Install Ubuntu [GNU/Linux] on troubling Acer Aspire ES1-533 EFI
Published: 2023-05-02 12:41:51

# Install Ubuntu [GNU/Linux] on troubling Acer Aspire ES1-533 EFI

Install Ubuntu on troubling Acer Aspire ES1-533 EFI

1. Boot Ubuntu Live DVD/USB in testing mode and open terminal
    
2. Run the installation process without installing the bootloader by:
    

```plaintext
sudo ubiquity -b
```

Press `Continue testing` after installation is over.

1. Mount the newly installed file system on `/mnt`:
    

```plaintext
   sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
   sudo mkdir /mnt/boot/efi
   sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi
   for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys; do sudo mount -B $i /mnt$i; done
```

(where `sda2` is the root partition and `sda1` is the EFI system partition)

1. Load efivars by:
    

```plaintext
 sudo modprobe efivars
```

1. Reinstall `grub-install` for a 64-bit version
    

```plaintext
sudo apt-get install --reinstall grub-efi-amd64
sudo grub-install --no-nvram --root-directory=/mnt
```

1. Change root to /mnt and update grub
    

```plaintext
sudo chroot /mnt
update-grub
```

1. Move and rename the installed bootloader
    

```plaintext
cd /boot/efi/EFI
cp -R ubuntu/* BOOT/
cd BOOT
cp grubx64.efi bootx64.efi
```

1. Reboot the system.
    

---

IF YOU WANT TO DUAL BOOT IT

If you install Ubuntu alongside Windows, you will encounter long BIOS boot times (10 seconds or more) and inability to perform hardware shutdown from Ubuntu OS (via, Power Off option), it will just hang when Linux kernel finish closing all services (usual shutdown operation), so you would need to force shutdown it via long holding power button 4 secs, until it restarts To work around this, you need to do this.. And also, Ubuntu won't boot GRUB2 as it's supposed to do.. And long BIOS time is because, as BIOS have one excess folder `Microsoft` that contains bootloader files for Windows, but we don't need those as we chainloaded Windows bootloader via GRUB2, BIOS is indexing those excess `Microsoft` files, from which BIOS won't boot, as we have GRUB2

You need first to disable Windows bootloader via [Easy UEFI Trial Version](https://easyuefi.software.informer.com/3.2/), disable Windows bootloader first, and then boot into Ubuntu Live DVD/USB, open Terminal, and mount EFI partition, and delete Windows partition

In Live Ubuntu, on terminal do:

mount EFI partition, to look into it's contents

```plaintext
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi
```

Look inside, and see if there's Windows folder, `Microsoft`

```plaintext
cd /mnt/boot/efi/EFI
ls
```

(you can back up whole EFI partition on external device, just not to bother fixing it later in case anything goes wrong; just `cp /mnt/boot/efi <path_to_ext_device>)`

And then just delete that folder

```plaintext
sudo rm -r Microsoft
```

If you go into GRUB2 succesfully, but don't have any options to boot from (it doesn't boot any OS properly, wrong paths) With this, we can easily boot Ubuntu manually via GRUB2 [instructions how to do that here](https://github.com/kraken-gz/GNU-Linux-skills/blob/main/Rescue%20Non-booting%20GRUB%202%20on%20Linux.md), or just using Live Ubuntu Look into lower section how to add OS entries in GRUB2

---

Whichever path you choosed, we need to update GRUB2 configuration file, so we don't manually enter path for booting OS

COMPLETELY MANUAL WAY OF UPDATING GRUB2 CONFIG FILES

you need to manually create grub.cfg , so it can detect where are your OS located, and to add them into entries

```plaintext
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
update-grub
```

it will generate `grub.cfg` and `grubenv`

`grubenv` is used for holding GRUB2 customizations accros reboots

you need to change your working directory to:

```plaintext
cd /boot/grub
```

in `EFI/BOOT` and `EFI/grub` you first need to delete existing `grub.cfg` and `grubenv` located there and then you need to copy `grub.cfg` and `grubenv` in `EFI/BOOT` and `EFI/grub`

and at boot time (just after BIOS gives control to bootloader, GRUB2), you get some errors at top of screen, take a note, and you need to copy files it complains about from `/boot/grub` into `EFI/BOOT` and `EFI/grub`

Note: GRUB2 bootloader folder don't have to be called `ubuntu` , you can install only GRUB2 without ubuntu at all and call it `grub` folder, or `debian`

You can customize GRUB2, with available GRUB2 documentation

AUTOMATIC WAY OF DOING IT

Or you can just execute command

```plaintext
sudo update-grub
```

if it doesn't freeze, good, if it freezes, up here, is completely manual way of doing it

---

INSTALLING OTHER DISTROS (like Manjaro)

You can do everything same, only omit `Load efivars` as itsn't needed, but you still need to work around diffrent names, and all errors that occur, are pretty similar, and follow same routine of solving them You can install other bootloaders if you like.