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TNAndy

Member

Registered: 2020-04-19

Posts: 3  

[SOLVED] DEVELOPERS: Please repackage Devuan to install with secure boot on

I've got a brand new ASUS ROG Strix gaming laptop.  It came preloaded with Windows 11 Pro.  I would very much like to dual boot it with Devuan. 

I only ever use Windows for gaming.  Few games have Linux ports, so it's usually play in Windows or don't play at all.  I use Devuan for serious computing and security.  I want to avoid systemd if I can.  Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to install Devuan on this laptop yet.  The installation .iso is not digitally signed.  I tried to add shimx64.efi to the Devuan .iso, but nothing I've tried has worked so far.  If I do figure this out, I will happily write a how-to.

I'm pretty sure that, as it stands, Windows 11 requires secure boot to be on.  I've seen some online discussion about installing Windows 11 without secure boot, but my guess is it might be easier for the Devs to fix Devuan (for everybody) than it would be to erase my hard drive and reinstall Windows 11 (just for me).

I believe Debian will install with secure boot turned on.  With that as an example, would it be terribly difficult to update Devuan to do it, too?

You know what would be really cool? Installing Linux to a blank second drive or other empty disk space from an installer running under Windows 11. Not as a VM, but natively...with a GUI. Wouldn't the secure boot problem go away?  I wouldn't even have to fool around with booting from a USB drive.  If Disk Genius can see every drive and partition and a BIOS update can be done from inside Windows I bet it could be done...somehow.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration of my suggestion.

RedGreen925

Member

Registered: 2024-12-07

Posts: 297  

Re: [SOLVED] DEVELOPERS: Please repackage Devuan to install with secure boot on

I believe Debian will install with secure boot turned on.  With that as an example, would it be terribly difficult to update Devuan to do it, too?

So install that and do the conversion to a Devuan system as per the instructions given on the site..

https://www.devuan.org/os/documentation … libur.html

TNAndy

Member

Registered: 2020-04-19

Posts: 3  

Re: [SOLVED] DEVELOPERS: Please repackage Devuan to install with secure boot on

That's a fantastic idea.  I didn't know that was possible.  I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

Thanks!

blackhole

Member

Registered: 2020-03-16

Posts: 204  

Re: [SOLVED] DEVELOPERS: Please repackage Devuan to install with secure boot on

This is a false dilemna. Just disable secureboot.

sgage

Member

Registered: 2016-12-01

Posts: 343  

Re: [SOLVED] DEVELOPERS: Please repackage Devuan to install with secure boot on

Win 11 runs/boots fine with SB off. Once Devuan is installed, it runs/boots fine with SB on. I just turned SB off on my machine and had done with it.

greenjeans

Member

Registered: 2017-04-07

Posts: 1,610  

Website

Re: [SOLVED] DEVELOPERS: Please repackage Devuan to install with secure boot on

This is a false dilemna. Just disable secureboot.

That's an understatement, I say we dust off and nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

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blackhole

Member

Registered: 2020-03-16

Posts: 204  

Re: [SOLVED] DEVELOPERS: Please repackage Devuan to install with secure boot on

To elaborate: Windows 11 only requires that a PC be secureboot capable, it doesn't have to enabled:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/win … 3abef64fad

TNAndy

Member

Registered: 2020-04-19

Posts: 3  

Re: [SOLVED] DEVELOPERS: Please repackage Devuan to install with secure boot on

I was wrong:  Windows 11 does not require secure boot to be on (enabled) to boot.  I'm not even sure it needs to be on for Windows to be installed.

After Devuan is installed make sure the shim packages are installed.  If they are, it appears that it doesn't matter if secure boot is on or off.  In order to install Devuan, turn secure boot off, but after it's up and running, it no longer appears to matter how it's set.  In order to install nVidia drivers secure boot must be off or else you will have to supply the paths to both private and public keys.  I don't know where those keys are kept, but the driver loaded with secure boot off and I'm not going to fiddle with it any more.

My problem was actually something else entirely.  Linux and VMD are incompatible.  Turn VMD off in the UEFI/BIOS.  Once it is off, the Devuan installer can detect the SSD(s) and you can partition them normally.

If you are dual booting an ASUS laptop (and maybe desktop) see this web page for valuable insights:  https://asus-linux.org/guides/intro/

I also turned off hibernation and fast boot.  Note these are Windows settings, not BIOS.  There's another fast boot in UEFI/BIOS and just to be sure, I turned that one off, too.