Microsoft Signature PC Requirements Now Blocks Linux Installation: Reports

Reader sombragris writes: According to a well-documented forum thread, the Signature PC program by Microsoft now requires to lock down PCs. This user found out that his Lenovo Yoga 900 ISK2 UltraBook has the SSD in a proprietary RAID mode which Linux does not understand and the BIOS is also locked down so it could not be turned off. When he complained that he was unable to install Linux, the answer he got was: "This system has a Signature Edition of Windows 10 Home installed. It is locked per our agreement with Microsoft."
Even worse, as the original poster said, "[t]he Yoga 900 ISK2 at Best Buy is not labeled as a Signature Edition PC, but apparently it is one, and Lenovo's agreement with Microsoft includes making sure Linux can't be installed." As some commenter said: "If you buy a computer with this level of lockdown you should be told."

There is also a report on ZDNet which looks very understanding towards Lenovo, but the fact remains: the SSD is locked down in a proprietary RAID mode that cannot be turned off.

Comments

Strange

[chispito]

If I were planning to run Linux on a computer, I probably would have done a few quick searches on driver support beforehand. And I wouldn't be buying it at Best Buy.

Re:Strange

[MBGMorden]

I was doing that 6-7 years ago, but I haven't worried about "driver support" for anything in Linux in about that long. Almost everything works these days - intentional sabotage by competitors being the obvious exception.

Re: Strange

[The-Ixian]

Not saying it isn't possible. But those are devices that the OS maker did not intend to be able to run Linux or any other OS but their own. The fact that workarounds have been found is beside the point.

As the first post says, it's probably only a matter of time before a hack/workaround is found.

Re:Strange

[Anonymous Coward]

You DO own it, you moron. Just because you can't get it to do what you want (which it was not advertised as being able to do) doesn't mean you don't own it. This has nothing to do with a EULA.

Re:Strange

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not just intentional sabatoge that can cause a lack of support. The moon can be at the wrong position, the wife of the main coder had her period. More non relevant excuses.

If it looks deliberate, sound deliberate, feel deliberate... it usually is deliberate.

And that is not hard to say...

and straight in line with their lock you into windows 10 hell policy without asking.

Re: Strange

[cayenne8]

Just because the workarounds are transparent to you doesn't mean they aren't happening. Apple is not selling you a device for the purpose of you loading Linux on it. The fact that you can doesn't mean they made it easy for the open source community to reverse engineer and come up with work arounds to make it possible to install Linux.

I think there is a difference in terminology.

A "workaround" implies that a manufacturer has intently put up roadblocks to installing whatever OS you please.

But until now...hardware, is hardware is hardware.

There's no difference (till now with the Windows thing) in buying a computer from Dell, or Apple, or Asus...etc....and you putting whatever OS you want on it.

It is JUST hardware, set to run whatever code you wish on it....at least that has been the model till now.

Apple sells you the hardware, it happens to come with their OS pre-installed, but really, once you give them your $$, they don't give a fuck what you do with it....

Apple pretty much uses for the most part, off the shelf components to do their computers...there is no "making it easy".....that doesn't enter into the equation really.

Re:Strange

[MickyTheIdiot]

The biggest problem here is that it wasn't even disclosed to the buyer as being a "signature series". I am against lock down, but lack of disclosure is an even bigger problem.

OEMs ought to be disclosing whether or not their hardware has proprietary Windows drivers, however they don't do it. It goes beyond "let the buyer beware," a lot of times the info isn't there.

Re:Strange

[donaldm]

It's not just intentional sabatoge that can cause a lack of support. Newly release chipsets or other hardware often doesn't have initial Linux support. Sometimes it takes time for that to get incorporated into the kernel and make it's way up the pipeline. Moreover, each distro tends to incorporate new kernel changes at different paces, and it makes it hard to predict how soon support will arrive for new hardware.

I'm not sure if this is the case here. The story makes it sound like it was deliberate, which wouldn't be too surprising I guess, but it's hard to say.

In early December 2015 I built myself a Desktop using the latest Skylake Chipset (released 5th Aug 2015) and all I had to do was select "Other OS" and I installed Fedora 23 KDE spin without any problems. I did find an issue a short time later with my monitor which has two HDMI slots and DSUB slot. Basically, everything worked, however I also connected my PS4 to the spare HDMI port so I could switch between my PC and PS4 and this worked perfectly. Unfortunately switching back to the PC port dropped signal which required me to reset the PC.

The fix was for me to get the latest BIOS (the same day I found the problem) and this fixed the issue of toggling between PC and PS4 or my PS3 if I moved the HDMI cable across. I have been using this configuration ever since.

I can understand if graphics drivers are not available for a new graphics card but I would not be surprised if Microsoft is starting to pull tactics like what is mentioned in the article. Originally Microsoft wanted secure boot (to protect the users of course, cough! cough!) or UEFI. The problem with this is many major Linux distribution got UEFI certified as well which I would assume defeated the original purpose of having secure boot.

No, the issue is Microsoft is being Microsoft and nothing has changed.

Two words.

[JustNiz]

Class action.

Re:Two words.

[Z00L00K]

Such clauses need to be tried in court as well - a lot of EULAs aren't worth the paper they are written on.

Was the EULA provided before purchase?

"Signature Edition" ironically pushes me to Macs

[mykepredko]

I have been a big fan/proponent/promoter/user of Lenovo laptops for years. They're rugged and reliable and does what I need them for - I'm writing this on a T510 running Ubuntu 15.04

But, Lenovo always seems to be on the wrong side of software issues. Whether it's malware, tracking or now Win10, I don't feel like their products can be trusted.

To be fair, if I were to consider anybody else's Windows PCs now, I would probably reject them for the same reasons as Lenovo. Running Linux on the laptops in a dual boot mode is a requirement for me.

So, what looks like the best solution for me is to eschew Windows laptops and go to Macs. I have a four year old Macbook Air that I've upgraded the hard drive on, dual booting and I can avoid the Microsoft bullshit for a bit of a premium over a Lenovo laptop, but as I tend to buy higher quality laptops, that premium isn't that high.

Tower systems will continue to be custom builds with Windows 7 or Linux.

Sorry Microsoft, Win10 just ain't in my future.

Re:You Really Want To Go Down This Road MS??

[Palinchron]

Do you say this about your iPhone or your smart TV or your blueray player or your automobile?

Damn right I do.

There are also plenty of locked down models in the same market that do not let you modify firmware or certain settings.

And it's HIGH time this became very illegal.

Re:Lenovo is at fault, not MS (per the article)

[Z00L00K]

But it should be possible to turn off that crap in BIOS/UEFI.

I've been sayin it for ten damn years

[WaffleMonster]

Good God.. I've been sayin it. I've been sayin it for ten damn years. Ain't I been sayin it? Miguel.. Yeah, I've been sayin it.

Who releases a computer that won't run AHCI? From accounts of people who have looked into the BIOS .. AHCI is there but *intentionally* restricted from being enabled by customers. The people who did this knew exactly what this meant when they did it and what consequences of doing it would be yet they went ahead with it anyway.

Re: One OS to Rule Them All

[Billly Gates]

But this is slashdot. It all is a vast conspiracy and MS and Windows have not changed in 20 years

Re:MS Hates Linux

[presidenteloco]

GNU-Linux Evaluation

[Excellent] Stable platform for long-running server applications
[Excellent] Software development tool chains
[Excellent] FOSS software availability and variety
[Excellent] Support communities for FOSS software
[Excellent] Stable, smallish-footprint OS kernel + core services + APIs on which to build mobile device OS services and GUI
[Fail] Simple, Uniform, Highly Functional, Good UX GUI for desktop/laptop computing and entertainment hub
[Fail] Best-of-breed desktop productivity applications for everyday business and home computer users