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Gummiboot restructured to allow Linux to work on SecureBoot systems
Edvard:
Dammit... now I have to deal with yet another bootloader. Hadn't even heard of Gummiboot until I saw this. Damn UEFI, damn it all to hell!
The Linux Foundation is waiting for Microsoft to sign the newly submitted bootloader version and will offer the new version to users for free once released.
...
According to Bottomley's presentation slides, it takes a week or two for Microsoft to respond to bootloader submissions and provide a signature that is considered trustworthy by Secure Boot PCs.
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http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=99636
http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Linux-Foundation-s-Secure-Boot-bootloader-restructured-1796276.html
As a side note, Microsoft being the de facto keymaster to UEFI/Secureboot implementations is just mind-fecking boggling.
from an email
40hz:
Microsoft to sign the newly submitted bootloader version and will offer the new version to users for free once released.
...
According to Bottomley's presentation slides, it takes a week or two for Microsoft to respond to bootloader submissions and provide a signature that is considered trustworthy by Secure Boot PCs.
...
As a side note, Microsoft being the de facto keymaster to UEFI/Secureboot implementations is just mind-fecking boggling.
-Edvard (February 03, 2013, 09:20 PM)
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Oh, it gets better. This from Heise Online's H-Open webpage: (full article here)
Booting Linux using UEFI can brick Samsung laptops
Linux and Bricks Booting Linux using UEFI just once on various Samsung laptops is enough to permanently stop them working. Several reports have been posted on the Ubuntu bug tracker, but the problem is likely to also be present in other Linux distributions, as it appears to be caused by a kernel driver for Samsung laptops. Kernel developers are currently discussing a change which would disable the driver when booting via UEFI.
Ubuntu developers were informed of the problem by one user last year, after he had tried to UEFI boot Ubuntu 12.04 or 12.04.1 on a Samsung 530U3C live from a USB flash drive. He had prepared the drive with Ubuntu's Startup Disk Creator, which sets everything up for booting via BIOS or EFI. Ubuntu froze shortly after loading the kernel and the user then powered down by holding down the power button. Thereafter the laptop refused to boot and the firmware would not even show basic startup information. Samsung repaired the laptop, which was under warranty, by replacing the motherboard. When the same thing occurred with the repaired machine, the user alerted the Ubuntu development team.
Since then, many more users have reported having bricked their laptops by trying to boot Linux. The problem also appears to affect Ubuntu 12.10 and other Samsung models. The Ubuntu bug report includes posts from users reporting that the problem also affects 300E5C, NP700Z5C, NP700Z7C and NP900X4C series laptops. It does, however, only occur when Linux is booted using UEFI. It does not appear to matter whether Secure Boot is on or off. The problem can be circumvented by booting Linux using the Compatibility Support Module (CSM). UEFI firmware on many recent systems includes a CSM to enable operating systems to be booted in the same way as on computers with conventional BIOS firmware. Installing Linux alongside a Windows installation installed using UEFI mode is, however, not straightforward when booting using CSM.
The Ubuntu development team has held talks with Samsung staff, who have identified the kernel's samsung-laptop driver as the prime suspect...
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Um...weren't we previously assured by Microsoft that a situation like this couldn't possibly happen with a UEFI/SecureBoot-capable machine?
:-\
Renegade:
+1 for all the comments above. Sigh... :'(
Tinman57:
And they had to replace the whole motherboard just because of this!!!! Holy Mother Mary!!! Now if MS is the one that's in charge of the boot loader, well......we can already see what's happening.
But this is just yet another reason why I'm dumping Windows for Linux and keeping XP as my secondary boot..... And if I can't replace this MB in the future, there are other ways around installing XP WITHOUT MS's permission. Yeah, you read that right.... >:D
40hz:
From the Dude! Read the Handwriting on the Wall Dept:
Intel will get out of the traditional desktop motherboard business, as it focuses its resources on mobile products.
"We disclosed internally today that Intel's Desktop Motherboard Business will begin slowly ramping down over the course of the next three years," Intel said in a note to journalists today.
What does that mean exactly? Think of the PC tower systems that used to populate the Best Buys of the world. That's what Intel is winding down as it devotes more resources to ultrabooks, tablets, and phones.
"The internal talent and experience of twenty years in the boards business...is being redistributed to address emerging new form factors," Intel said.
Those designs will be mostly mobile, though Intel will also address "emerging" desktop designs. But even those -- like the tiny Intel NUC board and the all-in-one -- have their roots in the mobile world.
The end of development will come with Intel's upcoming "Haswell" chip generation, due to launch in the summer. "Intel will stop developing new Desktop boards once Haswell launch is completed," the company said.
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Full article here.
While this certainly won't "kill off" the desktop/tower PC overnight, the simple fact that behemouth Intel (provider of the de facto reference boards for all its new CPUs and chipsets) intends to quit the field sends a pretty clear indication of where the PC platform is being driven.
As time goes on, expect to see more closed and non-modifiable "appliance type" computers and mainboards, while the traditional "open PC hardware architecture" becomes increasingly marginalized.
Yes, the times they are a-changin' :-\
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