Trouble Installing D8.7.1 1386 on HP 11-g010nr

[Flamestar]

I am attempting to install Debian 8.7.1 (net installer, i386) on my HP ENVY X2 11-g010nr. I haven't used the thing in a while, and have decided to replace W8 with Debian.

However, each time I select "Install" (both for CLI and GUI installs), an image similar to the splash screen pops up, then the system freezes there with the flash drive flashing indicating that it's being read from.

I have turned off Secure Boot, disabled Fast Startup, done the usual things that I do with a PC before any type of Linux install.

Am I missing something that I need to do to further the install on this particular machine, or is it just one that I will be unable to install on?

The computer uses an Intel Atom dual core processor clocked @ 1.8GHz, and also uses UEFI without any noticeable legacy BIOS options, in case this information is relevant.


Thank you for your time and assistance.

[stevepusser]

It seems your device has an unusual 32-bit UEFI instead of the usual 64-bit, along with no "legacy boot" support. That's no doubt at the root of your problem.

[Flamestar]

It seems your device has an unusual 32-bit UEFI instead of the usual 64-bit, along with no "legacy boot" support. That's no doubt at the root of your problem.

Thanks for the reply!

I did not know that 32-bit UEFIs were somewhat unusual. Is there a way to get it to cooperate with the installer (and thus install)?

[stevepusser]

Can you find anything on the net where Linux users were successful? It must have been possible, since there was a vendor in Australia selling the Envy with Linux preinstalled!

I don't know if Debian provides a 32-bit efi file, but I did find statements that the Refind boot manager supports 32-bit EFI.

Apparently 32-bit UEFI on non-Apple hardware was restricted to machines that used a couple of Intel's 32-bit only Atom system-on-a-chip architectures--all other processors supported 64-bit at the time when manufacturers switched, so came with 64-bit UEFI.

[Flamestar]

Can you find anything on the net where Linux users were successful? It must have been possible, since there was a vendor in Australia selling the Envy with Linux preinstalled!

I was unsuccessful the last time I attempted, but I will take another look into it and report back one way or another. Hopefully I can find something that I missed

[Flamestar]

So, according to this post on the linux.org website,

Linux(grub to be specific) cannot boot from 32bit EFI.

and

Also, from this forum thread it looks like the Envy x2 has serious USB boot issues

So from the looks of things, I will be unable to install Debian (or any of the Ubuntu distros I've tried in the past) on this particular machine. Oh well.

Thanks for the help with trying to solve this. Luckily for me, I have about another 6 or so computers with Linux installed on them, so I'm definitely not without.

Thanks again for the assistance with this!

[Segfault]

AFAIK GRUB2 can handle 32 bit UEFI even on 64 bit systems. I know from experience rEFInd can boot 32 bit UEFI and hand over to 64 bit kernel.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Debian jessie should support mixed-bitness UEFI implementations:

Debian Jessie (8.0) was the first Linux distribution to include full support for mixed-mode UEFI installation

https://wiki.debian.org/UEFI#Support_fo ... 2-bit_UEFI

@OP: did you follow the instructions when preparing the installation medium?

Please provide the exact command(s) that you used.

[Flamestar]

Debian jessie should support mixed-bitness UEFI implementations:

Debian Jessie (8.0) was the first Linux distribution to include full support for mixed-mode UEFI installation

https://wiki.debian.org/UEFI#Support_fo ... 2-bit_UEFI

@OP: did you follow the instructions when preparing the installation medium?

Please provide the exact command(s) that you used.

I had used a program called Etcher by Risin.io that I use for every bootable USB I make. I'll give the commands a go through to see if that was the reason for it (hoping it is).

[Flamestar]

I'm afraid that my problem still persists. Perhaps it's an issue with the graphical boot screen on my system? Would I be able to get some assistance for loading up the text-based boot screen? (I am attempting the [Esc] and [H + Enter] methods provided in the install instructions)