You are not logged in.

#1 2022-01-11 22:51:16

nikinbaidarr
Member
Registered: 2021-05-06
Posts: 92

[SOLVED] NVRAM entries gets deleted on its own

So I have Arch Linux installed on a UEFI system with GRUB. Recently I'm this weird issue that whenever I try to boot from anything else but my internal hdd my arch install breaks. When I connect a USB boot device my GRUB boot loader gets uninstalled automatically and each time I've to arch-chroot to fix it. Why is this happening? And is OS prober something that might help?

Last edited by nikinbaidarr (2022-01-14 03:39:08)

Offline

#2 2022-01-11 22:53:27

Scimmia
Fellow
Registered: 2012-09-01
Posts: 11,466

Re: [SOLVED] NVRAM entries gets deleted on its own

I can pretty much guarantee it isn't being uninstalled.

Does the NVRAM entry get deleted? Does the boot order change? What are you seeing exactly?

Offline

#3 2022-01-11 23:48:20

nikinbaidarr
Member
Registered: 2021-05-06
Posts: 92

Re: [SOLVED] NVRAM entries gets deleted on its own

Scimmia wrote:

I can pretty much guarantee it isn't being uninstalled.

Does the NVRAM entry get deleted? Does the boot order change? What are you seeing exactly?

No the program itself does not uninstall. So basically what's happening is when I plug any other USB boot device, like a live USB with some other distro or an external drive with another operating the system, I cannot get into Arch (which is installed on my main internal hdd). So I have to mount everything manually and then run

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/efi --bootloader-id=GRUB

Then make the config file and then Arch boots until I plugin the USB again. I've already spent over 7 8 ours doing this. I don't know what the hell is happening myself.

Offline

#4 2022-01-11 23:55:04

Scimmia
Fellow
Registered: 2012-09-01
Posts: 11,466

Re: [SOLVED] NVRAM entries gets deleted on its own

"I cannot get into Arch" doesn't tell us anything. Again, what are you seeing exactly.

Offline

#5 2022-01-12 00:11:55

nikinbaidarr
Member
Registered: 2021-05-06
Posts: 92

Re: [SOLVED] NVRAM entries gets deleted on its own

Nothing really. I am using a Dell Inspiron 7570. When I turn it on it runs a memory diagnostic for a couple minutes then displays "no bootable operating system found" and gives an option to shutdown.

Offline

#6 2022-01-12 00:18:58

Scimmia
Fellow
Registered: 2012-09-01
Posts: 11,466

Re: [SOLVED] NVRAM entries gets deleted on its own

That's not nothing.

Can you bring up the boot menu? It sounds like it's deleting the NVRAM entry. There are some really terrible firmwares out there that delete non-default entries once a different entry is booted.

Offline

#7 2022-01-12 01:57:44

nikinbaidarr
Member
Registered: 2021-05-06
Posts: 92

Re: [SOLVED] NVRAM entries gets deleted on its own

Scimmia wrote:

Can you bring up the boot menu? It sounds like it's deleting the NVRAM entry. There are some really terrible firmwares out there that delete non-default entries once a different entry is booted.

Yes I can bring up the boot menu. Don't know where to go from there though.

Offline

#8 2022-01-12 03:10:21

Scimmia
Fellow
Registered: 2012-09-01
Posts: 11,466

Re: [SOLVED] NVRAM entries gets deleted on its own

No GRUB there? Then it's definitely deleting the NVRAM entry. When you reinstall GRUB, use the --removable option. That will install it to the default loader location, which the firmware hopefully will pick up. If that doesn't do it, you may have to move it to the Windows loader location. Dirty hack, but when dealing with bad firmware, you do what you have to do.

Offline

#9 2022-01-14 03:38:36

nikinbaidarr
Member
Registered: 2021-05-06
Posts: 92

Re: [SOLVED] NVRAM entries gets deleted on its own

Yes that did it. But I had to restore my BIOS to defaults. I cannot thank you enough for helping me. I was struggling with this for about 2 days. Thank you so much.

Offline

Board footer

Powered by FluxBB