[TriLUG] Problem with UEFI firmware

[Tony Anderson]

I have purchased three 'NUC' systems to use as a school server 
supporting a network of OLPC laptops.
In many deployments, there is no access to the internet. The school 
server offers local access to content from the internet (e.g. 
Internet-in-a-box and Khan Academy Lite)

I have a Gigabyte GB-BXBT-2807, Intel NUC DN2820FYKH and Intel NUC 
BOXD54250WYKH1 but have
not been able to get any of them running with software based on CentOS 
6.4. The common feature is that the firmware is not BIOS but UEFI. The 
CentOS 6.4 is installed from a usb flash drive created by unetbootin 
from an .iso file controlled by an Anaconda kickstart file. This install 
works flawlessly with a systems like the Zotac ID81 with firmware bios.

The symptoms are different in each case.

The 34010  NUC provides no hdmi output and that is an immediate 
showstopper. This may be a hardware problem with the box.

The 2820 NUC does not boot successfully from the usb key. USB handoff 
from the firmware to the software fails leaving the usb shut down. 
Naturally, this means that access to the flash drive and to the usb 
keyboard is impossible.

The Gigabyte Brix installed the software flawlessly from the usb drive. 
However, boot from the hard drive fails (hangs).

The suspect is the bootloader in the iso. CentOS did not deal with uefi 
before 6.5.

I am leaving for Africa (East!) Nov. 6 and would like to get this 
problem resolved before then. These
systems use much less power than the Atom-based systems and run directly 
on 12vdc which is very valuable for sites which depend on charging car 
batteries from solar panels.

Tony