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Installation image (ISO) not UEFI bootable

Matt Brossett

The motherboard I am using only supports UEFI OS. When I attempt to create a USB boot drive using Rufus with "GPT partition scheme for UEFI" setting I get the error...

"Unsupported ISO - When using UEFI Target Type, only EFI bootable ISO images are supported. Please select an EFI bootable ISO or set the Target Type to BIOS"

 If I use the MBR partition scheme for UEFI, the server will not recognize the boot drive. Win32DiskImager and Etcher did not work either. I also used IPMI to mount the ISO but it still wasn't recognized.

Does Sophos have an ISO that is EFI bootable? I am using a new SuperMicro SuperServer E200-9A. Their support says I must use a EFI bootable ISO and GPT partition scheme. Does anyone have a solution to this problem?



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  • 0

    Me too!

    Please, help, there is no way to install SFOS on a particular device which only supports UEFI.

    Thank you!

  • 0 in reply to LuCar Toni

    Hello!

    I did it exactly as in the link you provided.

    As a matter of fact, I did try with Rufus twice, "write in ISO image mode" at first, then "write in DD image mode".

    And after that, I did try each and any alternatives to Rufus I could find as NOT discontinued on alternativeto.net website (most of them redundantly, I know, but I said to try every real option).

     

    Suffice to say that the USB sticks (two of them) I used had no problem booting on that machine with other ISO images, Win, Linux, FreeBSD. Also that the ISO image of SFOS has no problem booting on both my desktop and my laptop, burnt on a USB stick or a DVD-ROM.

     

    I concluded that (and if you pay attention to the screenshots from the link you provided, as it happened the exact same way in my case, Rufus opens at first with the default option "MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI", and after the SFOS image is selected, that option changes to "MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI-CSM". Which means that) the SFOS ISO image is not at all UEFI compatible, and it needs a CSM (Compatibility Support Module) to be able to boot from. More so, even if you manually try to force "MBR partition scheme for UEFI" or "GPT partition scheme for UEFI" options, Rufus returns an error stating:

     

     

    I did manage to boot from USB stick, eventually, using "AIO Boot" which loads grub2, and then included the SFOS ISO in the boot options menu, to be able to further select it to continue booting from it, but with no success. Tried every possible and impossible combination of ISO writing tools and UEFI BIOS settings on that hardware (most of them hints from similar situations returned from G Search), meaning Rufus with or without XHCI, with and without CSM enabled, and with CSM enabled, with and without storage compatibility mode set to Legacy, then UEFI, made sure that secure boot is disabled... then Etcher with or without XHCI, with and without CSM enabled, and with CSM enabled, with and without storage compatibility mode set to Legacy, then UEFI, made sure that secure boot is disabled... then AIO Boot with or without XHCI, with and without CSM enabled, and with CSM enabled, with and without storage compatibility mode set to Legacy, then UEFI, made sure that secure boot is disabled... and what not!?!?! I even tried with converted "IMGpart" and "partIMG" formats of SFOS ISO file. No success either. Several many hours, in 3 different days...

    So, if somebody could provide a full UEFI compatible ISO image, one which would not change Rufus default write mode from "MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI" in "MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI-CSM", and which would not return an error when trying UEFI target type, please do.

    Thank you very much!

  • 0 in reply to LuCar Toni

    The issue is that the SFOS ISO is not UEFI bootable. As Ciprian has detailed very well, there is no way to get around this. We need an SFOS ISO that supports UEFI boot.

  • 0

    Just to throw in my two cents, I was able to make a little progress by removing the m2 SSD from my E200-9A, placing it in a laptop, and installing XG from there, then moving the SSD back to the E200-9A.

     

    The system will actually begin the boot process, but throws a few errors related to LAPIC, APIC, and MP-BIOS.

     

    I might test this method with a standard SATA SSD and see if it provides better results, although I would much prefer being able to use the embedded SSD slot.

     

    I will continue testing workarounds, but this is disappointing for a very expensive software license. Sophos please fix.

  • 0 in reply to jonw

    This doesn't seem like an option, messing around with HW setups in countless hours of slaloms between and around errors, when all you wanna do is get the SW installed in a few minutes, then better use all that previously wasted time to setup, test and etc. the (new) firewall.

    It might be cheap as in free for home users, it might be evaluated for 30 days for businesses, but in the end of the day, if my boss get to hear from me about Sophos, and what a cool and marvelous piece of software it is, but also finds out that I have to struggle for days/ weeks with installation on (too) newer HW, he will seriously rise at least an eyebrow toward my marketing/ sales pitch! :(

    I know that BIOS is one thing, (U)EFI is another, CSM is a bridge in between, a transition tool, and maybe it's not Sophos' fault that every now and then, on some hardware/ UEFI BIOS the CSM is not implemented as it should, or maybe there are some bugs, but hey!... There are only two variants of BIOSes, the old (replaceable) one, and the new (replacing) one: please, Sophos, make available two standard variants of ISO images, for each of the two standards, and forget about CSM, that might be buggy and/ or mall implemented sometimes. It shouldn't be difficult, and it's hard for me to imagine the image points you get from both the working hats as well as from buying hats! :)

  • 0 in reply to Ciprian Hutiu

    It would pay for you to investigate hardware before buying a device that does not work with the software.

    There are a number of threads if you search about various hardware successes and failures.

    Ian

  • 0 in reply to rfcat_vk

    rfcat_vk said:

    It would pay for you to investigate hardware before buying a device that does not work with the software.

    True! Really, it's true!

    But what about the case you already have that HW, bought, maybe, for another platform? And decided to see what XG is going to give on that particular platform? (My case!)

    I say, if it's a software treat it like a software, otherwise tell me you only offer ISOs for Sophos proprietary HW. And, honestly, I don't thing UEFI compatibility matter is something one should/ worth research for! (!)

    But I don't want to argue and upset anyone around here, I stated my opinion and not going to further write any arguments to "build a case". :)

  • 0 in reply to Ciprian Hutiu

    Hi,

    you are wrong. There are ISOs for Sophos proprietary hardware and then there are ISOs for those that want to build their own either on physical or virtual hardware.

    You could have tried installing a 'VM' OS then installed the XG on top as others who have found they have incompatible hardware have done.

    I have tried Asrock MBs in the past and found they have too many quirks that are aimed at Windows OS only.

    Ian

  • 0 in reply to rfcat_vk

    rfcat_vk said:
    You could have tried installing a 'VM' OS then installed the XG on top as others who have found they have incompatible hardware have done.

    I need it to boot! Only to boot! If other HW incompatibilities are encountered, during installation or running, OK, but I only need it to boot! On pure UEFI HW, and UEFI is not a Windows OS quirk.

    rfcat_vk said:
    ... and then there are ISOs for those that want to build their own...

    I am talking exactly about that when I say ”either only proprietary HW... or general HW, standard UEFI compatible..."

     

    For the final time: I don't argue about making images which shouldn't have flaws and bugs no matter the piece of bare metal those images are installed on. It would be out of this universe. But what about making an ISO which is able to boot if the BIOS is UEFI BIOS, where USB is XHCI type (and v. 3++) and there is no CSM present - which for me, if I'm not wrong, means "standard UEFI", and no Windows OS only quirks?!?! :)