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#1 2019-12-01 22:55:56

bohokash
Member
Registered: 2019-11-30
Posts: 76

After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

I have tried out a program from git, which calls "efibootmgr" under the hood, I think: https://github.com/Elinvention/efibootmgr-gui
I was able to set my USB DVD device as the "next boot" option, to boot from a DVD. Booting from USB DVD has worked when I first installed the laptop, about 2 days ago, but after a while the possibility of DVD boot simply disappeared from the BIOS boot section, this is why I tried out that menu driven program for efibootmgr.

Then I restarted my laptop, to see if it boots from DVD. No success, so I tried to enter the BIOS, to look at the boot section, and surprisely it frozes. Black screen, and I can see only a cursor in the top left corner. I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility since then.

Maybe the program places some information onto the EFI system partition, or into the UEFI NVRAM, which freezes the BIOS, when it tries to read and interpret it.

What to do in such a situation? Do anybody experienced such a problem?

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#2 2019-12-01 23:04:55

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 19,739

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

Just a guess.   Any chance that your pre-boot setup is inhibited if the timeout is set to zero?   Note that mine is zero, and I can still get to the setup menu on this HP Envy.
Check the timeout with efibootmgr.  In fact, what is the output of efibootmgr -v    ?


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
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#3 2019-12-01 23:20:17

bohokash
Member
Registered: 2019-11-30
Posts: 76

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

Current output of the "efibootmgr -v" command:
In fact I have set a timeout of 5 sec earlier, for experimenting.

BootCurrent: 0002
Timeout: 5 seconds
BootOrder: 0002,0000,0001,2001,2002,2003
Boot0000* grub	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x12,0x0)/Sata(0,0,0)/HD(1,GPT,d0f40b74-fcad-4f93-a023-ba75eed808b1,0x800,0x1f4000)/File(\EFI\GRUB\grubx64.efi)A01 ..
Boot0001  Linux	HD(1,GPT,d0f40b74-fcad-4f93-a023-ba75eed808b1,0x800,0x1f4000)/File(\EFI\Linux\BOOTX64.efi)RC
Boot0002* GRUB	HD(1,GPT,d0f40b74-fcad-4f93-a023-ba75eed808b1,0x800,0x1f4000)/File(\EFI\GRUB\grubx64.efi)
Boot0003* Network Boot-IPV4: AC-B2-00-00-00-80	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x15,0x0)/USB(3,0)/MAC(acb200000080,1)/IPv4(0.0.0.00.0.0.0,0,0)RC
Boot2001* EFI USB Device	RC
Boot2002* EFI DVD/CDROM	RC
Boot2003* EFI Network	RC

Do I understand well, that I should set the timeout to zero again?

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#4 2019-12-01 23:35:38

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 19,739

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

No, leave it at Five.  My point was that if it was zero, it might not be possible to get a keystroke in fast enough to trigger the menu.  My system is smart enough to catch keystrokes that occur during power-on BIT; but I could envision systems that do not. 

I don't know if your real problem is that you cannot get to the setup menu, or that you cannot boot from CD.  If it is the later, the problem is your boot order.  Right now, the DVD is behind a pair of Grubs and a kernel-stub.  Only if all three of those fail will it drop to DVD (unlikely).  Change your boot order to put things that will fail if they are missing first -- like your DVD or USB [devices 2001,2002]


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

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#5 2019-12-02 00:13:28

bohokash
Member
Registered: 2019-11-30
Posts: 76

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

When the timeout is zero, the laptop still notices the keystroke, but when the BIOS setup utility begins to start, it simply freezes, showing only a non-blinking cursor.

My main problem is this, because it easily can render (bricking) a laptop useless, if one can't enter the BIOS setup.

Somebody with same problem wrote on a different forum, that reinstalling Windows solved his problem, he can enter the BIOS setup utility again, after reinstalling Windows. It would be interesting to know, what the Windows installation process modifies: the EFI NVRAM or something on the EFI boot partition? Maybe it can be done without a reinstall. And unfortunately I am unable to boot from the DVD drive, so a reinstall is problematic, as I never tried PXE boot to LAN option.

When my new laptop arrived 3 days ago, I was able to boot from the USB DVD drive the archiso. Then I installed it, following the install guide. But after that I tried to set different things in the BIOS setup, and somehow the possibility of booting from USB DVD disappeared. In fact I wanted to boot a FreeDOS CD, to flash an up-to-date BIOS. But I wasn't able to boot it. Soon it turned out, that this particular machine (Acer Swift 1) can't boot FreeDOS, because there is no CSM / Legacy boot in the BIOS. UEFI boot is the only option.

Then I tried GRUB chainloading to boot from the USB DVD drive, but no success. In fact I used a 32 bit old PC till now with ArchLinux32, so this is my first encounter with modern laptops, and the UEFI...

Anyway: what is a USB connected DVD drive? EFI USB Device, or EFI DVD/CDROM ?

Last edited by bohokash (2019-12-02 00:46:37)

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#6 2019-12-02 01:03:56

Slithery
Administrator
From: Norfolk, UK
Registered: 2013-12-01
Posts: 5,776

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

Does this work to get you back in?

systemctl reboot --firmware-setup

If so you can then experiment with the options you changed earlier, fast-boot sometimes removes the ability to get into the menu via keyboard.

PS - You don't have a BIOS, just a UEFI menu.


No, it didn't "fix" anything. It just shifted the brokeness one space to the right. - jasonwryan
Closing -- for deletion; Banning -- for muppetry. - jasonwryan

aur - dotfiles

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#7 2019-12-02 01:29:59

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 19,739

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

Slithery wrote:

Does this work to get you back in?

systemctl reboot --firmware-setup

If so you can then experiment with the options you changed earlier, fast-boot sometimes removes the ability to get into the menu via keyboard.

PS - You don't have a BIOS, just a UEFI menu.

Damn.  That works! 
I love learning new things -- it happens every day in Linux.


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

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#8 2019-12-02 02:17:02

bohokash
Member
Registered: 2019-11-30
Posts: 76

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

Unfortunately the firmware-setup doesn't worked for me. I issued the command, then the laptop immediately restarted and without pressing any key, it tried to enter the UEFI menu ("BIOS setup utility"). After that I can see the same thing: a black screen with a steady cursor in the left top corner.

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#9 2019-12-02 02:43:27

kermit63
Member
Registered: 2018-07-04
Posts: 171

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

Try plugging the DVD drive to another USB port.

If you have another computer, check if the DVD drive still works on the other computer, preferably using the same disk.

I encountered this problem (blank screen while trying to access the UEFI screen) when trying to boot from a USB flash drive. As it turned out, the USB port I plugged the drive in is failing, and the UEFI firmware is trying to access the drive before showing the setup screen. Plugging the drive into another USB port solved the problem for me.

Last edited by kermit63 (2019-12-02 02:45:57)

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#10 2019-12-02 02:51:17

bohokash
Member
Registered: 2019-11-30
Posts: 76

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

Doesn't work either. I plugged the drive into another USB port, but the UEFI setup still freeze.

I tried to plug it into every 3 USB ports, and also removing every USB device (USB ethernet plug, mouse, USB DVD drive), nothing works. Still can see a black screen with a cursor, when entering the UEFI setup menu.

Last edited by bohokash (2019-12-02 02:56:18)

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#11 2019-12-02 02:59:18

kermit63
Member
Registered: 2018-07-04
Posts: 171

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

try totally unplugging the drive before accessing the UEFI screen, just to make sure it's not the DVD drive or the disc inside it that's causing the failure.

oops, didn't see your last post.

Last edited by kermit63 (2019-12-02 03:00:06)

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#12 2019-12-02 03:15:44

bohokash
Member
Registered: 2019-11-30
Posts: 76

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

Interestingly, also the touchpad refuse to work. It worked earlier, before the UEFI setup menu started to freeze, I just didn't use the touchpad, because I am accustomed to the mouse.

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#13 2019-12-02 03:26:41

bohokash
Member
Registered: 2019-11-30
Posts: 76

Re: After using efibootmgr, I am unable to enter the BIOS setup utility

This is what has worked finally:

sudo grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/efi --bootloader-id=GRUB
sudo mkinitcpio -p
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

I issued these commands, and now I am able to enter UEFI setup again!

But: unfortunately the Linpus Linux returned. I choose any item from the boot menu (F12), always the Linpus Linux is loaded, and not the installed Arch Linux. Then I get a command line, however the prompt contains that very hostname I set earlier in Arch Linux.

Furthermore, the Arch Linux partitions simply disappeared, I now only have a /dev/sda1, however I had these parts:

sda1, 1000 MB, efi
sda2, 4GB, linux swap
sda3, 96GB, ext4
sda4, ~130GB, ext4

Last edited by bohokash (2019-12-02 03:46:40)

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