[Mageia-discuss] UEFI and Secure Boot

[andre999]

Maurice Batey a écrit :
> On Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:52:55 -0400, andre999 wrote:
>
>> It would say GPT ;) ...
>
>    You are right! Thank you.
>
>> If you keep the MBR partition table, making dual-boot is easy enough.
>
>     Good.
>
>> If you want a challenge, you could convert it to GPT (with a hybrid table for
>> Msw), which I have done several times with Mageia.
>
>     What advantage would there be for me to convert to GPT?

GPT is a much cleaner and more secure partition table format.
The usual (virtually standard) configuration is space for 128 partitions.
No extended partitions are permitted.
Partition size is virtually unlimited.  (Limited by the operating system.)
There is a backup partition table at the end of the disk.

> (Which would involve removing everything fro the drive first, so no
> dual boot setup)

Not at all.  Gdisk, in Mageia repos, lets you convert an MBR partition table to 
GPT, as long as you make a little space at the end of the drive for the 
(required) backup table.

>
> What do you mean by "hybrid table for Msw"? (What is "Msw?!)

A "hybrid" GPT table is one that simulates a regular MBR drive in sector 1 
(where the MBR table is located), so that non-GPT aware operating systems  can 
boot.  (Such as all 32-bit versions of Microsoft's version of windows.)
A regular GPT table puts a dummy MBR table with a single entry indicating that 
the drive is filled by a single non Microsoft compatible partition.

Msw is Microsoft's abbreviation for Microsoft windows, used a lot back when 
they still had windows as a generic term in their dictionary.

>
> When you say "which I have done several times with Mageia" I take it
> you mean giving the whole drive (thus  ditching Windows) to the Mageia
> installer to re-format to GPT, instead of the 'legacy' MBR partitioning.

I just used Gdisk. which does the conversion relatively quickly.  And kept Msw, 
which booted nicely.
Admittedly somewhat more complicated than setting up a dual-boot with an MBR 
table.  But nicer if you have a lot of partitions.  (Which I tend to have.)
I have done this for others as well.

>
>    --
> /\/\aurice
> 	
>

-- 
André