Can not install Ubuntu on Gigabyte UEFI Dual BIOS motherboard
I have burnt Ubuntu 14.04 64bit using Unetbooting on a USB flash drive and tried several times to install Ubuntu on my new computer which has no software on it and Gigabyte GA-Z97P-D3 motherboard. It is a UEFI Dual BIOS and I guess the problem has something to do with UEFI. It may also worth mentioning that the flash drive is formated to ext4. The installer just hangs on Unetbootin blue page and does not proceed. I have also tried Ubuntu 12.04 but got the same resutls. Appreciate your help to resolve this.
I assume the computer is brand new. If not, have you ever successfully installed any other OS via USB flash drive?
Well then, the easiest thing to try next would be to try a different distro. I’d suggest openSuse as their «usb flash drive image burning» procedure is different and can not be done with unetbootin. It’s a shot in the dark, but it doesn’t take very long. Instructions here I typically use way number 4 (commandline tools)
What I meant was, try to install it to see if a different distro also has the same issues, as trying this might help narrow down the problem a bit. This is Ask Ubuntu, of course you want to end up with Ubuntu installed
1 Answer 1
Needed F6 (BIOS boot) to set ACPI=Off and nomodeset, add to grub if UEFI boot.
Gigabyte UEFI boot issues — The partition size of the created USB Installer device needs to be under that of 4GB. Others found UEFI/BIOS update solved issue of 4GB FAT limit.
turns out the IOMMU needs to be enabled in the BIOS. This problems seems to be exclusive to Gigabyte boards.
Gigabyte Z97-HD3 Intel Z97 Motherboard
You need to change some settings in UEFI, particularly the IOMMU setting. There may be other settings, those notes were from other users. I installed to a Asus z97-ar and had many UEFI settings that I had to change. If you have fast boot turn that off also, or at least for cold reboot, so you can get into UEFI to change settings. If not it may boot too fast to let you press keys to get into UEFI. With my Asus I had to change from Secure boot to Other and set to UEFI only. Most other settings were turning off timing tweaks as I wanted stable system above all.
Thread: Ubuntu + Gigabyte motherboard
First Cup of Ubuntu 
Ubuntu + Gigabyte motherboard
Following prompts from peers I am taking the plunge to use/learn/deploy Ubuntu for myself and clients. Hoorah.
I am planning a PC build and my candidate motherboard is the Gigabyte GA-H97N-Wifi motherboard due to its built in wifi/BT adapter.
My first question, and the big one, does anyone have any experience combining Ubuntu with this motherboard, positive or negative. If I can quickly avoid any issues or show stoppers I would like to do so.
Second, if this is not (yet) answerable, when I install the OS, can someone point me to where I can determine if the WiFi functionality has been recognized?
Obviously a newbie question, but the journey must begin somewhere.
Ubuntu addict and loving it 
Join Date Sep 2011 Location Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Beans 3,064 —> Beans 3,064 Distro Ubuntu Development Release
Re: Ubuntu + Gigabyte motherboard
I don’t have that MoBo, my newest is an AMD a couple years old. Do you know the chipset of the WiFi/BT adapter? I did see mention of Atheros though no specifics. IME Atheros support is pretty good. If the chipset is supported, your life might be pretty simple. If it’s a new/unsupported chipset, you life might get pretty complicated . One big difference between Windows and Linux is that many device drivers are part of the kernel. Plug in the hardware or boot the machine and it works, no discs or downloads required. If the chipset is not built into the kernel, you may have to download a binary that supports your hardware or you may have to download the source and compile it or you may be out of luck. This information may not be readily available and components may change during a manufacturing run.
I’m no pro, just a hobbyist. I try to do my homework before purchasing hardware as you are doing. I’ve been very fortunate over the years, can’t think of a piece of hardware I’ve had that wouldn’t function on Linux. I try to stay a ways back from the bleeding edge. If a device or chipset has been around for a year or more, the liklihood of its being supported is pretty high.
Super Master Roaster 
Re: Ubuntu + Gigabyte motherboard
Across several models with both Intel & AMD, Gigabyte has issues with an IOMMU setting in UEFI. Once that is resolved it seems to work.
A few have called for support from Gigabyte and they specially say they do not support Linux. But many vendors have similar policies for first level help desk staff.
Gigabytes P67 & H67 hybrid efi -Hybrid EFI is a UEFI based on the open source TianoCore
http://www.rodsbooks.com/gb-hybrid-efi/
http://gigabytedaily.blogspot.com/20. echnology.html
Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 with I7-3820
Needed F6 (BIOS boot) to set ACPI=Off and nomodeset, add to grub if UEFI boot.
Gigabyte UEFI boot issues — The partition size of the created USB Installer device needs to be under that of 4GB.
Others found UEFI/BIOS update solved issue of 4GB FAT limit.
turns out the IOMMU needs to be enabled in the BIOS. This problems seems to be exclusive to Gigabyte boards.
Gigabyte Z97-HD3 Intel Z97 Motherboard
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag. _z97_hd3&num=1
GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3 motherboard not working with 64 bit kernel — IOMMU
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2111223&page=5
[SOLVED] GA-970A-DS3P revision 1 no usb 3.0
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2188370
I just built a system with Asus-AR and had a lot of issues getting all the settings correct, so it would boot in UEFI mode. But been working fine since.
You should plan on UEFI with gpt partitioning. If not familar there are many of the standard better links in the link in my signature below.