Arch Linux

teslakite

Member

Registered: 2022-11-07

Posts: 4

grub/bios question

hey, i installed debian on a different ssd today, while my ssd with arch was plugged out
when i tried to boot from arch again, my bios for some reason didn't recognize it anymore as a bootable device
lsblk said all my partitions were changed to parted, i changed them back and reinstalled grub and it fixed it
but i'm just curious on how its possible that it got affected while it was plugged out, i'm guessing debian did something to my bios?

d.ALT

Member

Registered: 2019-05-10

Posts: 953

Re: grub/bios question

when i tried to boot from arch again, my bios for some reason didn't recognize it anymore as a bootable device

Which disk? Debian's SSD or the AcrhLinux one?

There are a lot of things to check. Is your PC actually a BIOS machine or an UEFI one?

P. S.: is disk correct? Or it's written disc?

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<49,17,III,I>    Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa;
<50,17,III,I>    misericordia e giustizia li sdegna:
<51,17,III,I>    non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa.

teslakite

Member

Registered: 2022-11-07

Posts: 4

Re: grub/bios question

when i tried to boot from arch again, my bios for some reason didn't recognize it anymore as a bootable device

Which disk? Debian's SSD or the AcrhLinux one?

There are a lot of things to check. Is your PC actually a BIOS machine or an UEFI one?

P. S.: is disk correct? Or it's written disc?

didn't recognize my arch ssd, and my pc is UEFI

d.ALT

Member

Registered: 2019-05-10

Posts: 953

Re: grub/bios question

my pc is UEFI

!=

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    » GNU/Linux Discussion
    » grub/bios question

Anyway, some bad UEFI "implementations" (it varies from PC's / UEFI's Manufacturer) are prone to errors; some more, some just less... Some others always work just fine.
NVRAM entries could be deleted, "forgotten" (or get dirty) when dealing with changing storage order or adding / removing drives.

It also happens on my ASUS PRIME X370-PRO.

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<49,17,III,I>    Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa;
<50,17,III,I>    misericordia e giustizia li sdegna:
<51,17,III,I>    non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 24,376

Re: grub/bios question

The majority of EFIs will remove EFI entries associated with a specific drive if they can't find a drive anymore.  If you want to be able to remove drives without losing the ability to boot them you need to populate the fallback path, which can be done by adding the --removable flag to the grub-install command: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Unifie … nced_drive

Neonvieh

Member

Registered: 2015-01-01

Posts: 17

Website

Re: grub/bios question

In addition UEFI entries have a order which determines which entry is loaded first. When installing a new operating system, this system might add itself as one of these UEFI entries and tell the UEFI to prioritize itself over others. This means, you might actually be able to still see your old entry but not in the first position. Updating grub might do the same for your older installation and prioritize this UEFI entry again. That being said, these are only speculations and would need to be tested by going into your UEFI and looking for all available entries.