I made the big mistake of buying an HP H8 1569 with Windows preinstalled. The idea was to dual boot with Ubuntu. The computer has UEFI and Safe Boot. There are many threads online that give instructions for installing Linux on machines like mine, including Ubuntu documentation. The Ubuntu site says you don't have to turn Safe Boot off because Ubuntu 14.04 has a Windows key that will allow it to be installed.

I have tried everything advised from all the various postings I could find. Many of the pieces of advice conflict with one another. I have yet to find anything that works. Every time I boot up the computer loads Windows. I suspect HP and Windows have a secret deal to prevent any other OS to be used on HP hardware. The HP support line refused to discuss the matter (computer still under warranty). The only thing I could get out of them was that I needed to go to somewhere like Best Buy and hire them to install Ubuntu. If that is true then there must be a way.

At this point I am so fed up I will never buy another HP product, and I never did like Windows anyway. So I would like to just format the drives and then Install Ubuntu. My worry is that there will still be something hidden in the BIOS or UEFI that will prevent another OS from loading (leaving me with a brick).

Has anyone had any experience with this problem?

PS: Sorry for the rant.

It really has little to do with HP directly. As technology changes linux is always a few steps behind.

Try a few different distro's. Try only the big name ones and use cd/dvd to start. Be sure to pay close attention to boot choice. You may have two choices when booting to a dvd. One may be for older bios and one for new uefi.

1st. Did you do a md5sum check 1st of your downloaded Ubuntu iso of choice (you did mention which version in your rant)

How did you make the boot media? DVD disk or USB Thumb Drive? Be descriptive and explain all your steps.

Since you did not provide a Link. I take it your computer is a Desktop, not a Laptop?

Yep, it looks like you are a 1st.

I don't own a UEFI Bios computer myself. Or even Windows 8.1. So hopefully another more experienced member
with more modern gear and familiar with HP will take pity on your poor soul.

Happy Trails, Rok

Actually, it MIGHT have to do with HP. HP UEFI on some models actually has it's own bootloader, that IGNORES the efi partition and directly boots windows if it's installed. Doesn't matter what you do, if it detects Windows installed, it will boot it. This is the case with my HP Elitebook 8470P. Doesn't matter what you do, if you are not in Legacy mode, it will ignore the EFI partition and directly load Windows. The only way around it was to put it in legacy mode, rewrite the drive to convert it from GPT to MBR (since legacy mode doesn't support GPT), reinstall Windows and reinstall Linux.

If however you decide to just ditch windows, it will work just fine as a UEFI. If the HP Bootloader doesn't see a Windows installation, it will boot from the EFI partition exactly like it's supposed to do.

Thx for the quick replies. You sure don't get this kind of response on Windows forums. Just one more big reason to stick with Linux. The only reason I got into this mess was HP is a good machine hardware wise but it only came with Windows 8, so I had no choice. Big mistake.:-(

@Jephro Ubuntu is not behind. It has been UEFI compatible and has had a Windows Safe Boot key since version 12. It doesn't matter what the medium is. I have the distro on both DVD and USB. The computer doesn't recognize anything but windows. Ubuntu is about the biggest name you can find in the Linux community.

@rokytnji Yes, the HP H8 1569 is a desktop, and I have tried both DVD and USB. The md5sum is correct and I have successfully booted the OS on another computer, so I am pretty sure it is a problem with the way HP set up their hardware.

@Timothy Miller So, if I understand you correctly, as long as I leave the 360MB EFI partition alone I should be able to wipe all the other partitions and then the computer will recognize the new OS on either DVD or USB?

Yes, or just wipe the drive entirely, recreate the efi partition and whatever partitioning scheme you want Ubuntu to have, and it'll boot Ubuntu without issue. It DOES look for an efi partition if it doesn't find the Windows installation, but there is apparently no option in the firmware to boot the efi partition BEFORE booting a Windows installation.

Thx Timothy, I'll give that a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OCpJP4Eh88

video shows you how to disable safe boot in windows 8. You have to get to the bios by going through windows first. after doing this, boot to cd or usb to install ubuntu.

OP is trying to install Ubuntu. Ubuntu is digitally signed after 12.04 and does not require disabling secure boot.

oh ok, didnt know that.

That's right, you don't have to disable secure boot, but you do have to disable fast boot.

The other thing that I missed in the BIOS was the option to disable the Windows boot manager. That is the thing, apparently, that keeps you from booting from anything except Windows, i.e. cd, dvd, usb. Once that is disabled the BIOS recognizes other bootable devices. I did get the dual boot set up eventually, but by that time I was so disappointed with the performance of Windows 8.1, and disgusted with the total lack of support from HP, that I have dumped Windows entirely. I now have a nice clean system running Ubuntu 14.04 and no problems. I will never buy another HP product.

In a world without walls and fences, who needs Windows and Gates?

That's the good thing, my laptop model as far as I've found doesn't have the ability to disable Windows boot manager.