[ltp] Advice on UEFI vs. BIOS

Jochen Spieker linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Wed, 21 May 2014 18:39:35 +0200


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Hi,

I decided to overcome my doubts and order an X240. It still appears to
be the best option with respect to battery life and screen resolution
for a laptop of that size.

Anyway, I plan to re-use my existing SSD (128GB Samsung 840 Pro) which
is currently formatted using a traditional partition table. That's why I
ordered my X240 with the cheapest disk option available, a 500GB
spinning disk. Could you please verify whether my assumptions are
correct?

- Debian testing/unstable supports UEFI in general. I just have to
  disable Secure Boot in the "BIOS".

- Debian testing/unstable (with or without Windows in the same disk)
  does not brick an X240 anymore, provided I use the most recent BIOS
  from Lenovo.

- UEFI requires a GPT which means I will have to reformat my old SSD
  using GTP and transfer my data afterwards. (What about grub?)

- And, a little off-topic: I cannot easily transfer the Windows 8
  installation to my SSD, even if I were to sacrifice the precious space
  on my (comparably tiny) SSD.

If you can comment on the benefits of UEFI vs. traditional BIOS, feel
free to chime in as well. If I don't have any real advantages from using
UEFI over the "legacy BIOS mode", I might skip reformatting my SSD
altogether.

Thanks,
J.
--=20
After the millenium I would tell lies only to those who deserved them.
[Agree]   [Disagree]
                 <http://www.slowlydownward.com/NODATA/data_enter2.html>

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