Question need help with UEFI "American Megatrends Inc. version 2.20.1270 "

[rosika]

Hi all, 👋

I desperately need some advice regarding UEFI "American Megatrends Inc. version 2.20.1270 / Aptio Setup Utility".

I wanted to help a friend of mine with putting a Linux distro on her new laptop "Medion Akoya E3223"
(https://www.medion.com/de/shop/p/co...b-ssd-4-gb-ram-convertible-b-ware-130032489A1).

It came with WIN10 preinstalled, which we wanted to nuke and put e.g. Linux Lite on the laptop.

The problem we ran into was:

We couldn´t get the laptop to boot from the ventoy (usb) stick, where clonezilla and e.g. Linux Lite iso reside.
I presume the laptop´s UEFI is to blame.
It´s an American "Megatrends Inc. version 2.20.1270 Aptio Setup Utility".

Try it as I might, I couldn´t get it to recognize the stick (or any usb device for that matter).
I literally tried everything, from disabling secure boot to what-have-you.
Nothing seemed to work.

What I could achieve:

- access UEFI with all of its settings (it was the F2 key)
- access boot menu (I think it was F10)

The boot menu however displayed just 2 entries:

- the laptop´s internal SSD with WIN on it
- some other entry, which I cannot remember. I think it had something to do with EFI…
I believe it was the uEFI Shell.

No sign of the usb-stick or any USB-device for that matter.

Something odd in UEFI settings:

Boot Options / Priority Boot Options:
- Disabled
- (otherwise just W10 available)

That´s all.

Does anyone have a clue as how to make this version of AMI UEFI recognize attached USB media, so that the ventoy stick could be found ❓

Many thanks in advance and many greetings from Rosika 🙂

 

[rocktalkrock]

Are you certain the USB stick you have created is bootable?
Which Linux distros have you tried to boot? Was it only using Ventoy?

 

[rosika]

Are you certain the USB stick you have created is bootable?
Which Linux distros have you tried to boot? Was it only using Ventoy?

Hi, and thank you for your reply.

Yes, I´m sure of that. The ventoy stick booted without any difficulties on another computer and offered the two Os´s which reside there as ISOs:
clonezilla and Linux Lite.

I forgot to mention the laptop in question came with WIN10 preinstalled - but with S mode
Could it be that UEFI provides a way to be locked down to serve purposes of the “S mode” ❓

That would be a catastrophe then... 🤔

Many greetings from Rosika 🙂

 

[rocktalkrock]

Hi, and thank you for your reply.

Yes, I´m sure of that. The ventoy stick booted without any difficulties on another computer and offered the two Os´s which reside there as ISOs:
clonezilla and Linux Lite.

I forgot to mention the laptop in question came with WIN10 preinstalled - but with S mode
Could it be that UEFI provides a way to be locked down to serve purposes of the “S mode” ❓

That would be a catastrophe then... 🤔

Many greetings from Rosika 🙂

I would suggest creating a bootable USB with Ubuntu or Mint, without using Ventoy.

You can also switch out of S mode to a regular Windows 10 Home or Pro.

1. - On your PC running Windows 10 in S mode, open Settings > Update & Security > Activation.
2. - Find the Switch to Windows 10 Home or Switch to Windows 10 Pro section, then select the Go to the Store link.
3. - On the page that appears in Microsoft Store (Switch out of S mode or a similar page), select the Get button. After you confirm this action, you'll be able to install apps from outside Microsoft Store.

Windows 10 and Windows 11 in S mode FAQ - Microsoft Support

Get answers to common questions about Windows 11 and Windows 10 in S mode.

support.microsoft.com

 

[rosika]

I would suggest creating a bootable USB with Ubuntu or Mint, without using Ventoy.

You can also switch out of S mode to a regular Windows 10 Home or Pro.

1. - On your PC running Windows 10 in S mode, open Settings > Update & Security > Activation.
2. - Find the Switch to Windows 10 Home or Switch to Windows 10 Pro section, then select the Go to the Store link.
3. - On the page that appears in Microsoft Store (Switch out of S mode or a similar page), select the Get button. After you confirm this action, you'll be able to install apps from outside Microsoft Store.

Windows 10 and Windows 11 in S mode FAQ - Microsoft Support

Get answers to common questions about Windows 11 and Windows 10 in S mode.

support.microsoft.com

Hi again, 👋

thank you so much for your help.

So you think that WIN´s enabled S mode might have something to do with the laptop´s not showing any USB entries for potential boot...
I was thinking along those lines, too, but wasn´t sure at all.

O.K. I´ll attempt to opt out of the S mode then. Thanks for the how-to and the link.

The other topic:

I would suggest creating a bootable USB with Ubuntu or Mint, without using Ventoy.

I´d try that as well:
But how would I go about creating such as USB-booting device with only (e.g.) clonezilla on it?
Should I employ

dd

for that?

Thanks again and many greetings from Rosika 🙂

 

[rocktalkrock]

Hi again, 👋

thank you so much for your help.

So you think that WIN´s enabled S mode might have something to do with the laptop´s not showing any USB entries for potential boot...
I was thinking along those lines, too, but wasn´t sure at all.

O.K. I´ll attempt to opt out of the S mode then. Thanks for the how-to and the link.

The other topic:


I´d try that as well:
But how would I go about creating such as USB-booting device with only (e.g.) clonezilla on it?
Should I employ

dd

for that?

Thanks again and many greetings from Rosika 🙂

I am not clear why you want to boot Clonezilla? If you create a bootable USB drive with Ubuntu or Mint, they already have partitioning software to install Linux on the laptop.

 

[rosika]

I am not clear why you want to boot Clonezilla? If you create a bootable USB drive with Ubuntu or Mint, they already have partitioning software to install Linux on the laptop.

Yes, that´s clear so far.
I wanted to boot Clonezilla Live in order to make a disk-backup of the WIN installation the laptop came with. It´s a brand-new laptop after all.
That´s just to be on the safe side.

Having done so the next step would´ve been to start Linux Lite Live, check whether all of the laptop´s hardware and peripherals are supported and then install Linux Lite.

 

[helper800]

Yes, that´s clear so far.
I wanted to boot Clonezilla Live in order to make a disk-backup of the WIN installation the laptop came with. It´s a brand-new laptop after all.
That´s just to be on the safe side.

Having done so the next step would´ve been to start Linux Lite Live, check whether all of the laptop´s hardware and peripherals are supported and then install Linux Lite.

The way you are trying to install things is much too convoluted. Try what @rocktalkrock said and be done with it. The first thing I do with new laptops is fresh install windows anyways to get off all of the bloatware anyways and then add all of the manufactures drivers from that laptops support page.

 

[rosika]

The way you are trying to install things is much too convoluted. Try what @rocktalkrock said and be done with it. The first thing I do with new laptops is fresh install windows anyways to get off all of the bloatware anyways and then add all of the manufactures drivers from that laptops support page.

Thanks for providion your opinion.
But the fact remains: I need an attached USB device to be recognized in the boot selection menu. That problem remains still unsolved, I´m afraid.

 

[helper800]

Thanks for providion your opinion.
But the fact remains: I need an attached USB device to be recognized in the boot selection menu. That problem remains still unsolved, I´m afraid.

Do you have a boot order list in the BIOS or the ability to select a device to boot within the boot menu? If not then I would make sure the USB drive is an older USB2.0 one. Sometimes I have issues with newer USB 3.0 drives being detected for windows installs and BIOS flashing. Did you get out of the S mode in windows like suggested above?

 

[rocktalkrock]

Yes, that´s clear so far.
I wanted to boot Clonezilla Live in order to make a disk-backup of the WIN installation the laptop came with. It´s a brand-new laptop after all.
That´s just to be on the safe side.

Having done so the next step would´ve been to start Linux Lite Live, check whether all of the laptop´s hardware and peripherals are supported and then install Linux Lite.

The laptop already has a “digital license” tied to the motherboard, so if you reinstalled Windows in the future, Windows would automatically activate.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Have you disabled "Secure Boot" in BIOS? Secure Boot disables the ability to boot anything other than the internal drive (thus the name).

 

[rosika]

Hi all,

@helper800:

Do you have a boot order list in the BIOS or the ability to select a device to boot within the boot menu?

Yes, but the USB-stick doesn´t show.
So you´re suggesting to try a USB 2.0 stick as well. I was just using the USB2.0 port of the laptop. I´ll give it a try.

Did you get out of the S mode in windows like suggested above?

This friend of mine lives pretty far away from me. We have to make an appointment every time we want to meet. So it may take a while until I can try to opt out of WIN´s S mode. Of course I´ll give it a try. Thanks.

@rocktalkrock:

I hope this “digital license” wouldn´t interfere with installing a Linux distro then ... 🤔 .
We have no intention of using or even re-installing WIN. We just want to get rid of it and use a Linux distro instead.

 

[rosika]

Have you disabled "Secure Boot" in BIOS? Secure Boot disables the ability to boot anything other than the internal drive (thus the name).

Yes, I´ve disabled Secure Boot. But to no avail... .
But thanks for bringing it up.

 

[rocktalkrock]

No, the digital license will not interfere with installing any Linux distro.

 

[rosika]

No, the digital license will not interfere with installing any Linux distro.

Thanks a lot. That´s good to know and gives me a little hope.

Cheers from Rosika 🙂