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Hi. This is an ASUS FAQ page:
https://www.asus.com/uk/support/FAQ/1045467/
I've bought an ASUS B560M mobo and, because I don't have need of a graphics card, my BIOS has the CSM greyed out. I need CSM if my bootable USB stick for Tails is to work.
Firstly, I don't understand the statement "The Intel® 500 series chipset does not support UEFI VBIOS graphic card". Surely that should read "The Intel® 500 series chipset ONLY supports UEFI VBIOS graphic card" no?
Anyway, my main question is: if I go shopping for a different mobo (not a 560 series) how can I be sure that the BIOS will have an enabled CSM? Product pages don't tend to be that specific, I'm finding.
Thank you.

Best ask other mobo makers directly whether legacy booting/VBIOS is supported with Intel's graphics on 500-series (or 400-series) combined with 10th-gen CPUs. If you get more info, it'd be interesting to hear.

I'm not entirely sure, but it appears this may be Intel's fault rather than Asus's. The Asus FAQ is misworded a bit. I think "UEFI" shouldn't be in that sentence, and what they're saying is that the 500 series doesn't have a VBIOS. And with no V(ideo)BIOS, there's no legacy booting.

Some old and new info mentions Intel getting rid of legacy BIOS in 2020:
https://www.intel.com/content/dam/suppo ... tforms.pdf
https://www.anandtech.com/show/12068/in ... fi-by-2020

Someone with an i9-11900 (typo in first post?) on an Asrock H470-chipset system was asking about legacy boot support:
https://community.intel.com/t5/Processo ... -p/1317255

Then quoted Asrock's reply:

The integrated graphics of 11th Gen CPUs does not support legacy mode

What's puzzling is that he says Pentium G6400, which is a 10th-gen CPU, can boot in legacy mode.
A theory: maybe because the graphics there is UHD 610, and not UHD 630 like the higher-up 10th-gen Cores?

On your TenForums thread someone said he successfully booted Tails in UEFI mode. I think trying to figure out how to get Tails to UEFI-boot is the better path to follow.

Another option: Despite your initial plan, do get a standalone graphics card (if you can find reasonable ones, nowadays). But make sure it comes with a VBIOS. And hope there would be no more legacy-boot hindrances or incompatibilities from the mobo UEFI/BIOS side.

Hi meerkt. Seems you're running this forum all by yourself....
Thanks for that comprehensive reply, appreciate the work you've put in. Nothing better I'd like than to figure out how to get Tails to UEFI-boot but I don't think I can do much more. I know I have a good stick (works on old PC) and the new BIOS only has a couple of things to tinker with. A real PITA.
"... (if you can find reasonable ones, nowadays)" Are you saying GPU's are rubbish? If I do get one, it'll be as basic as possible.

Happy New Year to you.

Tails - maybe try some Tails-specific forums?

VBIOS support - Wouldn't hurt to ask mobo makers just to be sure.

Another option, if it's not too late to switch sides, maybe AMD's intergrated graphics still supports BIOS. I got the sense that AMD's low-end is more expensive than Intel, but I could be wrong.

Discrete GPUs - There are no worthy low-end models because that market has been taken over by integrated graphics. Additionally, prices make no sense for more than a year now, because of macro market conditions. GeForce GT 1030 for $93? (Pros: passive, cons: no DP out, VBIOS: ?). Not sure if there's a valid AMD equivalent, price included (RX 550?).

All by myself - the site's almost dead and not many left watching the forums. I think it's easier for me to notice new posts because I'm using RSS.

Happy new year - here's to a better one.

Well, I got a little bit of progress. Adding 'nomodeset' to the boot instruction got me past the GRUB screen and on to the three flickering dots. Sadly, I then got the message "Error starting GDM with your graphics card: name of your graphics card [id] (rev number). Please take note of this error and visit https://tails.boum.org/gdm for troubleshooting."

None of the workarounds to the boot instruction helped so I guess this part of the Tails website is meant for me:
"If the workaround doesn't work, we are sorry that Tails does not work well on this computer. Our best hope is that a future update of Linux drivers will solve the problem."

Shoot...

Maybe related:
https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/tai ... sues/17776

Maybe informative, but not fully related (HD 630 isn't the same as your UHD 630):
https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/tai ... sues/16875

I'm confused here: when Tails tells you "Error starting GDM with your graphics card. Intel Corp [8086:3e98] device" is it talking about your mobo or your CPU?
It's now sounding to me like the CPU but I've always thought that, when you have no dedicated graphics card, there's a graphics facility in the mobo. I was thinking of returning my mobo for another but there wouldn't be muck point if it's the CPU giving the problem.
What/where is my UHD630 and how did you know that's what I have? Thanks (again), meerkt.

That id is the integrated graphics:
https://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/8086/3e98

It's part of the CPU, not the motherboard. You can find which graphics "card" is inside each CPU model on Wikipedia or the Intel site:
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... 0-ghz.html

But I suspect the VBIOS might be considered part of the chipset (or perhaps the BIOS), so stored on the motherboard. The problem there, as I understand it (though there's conflicting info - like that Pentium G6400) is that Intel hasn't released a VBIOS for 10th-gen and later CPUs. And if that's the case, motherboard makers might have nothing they can do.

But, best ask mobo makers directly for clarification.