"Secure boot not enabled!" when I boot Ubuntu live CD on Asus Q400A

Question

I have an Asus Q400A laptop with Windows 8 preloaded. I also installed Windows 7 and Ubuntu 12.04. Windows 7 is the main OS; Windows 8 and Ubuntu 12.04 are running alongside of it.

I wanted to try 13.04, so I downloaded the iso.img file and burned it to a CD. When I ran the CD it says:

Secure boot not enabled!

Can someone explain what this means and how to resolve it?

Also I already have partition (I) for Ubuntu. How do I install the new Ubuntu version on that disk partition?

All I see is 750GB; it doesn't mention any of the partitions that I have.

This is the output of bootinfoscript:

                  Boot Info Script 0.61      [1 April 2012]


============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================

 => Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.

sda1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7: NTFS
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        /bootmgr /Boot/BCD

sda2: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7: NTFS
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  Windows 7
    Boot files:        /Windows/System32/winload.exe /wubildr /wubildr.mbr

sda3: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7: NTFS
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        /bootmgr /Windows/System32/winload.exe /wubildr

sda4: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       Extended Partition
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 

sda5: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7: NTFS
    Boot sector info:  According to the info in the boot sector, sda5 starts 
                       at sector 2048.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        

============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 750.2 GB, 750156374016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders, total 1465149168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sda1    *          2,048       206,847       204,800   7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2             206,848 1,044,482,047 1,044,275,200   7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda3       1,044,482,048 1,260,343,295   215,861,248   7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda4       1,260,343,296 1,465,145,343   204,802,048   f W95 Extended (LBA)
/dev/sda5       1,260,345,344 1,465,145,343   204,800,000   7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS


GUID Partition Table detected, but does not seem to be used.

Partition    Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors System

"blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL

/dev/loop0                                              squashfs   
/dev/sda1        AAC60DEFC60DBC97                       ntfs       System Reserved
/dev/sda2        A2523D25523D0019                       ntfs       
/dev/sda3        5A9C3F189C3EEDDF                       ntfs       
/dev/sda5        205CC68A5CC659E4                       ntfs       New Volume
/dev/sr0                                                iso9660    Ubuntu 13.04 amd64

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

/dev/loop0       /rofs                    squashfs   (ro,noatime)
/dev/sr0         /cdrom                   iso9660    (ro,noatime)


=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

  No volume groups found

Answer 1

The message "secure boot not enabled" means that the Secure Boot feature is not enabled on the computer. Secure Boot is a feature that's designed to prevent certain types of malware from running before an OS has booted.

The key point is that the message you see is not an error message, nor is it diagnostic of anything going wrong. Your problem is occuring after that purely informational message has appeared on your screen. Chances are GRUB is flaking out on your computer, since the program that generates the message (shim) launches GRUB immediately afterwards. Given that you've installed Windows 7 on the computer, though, it's not entirely clear that you should even be installing Ubuntu in EFI mode (which is how you're booting it now, given the Secure Boot message). Thus, I recommend you begin by booting a Linux emergency disc (something like Parted Magic), running Boot Info Script, and posting a link to the RESULTS.txt file that it generates. That will tell us about your current configuration, which will help us offer a solution that doesn't involve assumptions and guesswork.

---

Edit/New Information: Your Boot Info Script output indicates that your Windows installation is clearly in BIOS/CSM/legacy mode. Thus, you should not attempt to install Linux in EFI mode. I'm not sure why the installer is hanging when you try to boot it in that mode, but with any luck the problem will clear up when you attempt a BIOS-mode boot.

You may be able to do this by using your firmware's boot manager, which you typically access by hitting a function key as you power the computer on. (Which function key, unfortunately, is completely non-standardized. Check your documentation or look for an on-screen prompt, which will probably stay visible for only a second or two.) If you can find this menu, with any luck you'll see two entries for your optical drive, one of which will include the string "EFI" or "UEFI" and the other of which will not. Select the non-EFI entry to boot the Ubuntu installer in BIOS/CSM/legacy mode.

If you can't find a boot manager menu or if you can't get it to boot the disc in BIOS/CSM/legacy mode, try downloading the Mac version of the Ubuntu installer. Ironically, that version lacks EFI support, and so may work better for your needs.

Answer 2

I have an Asus q400a. Hold down F2 and you can get into the BIOS settings. There are settings for Secure Boot, for CSM, UEFI etc. there