To get Ubuntu to install (or more accurately to boot following installation) on some newer laptops you will need to change at least one BIOS setting. That’s fine if you have the BIOS password, but if you don’t then there is still a way in.
- Boot the laptop, and hit F2 straight away. You should get the BIOS password prompt.
- Type in wrong passwords, until you get an error with a number.
- Enter the number at https://bios-pw.org/ and it will give you an unlock code.
- Type the unlock code into the laptop.
- You should then be able to reset the password with the unlock code taking the place of the existing password.
- Reboot the laptop from an Ubuntu USB key (or your distro of choice – I’ve only tested this with Ubuntu though).
- Install Ubuntu as normal.
- When you reboot that laptop it will say there are no bootable devices. This is expected behaviour.
- Reboot again, and hit F2. Type in the new BIOS password when prompted
- Go into the security menu and add
/EFI/ubuntu/shimx64.efito the devices that are allowed to boot in EFI mode. - Reboot the laptop. It should work.
- If it doesn’t work, you may need this to get it to boot. Run the tool then repeat steps 9-11 again.
If you have to follow step 12, the commands to get it to work are:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y boot-repair && boot-repair