I will try to verify this with the next Win 8 Ultrabook I get for testing. I am not sure, though, at least on my desktop (with EFI Bios), my USB keyboard gets initialized right away - might be different on notebooks.
Secure Boot isn't the only problem facing Linux on Windows 8 hardware
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Re: Secure Boot isn't the only problem facing Linux on Windows 8 hardware
#72How can Microsoft prove that you agreed to the EULA? AFAIK, they don't upload your acceptance to a server (accepting works without a network connection). So once you wipe the system and install another OS, you've also eliminated any evidence that you accepted the EULA, so how could Microsoft start a legal action against without evidence that you accepted the EULA?
If you managed to install another OS then you managed to get to the BIOS therefore you must have accepted the EULA...
Re: Secure Boot isn't the only problem facing Linux on Windows 8 hardware
#73What are the benefits of Secure Boot?
You sure there was any ?
It's not even secure !
Re: Secure Boot isn't the only problem facing Linux on Windows 8 hardware
#74I paid money (I don't know how much, but will be close to 50-100 dollars) for Windows 8 when I bought my Dell Inspiron Special Edition because it had good hardware, but Dell didn't provide an option to get it without the OS. It was the only affordable laptop available with 1080p screen. After a week of many annoyances, I decided to delete all the Windows partitions. After installing Ubuntu using Legacy boot, I tried…
I paid money for Windows 8 when I bought my Dell
Dell almost certainly preloaded some software in exchange for compensation that almost certainly exceeded what Dell paid for their Windows license. Even ignoring the testing, support and return issues people usually bring up, Dell probably couldn't sell the computer for a lower price with no OS or a free OS without losing money.
In short, third parties effectively paid for Windows 8 when you bought your Dell, not you.
Re: Secure Boot isn't the only problem facing Linux on Windows 8 hardware
#75There will always be an option to install Linux on x86 somehow. But I found really disturbing growing number of locked ARM systems. Perhaps we could start 'green' campaign; freely installing Linux on such devices expands their moral life-time and causes less emission.
Re: Secure Boot isn't the only problem facing Linux on Windows 8 hardware
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Many desktop machines still do, and most of the modern motherboards in full or mid-tower size still have a PS/2 port or two, for laptops PS/2 support is almost non-existent.
I don't think that even thinkpad docking stations have PS/2 anymore. PS/2 support on modern laptops from non-obscure manufactures (leaving myself some wiggle room for whatever weird Chinese thing you might be able to buy on ebay) may very well be extinct.
Thinkpad T430s: Standard PS/2 Keyboard.
At least the device manager in Windows says so.
Re: Secure Boot isn't the only problem facing Linux on Windows 8 hardware
#77There will always be an option to install Linux on x86 somehow. But I found really disturbing growing number of locked ARM systems. Perhaps we could start 'green' campaign; freely installing Linux on such devices expands their moral life-time and causes less emission.
Locked down ARM systems have far longer history than this fairly recent Win8 debacle. One of the most notable examples is TiVo, which led to the phrase "tivoization". I'd argue that the number of "open" ARM devices is what is growing with RasPi and others like it.
Re: Secure Boot isn't the only problem facing Linux on Windows 8 hardware
#78The legal implications or the initial setup are not what worry me. But rather the issue when the OS gets hosed, and you have no method of booting into a recovery media.
Re: Secure Boot isn't the only problem facing Linux on Windows 8 hardware
#79It appears to me that both System.Fundamentals.Firmware.FirmwareSupportsUSBDevices System.Fundamentals.Firmware.FirmwareSupportsBootingFromDVDDevice are required for Windows Logo Certification for both Windows 7 and 8: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/jj1... Doesn't that directly contradict the hypothetical scenario presented in the article? Additionally, there's Windows 8 hardware out there a…
From System.Fundamentals.Firmware.FirmwareSupportsUSBDevices: The USB controller and USB devices must be fully enumerated when: * Anything other than the Windows Boot Manager is at the top of the system boot order. * A boot next variable has been set to boot to something other than the Windows Boot Manager. * On a system where the Windows Boot Manager is at the top of the list, an error case has been hit, such that t…
Does this mean that the hardware is pretty much guaranteed to boot slower if not booting Windows too, in order to do USB initialisation, even when not going to the boot screen?
Re: Secure Boot isn't the only problem facing Linux on Windows 8 hardware
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is idiotic. The requirement should be that the user can disable it entirely OR replace the private key. And it should require implementation of an optional password protection.
That is actually the case. Point 17 states: Mandatory. On non-ARM systems, the platform MUST implement the ability for a physically present user to select between two Secure Boot modes in firmware setup: "Custom" and "Standard".
My mistake. Carry on.