I'm currently having a tough time trying to boot from a Linux drive on my Surface Pro 4 so I can completely replace the operating system. Every time I attempt to boot, I get an error saying, 'Couldn't find a bootable operating system. Check the Boot configuration to try to fix this.'
Here's what I've already tried:
- Followed the installation instructions on the surface-linux GitHub page.
- Made sure BitLocker is turned off.
- Disabled Secure Boot.
- Verified that the USB port is functional and the drive is recognized when Windows is running.
- Tried using Ultramarine rather than Fedora (from its specific Surface version).
- Utilized tools like Rufus, Fedora Media Writer, balenaEtcher, and ventoy2disk after formatting the USB drive to FAT32.
- Attempted to partition my internal drive as FAT32 and used Universal USB Installer to install the ISO there, though the Surface BIOS doesn't recognize those partitions as bootable.
- Tested the USB drive on another laptop where it booted without issues.
- Made sure the device is charged during these attempts.
- Turned off fast startup and hibernation.
- Tried to boot from USB directly by holding volume down while powering on.
I'm completely out of ideas and would be grateful for any guidance you can provide!
2 Answers
You might want to try downloading Ultramarine Linux Surface Edition specifically for your device. Check the Ultramarine wiki page for installation instructions—there may be some nuances for the Surface hardware.
Have you checked the migration page in your community's wiki? There are a few tips and other resources that could help guide you through the process. Also, make sure you're only using trusted sources for downloading and always verify the checksums of your ISOs to ensure they're okay!
I did try Ultramarine, as mentioned in my list above. Still facing the boot issue.