Scheduled Maintenance: We are aware of an issue with Google, AOL, and Yahoo services as email providers which are blocking new registrations. We are trying to fix the issue and we have several internal and external support tickets in process to resolve the issue. Please see: viewtopic.php?t=158230

 

 

 

[Solved] UEFI or Legacy mode

Ask for help with issues regarding the Installations of the Debian O/S.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Alice Wilton
Posts: 13
Joined: 2023-03-17 16:03
Has thanked: 15 times

[Solved] UEFI or Legacy mode

#1 Post by Alice Wilton »

Hi all! My PC supports legacy mode for BIOS. Is it better to install Debian in UEFI mode or Legacy mode? I've read somewhere about UEFI causing grub problems.
Last edited by Alice Wilton on 2023-03-18 05:06, edited 1 time in total.

Aki
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 2823
Joined: 2014-07-20 18:12
Location: Europe
Has thanked: 69 times
Been thanked: 385 times

Re: UEFI or Legacy mode

#2 Post by Aki »

Hello,
Welcome to the forum.
Alice Wilton wrote: 2023-03-17 16:12 My PC supports legacy mode for BIOS. Is it better to install Debian in UEFI mode or Legacy mode? I've read somewhere about UEFI causing grub problems.
grub's UEFI support for Debian is mature in current stable release named "bullseye", therefore I suggest to install it in UEFI mode if you computer supports it well. You can use installation in legacy mode as a fall-back option.
⢀⣴⠾⠻⢶⣦⠀
⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁ Debian - The universal operating system
⢿⡄⠘⠷⠚⠋⠀ https://www.debian.org
⠈⠳⣄⠀

User avatar
Alice Wilton
Posts: 13
Joined: 2023-03-17 16:03
Has thanked: 15 times

Re: UEFI or Legacy mode

#3 Post by Alice Wilton »

Aki wrote: 2023-03-17 16:22 Hello,
Welcome to the forum.
Alice Wilton wrote: 2023-03-17 16:12 My PC supports legacy mode for BIOS. Is it better to install Debian in UEFI mode or Legacy mode? I've read somewhere about UEFI causing grub problems.
grub's UEFI support for Debian is mature in current stable release named "bullseye", therefore I suggest to install it in UEFI mode if you computer supports it well. You can use installation in legacy mode as a fall-back option.
Thanks, I will install it in UEFI mode.

User avatar
kent_dorfman766
Posts: 535
Joined: 2022-12-16 06:34
Location: socialist states of america
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 70 times

Re: UEFI or Legacy mode

#4 Post by kent_dorfman766 »

Given a choice I will always choose legacy mode. UEFI and it's bastard child secure-boot generally make smoke come out of my ears.

lindi
Debian Developer
Debian Developer
Posts: 412
Joined: 2022-07-12 14:10
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 77 times

Re: UEFI or Legacy mode

#5 Post by lindi »

kent_dorfman766 wrote: 2023-03-17 20:03 Given a choice I will always choose legacy mode. UEFI and it's bastard child secure-boot generally make smoke come out of my ears.
I would stick to rational arguments. The main advantage for me with legacy mode is that it is easier to move the SSD between systems since all of the information is stored on the SSD itself and not in the NVRAM like with UEFI. I'd really like to know how I could overcome this limitation and switch to UEFI fully as then I don't need to write grub to the embedding area anymore but it can instead be just a normal file that is part of a file system.

User avatar
sunrat
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6412
Joined: 2006-08-29 09:12
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Has thanked: 116 times
Been thanked: 462 times

Re: UEFI or Legacy mode

#6 Post by sunrat »

kent_dorfman766 wrote: 2023-03-17 20:03 Given a choice I will always choose legacy mode. UEFI and it's bastard child secure-boot generally make smoke come out of my ears.
Smoke coming out of your ears is not a valid reason to not use UEFI. Facts, not opinions please.

As mentioned above UEFI is mature and stable. I have been using it for a number of years with no issues.
“ computer users can be divided into 2 categories:
Those who have lost data
...and those who have not lost data YET ”
Remember to BACKUP!

User avatar
kent_dorfman766
Posts: 535
Joined: 2022-12-16 06:34
Location: socialist states of america
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 70 times

Re: UEFI or Legacy mode

#7 Post by kent_dorfman766 »

Smoke coming out of your ears is not a valid reason to not use UEFI. Facts, not opinions please.
Maybe your understanding of english is differnet than mine. "is it better" leaves a whole lot to interprettation. LOL

UEFI is more complex and more can go wrong with it...and it is a layer used to support secure boot...a concept I find fundementally at odds with how I use and program computers.

User avatar
donald
Debian Developer, Site Admin
Debian Developer, Site Admin
Posts: 1046
Joined: 2021-03-30 20:08
Has thanked: 186 times
Been thanked: 240 times

Re: UEFI or Legacy mode

#8 Post by donald »

Let's all play nicely on this beautiful beach we have. Some can sun, others swim, some like myself can curse the sand in our sandals. :D
Typo perfectionish.


"The advice given above is all good, and just because a new message has appeared it does not mean that a problem has arisen, just that a new gremlin hiding in the hardware has been exposed." - FreewheelinFrank

User avatar
jahway603
Posts: 8
Joined: 2022-12-29 17:24
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: UEFI or Legacy mode

#9 Post by jahway603 »

It's a good idea to check your system or motherboard's BIOS changelog too as I've had systems that were UEFI compatible where I needed to update the BIOS version for it work.

User avatar
Alice Wilton
Posts: 13
Joined: 2023-03-17 16:03
Has thanked: 15 times

Re: UEFI or Legacy mode

#10 Post by Alice Wilton »

Installed it in UEFI mode, everything is fine.

Code: Select all

Linux home 5.10.0-21-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 5.10.162-1 (2023-01-21) x86_64 GNU/Linux
Thanks, everyone.

Aki
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 2823
Joined: 2014-07-20 18:12
Location: Europe
Has thanked: 69 times
Been thanked: 385 times

Re: [Solved] UEFI or Legacy mode

#11 Post by Aki »

Happy Debian.
⢀⣴⠾⠻⢶⣦⠀
⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁ Debian - The universal operating system
⢿⡄⠘⠷⠚⠋⠀ https://www.debian.org
⠈⠳⣄⠀

User avatar
vernius
Posts: 6
Joined: 2023-04-11 07:15
Has thanked: 5 times

Re: [Solved] UEFI or Legacy mode

#12 Post by vernius »

Hi. Taking advantage of the thread, how can I know if Debian is installed in uefi or legacy mode on a machine? Thanks

Aki
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 2823
Joined: 2014-07-20 18:12
Location: Europe
Has thanked: 69 times
Been thanked: 385 times

Re: [Solved] UEFI or Legacy mode

#13 Post by Aki »

Hello,
vernius wrote: 2023-04-13 11:40 Hi. Taking advantage of the thread, how can I know if Debian is installed in uefi or legacy mode on a machine? Thanks
If directory /sys/firmware/efi exists then Debian GNU/Linux is booted by EFI boot loader otherwise it is booted by Legacy boot loader.
⢀⣴⠾⠻⢶⣦⠀
⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁ Debian - The universal operating system
⢿⡄⠘⠷⠚⠋⠀ https://www.debian.org
⠈⠳⣄⠀

Post Reply