I've created several Peppermint OS's on 32 GB thumb drives using Balena Etcher over the years and set GRUB to reside/boot from the thumb drives so I can move the Peppermint Thumb OSs between different HP laptops that have Windows 10 on them and everything has always worked fine.
To get these Peppermint thumb drives to work on the HP laptops, I usually just go into the HP PCs BIOS and turn off Secureboot and UEFI and set to Legacy Boot and that's it.
But I picked up a Lenovo IdeaPad 114ALC7 the other day with Windows 11 and after trying for 4 hours changing various BIOS settings on it I still cannot get my Peppermint Thumb drives to boot. This is a super basic BIOS and I don't see anyplace to turn off UEFI and Secureboot. Maybe they are called something else in a Lenovo?
I would just wipe W11 off the PC but I have one program I need Windows for called Propellerhead Reason 12 and the reason I bought this Lenovo laptop was to migrate my Reason software to W11 (presently it is on a 2014 desktop) so I won't get left behind in a year or so when W10 stops being supported. Other than that program, I use Peppermint on 4 laptops/desktops around the house.
I'm not very familiar with Lenovo's so my question is: "What do I need to do to get my Peppermint Thumb Drive working on my Lenovo IdeaPad 114ALC7?"
Thanks,
Joplin
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From personal experience having owned several Lenovo devices over the years, trying determine their unique quirks largely ended in joining Club Frustration when attempting to install any Linux distro.
I enclose the installed specs of my current Peppermint Bookworm installation to a Dell 3050 USFF Intel 7th gen desktop unit. Dell do allow you to switch between UEFI/Secure Boot mode to Legacy mode without compromising or bricking your system.
I've used Peppermint for 10 years and neglected to mention I have installed it on Lenovos as well. Your URLs were unhelpful. Who responds to a question for help with a response that starts with "We are unable to help you"? Who is "we"? You speak for everyone here? I 100% guarantee I will find a solution and I'll post it here. I just thought I would see if there are any technically knowledgeable people here. So far, no. Anyone else? PS thank you to anyone helpful moving forward.
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Sorry I was rude, I would like to apologize to Cavi. Also thanks Alynur. I figured it out the next day, here’s how you resolve this issue.
There may be more elegant solutions, but this works. This is how to fix your BIOS in a Lenovo IdeaPad 1 so you can dual-boot Peppermint Linux with Windows. This was done on Windows 11, but it would surely work on Windows 10.
The problem was that the BIOS wouldn’t let me turn off SecureBoot. The solution to that was to update the BIOS, because the BIOS on my PC didn’t have the “off” option for Secureboot. Going to the Lenovo web page and updating the BIOS gave my BIOS the option to turn off SecureBoot. You can find your PC’s BIOS updates by going here: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/ for US PCs
On that web site, go to the driver updates for your PC and choose the BIOS update, (get all the other driver updates while you’re there if you want). You will have to have your PC plugged into power. You can’t do it on battery power. Once done you should be able to go into the BIOS and turn off SecureBoot.
Now you can install. I just used this site: https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/dual-boot-linux-and-windows-11. The most important thing to do/remember is to choose GPT in Rufus. Worked perfectly. I actually loaded my Peppermint OS onto a 32GB thumb drive so I didn’t have to use any of my laptop’s hard disk space. Hope this helps others.
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Hello,
I've created several Peppermint OS's on 32 GB thumb drives using Balena Etcher over the years and set GRUB to reside/boot from the thumb drives so I can move the Peppermint Thumb OSs between different HP laptops that have Windows 10 on them and everything has always worked fine.
To get these Peppermint thumb drives to work on the HP laptops, I usually just go into the HP PCs BIOS and turn off Secureboot and UEFI and set to Legacy Boot and that's it.
But I picked up a Lenovo IdeaPad 114ALC7 the other day with Windows 11 and after trying for 4 hours changing various BIOS settings on it I still cannot get my Peppermint Thumb drives to boot. This is a super basic BIOS and I don't see anyplace to turn off UEFI and Secureboot. Maybe they are called something else in a Lenovo?
I would just wipe W11 off the PC but I have one program I need Windows for called Propellerhead Reason 12 and the reason I bought this Lenovo laptop was to migrate my Reason software to W11 (presently it is on a 2014 desktop) so I won't get left behind in a year or so when W10 stops being supported. Other than that program, I use Peppermint on 4 laptops/desktops around the house.
I'm not very familiar with Lenovo's so my question is: "What do I need to do to get my Peppermint Thumb Drive working on my Lenovo IdeaPad 114ALC7?"
Thanks,
Joplin
Hi Joplin,
We are unable to help you, with your Lenovo specific BIOS related issue.
Please read this Linuxmint forum post: https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=371224&sid=cf8cdc6b073e3d28563405ce16a4765a&start=20 where they were unable to find a solution to their dilemma, nor were the Lenovo forum, according to this OP (original poster).
From personal experience having owned several Lenovo devices over the years, trying determine their unique quirks largely ended in joining Club Frustration when attempting to install any Linux distro.
Live USB with Persistence guide: https://www.baeldung.com/linux/easy2boot-live-usb-persistence may be an avenue available to you? I have not used this type of installation in years.
I enclose the installed specs of my current Peppermint Bookworm installation to a Dell 3050 USFF Intel 7th gen desktop unit. Dell do allow you to switch between UEFI/Secure Boot mode to Legacy mode without compromising or bricking your system.
I've used Peppermint for 10 years and neglected to mention I have installed it on Lenovos as well. Your URLs were unhelpful. Who responds to a question for help with a response that starts with "We are unable to help you"? Who is "we"? You speak for everyone here? I 100% guarantee I will find a solution and I'll post it here. I just thought I would see if there are any technically knowledgeable people here. So far, no. Anyone else? PS thank you to anyone helpful moving forward.
Would you prefer BS than a honest reply.
As the spokes person for Peppermint. Yes.
I'm not very familiar with Lenovo's so my question is:I did discuss your concerns with the team and they came to the same conclusion. A M$ locked Lenovo.
Hi Joplin, check out this site, https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht117661-how-to-change-the-boot-order-in-bios-for-windows-7-8-81-10 maybe it can help you.
Sorry I was rude, I would like to apologize to Cavi. Also thanks Alynur. I figured it out the next day, here’s how you resolve this issue.
There may be more elegant solutions, but this works. This is how to fix your BIOS in a Lenovo IdeaPad 1 so you can dual-boot Peppermint Linux with Windows. This was done on Windows 11, but it would surely work on Windows 10.
The problem was that the BIOS wouldn’t let me turn off SecureBoot. The solution to that was to update the BIOS, because the BIOS on my PC didn’t have the “off” option for Secureboot. Going to the Lenovo web page and updating the BIOS gave my BIOS the option to turn off SecureBoot. You can find your PC’s BIOS updates by going here: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/ for US PCs
On that web site, go to the driver updates for your PC and choose the BIOS update, (get all the other driver updates while you’re there if you want). You will have to have your PC plugged into power. You can’t do it on battery power. Once done you should be able to go into the BIOS and turn off SecureBoot.
Now you can install. I just used this site: https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/dual-boot-linux-and-windows-11. The most important thing to do/remember is to choose GPT in Rufus. Worked perfectly. I actually loaded my Peppermint OS onto a 32GB thumb drive so I didn’t have to use any of my laptop’s hard disk space. Hope this helps others.