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#1 2025-11-08 18:03:37

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

hello, hope you all have a good day. I have Acer Swift 5 with arch on it, I wanted to create dualboot with windows10, but laptop couldn't detect flashed pendrive, so I was talking with gpt about this (never trusting him again) and at some point he told me to remove some of the processes in efibootmgr, after that I can't get into BIOS anymore. Please can someone help me
edit: I already tried: hard reset, booting into bios from arch

Last edited by kazee (2025-11-11 21:05:07)

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#2 2025-11-08 18:17:33

Roken
Member
From: South Wales, UK
Registered: 2012-01-16
Posts: 1,331

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

Is there a recovery system? Worst case scenario, can you flash the BIOS again?


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/ is the root of all problems.

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#3 2025-11-08 18:55:05

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 20,501

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

Can you boot into any OS at all?   If you can boot into an OS, you can cause a reboot into the 'BIOS' setup.
Another possibility is if the computer uses a coin cell to maintain SRAM, you might remove that coin cell for several minutes.   
You might also try things from this article: https://thetechylife.com/how-do-you-har … er-laptop/


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#4 2025-11-09 11:00:02

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

Recovery system doesn't work, I tried it many times.

I can boot into OS with no problems, I tried rebooting straight into bios and it just froze my laptop.
I would try things from article and tell how it went, thank you for helping

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#5 2025-11-11 12:43:59

shawqisherif
Member
Registered: 2025-11-09
Posts: 13

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

I don't think you can really ruin the BIOS it self with that, you just ruined the code to the BIOS ( I think )
can you try to reinstall the grub --suppose you using grub on arch. 

it would help if you give more info about your system, and the location of the files you altered.
you can hard reset the BIOS as well , but this mostly gonna wipe your entry to linux and reset it to default ( when you first power on the machine )

Last edited by shawqisherif (2025-11-11 12:45:17)

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#6 2025-11-11 19:49:01

topcat01
Member
Registered: 2019-09-17
Posts: 250

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

Do you have an EFI executable at the fallback location (EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI)? Some (buggy) UEFI implementations need that to function properly.

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#7 2025-11-11 20:29:22

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

topcat01 wrote:

Do you have an EFI executable at the fallback location (EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI)? Some (buggy) UEFI implementations need that to function properly.

Yes I do

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#8 2025-11-11 20:30:11

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

shawqisherif wrote:

I don't think you can really ruin the BIOS it self with that, you just ruined the code to the BIOS ( I think )
can you try to reinstall the grub --suppose you using grub on arch. 

it would help if you give more info about your system, and the location of the files you altered.
you can hard reset the BIOS as well , but this mostly gonna wipe your entry to linux and reset it to default ( when you first power on the machine )

Yes I am using grub, what information about my system do you need?

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#9 2025-11-11 20:45:07

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

ewaller wrote:

Can you boot into any OS at all?   If you can boot into an OS, you can cause a reboot into the 'BIOS' setup.
Another possibility is if the computer uses a coin cell to maintain SRAM, you might remove that coin cell for several minutes.   
You might also try things from this article: https://thetechylife.com/how-do-you-har … er-laptop/

I tried hard reseting and it did not work, it still freezes whenever I try to enter bios

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#10 2025-11-12 07:55:09

shawqisherif
Member
Registered: 2025-11-09
Posts: 13

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

kazee wrote:
shawqisherif wrote:

I don't think you can really ruin the BIOS it self with that, you just ruined the code to the BIOS ( I think )
can you try to reinstall the grub --suppose you using grub on arch. 

it would help if you give more info about your system, and the location of the files you altered.
you can hard reset the BIOS as well , but this mostly gonna wipe your entry to linux and reset it to default ( when you first power on the machine )

Yes I am using grub, what information about my system do you need?

what distro of linux do you use is it Arch ?, and which directories did you alter/delete files from.
if  you able to re-install grub again just try it.

you said you tried hard reset ? what happened after does grub still booting or there was no boot options  ?

Last edited by shawqisherif (2025-11-12 07:56:57)

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#11 2025-11-12 08:26:37

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

shawqisherif wrote:
kazee wrote:
shawqisherif wrote:

I don't think you can really ruin the BIOS it self with that, you just ruined the code to the BIOS ( I think )
can you try to reinstall the grub --suppose you using grub on arch. 

it would help if you give more info about your system, and the location of the files you altered.
you can hard reset the BIOS as well , but this mostly gonna wipe your entry to linux and reset it to default ( when you first power on the machine )

Yes I am using grub, what information about my system do you need?

what distro of linux do you use is it Arch ?, and which directories did you alter/delete files from.
if  you able to re-install grub again just try it.

you said you tried hard reset ? what happened after does grub still booting or there was no boot options  ?

I reinstalled grub and bios started working with no problems, but grub was giving me error “Error: grub_is_using_legacy_shim_lock_protocol not found".
I tried installing refind but it also did not launch system
and yes i am using arch
(secure boot is off)

Last edited by kazee (2025-11-12 08:32:52)

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#12 2025-11-13 15:23:29

shawqisherif
Member
Registered: 2025-11-09
Posts: 13

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

kazee wrote:
shawqisherif wrote:
kazee wrote:

Yes I am using grub, what information about my system do you need?

what distro of linux do you use is it Arch ?, and which directories did you alter/delete files from.
if  you able to re-install grub again just try it.

you said you tried hard reset ? what happened after does grub still booting or there was no boot options  ?

I reinstalled grub and bios started working with no problems, but grub was giving me error “Error: grub_is_using_legacy_shim_lock_protocol not found".
I tried installing refind but it also did not launch system
and yes i am using arch
(secure boot is off)

good news that BIOS is now working, there might be a missing step or something while you reinstalled the grub.
you could try to do this steps, if warning vanished, then that's great :
1- sudo grub-install --efi-directory=/boot/efi
2- sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
3- sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/arch/grub.cfg

## if it didn't work , can you please run: "lsblk -f"  and past the output here.

Last edited by shawqisherif (2025-11-13 15:23:57)

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#13 2025-11-13 15:39:18

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

shawqisherif wrote:
kazee wrote:
shawqisherif wrote:

what distro of linux do you use is it Arch ?, and which directories did you alter/delete files from.
if  you able to re-install grub again just try it.

you said you tried hard reset ? what happened after does grub still booting or there was no boot options  ?

I reinstalled grub and bios started working with no problems, but grub was giving me error “Error: grub_is_using_legacy_shim_lock_protocol not found".
I tried installing refind but it also did not launch system
and yes i am using arch
(secure boot is off)

good news that BIOS is now working, there might be a missing step or something while you reinstalled the grub.
you could try to do this steps, if warning vanished, then that's great :
1- sudo grub-install --efi-directory=/boot/efi
2- sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
3- sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/arch/grub.cfg

## if it didn't work , can you please run: "lsblk -f"  and past the output here.

I reinstalled grub on chroot and it started working, now bios works normally but when I try to leave bios it just freezes everything again
here is lsblk -f
NAME        FSTYPE FSVER LABEL UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
nvme0n1                                                                           
|-nvme0n1p1 vfat   FAT32       C657-A330                                 2G     1% /efi
|-nvme0n1p2 swap   1           547465d5-6b0f-49f6-88a6-222eb5581570                [SWAP]
`-nvme0n1p3 ext4   1.0         5f14bcbc-991b-4fc3-b5cb-1b9b88086d7c  303.9G    29% /

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#14 2025-11-13 16:40:33

shawqisherif
Member
Registered: 2025-11-09
Posts: 13

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

kazee wrote:

I reinstalled grub on chroot and it started working, now bios works normally but when I try to leave bios it just freezes everything again
here is lsblk -f
NAME        FSTYPE FSVER LABEL UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
nvme0n1                                                                           
|-nvme0n1p1 vfat   FAT32       C657-A330                                 2G     1% /efi
|-nvme0n1p2 swap   1           547465d5-6b0f-49f6-88a6-222eb5581570                [SWAP]
`-nvme0n1p3 ext4   1.0         5f14bcbc-991b-4fc3-b5cb-1b9b88086d7c  303.9G    29% /

okay , you don't have /boot partition , then you can run steps as follow:
sudo grub-install --efi-directory=/efi
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /efi/EFI/arch/grub.cfg ( please use TAB to autocomplete, maybe that's not the path exactly )

Freezing BIOS on leave, that's odd, it's better if you can login windows to check if there's a BIOS update. and it might be just fixed with steps above

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#15 2025-11-13 16:48:38

Scimmia
Fellow
Registered: 2012-09-01
Posts: 13,189

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

Please stop giving them commands, especially when you keep making assumptions and getting them wrong.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GRUB#Installation
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GRUB#G … d_grub.cfg

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#16 2025-11-13 17:45:19

shawqisherif
Member
Registered: 2025-11-09
Posts: 13

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

Scimmia wrote:

Please stop giving them commands, especially when you keep making assumptions and getting them wrong.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GRUB#Installation
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GRUB#G … d_grub.cfg


not sure if you read all the replies, but I other people and myself gave him general instructions at first, but when unexpected outcome was the result l, then you have to make sure that certain steps is executed. which part of the issue was fixed.

worst case scinario he'd ruin grub and need to install it again, which he just said he did.

@kazee I think you're capable to reinstall the grub your self just make sure to output the configuration to grub.cfg file. 
@Scimmia provided sources to reinstall the grub. you can reinstall directly in your system ( no need for a live arch USB ) as long as it's bootable.

Last edited by shawqisherif (2025-11-13 17:52:56)

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#17 2025-11-13 19:44:13

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

shawqisherif wrote:
kazee wrote:

I reinstalled grub on chroot and it started working, now bios works normally but when I try to leave bios it just freezes everything again
here is lsblk -f
NAME        FSTYPE FSVER LABEL UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
nvme0n1                                                                           
|-nvme0n1p1 vfat   FAT32       C657-A330                                 2G     1% /efi
|-nvme0n1p2 swap   1           547465d5-6b0f-49f6-88a6-222eb5581570                [SWAP]
`-nvme0n1p3 ext4   1.0         5f14bcbc-991b-4fc3-b5cb-1b9b88086d7c  303.9G    29% /

okay , you don't have /boot partition , then you can run steps as follow:
sudo grub-install --efi-directory=/efi
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /efi/EFI/arch/grub.cfg ( please use TAB to autocomplete, maybe that's not the path exactly )

Freezing BIOS on leave, that's odd, it's better if you can login windows to check if there's a BIOS update. and it might be just fixed with steps above

I don't have windows ;c I wanted to install it but then everything mentioned happened

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#18 2025-11-13 20:00:54

shawqisherif
Member
Registered: 2025-11-09
Posts: 13

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

kazee wrote:
shawqisherif wrote:
kazee wrote:

I reinstalled grub on chroot and it started working, now bios works normally but when I try to leave bios it just freezes everything again
here is lsblk -f
NAME        FSTYPE FSVER LABEL UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
nvme0n1                                                                           
|-nvme0n1p1 vfat   FAT32       C657-A330                                 2G     1% /efi
|-nvme0n1p2 swap   1           547465d5-6b0f-49f6-88a6-222eb5581570                [SWAP]
`-nvme0n1p3 ext4   1.0         5f14bcbc-991b-4fc3-b5cb-1b9b88086d7c  303.9G    29% /

okay , you don't have /boot partition , then you can run steps as follow:
sudo grub-install --efi-directory=/efi
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /efi/EFI/arch/grub.cfg ( please use TAB to autocomplete, maybe that's not the path exactly )

Freezing BIOS on leave, that's odd, it's better if you can login windows to check if there's a BIOS update. and it might be just fixed with steps above

I don't have windows ;c I wanted to install it but then everything mentioned happened

don't worry about it it's rare to have a bios update and the issue seems with the grub, just reinstall the grub , and make sure output the configuration as well.

it's great you don't have windows smile , ( lsblk does show that, but I thought you might have pasted related partitions only )

Last edited by shawqisherif (2025-11-13 20:04:33)

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#19 2025-11-13 20:12:30

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

Scimmia wrote:

Please stop giving them commands, especially when you keep making assumptions and getting them wrong.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GRUB#Installation
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GRUB#G … d_grub.cfg

I tried, I got into bios but it froze when I tried leaving it

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#20 2025-11-13 20:14:06

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

shawqisherif wrote:
kazee wrote:
shawqisherif wrote:

okay , you don't have /boot partition , then you can run steps as follow:
sudo grub-install --efi-directory=/efi
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /efi/EFI/arch/grub.cfg ( please use TAB to autocomplete, maybe that's not the path exactly )

Freezing BIOS on leave, that's odd, it's better if you can login windows to check if there's a BIOS update. and it might be just fixed with steps above

I don't have windows ;c I wanted to install it but then everything mentioned happened

don't worry about it it's rare to have a bios update and the issue seems with the grub, just reinstall the grub , and make sure output the configuration as well.

it's great you don't have windows smile , ( lsblk does show that, but I thought you might have pasted related partitions only )

i went all in on arch as i am really passionate about learning linux smile but now I want a dual boot to learn to my exams but I can't do that without my bios :c

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#21 2025-11-13 20:27:38

shawqisherif
Member
Registered: 2025-11-09
Posts: 13

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

kazee wrote:

i went all in on arch as i am really passionate about learning linux smile but now I want a dual boot to learn to my exams but I can't do that without my bios :c

have you tried to change boot order, after you burn windows on a USB, there's a key to get you to boot order which you can choose the USB. However keep in mind two things:
1- I don't think you have available storage ( partition that you can use for windows installation)
2- you will initially lose linux grub boot, but you can reinstall it again.

it's up to you to use windows or not , but if you invest in linux you can will get better and so the experince on using it.

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#22 2025-11-13 20:32:20

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

shawqisherif wrote:
kazee wrote:

i went all in on arch as i am really passionate about learning linux smile but now I want a dual boot to learn to my exams but I can't do that without my bios :c

have you tried to change boot order, after you burn windows on a USB, there's a key to get you to boot order which you can choose the USB. However keep in mind two things:
1- I don't think you have available storage ( partition that you can use for windows installation)
2- you will initially lose linux grub boot, but you can reinstall it again.

it's up to you to use windows or not , but if you invest in linux you can will get better and so the experince on using it.

I really want to fix the bios and arch before installing windows

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#23 2025-11-13 21:47:52

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

Hi, I realized that in /boot/efi I don't have anything is that what can cause it? how do i fix that?

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#24 2025-11-13 22:00:16

shawqisherif
Member
Registered: 2025-11-09
Posts: 13

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

kazee wrote:

Hi, I realized that in /boot/efi I don't have anything is that what can cause it? how do i fix that?

you didn't configure it under /boot/efi in the first place. you used /efi
listen do you have any important data? , how easy is it for you to just do a clean install.

!! you will lose all data, do backup !!
this time you might watch. a video how to install arch ( which is one of the most difficult to install distros ).
I'd say also if you planning to install windows on the same disk leave an unallocated space for windows. cause if you will in the future you will have to do that anyway and format the disk.

another idea is just to reverse that, format the disk, install windows and leave unallocated space for linux to install later, please watch a good youtube video on how to install linux.

according to your description before the issue on linux , it's not really the BIOS ( grub didn't know how to enter bios , now doesn't know how to exit smile ).

Last edited by shawqisherif (2025-11-13 22:03:21)

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#25 2025-11-13 22:29:05

kazee
Member
Registered: 2025-11-08
Posts: 18

Re: ruined my BIOS with efibootmgr

shawqisherif wrote:
kazee wrote:

Hi, I realized that in /boot/efi I don't have anything is that what can cause it? how do i fix that?

you didn't configure it under /boot/efi in the first place. you used /efi
listen do you have any important data? , how easy is it for you to just do a clean install.

!! you will lose all data, do backup !!
this time you might watch. a video how to install arch ( which is one of the most difficult to install distros ).
I'd say also if you planning to install windows on the same disk leave an unallocated space for windows. cause if you will in the future you will have to do that anyway and format the disk.

another idea is just to reverse that, format the disk, install windows and leave unallocated space for linux to install later, please watch a good youtube video on how to install linux.

according to your description before the issue on linux , it's not really the BIOS ( grub didn't know how to enter bios , now doesn't know how to exit smile ).

I already watched a lot of videos but okay i'll try it

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