Oh UEFI systems, how I do love you. {end sarcasm}

So I've been arguing with a few UEFI systems that came with Windows 8 pre-loaded, and with secure boot.

For instance so far I've been setting up new machines with Windows 7 64 bits, Server 2008 R2, Windows 8 64 bits and Server 2012 on one drive and configuring the system to Boot UEFI for this drive, and the drive is partitioned GPT.  On the Dell 7010, that came with Windows 8 , was never able to install Windows 7 in UEFI mode. It just hangs before even installing. Even with secure boot disabled.

So I figured I'd use the Windows 8 drive it came with and add Server 2012. So I boot the DVD and before I even get to a menu where I can start installing I get the following error "The product key entered does not match any of the Window images available for installation. Please enter another key". I tried again, got the same message. That left me perplexed and discouraged. 

So I moved on from that Dell 7010 and started setting up the Lenovo M92p. I manage to install W7-64, S2008 R2, W8-64 [enterprise] and once I get to Server 2012, I get the same error about the product key.  This is when I went to do research. Turns out that the key it's talking about is embedded somewhere in the UEFI BIOS.   I guess no one ever considered that you might want to install an OS different then the one the system came with.  In the end the solution was simple. Instead of using a 'retail' version of Server 2012, if I used the Volume License version I did not run into this issue. 

I would have ran into the issue with Windows 8 if I had used the Pro version. But because I used Enterprise, I got around the built in serial number.

If you do not have access to Enterprise and Volume License versions, there is a way to by-pass this problem, by adding a .PID file to the install media, this article explains it. 

Update on "Ah the help you get"

About a month ago I had an entry about the incompetence of the live chat tech on the Dell site. I had told one of my co-workers that the machine he wanted came with the features he wanted. 

Well the machine arrived last week, it was UEFI, had Wind8ws 64 bits installed and secure boot enabled. That means that if you do not use a card with UEFI graphics BIOS it will NOT BOOT. Of course to make it boot you can change settings in the systems UEFI BIOS and disable secure boot.

In the end I was right and the dell live chat tech didn't know her ass from her elbow. The machine came with the exact features my co-worker wanted.

Ah the help you get.....

Today one of my colleagues came to ask me for my opinion on what system we should order that will ship to us with Wind8ws. This will help us testing some of the features of Wind8ws in a machine that fully supports it.  Originally he wanted to buy a machine in the Inspiron line but I suggested we go instead with a PC in the Optiplex line, like the 3100. That it would be in similar price range but more the type of PC our customers use.

He was unsure the PC had the features he wanted and chatted live with someone from Dell. She assured him this machine was not UEFI. So he came to see me rather defeated. Personally I thought the chat person just didn't know much about the machine she's selling. The previous generation Optiplex we have in the lab is actually UEFI. I doubt they would go backwards.

More Adventures in UEFI world - MSI P45D3 Platinum

The past week I've been testing booting on various motherboards and systems with a UEFI BIOS to see what we need to support booting a graphics card. 

I've tested an assortment of systems, Dell T1600, and T3600, HP Z620, HP 8200 Elite, Lenovo M91, my intel reference board, the DX58SO, some ASUS F1A75-V PRO motherboard, HP Z820, and HP Z210.  Mostly they all behaved the same.

Then I remembered our first UEFI motherboard, that we used to develop our first UEFI BIOS.  This was the trusted MSI P45D3 Platinum.  However when I booted on the system, I realized that the motherboard had it's most recent BIOS - which sadly was an old school AMI BIOS. After doing some research on forums, it appeared that the latest UEFI BIOS for this motherboard was version 1.43. I had no luck getting it off the MSI global site, their site seemed down most of the day.  One of our interns, who happens to have taken German, managed to find the BIOS I needed on the German MSI site.

One I had the BIOS installed, I realized that the only setting that would permit me to install windows in UEFI mode was to boot to 'EFI shell". So I did.  From the shell, I figured out how to load the DVD and while it took several installs and changing hard disks multiple times. But in the end I did install Windows 8 64 bits in UEFI mode on the MSI P45D3 Platinum motherboard.

After which I tested the BIOS I was supposed to test and found a bug when changing settings in the "click bios". Writing this blog made me realize I had a few more tests to do. :)

Where I'm particularly pleased is that I've been looking for information about setting up the MSI P45D3 motherboard, and all I found in forums is that people could not get it going with an OS in UEFI mode. That it would hang part of the way.  But they were trying with Vista 64, which is not so compatible with later GPT capable operating systems.

UEFI Growing pains

I like the theory of UEFI and it's about time that GPT standard gets more widespread. It was available with windows Vista and server 2008 but the way it was done in those OS does not seem compatible with Windows 8.  I tried setting up a drive several times with Vista 64, server 2008 64, Windows 7 64, Server 2008 R2, Windows 8 64 and Server 2012. In theory it should have worked. In practice it did not.  I could get vista and Windows 7 to play nice together, I can can windows 7 and windows 8 playing nice together. But all 3 was a no go.

Switching booting between legacy and UEFI mode is painful. I'm not sure if it's worse on a Dell because I don't care for Dells, and I've been arguing with dells for several days now. I had setup one Dell T1650 with one drive in UEFI mode for Windows 7 64, Server 2008 R2, Windows 8 64 and server 2012, the other drive had all legacy OS, all 32 bit OS and of course that vista 64 and server 2008 64 that were not compatible in UEFI mode. This second drive was in legacy mode and of course MBR. I use XP to partition the drive.   I had switched back and forth between both drives without any issues, and the system went - when it came back it was no longer booting on the UEFI drive. Kept saying no boot device found.

Then there's the Dell T1600 where I had a drive with all OS between XP and server 2008 R2, in leagcy mode, and I setup Windows 8 and server 2012 in UEFI mode. It was working fabulously until I lent it to a less tech savvy colleague. Now it will boot into it's drive if I'm using the onboard graphics card, but won't boot using an add-in card to a hard disk. It will hang. Since I need to test it with add-in cards it won't be particularly useful to the intern who's supposed to have it as a test machine.

It;s weird too when you switch between UEFI and legacy mode on the T1600, it tends to lose all boot devices and goes to this weird  default legacy mode, and if you want to set it in UEFI you cannot go between you have no options. It's just really weird. It's like no one thought it through.

HP seems to handle the switching between both better.  My Lenovo can be incredibly bitchy as devices appear and disappears as well in 'UEFI" mode. 

Another interesting discovery one of my interns made with build 8441 of Windows 8 is that if you were configured in UEFI mode and ran Worldbench 6, it would trash your hard disk.  I've since confirmed it with Windows 8 RTM. It trashed my hard disk.  I wonder what other software will also trash my hard disk in such a way that I can't reghosted it using the 'partition' method. So far that method has worked really well for me.  You can run worldbench 6 in non UEFI mode and it won't trash your drive but it may not run particularly well.

Something tells me that my near future will be filled with me restoring drives that get trashed in GPT mode. So far it's happened several times on a fairly small sampling.