Arch Linux

Phx_Blaster007

Member

Registered: 2022-07-08

Posts: 17

(Solved) Grub not detected by motherboard (dual boot w/ windows)

Reinstalled arch after reinstalling windows (dual boot), everything except grub is working - the boot entry is there and it's prioritized (checked with efibootmgr), but it still just boots into windows. Notably, I have gotten dual boot to work on my system before, with no hardware changes...

I've tried:
- manually making the efibootmgr entry
- using default/fallback boot path
- grubx64.efi in the partition root
- manually adding and editing the entry with bcfg
- enabling/disabling CSM

Fast startup and hibernate is disabled.
Secure boot is disabled.
I've verified that my system boot is in uefi with cat /sys/firmware/efi/fw_platform_size.

What seems to happen is that every boot, the bootorder changes the boot order so windows is first, and then path of grub gets changed to

GRUB VenHw(UUID)

(instead of

GRUB HD(2,GPT,UUID,0xfa000,0x200000)/\EFI\GRUB\grubx64.efi

). This even happens if I boot straight back into the live installation, without booting windows.

motherboard: Acer Predator G6-710
bios version: R02-B2

lsblk output:

NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
loop0         7:0    0 824.9M  1 loop
sda           8:0    0 931.5G  0 disk
- sda1        8:1    0 331.5G  0 part
- sda2        8:2    0    16M  0 part
- sda3        8:3    0   600G  0 part /home
sdb           8:16   1  57.8G  0 disk
- sdb1        8:17   1  57.8G  0 part
sdc           8:32   1     0B  0 disk
sr0          11:0    1  1042M  0 rom
nvme0n1     259:0    0 238.5G  0 disk
- nvme0n1p1 259:1    0   499M  0 part
- nvme0n1p2 259:2    0     1G  0 part /boot/efi
- nvme0n1p3 259:3    0   100G  0 part
- nvme0n1p4 259:4    0    16M  0 part
- nvme0n1p5 259:5    0    16M  0 part
- nvme0n1p6 259:6    0   137G  0 part /

hwinfo --short output:

cpu:
                       Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3900 MHz
                       Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3900 MHz
                       Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 800 MHz
                       Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 800 MHz
                       Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 800 MHz
                       Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 800 MHz
                       Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3900 MHz
                       Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3900 MHz
keyboard:
  /dev/input/event5    SteelSeries ApS SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL
mouse:
  /dev/input/mice      Logitech G403 Prodigy Gaming Mouse
monitor:
                       DELL P2715Q
                       XB252Q
graphics card:
                       nVidia GP104 [GeForce GTX 1070]
sound:
                       Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family HD Audio Controller
                       nVidia GP104 High Definition Audio Controller
                       C-Media Electronics Blue Snowball
storage:
                       Intel Q170/Q150/B150/H170/H110/Z170/CM236 Chipset SATA Controller [AHCI Mode]
                       Intel SSDPEKKW256G7 256GB
network:
  wlan0                Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265
  enp2s0               Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
network interface:
  enp2s0               Ethernet network interface
  lo                   Loopback network interface
  wlan0                WLAN network interface
disk:
  /dev/nvme0n1         Intel SSDPEKKW256G7 256GB
  /dev/sdb             Memorex USB Flash Drive
  /dev/sdc             Generic SD/MMC/MS PRO
  /dev/sda             TOSHIBA DT01ACA1
                       Realtek 3-in-1 (SD/SDHC/SDXC) Card Reader
partition:
  /dev/nvme0n1p1       Partition
  /dev/nvme0n1p2       Partition
  /dev/nvme0n1p3       Partition
  /dev/nvme0n1p4       Partition
  /dev/nvme0n1p5       Partition
  /dev/nvme0n1p6       Partition
  /dev/sdb1            Partition
  /dev/sda1            Partition
  /dev/sda2            Partition
  /dev/sda3            Partition
cdrom:
  /dev/sr0             HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GHD0N
usb controller:
                       Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family USB 3.0 xHCI Controller
bios:
                       BIOS
bridge:
                       Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #5
                       Intel B150 Chipset LPC/eSPI Controller
                       Intel 6th-10th Gen Core Processor PCIe Controller (x16)
                       Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #6
                       Intel Xeon E3-1200 v6/7th Gen Core Processor Host Bridge/DRAM Registers
                       Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #9
hub:
                       Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
                       Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
memory:
                       Main Memory
bluetooth:
                       Intel Bluetooth wireless interface
unknown:
                       FPU
                       DMA controller
                       PIC
                       Keyboard controller
                       PS/2 Controller
                       Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family Power Management Controller
                       Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5/v6 / E3-1500 v5 / 6th/7th/8th Gen Core Processor Gaussian Mixture Model
                       Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1
                       Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family Thermal Subsystem
                       Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family SMBus
                       SteelSeries ApS SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL
                       Microdia USB  Live camera
                       C-Media Electronics Blue Snowball
  /dev/input/event4    Logitech G403 Prodigy Gaming Mouse

Any ideas?

Last edited by Phx_Blaster007 (2025-02-13 16:19:21)

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 1,340

Re: (Solved) Grub not detected by motherboard (dual boot w/ windows)

Any ideas?

some more informations like
motherboard
bios version
output of lsblk
hardware topology
all the usual stuff you find asked in similar topics
from the bit given could be anything from bad firmware to user error

Phx_Blaster007

Member

Registered: 2022-07-08

Posts: 17

Re: (Solved) Grub not detected by motherboard (dual boot w/ windows)

Any ideas?

some more informations like
motherboard
bios version
output of lsblk
hardware topology
all the usual stuff you find asked in similar topics
from the bit given could be anything from bad firmware to user error

added to post, lemme know if you need anything else

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 1,340

Re: (Solved) Grub not detected by motherboard (dual boot w/ windows)

to quote a mod from coderanch: don't update a post others already replied to - it makes look stupid

motherboard: Acer Predator G6-710

this is NOT a motherboard - please take another look

from what I see it looks like you re-used and re-partitioned an existing windows drive using windows - it has two ESP which can be an issue
wipe it and create one esp, one partition for windows and another one for linux - install linux first, then windows
also: don't install windows using its installer but "install windows the arch way" (ask google about it)
another option: ditch the windows boot entry but use grub with os-pprober to chain windows from grub so grub will be the only entry

Phx_Blaster007

Member

Registered: 2022-07-08

Posts: 17

Re: (Solved) Grub not detected by motherboard (dual boot w/ windows)

to quote a mod from coderanch: don't update a post others already replied to - it makes look stupid

motherboard: Acer Predator G6-710

this is NOT a motherboard - please take another look

from what I see it looks like you re-used and re-partitioned an existing windows drive using windows - it has two ESP which can be an issue
wipe it and create one esp, one partition for windows and another one for linux - install linux first, then windows
also: don't install windows using its installer but "install windows the arch way" (ask google about it)
another option: ditch the windows boot entry but use grub with os-pprober to chain windows from grub so grub will be the only entry

short answer: deleting the windows boot loader fixed it, for whatever reason
also will keep in mind not to edit OP in the future

It is a motherboard though - the Predator G PC series has proprietary per-model motherboards. In fact, the output of

dmidecode -t 2

is

# dmidecode 3.6
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 3.0.0 present.

Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
	Manufacturer: Acer                  
	Product Name: Predator G6-710(KBL)
	Version:         
	Serial Number:                       
	Asset Tag:                       
	Features:
		Board is a hosting board
		Board is replaceable
	Location In Chassis:                                 
	Chassis Handle: 0x0003
	Type: Motherboard
	Contained Object Handles: 0

That being said, it is weird that it says that the product name is G6 710, even though my PC is a G3 710 according to the sticker on the side. My BIOS version seems to only exist for the G3 710 motherboard, not the G6 one. Part of me wonders if installing the G6 bios version would fix it, but im fearful of bricking my motherboard.

Anyways, like I said, deleting the windows boot entry fixed it, though I'd really like to know why... My guess is my bios is just hardcoded to prefer that as the first option, no matter what.

Last edited by Phx_Blaster007 (2025-02-13 16:19:01)

Phx_Blaster007

Member

Registered: 2022-07-08

Posts: 17

Re: (Solved) Grub not detected by motherboard (dual boot w/ windows)

eee nvm, not solved - booting into windows resets it. looking into multiple efi partitions, windows settings, reinstalling arch + windows - will be back with a solution or more info

Phx_Blaster007

Member

Registered: 2022-07-08

Posts: 17

Re: (Solved) Grub not detected by motherboard (dual boot w/ windows)

okay, finally fixed by running

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\GRUB\grubx64.efi

(aka just changing the windows boot entry filepath to boot grub instead)

this will prolly break on every windows update for sure but i dont care anymore

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 1,340

Re: (Solved) Grub not detected by motherboard (dual boot w/ windows)

# dmidecode 3.6
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 3.0.0 present.

Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
	Manufacturer: Acer                  
	Product Name: Predator G6-710(KBL)

well ok - not expect THAT - granted

as for bios version: please be careful! in the best case the flash util will warn you about a wrong firmware - in the worst case you will end up with a paper weight
when in doubt always contact support first! only the oem can give proper advice - don't take the risk just because it looks like it might work

yes, unfortunately windows has the very bad habnit to restore both the bootmgfw entry as well as copy itself to bootx64.efi - although M$ is member of the uefi group so they too agreed upon the spec which clearly states to not overwrite existng bootmanagers

anyhow - it could very well be that your uefi was designed and tested with windows only and just breaks because you try to use it with something non-windows
however: if you install windows bootmgfw and any linux bootloader you can do the reverse: add the linux bootloader to the windows one via bcdedit (please refer to msdn) - this way the board starts booting the windows bootmgfw from which you then can chain the linux bootloader - its os-prober in reverse
maybe this could be an option here if the uefi doesnt play nice

//edit: struck by F5 again

Last edited by cryptearth (2025-02-13 16:25:15)