I am running an HP Z640 workstation with a dual boot installation which boots to grub from which I can select to boot either Leap 15.6 or Windows. The windows os is the original which is installed on a small ssd with UEFI partition and my openSUSE os is on NVMe in PCI M2 adaptor.
I have not booted the windows system for over a year but now I want to upgrade my processor and need to be running windows so the HP system tools and updates are available. This evening I tried to run windows to start the process and check my system before I start the cpu swap and all I get is a continuously circulating ring of dots.
Please could somebody help me on this and forgive if my request is slightly OT.
Budge.
Thank you for your advice concerning windows, of which I was already aware. I had explained why I booted to windows but I believe the problem lies deeper as whatever I do, including trying to re-build the machine ab initio, I can no longer boot a usb installation. I have tried most of the obvious solutions such as using rear usb slot, having uefi usb boot order as first and clearing machine by powering off and discharging any capacitors but I always get the HP logo and the continuous circulation ring of dots. Never get any sign of an OS logo. It is HP help I need but it is possible that others in the forum such as Malcolm who have similar machines, may be able to help.
@Budgie2 Why not use linux? The tools are available for download (SLE ones), likewise fwupdmgr should suffice?
If secure boot is on, maybe the UEFI db needs updating, fwupdmgr can do that.
I would pull the NVMe card out, then press F9 for the boot menu and select Windows from there. Who knows what it’s doing, do you see blinking lights on the network interface, maybe it’s updating?
Else as indicated, this is really something that needs to be asked on a Windows forum… Else just re-install Windows is probably the quickest thing.
IME, certain Windows 10 updates have been unable to successfully apply unless Windows’ own bootloader is the default bootloader. Assuming appropriately setup to begin with, it’s easy enough to switch and switch back, whether using MBR or UEFI booting, so I just let it have its way by making it default until it’s happy, then switching back to whichever Linux bootloader makes me happy.
With MBR booting, “appropriate” means not using the MBR as host to Linux bootloader, keeping generic boot code in sector 0, as using MBR for Linux bootloader means it’s more complicated to switch back to Linux as default, reinstalling, rather then simply moving the boot flag. Thank goodness for UEFI, as switchback never need be more complicated than a quick trip into UEFI setup, or BBS hotkey boot Linux, enabling running efibootmgr -o w,x,y,z....
Hi and many thanks to Malcolm and mrmazda,
I am well away from my comfort zone here and do not have the know how at my finger tips. The problem machine is a backup machine which has been fine running Leap 15.5 and then Leap 15.6 and my problem started when I booted to windows to update that system in order to start the hardware changes. From what I have determined the windows updates made many changes including updating my system bios. The bios update seesm to have worked OK but my windows system which was the original on ssd that came with the machine is really messed up.
Since the machine is a backup “spare” and has no important data I am reconciled to a rebuild so my plan was to do a new installation of windows on the ssd and only after I have this and hardware changes completed install Leap 15.6 again on nvme,
The situation at present however is that I cannot install anything. When I try and start a new installation using usb I do not get to the windows installation but have an hp logo in black screen with the circulating ring of dots.
I have tried using the microsoft usb builder, straight iso download and rufus, forcing the use of uefi usb start in bios and most of the suggestions in various fora including using an earlier windows build. I am even considering rolling back bios but am now going to do what Malcolm suggested and pulling the nvme card and the disk I use for data so the machine is back to bare bones and hope I can then get windows installation working.
I appreciate that HP now support openSUSE but I do not think all the tools are available and HP are very tightly bound to M$ and Windows so this is safest route.
Sorry this is so much about windows and OT for this forum. Will report how I get on in due course.
Budge.
Many thanks. Since my last post I tried getting back to the bare machine and it now only gives me testing and none of the other options actually get me anywhere so I cannot boot anything. I tried a DVD of an earlier win10 and that was not detected even when selected from the boot menu. I reassembled the hardware and still I couln’t boot either from usb or the older win 10 DVD.
Clutching at straws I tried to boot a Leap 15.6 DVD. I was offered the openSUSE options immediately (of course, that is why I love openSUSE,) but now what should I do?
If the openSUSE DVD boots and shows up, but the Win10 DVD does not show anything, that suggests the Win10 DVD is possibly physically damaged. Or, maybe it’s one of those DVDs that is a supplemental DVD, that some “other installation method” uses.
A couple of thoughts.
One: you might consider running the openSUSE DVD and run the installation to the point of “configuring the destination hard drive”, where the installer suggests how to partition the hard drive. At that point in time, it’s possible that the openSUSE installer detects the Win10 original installation on the hard drive (and offer to duel-boot). If that happens, there might be hope to still recover the orig Win10 instance on the hard drive … and you can abort the openSUSE install.
Thought Two: If I remember correctly, there is a hidden partition on Win10 machines (laptop or desktop), which has the “recovery system”. You boot that (I might be rwong on all this) hidden partition (via BIOS?) and then that boot recovery will request the “supplemental DVD” to recover a system. This implies the “original Win10 DVD” is not used by itself, but by the recovery installer (why it supplements).
( As I mentioned, my thought on Number Two might all be in my mind’s bad memory ).
We have a Win10 laptop (only Win10 on it) … I’ll go check it in a few minutes to see if it has that hidden partition.
Okay, checked our Win10 laptop and yea, I see two "Recovery partition"s … unfortunately, not sure what the next steps would be, as I’ve never had to recover a Win10 machine. They may or may not be bootable. They are hidden - can only see them with the Win10 Disk Management tool.
Hi and many thanks. I have tried the few windows dvds I found but none will boot whereas the leap 15.6 dvd booted immediately. My memory is very unreliable as I have been working of different machines and have no doubt confused myself but of one thing I am sure, the nvme was intended for openSUSE system but now running
fdisk -l
...
/dev/nvme0n1p1 ... 1.8T Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda: 931.51 GiB
/dev/sda1 ... 100M EFI
/dev/sdb: 238.47 GiB
/dev/sdb1 100M EFI System,
/dev sdb2 50G Linux filesystem
/dev/sdb3 186G Linux filesystem
/dev/sdb4 2.4G Linux swap
This suggests that the openSUSE system is on the SSD and Win10 on hard drive and nvme. I am certain I have never tried to put ntfs on nvme. The nvme memory was installed by me explicitly for running my Linux system but I can see my memory was wrong for the original installation.
Since i now want to rebuild, what I seek to do is install Win 10 on ssd, upgrade the machine hardware and then install Leap 15.6 again on nvme with hard drive for additional data. That’s the plan. Will get there in the end.
Meanwhile many thanks for your suggestions,
Budge
Just FYI, the problem was that the windows update which, unknown to me, included a BIOS update, damaged the system. Since I had eventually intended a re-build I started over with a wipe and reinstallation of win10 on ssd and will follow with Leap installation so I can still dual boot if necessary.
I hope eventually that I can leave windows entirely behind but HP are very tightly bound to M$ and although they now support openSUSE, windows is, for me, unavoidable in some cases. Thanks to all who lent a hand.
