Installing Kali Linux 2016.1 in a UEFI boot-mode laptop/PC (Dual Boot with Windows 10)
The blog is also useful for those who wish to perform Dual boot with Kali Linux and Windows 10 or Windows 8.1
The blog is also useful for those who wish to perform Dual boot with Kali Linux and Windows 10 or Windows 8.1
[UPDATE: January 12, 2022] THE GOOGLE DRIVE LINK FOR EFI FILES HAS BEEN UPDATED.
Before going into the setup, let me give you some basics of boot loaders and boot mode.
So what is UEFI and Legacy Boot Mode ....?????
These are two different methods to boot-up the OS installed on the PC.
The Difference between UEFI and Legacy comes in the firmware, they both use for booting up the HDD installed in the PC.
Legacy Mode refers to BIOS firmware. Basic Input/Output System(BIOS) was the first popular firmware for desktop PC introduced in 1975 by IBM for its CP/M OS. Even though it is still widely present, computers have evolved tremendously and BIOS is unable to provide advanced features of modern hardware.
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface(UEFI) is the successor to BIOS. UEFI uses the GUID Partition Table (GPT) whereas BIOS uses the Master Boot Record(MBR) partitioning scheme. GPT and MBR are both formats specifying physical partitioning information on the hard disk.
The basic differences are like -
1. Max size of a single partition in Legacy is ~2TB, but in UEFI it's ~9 zetabytes
2. The number of primary partitions in Legacy is 4, and in UEFI is 128. (still you can go dynamic drives)
That means, you can install and keep the Windows Boot Manager as well as the GRUB loader (of Linux) both at the same time in the HDD.
4. UEFI enabled the support for Secure Boot, which is a sort of mechanism to prevent boot-time viruses from loading.
BIOS is pretty much outdated and UEFI offers many useful features. Thus it is recommended to install any operating system in UEFI mode. Note: One can't install in UEFI mode by booting in legacy mode.
Microsoft also started the support of UEFI with all it's OS Windows 8 onwards.
So, let's get started. Before that make sure you have the tools required for this.
2. Kali Linux Live USB Dist. .................. get it here
3. EFI File for booting into UEFI Mode ...................
for the time being just get it from here.... make sure you download both these files..
Okay so let's start..
Now let's build up our bootable media.............. a USB
Preferably take a 4 GB or 8 GB USB
Now open up Rufus Tools
1. Select your USB Media
2. keep the Partion System and Target System Type, File System and Cluster Size in default settings
4. Select the ISO of Kali Linux
5. Now click on start
Now let it complete....
After it's done...........
Now open up the USB in Windows Explorer
And Create a folder with name EFI in capital
Inside EFI.... create a folder Boot
Copy the contents of the EFI folder, that you downloaded from my google drive..... into this folder..
That's all....
Now restart your PC...
Get into the boot menu, using F12 or F8 or F9.
Make sure that the bootable USB in the USB 2.0 slot and is in FAT32 file system. After that open up
Do keep the secure boot disabled.
Iff, you encounter any problem disabling the Secure Boot, comment below.....
After doing this successfully, Kali Linux Boot Menu should show up...
Select the graphical install in the menu and follow the installation wizard....
After it's completed...
Reboot
You'll see the Kali Boot Loader installed on your PC in UEFI boot mode
Iff, by any chance, you happen to encounter a problem, saying
Some of. your hardware requires the installation of non-free firmware
then, select NO and proceed. This problem comes up when an unsupported hardware is detected.
You need not worry about this, because you can definitely install these firmwares later on after the installation of the OS is done.
Yeah but, beware, due to this error, you may find that some device of the PC may not work. (like the WiFi driver in most of the laptops with 6th gen Intel Core i Processors, do not work on Kali Linux).
This is that most of you would be facing, if you are working with root (admin) account on KALI LINUX 2016.2. The problem is that the Sound and Audio drivers (and may also be any other driver) won't load up, and you won't be able to hear any sound.
Solution to this is quite simple. You just need to go to the Settings, and make and account of any type, (preferably ADMINISTRATOR).
Now Sign in using that account, and you should see all the audio drivers, (and any other driver which was not working previously), working as usual.
Before going into the setup, let me give you some basics of boot loaders and boot mode.
So what is UEFI and Legacy Boot Mode ....?????
These are two different methods to boot-up the OS installed on the PC.
The Difference between UEFI and Legacy comes in the firmware, they both use for booting up the HDD installed in the PC.
Legacy Mode refers to BIOS firmware. Basic Input/Output System(BIOS) was the first popular firmware for desktop PC introduced in 1975 by IBM for its CP/M OS. Even though it is still widely present, computers have evolved tremendously and BIOS is unable to provide advanced features of modern hardware.
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface(UEFI) is the successor to BIOS. UEFI uses the GUID Partition Table (GPT) whereas BIOS uses the Master Boot Record(MBR) partitioning scheme. GPT and MBR are both formats specifying physical partitioning information on the hard disk.
The basic differences are like -
1. Max size of a single partition in Legacy is ~2TB, but in UEFI it's ~9 zetabytes
2. The number of primary partitions in Legacy is 4, and in UEFI is 128. (still you can go dynamic drives)
A bootloader basically is a program that contains the details of the files which have to loaded on the startup of the computer, so as to make the OS boot-up at the computer start.
3. Legacy mode supports the storage of only one bootloader program, but UEFI enabled the users to store more than one bootloader program.That means, you can install and keep the Windows Boot Manager as well as the GRUB loader (of Linux) both at the same time in the HDD.
4. UEFI enabled the support for Secure Boot, which is a sort of mechanism to prevent boot-time viruses from loading.
BIOS is pretty much outdated and UEFI offers many useful features. Thus it is recommended to install any operating system in UEFI mode. Note: One can't install in UEFI mode by booting in legacy mode.
Microsoft also started the support of UEFI with all it's OS Windows 8 onwards.
So, let's get started. Before that make sure you have the tools required for this.
Tools required will be
1. Rufus USB Tool, by Akeo................... get it here2. Kali Linux Live USB Dist. .................. get it here
3. EFI File for booting into UEFI Mode ...................
for the time being just get it from here.... make sure you download both these files..
Okay so let's start..
Now let's build up our bootable media.............. a USB
Preferably take a 4 GB or 8 GB USB
Now open up Rufus Tools
1. Select your USB Media
2. keep the Partion System and Target System Type, File System and Cluster Size in default settings
4. Select the ISO of Kali Linux
5. Now click on start
Now let it complete....
After it's done...........
Now open up the USB in Windows Explorer
And Create a folder with name EFI in capital
Inside EFI.... create a folder Boot
Copy the contents of the EFI folder, that you downloaded from my google drive..... into this folder..
That's all....
Now restart your PC...
Get into the boot menu, using F12 or F8 or F9.
Make sure that the bootable USB in the USB 2.0 slot and is in FAT32 file system. After that open up
Do keep the secure boot disabled.
Iff, you encounter any problem disabling the Secure Boot, comment below.....
After doing this successfully, Kali Linux Boot Menu should show up...
Select the graphical install in the menu and follow the installation wizard....
After it's completed...
Reboot
You'll see the Kali Boot Loader installed on your PC in UEFI boot mode
Iff, by any chance, you happen to encounter a problem, saying
Some of. your hardware requires the installation of non-free firmware
then, select NO and proceed. This problem comes up when an unsupported hardware is detected.
You need not worry about this, because you can definitely install these firmwares later on after the installation of the OS is done.
Yeah but, beware, due to this error, you may find that some device of the PC may not work. (like the WiFi driver in most of the laptops with 6th gen Intel Core i Processors, do not work on Kali Linux).
(the missing firmware may be different, on different PC)
The above can be used for the installation of Kali Linux 2016.2, although I've written a seperate blog for that, but in 2016.2 you'll face a problem, which I've discussed below.
Now, let's come to a very big problem
Solution to this is quite simple. You just need to go to the Settings, and make and account of any type, (preferably ADMINISTRATOR).
Now Sign in using that account, and you should see all the audio drivers, (and any other driver which was not working previously), working as usual.
You encounter any problem......... ??????????
feel free to post it below in comments...
I assure your queries will be resolved asap...
author Chinmoy,
Bengaluru, India
