I am able to boot Leap 15 using the install media. When I switch the bios to boot from the hard drive, the boot loader is still looking for version 42.3. I am guessing that I need to change something in Yast / boot loader. Not sure what.
Maybe you mixed boot modes. ALL OS must boot in the same mode EFI or legacy MBR
If 15 is not installed as EFI boot then it may not show in the normal EFI boot menu in the BIOS/UEFI
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I just installed with the default recommendation. What you are suggesting sounds like I did something that is both skilled and convoluted.
Sorry if my response made no sense. I have no idea how to mix boot modes.All I did was to set the bios to boot in the usb drive. Next, I installed the new OS. It boots if I select HD from the usb drive. If I change the bios to boot from the HD, it attempts to boot from the old OS. There does not appear to be an option in OS installation to cause or fix this issue. I am a bit at a loss as what to do.
It’s apparently common in UEFI systems that a boot selection menu will display at least two choices per device. If the original installation was in UEFI mode, then subsequent installations need to be in UEFI mode to be able to choose to boot either (or more) from a Grub menu. If the UEFI boot menu offers USB boot labeled UEFI and another for USB that is not so labeled, then the UEFI selection must be the one made - at installation time. If it was needed but not selected, the only fix is to install all over again with the correct selection. To be sure which installation mode is started, just look at the bottom of the initial installation menu. If there is a menu that works via function keys, it’s in BIOS mode. In UEFI mode, function key selections are absent from the bottom of the screen.
We saw a similar case several months ago. Or, at least, it seems similar to me.
The user had installed Leap 15.0 for UEFI booting. Previously, he had used legacy booting for an earlier linux version. The computer refused to boot with UEFI, and tried to boot the previous linux, which was no longer there.
I cannot tell whether that is your problem, because you have not provided enough information. But I can give you some pointers.
At the command line, try the command:
bootctl
You do need to be booted into your system (which I understand you can do with the install media). There’s no need to be root. Just open a terminal or konsole window and run that command.
If you used legacy booting, it will give a short answer “Not booted with EFI”. If you are using UEFI booting, it will give a longer answer including the boot path. You might not understand it, but the aim only is to see whether you booted with UEFI.
If this shows that you booted with UEFI, then you probably have a UEFI BIOS that is very fussy about the “pmbr_boot” flag. So you need to clear or toggle that flag. A google search for “pmbr_boot” should give you pointers on how to do that.
@linux-2tpv:~> bootctl
Using EFI System Partition at /boot/efi.
System:
Firmware: n/a (n/a)
Secure Boot: disabled
Setup Mode: setup
Current Loader:
Product: n/a
ESP: n/a
File: └─n/a
Boot Loader Binaries:
ESP: /boot/efi
systemd-boot not installed in ESP.
File: └─/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi
Boot Loader Entries in EFI Variables:
Okay. So yes, you are booting with UEFI. But apparently your BIOS is using legacy boot. Or, at least, that’s what the symptoms suggest.
This is very likely due to the “pmbr_boot” flag.
Some versions of UEFI BIOS look at that flag. And if it is set, they boot with the older legacy BIOS booting method. If it is not set, they use UEFI for booting. So you need to unset that flag. You can do that with “parted”. Assuming that your hard drive is “/dev/sda”, then you would use something like this:
parted /dev/sda
(parted) disk_set pmbr_boot off
(parted) quit
Here the “(parted)” is the prompt from “parted”. And there may be other lines of output.
Do a web search for “pmbr_boot” for more information on this.
Once you clear that flag, booting will probably work correctly.