Your Linux Distro May Not Boot on September 11th

[cmdr_nova]

In another round of continued Microsoft fuckery, a week after it was found out that a Windows update was potentially bricking people's SSDs (which are not cheap), it is now coming out that on September 11th, secure boot may stop you from launching into Linux (on a Windows machine). This is especially an issue if your a dual-booter, and haven't quite yet let go of Windows. Which you should. Uh, now. Probably.

Via an update on LNW:

Linux users who have Secure Boot enabled on their systems knowingly or unknowingly rely on a key from Microsoft that is set to expire in September. After that point, Microsoft will no longer use that key to sign the shim first-stage UEFI bootloader that is used by Linux distributions to boot the kernel with Secure Boot. But the replacement key, which has been available since 2023, may not be installed on many systems; worse yet, it may require the hardware vendor to issue an update for the system firmware, which may or may not happen. It seems that the vast majority of systems will not be lost in the shuffle, but it may require extra work from distributors and users.

I'm not entirely sure what the use is for secure boot on a system that's primarily running Linux, aside from guarding against potential malware finding it's way into the bootloader. On my Pop!_OS machine and my Debian laptop, I don't use it. I have my drives encrypted, and I'm careful about what I click and download, and in the two years I've been on Linux full-time, I've had zero issues.

But, that doesn't help people who do have secure boot turned on, either because they want it on, or they just don't know it's on.

Regardless, a problem is coming, and it may end up being fixed through some updates, but ... just in case it doesn't, I wanted to write up a post real quick on how to disable secure boot. I can already foresee this affecting people who are generally new to Linux, and blaming the operating system itself for this when they suddenly can't boot. When, in reality, it's just Microsoft being Microsoft.

So, reboot your machine and smash the DEL key, F1, F2, F10, F12, or ESC (or all of them), it's potentially different per system.

Once you're in the bios, which is also of varying style and function across different hardware, you'll want to look for a boot menu, or security menu. You will eventually find the option or toggle that reads "Secure Boot." Toggle it off. Keep it off until we know whether or not it's safe to turn on, and, if you're dual-booting Windows ...

Maybe stop doing that (because Windows 11 won't boot without secure boot, I believe, and Microsoft sucks a ton of ass, anyway).

If you need help finding alternatives for, or installing Windows apps on your Linux machine, get in touch with me on my forum and I'll see if I can troubleshoot you through it.

Honestly, though, I've always been under the impression that secure boot is mostly just a Microsoft thing, for Windows, because Windows is much more prone to viruses, malware, and hijacking. But! You should be aware, especially if you're new, that Linux isn't bulletproof. Your machine can be infected. Especially if your passwords, including for Root, aren't good.

I apologize if this isn't very technical, but I'm pretty tired, it's the end of my work week, and I thought it to be important that this get out from as many sources as possible.

Source: https://mkultra.monster/tech/2025/08/31 ... september/