BIOS vs. BIOS for Linux on the support page

Marty11

Contrary to what was posted in topic: BIOS vs. BIOS for Linux on the support page

The BIOS firmware for the same BIOS versions for the Windows installer and the Linux installer differ.

I ran a comparison (diff) on the BIOS'es for the Verition X4610G for version P01.B3 and P01.B3L (from here).

They differ:

$ diff  E\:\\tmp\\BIOS\\BIOS_Acer_P01.B3_A_A\\BIOS_Acer_P01.B3_Windows\\ROM/P01-B3.2M E\:\\tmp\\BIOS\\BIOS_Acer_P01.B3L_A_A\\BIOS_Acer_P01.B3L_Linux\\ROM/P01-B3L.2M<br>Binary files E:\tmp\BIOS\BIOS_Acer_P01.B3_A_A\BIOS_Acer_P01.B3_Windows\ROM/P01-B3.2M and E:\tmp\BIOS\BIOS_Acer_P01.B3L_A_A\BIOS_Acer_P01.B3L_Linux\ROM/P01-B3L.2M differ

Why do they differ?

Why is BIOS firmware for Linux different from BIOS firmware for Windows?

billsey

I am not positive, but believe it has to do with UEFI handling of the boot process. Many Linux installs seem to remove the needed delay at boot for entry into BIOS settings. If you install the wrong version of Linux on the Windows version you will no longer be able to access the BIOS and therefor not be able to change the boot order in order to reinstall Windows, or even to move to a different Linux version, short of pulling the drive.