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Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 11 Dec 2023, 02:33
by tsisaris
ACER Aspire SW5-012
I would like to get rid of windows 10 and replace it with Porteus. I am told this is a 64-bit processor but has a UEFI 32-bit bootloader. Can I put Porteus 64 bit on this machine? Will Porteus 32 bit even work? Are there drivers to support all of this machine's devises? Who can help me?
Thank you,
Shawn
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 11 Dec 2023, 05:56
by Ed_P
Welcome to the forum
tsisaris.
The best way to answer your questions is to try it and find out.
I'm sure you've heard that phrase from your parents and teachers before.
Get an inexpensive USB drive, download a 32 bit Porteus ISO, and if you have the time a 64 bit one also. Open the ISO in Windows, copy/extract all the folders and files in the ISO to the USB drive then in the USB drive run the /boot/Porteus-Installer-for-Windows.exe program. Once done reboot your notebook, direct it to boot the USB drive and see what happens. If the 32 bit version boots ok consider redoing the steps with the 64 bit ISO.
Report back how things work out for you
tsisaris and if you have problems we will try to resolve them for you.
BTW I just checked your Acer specs and it says it comes with the 64 bit Windows 10 system. Based on that I suggest testing the 64 bit Porteus ISO first rather than the 32 bit one.
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 01:15
by tsisaris
It only has the 32-bit Windows 10. I haven't been able to get it to boot to either the 32-bit porteus or the 64-bit porteus. I used RUFUS to create a bootable USB for both versions. I used Grub2 to alter the EFI but it doesn't seem to stick. I need to find a cfg file to load into Grub2. I'm completely lost.
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 01:17
by tsisaris
It's the KDE version I'm using.
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 05:50
by Ed_P
RUFUS has problems with Porteus for some reason. Make the bootable USB drive as I said above.
Ed_P wrote: ↑11 Dec 2023, 05:56
Get an inexpensive USB drive, download a 32 bit Porteus ISO, and if you have the time a 64 bit one also. Open the ISO in Windows, copy/extract all the folders and files in the ISO to the USB drive then in the USB drive run the /boot/Porteus-Installer-for-Windows.exe program.
Use the 64 bit Porteus ISO rather than the 32 bit one for your Acer system.
Note: to boot the USB drive on a UEFI system requires either formatting the whole drive as FAT32 or partitioning the USB drive into a small 512 MB FAT32 partition for the EFI folder and a 2nd partition for the rest of the Porteus folders and files. Since Windows doesn't access multiple partitions on removeable drives the process gets tricky until you boot Porteus.
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 07:29
by tsisaris
I have tried this and the installer doesnt work
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 08:09
by i3slkiller
Hi
tsisaris 
In Porteus images (even 32-bit) there is no 32-bit UEFI loader (bootia32.efi), so it won't boot on this device.
Code: Select all
Path = Porteus-XFCE-v5.01-i586.iso
Type = Iso
Physical Size = 378535936
Created = 2023-10-03 06:21:08
Modified = 2023-10-03 06:21:08
Date Time Attr Size Compressed Name
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------ ------------------------
2023-08-12 23:25:05 D.... EFI
2023-08-12 23:25:06 D.... EFI/boot
2023-08-12 23:25:06 ..... 176296 176296 EFI/boot/bootx64.efi
2023-08-12 23:25:05 ..... 28480 28480 EFI/boot/chain.c32
2023-08-12 23:25:06 ..... 133832 133832 EFI/boot/ldlinux.e64
2023-08-12 23:25:06 ..... 196448 196448 EFI/boot/libcom32.c32
2023-08-12 23:25:06 ..... 27152 27152 EFI/boot/libmenu.c32
2023-08-12 23:25:06 ..... 24152 24152 EFI/boot/libutil.c32
2023-08-12 23:25:06 ..... 6056 6056 EFI/boot/linux.c32
2023-08-12 23:25:06 ..... 31728 31728 EFI/boot/menu.c32
2023-08-12 23:25:06 ..... 11800 11800 EFI/boot/syslinux.c32
2023-08-12 23:25:06 ..... 40 40 EFI/boot/syslinux.cfg
2023-08-12 23:25:05 ..... 32408 32408 EFI/boot/vesamenu.c32
2023-08-12 23:25:08 ..... 1512 1512 USB_INSTALLATION.txt
2023-08-12 23:25:08 D.... boot
[*ciach*]
I suspect you are doing it on Windows, so download GRUB
https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/grub/grub-2.06-for-windows.zip and install it according to this instruction
https://www.aioboot.com/en/install-grub2-from-windows/ (pay attention to install for i386-efi and
install it to right device)
Paste this to grub.cfg
Code: Select all
loadfont unicode
set gfxmode=auto
insmod all_video
if [ $grub_platform == 'efi' ]; then
insmod efi_gop
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
menuentry 'Porteus Graphics mode' {
linux /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz changes=/porteus
initrd /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
}
menuentry 'Porteus Always fresh' {
linux /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz nomagic base_only norootcopy
initrd /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
}
menuentry 'Porteus Copy To RAM' {
linux /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz copy2ram
initrd /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
}
menuentry 'Porteus Text Mode' {
linux /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz 3
initrd /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
}
menuentry 'Porteus Text Mode (safe)' {
linux /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz 3 nomagic base_only norootcopy
initrd /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
}
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 16:41
by Ed_P
If wanting to use grub2 in Windows I recommend the
Grub2Win app. I have been using it for years and is well supported by the creator.
tsisaris wrote: ↑13 Dec 2023, 07:29
I have tried this and the installer doesnt work
What installer?
Porteus doesn't have an installer. One simply copies files, no installer needed.
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 21:23
by tsisaris
You told me to run porteus installer for windows... This is the installer that I'm referring to... I also tried grub2win and it didn't work. Grub2win makes it sound like it keeps reverting to the native uefi every time it reboots. I'll try the original grub as advised.
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 21:45
by Ed_P
tsisaris wrote: ↑13 Dec 2023, 21:23
You told me to run porteus installer for windows...
Sorry, I know it's called that but I never think of it that way.
So what error msg do you get when you execute it?
tsisaris wrote: ↑13 Dec 2023, 21:23
Grub2win makes it sound like it keeps reverting to the native uefi every time it reboots.
If you have an EFI machine that is how it boots. And once it is up you can boot whatever system you want.
i3slkiller wrote: ↑13 Dec 2023, 08:09
Paste this to grub.cfg
Interesting menus
i3slkiller. They don't boot the Porteus menu do they??
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 22:09
by tsisaris
once its up its already booted into windows.
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 22:31
by Ed_P
tsisaris wrote: ↑13 Dec 2023, 22:09
once its up its already booted into windows.
When you boot does the Grub2Win menu display? Have you added any menus to it after you installed it?
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 22:42
by tsisaris
No the grub2 menu never displays. it just boots right to windows every time. Which utility do I use to make sure that the partition is correct on the usb? right now it only has one partition for FAT32 and I'm getting the error mentioned earlier. e: doesn't look like an EFI partition.
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 13 Dec 2023, 23:03
by Ed_P
tsisaris wrote: ↑13 Dec 2023, 22:42
No the grub2 menu never displays.
After you installed Grub2Win did you start it and create a menu?
tsisaris wrote: ↑13 Dec 2023, 22:42
Which utility do I use to make sure that the partition is correct on the usb?
In Windows you have diskpart. Have you tried it? What does it show?
How did you create the FAT32 on the USB drive?
Added in 25 minutes 50 seconds:
My drives; 0 the hard drive, 1 the USB drive.
Code: Select all
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22621.2861]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Windows\System32>diskpart
Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.22621.1
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: EDS-DELL
DISKPART> list disk
Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 931 GB 3072 KB *
Disk 1 Online 28 GB 2048 KB
DISKPART> list volume
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 0 C OS NTFS Partition 219 GB Healthy Boot
Volume 1 D Data NTFS Partition 250 GB Healthy
Volume 2 E Backups NTFS Partition 443 GB Healthy
Volume 3 ESP FAT32 Partition 150 MB Healthy System
Volume 4 NTFS Partition 1244 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 5 Image NTFS Partition 16 GB Healthy Hidden
Volume 6 DELLSUPPORT NTFS Partition 1395 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 7 F PORTEUS50 FAT32 Removable 28 GB Healthy
DISKPART> select disk 1
Disk 1 is now the selected disk.
DISKPART> list partition
Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 28 GB 4032 KB
DISKPART>
Command Prompt needs to be run with Admin Rights to run diskpart.
Acer Aspire SW5-012
Posted: 14 Dec 2023, 01:29
by tsisaris
I'm being dragged into dos and new windows programs and have no idea what I'm doing. It would be nice if I only needed one piece of software and a usb drive? I need to do this step by step. None of these seem to be working. I don't even know which grub.cfg to paste to or where in the file to paste. The one I found says don't modify this file.