Check your BIOS settings

Please select one of the following 2 approaches based on how familiar you are with OS and PC booting principles:

1. The simple (beginner) approach

Most computers in use today — unless they are more than several years old or have been deliberately set to "Legacy Mode" to suppress it — boot operating systems with UEFI.

Depending on which is set by default on your computer's BIOS settings, you will get one of these configurations when you install Frankenwallet or any other Ubuntu installation in which "whole disk encryption" is selected:

➤ if UEFI is active, it will be able to encrypt the /boot partition as well the main partition used for the Ubuntu operating system & data.

➤ if UEFI is not active (legacy mode), though the main partition will still be encrypted, the  /boot partition will remain unencrypted, due to constraints described at the "advanced" links below.

Therefore, you should check your BIOS settings especially on older computers to see if UEFI mode is missing or disabled, and if you go ahead to install your Frankenwallet without UEFI you should:

  • (if /boot is not encrypted, or if you're not sure) Never put your Frankenwallet into a system that was not booted from it... since malicious software on that computer might be able to write to and compromise the unencrypted /boot partition.
  • In your host computer's BIOS settings, move the USB / removable disk higher up in the "boot order" or "boot priority" than your computer's disk... to avoid accidentally booting from the host operating system while the Frankenwallet is still connected as an ordinary writable drive.

➤ Warning in case you plan to use your Frankenwallet on multiple host computers: If your Frankenwallet is installed in UEFI mode, it will not boot on (usually very old) computers whose BIOS is set to boot only in Legacy Mode.

  • The reverse is also true — Legacy Mode installations won't boot on computers that can only boot UEFI formatted disks & media — but most UEFI compliant computers are set to search for boot devices in Legacy Mode after failing to find any UEFI devices… so that isn't so much of a problem.

Therefore, if you have a mix of Legacy Mode and UEFI computers, be sure your Frankenwallet is installed on one of the computers set to use Legacy Mode.

2. The complicated (expert) approach

Notes on whether encrypted partitions are bootable or accessible through GRUB vs. UEFI Secure Boot:

Notes on whether full disk encryption can be set up by the installer (i.e. whether it's possible to encrypt the /boot partition as well):

Without a detailed reading & understanding of these two links above, you might not be able to predict whether your Frankenwallet installation (with full disk encryption, of course) will have an encrypted /boot partition... until you try it.

➤ If you have more insights about this issue that you would like to see included in these instructions, based on experience or experimentation, please report them here.

Notes on Secure Boot and UEFI

For troubleshooting or advanced configuration:

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