deepin 25 OS Installation Guide

Current applicable version: deepin 25
Last updated: April 2026

1. Pre-Installation Preparation

As an open-source operating system that has performed impressively and gained wide recognition among global users on DistroWatch, since the official release of deepin 25, we have been continuously listening to the community, refining details, fixing issues, and introducing innovations. Today, we are pleased to announce the release of the deepin 25.1 ISO image!

1.1 Hardware Requirements

⚠️ If your RAM is less than 8 GB or your storage is less than 64 GB, the installation may fail or the system may experience severe lag.

1.2 Download the ISO Image

Visit the official download page: https://www.deepin.org/en/download/

Select the appropriate architecture based on your processor:

1.3 Data Backup & Boot Settings

• Back up important data (especially for single-disk users and existing deepin 20/23 users).
• Disable Secure Boot: Enter BIOS and set Secure Boot to Disabled. Otherwise, you may encounter issues such as inability to boot from USB, problems with out-of-tree kernel drivers, and system hibernation failures.
• Verify boot mode:
  • Computers manufactured after 2012: Use UEFI.
  • Older devices (Legacy-only): Full-disk installation will work without adjustment.

2. Create a Bootable USB Drive

2.1 Prepare a USB Drive

• Capacity ≥ 8 GB
• The USB drive will be formatted during the process, so back up any data on it beforehand.

2.2 Recommended Tools

📌 Before using dd, confirm the USB device name via lsblk (e.g., /dev/sdb).

3. Installation

3.1 Boot from the USB Drive

1. 1. Insert the bootable USB drive.
   2. Restart the computer and press the shortcut key to enter the BIOS boot menu (common brands: Lenovo F12, HP F9, Dell ESC/F12, ASUS F8, Apple Intel-based Mac: hold Option).
   3. Select the USB drive (e.g., UEFI USB or USB device) to boot.

3.2 Select Installation Mode

After booting, you will see the following menu:

• Try Deepin Desktop 25: Live mode without installation; you can test hardware compatibility (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sound card, etc.).
• Install Deepin 25: Proceed with installation (recommended).
• Safe graphics: Use this when the normal installation mode fails to enter the graphical interface (boots with low resolution and software rendering; you will need to install graphics drivers manually after installation).

3.3 Select Kernel Version (Important)

• Newer devices (Intel Ultra series, etc.): It is recommended to select the 6.18 kernel for better driver support.
• Devices with non-upstream hardware: It is recommended to select the 6.6 stable kernel for better compatibility.

3.4 Installation Methods

Full-Disk Installation (Recommended for Beginners)

• Select one complete physical disk (note: not a partition).
• Automatically creates A/B partitions, supporting system rollback functionality.
• ⚠️ This will erase all data on the selected disk. Make sure to back up in advance.
• Dual-disk users: If the other disk contains important data, do NOT use full-disk installation (it will format the data disk). Use manual installation with custom partitioning instead.

Manual Installation (Custom Partitioning, for Advanced Users)

• Allows dual-boot on a single drive, or using LVM for flexible storage expansion.
• Recommended partition scheme:

• If existing deepin 20/23 partitions are present, they must be formatted first (direct reuse of old partitions is not supported).

3.5 Special Notice for NVIDIA GPU Users

• Some NVIDIA GPU users (especially those with newer cards such as the 50-series) may encounter a black screen or inability to enter the graphical installer when installing the deepin 25 ISO. If you experience this issue, when the installer reaches the format confirmation screen, uncheck the "Include NVIDIA proprietary drivers" option.
• After installation, the system will boot into the desktop using the open-source Nouveau driver. You can then install the proprietary driver.

3.6 Special Notice for Intel Arc and AMD 9000 Series GPU Users

Since the current system ships with a lower version of Mesa, these GPUs require a newer Mesa version to function properly. You can add the following HWE (Hardware Enablement) testing repository to update Mesa. Run in terminal:

Add the following HWE repository line below the existing system sources (after pasting, press Ctrl+O to save,Enter to confirm,then Ctrl+X to exit):

Run the following command in terminal to update the Mesa driver, then reboot:

Run the following command in terminal to verify the GPU is recognized:

Expected result: The output should contain strings like Intel Corporation Battlemage, Intel Arc, or AMD radeon.

Check the driver loading status:

Expected result: Under the GPU device information, find Kernel driver in use: — it should display xe or radeon, indicating the GPU is properly driven.

• Intel Arc GPU List
• AMD 9000 Series GPU List

4. Post-Installation Configuration

4.1 First Boot

• Remove the USB drive and restart the computer.
• If you see a "No bootable device" message, enter BIOS and change Boot Mode from Legacy to UEFI, then reinstall.
• Set up your username and password (avoid using special characters in the username). Once configuration is complete, you will enter the system.

4.2 System Update & Software Installation

• Update the system via Control Center or by running sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade in terminal.
• Open the official App Store to install commonly used software.

4.3 Developer Options: Disable Immutable System Read-Only Protection

deepin 25 enables the Immutable System protection by default. If you need to modify system directories (such as /usr), you must disable the read-only protection:

Method 1 (Command Line):

Reboot for the change to take effect.

Method 2 (GUI):

Control Center → System → Developer Options → Disable "Immutable Read-Only Protection" → Reboot.

📖 For more information about the Immutable System, please refer to: Immutable System Q&A

5. Quick FAQ

For more issues, please refer to: deepin 25 OS User Installation & Usage Q&A

6. Get More Help

• deepin Community Forum
• Download Latest deepin ISO
• Download Historical Versions

We wish you a smooth installation and an excellent deepin 25 experience!