[solved]Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 Motherboard installation

[made_in_womb]

Hi ,

Shorlty I will be installing a new motherboard ,the Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A97_EVO_R20/#specifications.

Is there anything specific I need to know in regards to Mageia/linux and compatibilty issues with this new motherboard ?.I've done some searching and most threads seem to suggest that linux is pretty good when it comes to a new motherboard install . However, this new motherboard has a UEFI BIOS (unlike my exising motherboard) , will I be able to avoid the hassles some linux users have with a UEFI bios because I already have windows and linux installed ( on different hard drives ).From the little I have read, the problem with UEFI is because windows formats it's drive in a way that Grub can not recongnise.

Thanks

[wintpe]

OK only speaking from the experience on my laptop. (also asus)
and ill be mainly repeating what i said on another thread.

mageia 1 2 3 and upcoming 4 have no out of the box support during installation for UEFI BIOS.

so you need to enable backwards compatible booting and disable secure boot.

watch out for the distorted sound problem, that some of us experience with some of these usb based on board audio when you turn up the volume.

solution to that prob is buy a cheap audigy of ebay for about £25 they work fine under mageia.

that board has two PCI slots so your OK with the audigy.

I just read the manual for this board and that board is similar specs to my crosshair v formula and has a very similar uefi bios.

there is no option for secure boot or backwards compatibility mode (and i think this is only required for PC's shipping complete with windows 8.)

the only uefi specific option is

Launch EFI Shell from filesystem device
This option allows you to attempt to launch the UEFI Shell application (shellx64.efi) from one of the available filesystem devices.

that requires you to setup a uefi partition of about 256 meg containing the uefi bits to support widowns 8.

without this I think you will find this board OK with mageia as i do with my crosshair v formula.

So in my opinion the only issue your may face is the sound.

based on what ive read.

regards peter

ps

just done a google on this

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 88#p526788

so thats an experienced opinion.

also here from asus's FAQ

I have installed Windows operating system under UEFI mode. I found that Windows will not load if I move a non-UEFI device to the top of the boot device sequence, and “Windows Boot Manager” is moved to 2nd or later sequence. How do I resolve this issue?

When a non-UEFI device is moved to the top of the boot device sequence, the system will boot in legacy BIOS mode instead of UEFI mode. Consequently, the system will not be able to load the Windows operating system installed under UEFI mode.
To work around this this issue, please do the following:
1. Always set “Windows Boot Manager” as the first priority boot device when the operating system is installed under UEFI mode.
2. Press the “F8” key to bring up the boot manager at the bootup, if you would to select another boot device.

so if its windows 7 you are using, just dont use uefi, install your windows 7 in standard mode, then linux wont have an issue.

if its windows 8 you are going for you will need to follow the advise of those on how to put mageia into uefi mode post install.

[Lebarhon]

Hello,

It is also possible to install Windows 8 under Legacy mode, no more problems with UEFI.

[wintpe]

well

simple question whats the minimum HW for windows 8 ? check the HW compatibility guide for windows 8

i think you will find windows 8 should install on older HW, which does not support uefi

if thats the case, then it should work.

but ive not tried so im guessing based on common sense.

regards peter

ps look at http://www.zdnet.com/installing-windows ... 000002903/

could suggest its only microsoft insisting vendors supplying PC's with windows 8 use uefi?

does this mean people buying laptops / PC's with windows 8 could use there key from there preinstalled windows to reinstall without uefi
if they could find some media? well i guess someone may want to find out.

[made_in_womb]

OK only speaking from the experience on my laptop. (also asus)
and ill be mainly repeating what i said on another thread.

mageia 1 2 3 and upcoming 4 have no out of the box support during installation for UEFI BIOS.

so you need to enable backwards compatible booting and disable secure boot.

watch out for the distorted sound problem, that some of us experience with some of these usb based on board audio when you turn up the volume.

solution to that prob is buy a cheap audigy of ebay for about £25 they work fine under mageia.

that board has two PCI slots so your OK with the audigy.

I just read the manual for this board and that board is similar specs to my crosshair v formula and has a very similar uefi bios.

there is no option for secure boot or backwards compatibility mode (and i think this is only required for PC's shipping complete with windows 8.)

the only uefi specific option is

Launch EFI Shell from filesystem device
This option allows you to attempt to launch the UEFI Shell application (shellx64.efi) from one of the available filesystem devices.

that requires you to setup a uefi partition of about 256 meg containing the uefi bits to support widowns 8.

without this I think you will find this board OK with mageia as i do with my crosshair v formula.

So in my opinion the only issue your may face is the sound.

Windows 7 is already installed on one disk, pre-new motherboard install .I just used the standard installation method .So I'm not sure what mode that is . Though right now when I boot grub see's both win7 and mageia systems .

A little dissapointed though about the sound issue,is it a problem that the linux community are trying to resolve? .

[jiml8]

I have installed many different versions of Linux on many different Asus motherboards, and I have always found the compatibility to be at least very good and often excellent. I seldom encounter any problems at all with any component on an Asus motherboard; it all works out of the box, usually.

My present workstation is based on an Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2 with a Phenom-II 955 processor and 32 GB of RAM, all overclocked. This is probably the most compatible and most stable Linux system I have ever had; everything works. I did have to do some work with lm_sensors on this install to configure correctly for the sensor chip that is onboard, but that is the only thing that required manual setup.

I experience no trouble with the built in sound system. I do have UEFI disabled; I didn't bother trying to get that working because I don't consider it necessary.

[made_in_womb]

Thanks for the help .

so if its windows 7 you are using, just dont use uefi, install your windows 7 in standard mode, then linux wont have an issue.

So I'm guessing that because I have already installed win7 using a non UEFI bios my new system should be ok?. ( Though re-installation would be ok since I only use windows for a few specific music production programs )

So to clarify then .I have windows 7 pre-installed (no plans to install windows 8) on one hard drive and linux mageia installed on the other hard drive,both show up using grub .Both systems have been Installed with my current ,soon to be replaced motherboard - Asrock N68-VS3 FX http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/N68-VS3%20FX/?cat=Specifications) . It has a AMI Legal BIOS .I did not set any "advanced" parameters on the win7 install just used the recommended settings on original installation .

so I should'nt expect any issues with the Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 motherboard with the UEFI BIOS ? or should I ?

[martinw]

so I should'nt expect any issues with the Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 motherboard with the UEFI BIOS ? or should I ?

I wouldn't expect you to have any issues. Just enable legacy boot in the BIOS and away you go. I am actually using UEFI boot on my Asus motherboard because I'm dual-booting Windows 8, but I switch back to legacy mode when I'm testing Mageia betas, and I've not had any issues. A different motherboard to yours of course, but like jiml8, I have used a number of Asus motherboards over the years, and they have all been trouble-free.

[made_in_womb]

Ok thanks for the help with this .

I should be fitting the new mother board in a fed days . I will report of any or if no issues found .

[made_in_womb]

Hi,

So the new motherboard is fitted and working .And on first boot mageia started (unlike windows ) .
But on second boot and there after l just get end up on the grub command prompt . Nothing listed just grub version and a prompt . So l guess grub needs updating? . Though the only instructions l have found are for ubuntu from the live cd . I have tried a update grub method though nothing has changed Is there a more mageia specific method . It either will have to be via a live cd or from the grub command prompt as neither win7 nor mageia are operating .

Thanks for the continued help .

I decided to re-install Mageia to v 4 and win7 . Both working fine and showing up from the grub boot menu