Arch Linux

parag14

Member

Registered: 2014-07-26

Posts: 14

Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

Hi all,

I am using a Microsoft Surface Pro 3. I have a persistent installation of Arch on a USB drive. It works very well on the Surface. The only problem I am facing is, whenever I run Windows Update, I am not able to boot from the USB Arch installation after that. It just guides me to the BitLocker recovery page. The only way to boot from the USB drive is to install GRUB on the EFI partition again. It'll work until the next Windows Update, but then again the same thing repeats itself. I am stumped as to how to resolve this.
Disabling BitLocker doesn't work too, as the system then boots straight into Windows instead of going to the BitLocker recovery page.

Head_on_a_Stick

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From: The Wirral

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 9,003

Website

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

The update probably places the Windows bootmanager ($ESP\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi) first in the NVRAM list by using `bcdedit`

Try using this command in the Windows "powershell" (lol):

bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled No

You will need administrator privileges for this.

---

Jin, Jîyan, Azadî

parag14

Member

Registered: 2014-07-26

Posts: 14

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

Will the preference order change after every Windows update?

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: The Wirral

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 9,003

Website

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

Will the preference order change after every Windows update?

Not if you use the command I posted above

---

Jin, Jîyan, Azadî

parag14

Member

Registered: 2014-07-26

Posts: 14

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

OK. Thanks! I'll try it and post any results I get!

parag14

Member

Registered: 2014-07-26

Posts: 14

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

The command you posted didn't work. I ran the following command instead:

bcdedit /set recoveryenabled No

Even after this, I am still in the same situation

EDIT: I had to change your command to:

bcdedit /set "{default}" recoveryenabled No

Let's see what happens now.

Last edited by parag14 (2015-05-04 23:25:20)

parag14

Member

Registered: 2014-07-26

Posts: 14

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

Hi,

This command didn't work. Once again I was led to the Bitlocker recovery while attempting to boot from the USB drive. Is there anything else I can do?

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: The Wirral

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 9,003

Website

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

I have no idea sorry.

I no longer have a Windows system on any of my machines.

---

Jin, Jîyan, Azadî

parag14

Member

Registered: 2014-07-26

Posts: 14

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

Alright ,thanks! I have a question: Would efibootmgr help in any way?

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: The Wirral

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 9,003

Website

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

Would efibootmgr help in any way?

You can check the boot order by using:

efibootmgr

You can set the boot order using:

# efibootmgr -o xxxx,yyyy,zzzz

Replace the letters with the bootnumbers given by the first command.

You can probably use this method to reset Arch at the top of the list rather than re-installing GRUB.

---

Jin, Jîyan, Azadî

parag14

Member

Registered: 2014-07-26

Posts: 14

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

And I'll need to do this every time Windows updates? Because apparently the boot order is reset every time this occurs.

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: The Wirral

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 9,003

Website

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

^ Yes, I think so.

EDIT: You could investigate the other options in bcdedit -- I think you can use:

bcdedit /help

But I may be wrong...

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2015-05-05 19:59:08)

---

Jin, Jîyan, Azadî

parag14

Member

Registered: 2014-07-26

Posts: 14

Re: Arch doesn't boot up after Windows Update on Surface Pro 3

Ah.. Ok. Why did Microsoft have to make this incredibly hard? Such a pain.