Arch Linux

WithQuietEyes

Member

Registered: 2019-12-13

Posts: 3

Booted in BIOS mode by accident, how do I get back out?

So I think I may be too stupid to install Arch. I got to the zsh shell, i'm rootfs but both /usr/share and /sys/firmware/efi don't exist. According to the installation guide I'm probably in BIOS mode, but it just says to refer to my motherboard manual and a) I don't know what that is and b) I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Can someone show me how to get back out to the point where I can get into the BIOS menu? I'm scared to force shutdown because I don't know if I'm at a safe stage for that.

frostschutz

Member

Registered: 2013-11-15

Posts: 1,504

Re: Booted in BIOS mode by accident, how do I get back out?

what's your board? lshw might tell you. then you can find manual online.

and what do you boot off? live cd? usb stick? some iso? which one?

also there is nothing really wrong with bios mode as long as it boots, who cares how it works, eh?

some bios also have a quick boot menu where you can opt to boot off usb in bios or uefi mode respectively, it depends.

Last edited by frostschutz (2019-12-21 11:07:36)

qinohe

Member

From: Netherlands

Registered: 2012-06-20

Posts: 1,498

Re: Booted in BIOS mode by accident, how do I get back out?

I'm scared to force shutdown because I don't know if I'm at a safe stage for that.

With Arch you can always 'safely' poweroff whatever state your in, though, still use common sense of course...
You always have the install usb/cd to chroot back in, you should learn that mechanism, it's a 'life jacket'

ps. with common sense I mean; if your building a raid FI. let it finish first...

Slithery

Administrator

From: Norfolk, UK

Registered: 2013-12-01

Posts: 5,776

Re: Booted in BIOS mode by accident, how do I get back out?

You can use the following from the installation media to get to your firmware menu...

systemctl reboot --firmware-setup

PS - 'BIOS' is a misnomer on UEFI capable motherboards, what you actually have is a UEFI firmware 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

headkase

Member

Registered: 2011-12-06

Posts: 1,983

Re: Booted in BIOS mode by accident, how do I get back out?

If the EFI variables aren't present in your filesystem from the installation prompt then you are likely booting your system with the Compatibility Support Module enabled.  When the CSM is enabled your system boots in the old BIOS/MBR mode.  When the CSM is disabled then the system comes up in UEFI mode.  The CSM setting will be in your system firmware.  Almost all systems will enter the firmware if you repeatedly press the period/del key while the system is powering on.