Editing Openai/690f8ac2-4e38-8012-b650-1cba68fd0972 (section)

===  ===

After it loads the Zorin desktop, open a terminal and run:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
[ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo "UEFI mode" || echo "Legacy mode"

</syntaxhighlight>

It should output:

<pre>
Legacy mode

</pre>

If it says UEFI mode, you booted the wrong entry — go back and retry.

Once you confirm you are definitely in Legacy mode, repeat the installation:

* Choose Something Else.
* Delete all partitions (clean disk).
* Create one Primary ext4 partition mounted as /.
* Optional: 2–4 GB swap.
* Install the bootloader to /dev/sda (the disk, not a partition).

This time, you will not see the “No EFI System Partition” warning.

💡 Summary

* That warning = installer booted in UEFI mode.
* For Legacy install → boot the USB as “USB Hard Drive”, not “UEFI: USB…” or “OS Boot Manager.”
* Once booted Legacy, installer won’t ask for an EFI partition.

Would you like me to give you the exact text that appears for the correct BIOS settings (in F10) to make sure Legacy mode is enabled and UEFI is fully off? That can guarantee the installer never goes into UEFI again.


'''Prompt:'''
I did boot from "USB Hard Drive 1 - USB DISK 2.0" and I am seeing the error message described above.

'''ChatGPT:'''
Got it — that’s a key detail.
If you booted from “USB Hard Drive 1 – USB DISK 2.0” (Legacy path) but the Zorin installer still says:

<blockquote></blockquote>

then one of two things is happening:

# The BIOS is still running in hybrid UEFI mode (common on HPs from this era), or
# The installer image itself defaults to UEFI boot, even when the system’s BIOS hands it off in Legacy mode.

Let’s fix it methodically.