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Converting Legacy Boot to UEFI Windows 10 template

If you're planning to use GPU passthrough (or any other passthrough) on a DaDesktop machine, you first need to switch its boot mode to UEFI.

While we still recommend using win10-template-v53 or later for the smoothest experience, you may prefer to perform the upgrade manually. In that case, here's what you'll need to do:

  1. Turn on the defrag service
  2. Place the boot files on the C: drive
  3. Mark the C: partition as active
  4. Convert the system to UEFI
  5. Adjust the KVM configuration for UEFI support
  6. Correct the DaDesktop BIOS boot setting
  7. Update the virtio‑win drivers
  8. Disable the defrag service
  9. Optional: move a partition ahead of the system partition to enable automatic disk resizing
     

1. Turning on the defrag service

  1. Launch Command Prompt as Administrator
  2. Then execute:
    sc config defragsvc start= demand

2. Making the C: drive bootable

  1. From an admin command prompt, run:

    bcdboot.exe c:\windows /s c:

3. Activating the C: drive

  1. Open Disk Management
  2. Right‑click the C: partition
  3. Choose Mark Partition as Active
     

4. Converting the system to UEFI

  1. In an admin command prompt, run:
   mbr2gpt.exe /concver /allowFullOS

 

5. Adjusting KVM config for UEFI support

  1. SSH into the ddnode
  2. Ensure you are running commands as root

  3. Copy the OVMF_VARS.fd and qemu.conf files from a UEFI‑enabled template, for example:

    cp /var/lib/kvm/win10-template-v51/OVMF_VARS.fd /var/lib/kvm/yourimagename/
    cp /var/lib/kvm/win10-template-v51/qemu.conf /var/lib/kvm/yourimagename/

6. Fixing the DaDesktop BIOS boot entry

  1. Stop and restart the machine using the dd4t.dadesktop.com GUI or API
  2. The system will boot into the UEFI Shell
  3. Type "exit" and press Enter
  4. Go to Boot Management (TODO: FINISH IT)
  5. Press F10 to save
  6. Exit the BIOS
     

7. Updating the virtio‑win drivers

Some templates include an outdated VGA driver that can prevent you from changing screen resolution, among other issues. To fix this:

  1. On your Desktop, download the latest drivers: https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/archive-virtio/virtio-win-0.1.240-1/virtio-win-0.1.240.iso
  2. Install the driver (TODO: specify exact file name)
  3. Restart the system
     

8. Disabling the defrag service

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator
  2. Run:
    sc config defragsvc start= disabled

 

9. Optional: moving a partition ahead of the system partition for automatic resizing

 

  1.  Boot the system into Rescue mode
  2.  Use GParted to move the partition in front of the system partition
  3.  Reboot

10. Installing Idd drivers

  1. Visit https://github.com/ge9/IddSampleDriver
  2. Download it from the releases page: https://github.com/ge9/IddSampleDriver/releases
  3. Unpack the files to C:\ (it won't work if you put them elsewhere)
  4. Install the certificate (as root)
  5. Install the driver by right‑clicking the .inf file and choosing Install