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Is there a Linux distribution that supports 32bit-(U)EFI? If so, which one and where do I find a bootable ISO?

I'd like to find a Linux distro for my HP Envy X2 which has an Intel Atom CPU and Windows 8 32bit and UEFI preinstalled. The CPU seems to support a 64bit architecture as well.

conpertura
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  • is this arm? if not... why? – mikeserv Dec 26 '15 at 23:02
  • The processor is Intel Atom. Suppose that means no arm architecture. – conpertura Dec 26 '15 at 23:09
  • i guess so. its 32-bit? i wasnt aware there was such a thing as an x86 32-bit UEFI machine. is the processor 32-bit or is it just a 32-bit installation? – mikeserv Dec 26 '15 at 23:10
  • They are not very common but unfortunately they exist :-/ – conpertura Dec 26 '15 at 23:11
  • quite so. well... i have no idea. a good place to start learning would be at http://rodsbooks.com. i remember glancing past some mention of bit-width and architecture there, but it never pertained to me and didn't study it. – mikeserv Dec 26 '15 at 23:13
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    The site seems to have some useful tips in my direction. Especially adding a 32bit EFI bootloader to a 32bit Linux distribution. I'll take a closer look there. – conpertura Dec 26 '15 at 23:19
  • What exactly do you mean by UEFI support? – peterph Dec 26 '15 at 23:24
  • A Linux distro that has a 32bit EFI bootloader so it's possible to install it on a computer with UEFI. – conpertura Dec 26 '15 at 23:26
  • I only know 64bit EFI bootloaders so far. – conpertura Dec 26 '15 at 23:26
  • if you get very far through rod's books you'll come to realize you're not looking for a bootloader - the EFI *is* the loader - you just need to call your kernel somehow. – mikeserv Dec 26 '15 at 23:30
  • (U)EFI has a builtin image (boot) loader. – fpmurphy Dec 27 '15 at 00:15
  • mikeserv, could you post your comment as an answer (how to use rEFInd to install a Linux distro)? Your comment was somehow deleted, though very helpful! – conpertura Dec 28 '15 at 02:25
  • I would suggest you to edit your question, asking for advice about 64bit Linux distributions that support 32bit EFI. :) –  Dec 28 '15 at 11:15
  • But my CPU is 32bit as well, not only the EFI. I think 64bit doesn't work in this case, does it? – conpertura Dec 28 '15 at 12:07
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    Are you sure? It seems that this notebook have a `Intel Core™ M-5Y70`, and it is a 64-bit processor - http://ark.intel.com/products/83612/Intel-Core-M-5Y70-Processor-4M-Cache-up-to-2_60-GHz –  Dec 30 '15 at 09:49
  • Done, thx nwildner – conpertura Jan 01 '16 at 19:21
  • [This](http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Windows/Linux-on-the-Stream-tablet/td-p/4829188) may help (it's actually about same issue on the Stream 8). It uses Fedlet to chain load the desired image. – Mark Plotnick Jan 01 '16 at 20:49
  • you can hardly find a 32-bit x86 CPU in the last decade. It's just the 32-bit UEFI that makes it hard to install 64-bit OSes. However [Ubuntu 15.10 and up support 32-bit EFI](http://askubuntu.com/a/715843/253474) which significantly simplify the process. [Installing linux on an 32bit UEFI only machine](http://unix.stackexchange.com/q/155557/44425) – phuclv Jan 30 '17 at 04:05

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Try Sparkylinux. I was able to load and install Sparkylinux on a Intel machine with atom processer with only uefi 32 bit support.

ahmed
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