Arch Linux

spiri

Guest

[Dual-Boot] Cannot boot to Windows since mounted C: on Linux

Hello,

Yesterday I simply booted to Windows via Grub Menu along my Linux system and everything worked (Bitlocker disabled).

I'm not sure but after mounting C: on my Linux box and trying afterwards booting to Windows for the next time didn't work. Mounting the Windows paritions on my Linux box works fine.

Unfortunately I didn't make a Windows System Restore Point and the Startup Repair option is not working with Secure Boot on and off.

Then I did this to hopefully boot into my system without success:

grub-install --efi-directory /boot --bootloader-id GRUB /dev/nvme0n1
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Output:

$ sudo grub-mkconfig -o /dev/null
[sudo] password for spiri: 
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-linux
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-linux.img
Found fallback initrd image(s) in /boot:  intel-ucode.img initramfs-linux-fallback.img
Warning: os-prober will be executed to detect other bootable partitions.
Its output will be used to detect bootable binaries on them and create new boot entries.
Found Windows Boot Manager on /dev/nvme0n1p1@/efi/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
Adding boot menu entry for UEFI Firmware Settings ...
done

Currently I don't know how to fix this except of reinstalling Windows.

My /etc/fstab entry to mount Windows:

/dev/nvme0n1p3 (Windows)
UUID=3E9A97F79A97AA43				/.windows	ntfs-3g		noauto,rw	0 0

Do you have any suggestions to properly fix or further debug this problem?

860lacov

Member

Registered: 2020-05-02

Posts: 497

Re: [Dual-Boot] Cannot boot to Windows since mounted C: on Linux

I'm not sure, but advice on arch wiki looks a bit different

# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=esp --boot-directory=esp --bootloader-id=GRUB

spiri

Guest

Re: [Dual-Boot] Cannot boot to Windows since mounted C: on Linux

@860lacov, the Wiki states "esp" should be replaced by the mount point of the boot partition:

Mount the EFI system partition and in the remainder of this section, substitute esp with its mount point.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,302

Re: [Dual-Boot] Cannot boot to Windows since mounted C: on Linux

What does "didn't work" mean exactly? If GRUB properly detected Windows and created an entry for it and *that* entry doesn't boot, chances are there's an issue with your Windows install that you'd have to ask on a Windows board about. In what way does "didn't work" show itself? Do you get a black screen/an error message/a reboot/... ?

FWIW there is close to no way that simply mounting an ntfs partition without doing something actively detrimental to that NTFS partiiton will lead to a Windows boot failure. So if you just mounted the Windows partiiton and didn't do anything else with it it's unlikely that that is your issue.

Last edited by V1del (2021-09-10 11:29:36)

spiri

Guest

Re: [Dual-Boot] Cannot boot to Windows since mounted C: on Linux

@V1del, this means I'm not getting an error message at all.

Grub is successfully detecting my Windows system and if I select Windows from Grub boot menu it immediately starts a Startup Repair without success.

Then it leads me to Windows Troubleshooting Menu, doing "Startup Repair" twice is also failing.

I also opened a Windows CMD shell trying my luck with chkdsk, sfc and bootrec without success.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,302

Re: [Dual-Boot] Cannot boot to Windows since mounted C: on Linux

That's a lot more than "doesn't work". What exactly did you do to the Windows path other than mounting it? Did you write anything/delete anything/chmod across everything? In what way are the Startup Repairs failing they'll surely leave some message? Do you have an NVRAM entry outside of GRUB and what happens if you boot that?

spiri

Guest

Re: [Dual-Boot] Cannot boot to Windows since mounted C: on Linux

@V1del

What exactly did you do to the Windows path other than mounting it?

Nothing special. I just tried to mount my Windows C: partition and did an fstab entry for comfortable mounting. Maybe I forgot to unmount it afterwards? However I cannot remind doing any write operations.

Did you write anything/delete anything/chmod across everything?

No, I just tried to mount it for later use.

In what way are the Startup Repairs failing they'll surely leave some message?

Unfortunately, I didn't get any error message or error code. After 5 seconds of Startup Repair puts me immediately to the troubleshooting menu.

Do you have an NVRAM entry outside of GRUB and what happens if you boot that?

I have a Arch Linux Live USB and is booting without problems.

Last edited by spiri (2021-09-10 17:30:11)