https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1221780
Bug ID: 1221780 Summary: how to identify firmware types, UEFI vs BIOS Product: Fedora Documentation Version: devel Component: system-administrator's-guide Assignee: swadeley@redhat.com Reporter: bugzilla@colorremedies.com QA Contact: docs-qa@lists.fedoraproject.org CC: swadeley@redhat.com
I'm not finding advice in documentation to identify firmware type. Should we, and if so where should it go?
Identifying firmware type comes in handy e.g. reinstalling grub, see bug 1220066.
The problem is, users overwhelmingly equate UEFI and BIOS, often referring to it as UEFI BIOS, mainly because OEM's still call firmware updates "BIOS updates".
Two possible ways to reliably identify UEFI vs BIOS firmware.
On an EFI system: # ls /sys/firmware/efi config_table efivars fw_platform_size fw_vendor runtime runtime-map systab vars
On a BIOS system: # ls /sys/firmware/efi ls: cannot access /sys/firmware/efi: No such file or directory
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On an EFI system: # efibootmgr BootCurrent: 0000 Timeout: 5 seconds BootOrder: 0000,0080 Boot0000* Fedora Boot0080* Mac OS X Boot0082* BootD1A6* AST BootFFFF*
On a BIOS system: # efibootmgr efibootmgr: EFI variables are not supported on this system.
Unknowns:
The first method always works since ls is for sure installed no matter what. I need to test if efibootmgr is always installed, e.g. netinstall (?), it definitely is always installed from lives. But if it's not installed, then it's not a UEFI system.
How does coreboot firmware manifest? I think it's mainly a "better BIOS" and should behave as such.
ARM firmware?
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1221780
Pete Travis me@petetravis.com changed:
What |Removed |Added ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CC| |me@petetravis.com
--- Comment #1 from Pete Travis me@petetravis.com --- Hey Chris,
I've written https://fedorapeople.org/groups/docs/multiboot-guide/#BOOT-BIOS_or_UEFI . Trying to keep it simple there, and it's mostly pre-installation context (keeping in mind that it is possible to boot a UEFI system in legacy mode.)
We're hoping to publish this with F22 GA. Does this fit what you're looking for?
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1221780
--- Comment #2 from Chris Murphy bugzilla@colorremedies.com --- Yes! Obviously I didn't look very thoroughly. It's almost perfect, here are some comments:
- "Your computer originally shipped with Windows Vista or XP." Could be: "Your computer originally shipped with Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7."
- Under "Identifying a UEFI system" "Any Apple Mac with an Intel CPU is considered to have UEFI firmware."
There's a class of hardware floating around now that doesn't initialize USB in the pre-boot environment, so there's no way to get to a firmware setup or boot menu. That in and of itself suggests it's UEFI. But I guess we can see if there's much user confusion on this point before extending the section to account for it.
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1221780
Stephen Wadeley swadeley@redhat.com changed:
What |Removed |Added ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CC| |bugzilla@colorremedies.com Flags| |needinfo?(bugzilla@colorrem | |edies.com)
--- Comment #3 from Stephen Wadeley swadeley@redhat.com --- Hello
Do I need to do anything in the Sysadmin Guide? or can I close?
I see Multiboot Guide is now here:
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/23/html/Multiboot_Guide/BOOT-BIO...
Thank you
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1221780
Chris Murphy bugzilla@colorremedies.com changed:
What |Removed |Added ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flags|needinfo?(bugzilla@colorrem | |edies.com) |
--- Comment #4 from Chris Murphy bugzilla@colorremedies.com --- "Your computer shipped with Windows 8" could be
"Your computer shipped with Windows 8 or newer"
Otherwise I think it can be closed.
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1221780
Stephen Wadeley swadeley@redhat.com changed:
What |Removed |Added ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flags| |needinfo?(me@petetravis.com | |)
--- Comment #5 from Stephen Wadeley swadeley@redhat.com --- Thank you Chris
Hello Pete
Please ACK etc., then close.
Thank you
docs-qa@lists.fedoraproject.org