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I need a little bit of help installing Ubuntu on my computer.

IMPORTANT!! This PC in question - an HP ProBook 4540s - has a weird BIOS-EFI setup.

ProBooks of this era have a similar BIOS-EFI chipset, though your mileage may vary from model to model.

All the laptop can do at this point is boot and install in BIOS mode. So, after booting the medium in BIOS, I run the installer as normal and it completes with manual setup (1MB GRUB, 512MB FAT32 EFI, 8 GB Swap, rest as Ext4 filesystem root).

I attempt to reboot to the OS, and the system proceeds to say Boot Device Not Found (3F0). I also have the unfortunate luck of having a BIOS Administrator password on this laptop for now...

Spoke with an HP Support rep, and it appears that Windows 7 was the only known good OS that worked with this machine without issues, due to native BIOS-EFI support. All distros boot in BIOS mode. How can I get my install to work on this machine until I can get the motherboard replaced? Any answers would be significantly appreciated!

H2-san
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  • This was written for booting external drive in either BIOS or UEFI but it works for internal drives also: https://askubuntu.com/a/1217839/43926 – C.S.Cameron Jul 04 '21 at 08:48
  • Hi @H2-San, Please clarify some information. Are you installing dual boot? Is boot protection enabled in bios? on boot options is also legacy boot enabled? when you boot from the install pendrive how many ubuntu pendrives do you see? – jpbrain Jul 04 '21 at 17:28
  • Cameron, I'm looking for a *complete* system install - not a pre-installed live OS :) – H2-san Jul 05 '21 at 14:26
  • @jpbrain This laptop has a blank hard disk, so it will solely be this Linux install. I can't access the BIOS (see the above note on BIOS password). When I boot from the install disk, it's just the Ubuntu installation media, plus the formatted internal disk. – H2-san Jul 05 '21 at 14:28
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    Try to boot the Ubuntu installation USB in BIOS mode and install in BIOS mode. Another idea: install boot-repair in the Ubuntu installation USB (Try Ubuntu option) and do the "recommended repair" thing. – user68186 Jul 05 '21 at 14:44
  • @user68186 I didn't think about `boot-repair`, and all I can do is boot in BIOS mode and install in that mode. I'll try it as soon as I retrieve it from the shop. – H2-san Jul 07 '21 at 13:32

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