Can't boot into uefi install usb, non uefi install doesn't correcty install bootloader

Hello all, I tried installing opensuse via the non uefi method for my thinkpad L470, and everything seems to work. The problem is, after removing the install usb, it will not boot by itself. The only way i can boot is through the install usb. I then saw a suggestion on the forums to use the uefi installer, and that will not boot, even with (what i think) are the correct BIOS settings. Attempting to install via uefi from the usb from the bios boot menu, results in a momentary black screen, then brings me back to the boot menu. Attempting to boot my opensuse install via the non uefi method from the hard drive, results in the same momentary black screen and then back to the boot menu.

I only want to run OpenSUSE, I don’t intend to dualboot windows of any kind. Any suggestions to get this working?

Also tried with LEAP, with the same results

I can’t guess the problem. There’s too little information.

You may have installed grub2 to a partition on the USB, but that’s hard to tell from here.

For a UEFI boot:

Note that I am going by my experience with a different Lenovo system (a ThinkServer):

Go into BIOS settings. Check the “Boot” screen. If there is an option to “prefer UEFI”, then set that option. Alternatively, if there is an option to disable CSM (compatibility support module), the do that. You can do both of those if they are offered, but either is enough.

Best to turn off “secure-boot” (it is probably already disabled).

Then Hit F12 while booting (while the logo is showing). You should get a boot menu where you can select the USB for booting.

Is there a way to ensure that doesn’t happen during installation? I set my hard drive as the target in my installation for the partitions.
I set the boot to UEFI only, with secure boot off. Same problem when i attempt to boot from the usb.

Then I don’t know what else to try. I have not run into that sort of problem with my Lenovo box. But it isn’t the same box as the one that you have.

The only problem I had with UEFI was with secure-boot. And that was fixed with a later BIOS update. Before applying the BIOS update, all was fine with secure-boot disabled.

I guess there’s also a question on how you created your install USB. There are some ways of creating it, that don’t work with UEFI. For example, “unetbootin” is known to cause problems.

Hi
I’ve got a Lenovo B50-80 here with 42.2. As always I usually use a rescue USB to run gdisk to prepare the disk;


 lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 
├─sda1   8:1    0   260M  0 part /boot/efi
├─sda2   8:2    0    40G  0 part /
├─sda3   8:3    0 421.5G  0 part /data
└─sda4   8:4    0     4G  0 part [SWAP]

 gdisk -l /dev/sda

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.8

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 976773168 sectors, 465.8 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 944B69D5-C4F6-44BB-8E33-8F7BE04AFC5C
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 976773134
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2014 sectors (1007.0 KiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            2048          534527   260.0 MiB   EF00  EFI System
   2          534528        84420607   40.0 GiB    8300  Linux filesystem
   3        84420608       968384511   421.5 GiB   8300  Linux filesystem
   4       968384512       976773134   4.0 GiB     8200  Linux swap

In the BIOS also check USB boot is enabled (and probably virtualization), I also had to reset Platform Mode to setup mode. Secure boot works fine…?

Also when at the partitioning, select the expert mode, rescan the disk and then ensure you prepare for UEFI (/dev/sda1 type ef00 and format to fat), additional as required.

I’m guessing it was booting from the USB device if you have it set to legacy boot (rather than UEFI) and the disk is still set to GPT rather than DOS… this was probably visible in the final summary screen before starting the install.

Ahh, thank you. I was using the incorrect settings with rufus. I’m now able to boot in UEFI only mode. I’ll try a UEFI install and get back to you.

Alright, so it turns out, if you intend to use Rufus, you need to use version 2.9 instead of the latest for compatibility with UEFI and Opensuse. For whatever reason the latest version of Rufus doesn’t like the Opensuse ISO.
But now I have new problems. Upon installation of the UEFI OpenSUSE with secure boot, it fails to boot by itself, and if i attempt via the install usb, i get the following error: ‘error: not a valid root device.’
Without secure boot it get ‘error no such device /efi/boot/fallback.efi’

Really don’t use Rufus just do a cp or dd of the iso to the device. If running from Windows use

http://www.osforensics.com/tools/write-usb-images.html

Some people have gotten some versions to work but you must use the dd mode since any mod of the iso will break things and Rufus is designed to modify the iso by default

Be certain to boot the installer in EFI mode and not legacy. Be certain that the boot is set to use grub2-efi not grub2 and that the EFI boot partition is set to mount at /boot/efi and set to FAT, If not set like that then you probably booted the installer in legacy mode.

If you plan to use secure boot be sure to check the box even if currently not used.