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Hey guys, I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to Linux, so please explain to me in simple terms.
I have a dual-boot UFI system on my Acer Aspire 7 laptop running Arch Linux and Windows 10. Either Windows 10 or Linux updates kept mucking up the boot menu, so I gave up with that (I rarely switched between the two anyway), and just used the BIOS boot order to choose whether I wanted to load Windows or Arch. It's mostly Arch for work, I just had windows in case I felt like playing any games.
Anyway, a while ago I noticed that Windows is not loading anymore. I have two options in the boot menu "Windows Boot Manager" and "Yes". Whichever I select, the system boots Arch Linux (there used to be three options there, the other one said something equally meaningless - I think it also said "Windows Boot Manager", but one booted Linux and one booted Windows).
On top of that, for some bizarre reason I can't boot from USB anymore. They're just not detected in UFI boot mode in the BIOS. If I change it to Legacy, I can detect the USB stick, but it always says, "no bootable medium" if I try and boot from it, even though it's a verified bootable Win10 USB stick.
I'm guessing it will be a long process figuring this out and I'll need help. If you have any ideas I'd be VERY MUCH appreciative if you share them with me (in baby steps).
Thankyou!
Last edited by wombatvvv (2020-03-16 15:43:50)
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You must give us more information.
Bootloader?
Configuration of bootloader etc.
Have you read https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Du … th_Windows
What have you tried to solve your problem?
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I don't use a bootloader, I just use the BIOS and alter the boot order. It can't even be loaded from BIOS.
I haven't tried to solve the Windows not loading problem, I have no idea even where to start, however I will check out the link you posted, thankyou for that.
To solve the USB problem, I've tried creating several different bootable ISOs using the Win 10 image available from the Microsoft download site. I use the dd command line tool to burn the images, and I've played with different options. I've tried different USB sticks and every USB port, I've also tried in both UFI mode and legacy boot mode.
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You need the bootloader to start up your operating system so you must have one.
Could you post the output of:
pacman -Q grub efibootmgr syslinux refind-efiusing your Arch Linux install.
This should output if one of these packages is installed.
Another way to check could be to check what the name of your Bios entry for your Arch install is.
Maybe you called it something like "arch_grub" as it's advised for example in the german installation guide for beginners.
Greetings
Last edited by Iruvinza (2020-03-16 18:17:46)
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You are probably using UEFI-boot. Try to insatll Grub.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB
Perhaps you must boot from liveCD and chroot to install Grub
Last edited by torors (2020-03-16 18:13:46)
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You need the bootloader to start up your operating system so you must have one.
Could you post the output of:pacman -Q grub efibootmgr syslinux refind-efiusing your Arch Linux install.
This should output if one of these packages is installed.Another way to check could be to check what the name of your Bios entry for your Arch install is.
Maybe you called it something like "arch_grub" as it's advised for example in the german installation guide for beginners.Greetings
error: package 'grub' was not found
efibootmgr 16-2
error: package 'syslinux' was not found
error: package 'refind-efi' was not found
I guess that answers that question.
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I don't know if this is helpful, but I also installed bootctl as a boot manager when I first setup the system. It worked for a while but stopped working after I did some system updates and I reverted to just using the boot menu in BIOS.
Here is the output for bootctl (which doesn't currently load at startup):
System:
Firmware: UEFI 2.50 (INSYDE Corp. 22097.4152)
Secure Boot: disabled
Setup Mode: userCurrent Boot Loader:
Product: systemd-boot 240
Features: + Boot counting
+ Menu timeout control
+ One-shot menu timeout control
+ Default entry control
+ One-shot entry control
- Support for XBOOTLDR partition
- Support for passing random seed to OS
+ Boot loader sets ESP partition information
ESP: /dev/disk/by-partuuid/e6c3beb3-c7fd-1a40-8b68-92c9c4d9bbff
File: `-/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFIRandom Seed:
Passed to OS: no
System Token: set
Exists: yesAvailable Boot Loaders on ESP:
ESP: /mnt (/dev/disk/by-partuuid/e6c3beb3-c7fd-1a40-8b68-92c9c4d9bbff)
File: `-/EFI/systemd/systemd-bootx64.efi (systemd-boot 240)
File: `-/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi (systemd-boot 240)Boot Loaders Listed in EFI Variables:
Title: Windows Boot Manager
ID: 0x0000
Status: active, boot-order
Partition: /dev/disk/by-partuuid/e6c3beb3-c7fd-1a40-8b68-92c9c4d9bbff
File: `-/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efiBoot Loader Entries:
$BOOT: /mnt (/dev/disk/by-partuuid/e6c3beb3-c7fd-1a40-8b68-92c9c4d9bbff)Default Boot Loader Entry:
title: Arch Linux
id: arch.conf
source: /mnt/loader/entries/arch.conf
linux: /vmlinuz-linux
initrd: /intel-ucode.img
/initramfs-linux.img
options: root=/dev/nvme0n1p3 rw
Also, if I mount the boot partition and do a directory listing, there's thousands of files called FSCKnnnn.REC (nnnn donating the number). I'm not sure what they are but it doesn't seem right.
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The two options in my BIOS are "Windows Boot Manager" and "EFI File Boot (yes)" - both boot into Arch Linux.
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If you look around inside /boot, do you have the Microsoft folder and files inside /boot/EFI/?
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