Problem installing on an Acer Desktop

English Install/Boot/Login
1

I bought an Acer T3-710 desktop p/c yesterday and am having problems installing Opensuse Tumbleweed.

So far I have:

1 - reduced the size of the windows partition (using the windows tool) to create free hard disc space
2- turned off secure boot
3 - installed opensuse (all seemed fine and no errors) but when I booted there was no opensuse boot option created (I did check the uefi settings but nothing)
4 - turned secure boot on and installed opensuse again. It asked me to accept the opensuse secure boot key which I did. Again the install went fine with no errors but no opensuse entry in the boot options.

Have I missed something or is there something special that needs to be done with Acer uefi settings?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

2

Can you use the install media to boot into openSUSE?

If so show efibootmgr -v

Some hardware ships with broken UEFI that only recognizes Windows. There is a hack but first let’s see what you have

3

Many thanks for your reply.

Not luck booting to the opensuse install but I have used a kde live dvd and efibootmgr -v shows

Acer-PC:~ # efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 0002
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0002,0000,0001
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager  HD(1,GPT,2cb386ed-3aa3-4e2f-ad10-389625f3b61b,0x800,0x32000)/File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...}................
Boot0001  opensuse-secureboot   VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0002* UEFI: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GUE1N   PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x17,0x0)/Sata(3,65535,0)/CDROM(1,0x42f,0x2000)..BO
Acer-PC:~ #

Does this provide any pointers?

4

Hi
It’s there, just not right…

From the live system as root user just check it’s there… entry 0002 isn’t right…

Run the following to see which is the efi partition (for example, in my case it’s 1 ie sda1);


gdisk -l /dev/sda |grep EFI
   1            2048          411647   200.0 MiB   EF00  EFI System
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

ls /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/
APPLE  boot  opensuse
/mnt/boot/efi/EFI/opensuse/
boot.csv  grub.cfg  grub.efi  grubx64.efi  MokManager.efi  shim.efi
/mnt/boot/efi/EFI/boot/
bootx64.efi

Since your not in secure boot, hopefully grubx64.efi exists? If so add an entry;


efibottmgr -c -L "opensuse" -l "\\EFI\\opensuse\\grubx64.efi"
efibootmgr -v
efibootmgr -n <the opensuse entry number, probably 0003"
umount /mnt
systemctl reboot

See if that fires up now…

5

Need to set 0001 head of 0000 in the boot order

efibootmgr -o 0002 0001 0000

Should do it

Not you should be able to select in the UEFI boot screen

Note it may switch back after booting to Windows. IMO that indicates the UEFI code is broken since it is not working to standard

Also be sure that in Window fast boot is off.

6

Thanks very much.

The instructions worked perfectly. I rebooted and when straight into the uefi settings which showed opensuse as the boot option. But when I started the p/c it booted into windows. I went back into the uefi settings and there was no sign of opensuse. Am I buggered?

7

Hi
The 0002 entry is invalid… you turned off secure boot, so shim.efi doesn’t exist

8

Many thanks for posting.

I have done a fresh install with secure boot disabled and efibootmgr -v now shows:

Acer-PC:~ # efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 0003
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0003,0000,0000,0000,0002
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager  HD(1,GPT,2cb386ed-3aa3-4e2f-ad10-389625f3b61b,0x800,0x32000)/File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...}................
Boot0001  opensuse      VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0002  opensuse      VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0003* UEFI: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GUE1N   PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x17,0x0)/Sata(3,65535,0)/CDROM(1,0x42f,0x2000)..BO
Boot0004  opensuse-secureboot   VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Acer-PC:~ #

I have changed this using the guidance provided and it now looks like:

Acer-PC:~ # efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 0003
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0002
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager  HD(1,GPT,2cb386ed-3aa3-4e2f-ad10-389625f3b61b,0x800,0x32000)/File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...}................
Boot0001  opensuse      VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0002  opensuse      VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0003* UEFI: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GUE1N   PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x17,0x0)/Sata(3,65535,0)/CDROM(1,0x42f,0x2000)..BO
Boot0004  opensuse-secureboot   VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0005* opensuse      HD(1,GPT,2cb386ed-3aa3-4e2f-ad10-389625f3b61b,0x800,0x32000)/File(\EFI\opensuse\grubx64.efi)
Acer-PC:~ #

When I re-boot and go straight into the uefi settings opensuse is shown as the default boot option but it still boots into windows.

Have I missed anything?

If I have secure boot enabled there are a number of uefi settings. These are:

secure boot mode - standard or custom

If I select custom

it then gives me the option to enable or disable - default key provisioning

with the last option then - clear secure boot keys

Are any of these settings relevant?

Once again many thanks

9

I really don’t think it is a secure boot problem with it off there is not complications I think that the BIOS/UEFI is broken and is set to boot only to Windows. Maybe take it up with Acer.

There is a hack where you replace the Windows files in /boot/efi with appropriately renamed files from the openSUSE directory. This tricks the BIOS to boot openSUSE instead of Windows. Window updates may set things back though

10

Thanks very much gogalthorp.

I think that your assessment is (unfortunately) right. I have made a support request to Acer but suspect that they will not understand the question! I will wait for their reply but it is looking like legacy boot I think.

11

Hi
Have you confirmed the grubx64.efi exists?

If it were me I would delete all the entries and add the openSUSE one back in, then the windows one to clean everything out.

Adding the Windows one is just the same…


efibootmgr -c -L "Windows Boot Manager" -l "\\EFI\\Microsoft\\Boot\\bootmgfw.efi"

At a minimum remove the opensuse VenHw entries which is probably causing an issue;


efibootmgr -b 4 -B 4
efibootmgr -b 3 -B 3
efibootmgr -b 1 -B 1
efibootmgr -v
efibootmgr -o 5,2
efibootmgr -n 5

Assuming 0005 is still present and pointing at openSUSE… modify as required…

12

Hi
Still a few more things to try… don’t give up too soon…

13

Yes try some more things malcolmlewis may suggest

You can not chain boot OS’s using different boot methods either all legacy or all EFI

14

Thanks Malcolm.

Have you confirmed the grubx64.efi exists?

What is the command to check this?

If it were  me I would delete all the entries and add the openSUSE one back in, then the windows one to clean everything out.

Adding the Windows one is just the same...
     Code:     efibootmgr -c -L "Windows Boot Manager" -l "\\EFI\\Microsoft\\Boot\\bootmgfw.efi" At a minimum remove the opensuse VenHw entries which is probably causing an issue;
     Code:     efibootmgr -b 4 -B 4
efibootmgr -b 3 -B 3
efibootmgr -b 1 -B 1
efibootmgr -v
efibootmgr -o 5,2
efibootmgr -n 5 Assuming 0005 is still present and pointing at openSUSE... modify as required....

Can I assume that the first set of commands removes the surplus entries? 0005 is the opensuse entry - what is the best commend to make this the default boot entry.

Thanks for all your help.

15

Just to confirm I had switched off ‘fast boot’ and understand that you cannot have a mix of uefi and legacy systems.

16

Hi
See post #4 :wink: Since you booting from dvd, need to mount the efi partition and check;


gdisk -l /dev/sda |grep EFI
   1            2048          411647   200.0 MiB   EF00  EFI System
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

ls /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/
APPLE  boot  opensuse
/mnt/boot/efi/EFI/opensuse/
boot.csv  grub.cfg  grub.efi  grubx64.efi  MokManager.efi  shim.efi

Yes, remove those VenHw ones, the efibootmgr -o option above sets the order (default).

Again, assuming the grub file exists and it does boot up to openSUSE, once there, then can clean things up…

17

Thanks again. I have followed your instructions and my efibootmgr settings are now:

Acer-PC:~ # efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 0006
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0006,0000,0005
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager  HD(1,GPT,2cb386ed-3aa3-4e2f-ad10-389625f3b61b,0x800,0x32000)/File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...}................
Boot0005  opensuse      VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0006* UEFI: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GUE1N   PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x17,0x0)/Sata(3,65535,0)/CDROM(1,0x42f,0x2000)..BO
Acer-PC:~ #

When I try to double check that grubx64.efi exists the first two steps works fine:

Acer-PC:~ # gdisk -l /dev/sda |grep EFI
   1            2048          206847   100.0 MiB   EF00  EFI system partition
Acer-PC:~ # mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
Acer-PC:~ # 
Acer-PC:~ # ls /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/
ls: cannot access '/mnt/boot/efi/EFI/': No such file or directory
Acer-PC:~ #

From my previous p/c I could su dolphin and see the efi folders in /boot/efi but the folder (on my installed opensuse system) is empty (which may just be that I am using a live cd).

Are you able to give me any pointers? Thanks for all your help and apologies for my slowness.

18

If /dev/sda is your EFI boot partition then

/mnt/boot/efi/EFI/

would be a wrong path since that partitions mounts at /boot/efi in a normal running system so that part does not exist in the partition just start with ls /mnt then follow the directory tree

19

Thanks again.

I have entered the command:

ls /mnt

but nothing comes up. Is this because it is a live cd?

Thanks for your patience.

20

Hi
You need to make sure it’s mounted first…


mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
ls /mnt

Then as gogalthorp indicated, drill down from there…