Has anyone been able to successfully run an alternate OS on the W510?

So I am looking to buy a W510 now, because it is a very decently priced x86 tablet. I have not been in the market for a very long time and was shocked to hear of the Win8 specific CPU instructions and the restrictive boot options.

Has anyone been able to install an alternate OS on the W510 or similar machines, like Win7 or Linux? I'm getting worried seeing the posts here about having trouble turning it off.

Will my warranty on the actual device be threatened if I install another OS, because of the lack of hardware support which could potentially lead to overheating?

It's so scary that computers are now being locked down in a similar way to phones are.

Accepted answers

All comments

padgett

I have an opinion which has not been refuted. See http://community.acer.com/t5/Acer-Tablets/UEFI-and-quot-Secure-Boot-quot-W510-and-maybe-W7xx/m-p/17707#U17707 . No-one has replied so is getting pushed down.

iheartlinux

I did notice that post and was surprised it didn't get any further comments. I think it sounds like a solid hypothesis, but legally you need to give the consumer the option to turn it off, correct? Why wouldn't Acer do this? Or have a clause about warranty if they're that worried about damage to the device?

In addition I saw other posts about someone installing Win8 enterprise ..

padgett

I imagine Acer can do anything they want. All they have said is "designed for Windows 8" and I can now boot from either a recovery flash drive made from the "System DVD" or a Windows 8 Pro installation disk. For all I know those are the only signatures in the library.

However the "Security" settings in the BIOS setup cannot be changed despite one doc in the Acer help library that says you must erase the library to turn UEFI off.

What bothers me is that in none of my converstations with the Help desk have they ever said the W510 cannot run anything alse.

Just some of the documentation that was suggested to me:

http://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27045/kw/uefi/related/1/sno/1

http://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26604/kw/uefi

Oh well, like Edison, I have learned many ways not to boot a W510.

ps does anyone gripe that the iPad cripples USB drives so they cannot be used for storage of anything other than music, video, or photos or that many are leaving off SD card expansion ? Heck I've seen a major Korean manufacturer redact that a tablet would ever support HDMI when it was prominent in the User Guide.

So my feeling is amazement that the W510 was introduced so soon and suspect Acer, Microsoft, and Intel are all guaging the effect of making UEFI permanent. I can make it do anything I want it to and since my prime application is automotive my main irritation is the lack of a 12v power supply of even just a charger cord. Of ciourse a pinout of the connector (appears to be the same one Viewsonic used for the G-Tab with a different pinout) would certainly help in designing a dashboard receptical. Do plan for cooling airflow across the back and a powered hub for CD/DVD, real GPS, and rear view camera.

jdshewey

Actually, you can turn secure boot off. You just have to set a password first. Then this option will be enabled in the BIOS. Getting something Like linux to boot is another matter. I can get a kernel to start loading, but it then locks up. Presumably because Intel is not supporting Linux with Clover Trail.