the autorun, so I started setup, the first command on the autorun. It installed dual boot but then stopped with a message that it cannot find g2ldr.mbr, although that is on the optical disk. I do not seem to be able to get past that point. I have tried Ubuntu also, which does not start. I have tried forcing the machine to use the optical disc by disabling other boot options, without success. What do I try next?