[Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

zilverling · 2018-06-05 17:40:16

This afternoon my system froze (probably due to a bug in Zoom communication software).

When I wanted to reboot, I got an error from the BIOS saying
"reboot and select proper Boot device or insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key.

I can boot without problem from Archiso install USB stick.

Hardware:
Motherboard AsRock N3700-ITX, BIOS v2.00 (updated after the crash from v1.80)

My hard drive has three partitions

Device name  Partition    Partition size  File system   Flags
/dev/sda1       /boot          523MB            fat32             boot,esp
/dev/sda2      /                  454GB             ext4
/dev/sda3                          25.9GB           linux-swap

Partition table: gpt

This is the actual output from parted

I removed a dirty bit with fsck.vfat on /dev/sda1, but that didn't change anything.
No problems detected when fsck'ing /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2.

Any suggestions how to troubleshoot and to get my machine rolling again?

Last edited by zilverling (2018-06-05 21:46:22)

jasonwryan · 2018-06-05 17:55:15

Not an Installation issue, moving to NC...

zilverling · 2018-06-05 18:04:47

Thanks @jasonwryan. I was at a loss where to post this. Even when I don't consider myself a newbie to Arch Linux (I've been using Arch since August 2009), it's probably the best forum for my question.

jasonwryan · 2018-06-05 18:11:59

Chroot in and check your /boot: make sure everything is intact. Regenerate your initramfs.

Also check in your UEFI interface that the boot order is correct.

zilverling · 2018-06-05 18:52:07

Thanks for the suggestions.

Generated new initramfs images. No effect.

Boot order is simple: just Boot option #1: AHCI PO ADATA SP550 , which is my SSD drive.

When I insert the archiso usb, two additional boot options are shown by the BIOS:
Boot Option #2 USB: Adata USB Flash Drive 0.00
Boot Option #3 UEFI: A-Data USB Flash Drive 0.00. Partition 1

When installing Arch on this machine in January this year I had some difficulty to get UEFI going. According to the notes I made at that time, I had to switch Compatibility Support Mode off in the BIOS, but if I do so now, the BIOS does not find the SSD drive.

Last edited by zilverling (2018-06-05 18:52:56)

jasonwryan · 2018-06-05 18:56:49

Use efibootmgr to print the current settings.

zilverling · 2018-06-05 20:15:09

after arch-chrooting to my N3700-ITX machine I get the following

[root@archiso /]# efibootmgr
EFI variables are not supported on this system

I booted the archiso-USB in UEFI mode (option #3)...

loqs · 2018-06-05 20:21:07

Does dmesg | grep efi produce any output? If not I would suggest the system is booting in BIOS mode.

zilverling · 2018-06-05 20:36:27

Turns out the archiso-USB was not booted in UEFI mode. After I switched off CSM (UEFI COmpatibility Support Mode) I did succeed to mount the archiso-USB in UEFI mode.

Problem is that if I switch off CSM, the BIOS somehow does not see the SSD drive.

I think this is some nasty peculiarity of the N3700 BIOS. I think I am close to finding the trick. @jasonwryan thanks for your help so far. I may be back soon with good news.

loqs · 2018-06-05 20:40:04

If the firmware has reset all settings that would include those relating to the SSD such as the controller being in RAID rather than ACPI mode.
The dmesg may contain output explaining the SSD detection failure.

zilverling · 2018-06-05 20:57:57

More complicated than I hoped.

@loqs If I boot the archiso with CSM disabled I get output from dmesg | grep efi

@jasonwryan

Output after arch-chrooting to my N3700-ITX machine:

[root@archiso /]# efibootmgr
BootCurrent: 0003
TimeOut: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0003
Boot0003* UEFI: A-DATA USB Flash Drive 0.00, Partition 1

For some reason the BIOS doesn't find the SSD with CSM disabled...

Back on this tomorrow morning.

Last edited by zilverling (2018-06-05 21:33:56)

jasonwryan · 2018-06-05 21:38:19

You can try manually writing a boot entry for your SSD in the nvram.

zilverling · 2018-06-05 21:43:59

Solved it:

grub-install --efi-directory=/boot

(/boot is my efi-directory) did the trick.

I will document this. Thanks for your help @jasonwryan and @loqs

Arch Linux

#1 2018-06-05 17:40:16

[Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#2 2018-06-05 17:55:15

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#3 2018-06-05 18:04:47

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#4 2018-06-05 18:11:59

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#5 2018-06-05 18:52:07

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#6 2018-06-05 18:56:49

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#7 2018-06-05 20:15:09

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#8 2018-06-05 20:21:07

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#9 2018-06-05 20:36:27

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#10 2018-06-05 20:40:04

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#11 2018-06-05 20:57:57

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#12 2018-06-05 21:38:19

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

#13 2018-06-05 21:43:59

Re: [Solved] No UEFI boot after system freeze and power-off

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