Machine is booting only with live usb plugged in.

Machine is only booting with live USB plugged in. Without it I am getting the grub prompt.

Please look what you are posting where. This is about booting and we have a sub-forum called Install/Boot/Login.
You are expected to search for the forum your question belongs.

This is going to be moved.

I have been facing problems booting my laptop without a live usb plugged in. In the forum linuxquestions.org I posted this as part of a long thread and Mrmazda advised the following:
Try booting using the USB stick. Then key in Ctrl-Alt-F3 and login as root. Then: Code:

efibootmgr -v | susepaste
cat /etc/fstab | susepaste
sudo fdisk -l | susepaste

These should return URLs, which you should paste here so we can click on them. If you get any kind of error, then do this instead after logging in: Code:

efibootmgr -v
cat /etc/fstab
sudo fdisk -l

and take a screenshot (or two if necessary) to show here. Even better would be to add this to your thread in the Install/Boot/Login openSUSE forum and leave this thread closed.

So here’s the screen shot.https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=8c21e7c933&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-a:r-2370534419195305901&view=att&disp=safe&realattid=172bcf31918663374811&saddbat=ANGjdJ-SlCMT3QqJykjAuRisIEmK306GIQl0hEYWGCZU4va4TYBatyRz0nfa5s8DREOLv-mEV0WzUVbVt7T6F1PQfW9tlehFoY9nxpfANSSv2j7DWMhXYvUBEVOT_HW2cIWkspPQL9YOZujb0J-G9Bpe8yFJO67aokTdjnCc1f6Pimy18lvGF5UTEYaQ25SGUfol_Tkgw142pE9jxE0XJLQcq3WnkuD2gpSmeT4nhHHu3Uc90c__ImQShSNhvJycBwfX_kWcZVtqzy5pWmfkzrmUAhwW6UE3XWxNzE-77wylo-GeVhHcYuJN8R2zYWF4BUpRDFP3j1NHPz_f-bzL1jV74AZcEI1_s7pFvKiRVNh7a3uEd0zX4zxbRmCLifJk1S6jFLLZwMQmmoGTmHDaLkQiPhrvevC4htyPwPhCEe_890tArCyusy65KABNHFFK6argt172res5jBZKP6ULzH0J0dgfkWS97fuI-MiPdbC0Yc0iSDmjOo_RHg6_K2oiBezXIZ4iZZaaPVz6GC4y1VUjlNvDz625ZUSv4R5JVhREzSmwxm5MLW1aFN0OiB7Y2bLW_6RNmbVN1yFeM0xeX-_H9zeEdJUekctz1nzmC1I0X9SbUe_DjERja0E4gdvVLUvQ2oFe3FMrVB_FfeK7fqvC_opaDlFldojEyYiqgw

Simple solution:

  • Boot with the USB plugged in
  • Remove the USB
  • Start YaST - Sytem - Bootloader
  • Click OK, a new bootloader config will be automagically created.
  • Reboot. It should work now.

Thanks for the suggestion. As soon as I removed the usb, the screen went blank and I had to do a hard shutdown.

Then you are still booting the USB, not the installed system.

Or you removed it too fast.

Sounds like you are booting to the live USB rather than from the USB to the hard drive. Are you selecting the right option from the boot menu??? I assume this is a new install right???

Yes I am booting with the live USB plugged in, for otherwise it just gives me the grub prompt. This is a new install alright and maybe boot option ought to be changed upon entering the bios before the system boots. Let me try that.

There should be an option on boot to select boot to hard drive or some such if you boot to the USB the OS is run from the USB

I am sending you the screenshots of my BIOS configurations so that you can see for yourselves what’s wrong.https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=8c21e7c933&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-a:r-7467639267908554950&th=172bda4b709fa4f9&view=att&disp=safe&realattid=172bda44365a1702d731&saddbat=ANGjdJ94VlkZvs-1Ea7_mAgVxzcapImNSbNLgLSGRHaTsPDNrSYhz8QRSk8qGIL1yw6c0WSsVlwii85YugicG9CrZ14ChWXZPWf-HEk6Botv6trtaDZDSbYgf2obag_1b4YTvvSkiWesswSXIqOMfviuKANRatIkQ7TB-FUGmzhxM_ptlX4K8DoY0U3JWGn-5qrqxnxFtPNdQmVeON38KY2gh7WlbKEF0FYbYKUdvHOMyVIgs-KP8uZgs2Nf2u6OEt-MxGxdWirnxhgyjp8Yp1b_wphfCdIHeSEWfuiSrbF-HlhWBfLPqwpKrjKiZV-jcvowAad1vjQraugyetZ93GtZbKMIJNvJRwxWahcMojw7E2MxosjrQwN_jwoRR1GxEWQx3WGd5T3EvpsruddSzmhvFjnLpRE-EekVVMm5wR3S1_oBZJbe13z5L4zYnD3d8g0t8q98k7JJJ0lPnTNIZ_0VRsDxp9a3Zz005PGzJGNTKqN9Q7rbKJOeIVxKIERZLF_zNDIyrro5tM-LuPzD5tiPqSQn4iAqADZpfM3NnwjS6lDB5u7Xy9Y_HGT5_0jMOE_vbOKxBfMsGjhp_96Vg8CMbyxp2VggRMeo5rBTov_cRD0px_aW8a-JtKm25T98A58QcuUtJlXxB4mJtNcLh8L20Y9Te3WAIG1NcTwprr7UTd_IQs6IKLlPwP9BMqEhttps://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=8c21e7c933&attid=0.2&permmsgid=msg-a:r-7467639267908554950&th=172bda4b709fa4f9&view=att&disp=safe&realattid=172bda47252a9a3db882&saddbat=ANGjdJ96y56Jw5xIXqTDwO0hvaaqHzUZWC5XPOKLlMUZQmYDC9gbf-tjgdvS4DVQCQObBj_E0RBN7_UUHHrNivJFzJfUB_CLYTIf3Mei3AgTEFyoejjbSW1R1leKTEJtkUkXX4_NH6UIBjjz65nsKsCZ4ul15TdNbNGStdZURYYx-pRnz7H2MBBq5gbb6CEym_O3AfrAetZqUVzpmDwrZH9skvp0mjDVLprulsUShuGrCXsS7cNceN0M7myKq_h_SgyZB6SUtCLbabGQ3G3afDwOfucMGhA9JG1M1yYmHIYzbXP993ZDf2C-R_kI2dkVB0kpzwDvSgj-urNotsyNpveT58Yr4fxnGzbIV-JrfKnu4HiOAsxmeCEKRSrwjpBWZRLbt8chza_Hme9HOoFVv11jaZfuQ5T2jcXdoIatnLu1wlORQBJA11_sI_4vMuoTAHJQpvEptr3BCIrSznnY8nNScxJG9uxp75cNID8NfxBAiU1ugRX7jad1nhB8seqTYgW0c8cvwPHZgcZ1sS0osXOVJ0de61baKa3rBrThmPKh7WdCqOQoXViq40mFSqDM43hSCKdLhGYDG2-yCWFtR1fTcagNfF7uuCCJkODwahUgL2hyZ6vyfz281VTbvVwaA34oafzml8c85VgW7H1amrI10lKL_OrMqR2RR7YuZgOhmdFHp0-DOxEFhN8O7SQ

Here is information that Mrmazda requested me post here, we’ve had a long thread running at linuxquestions.org.

som@linux-ua26:~> sudo blkid
[sudo] password for root: 
/dev/sda1: UUID="B8B2-9090" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="cf16dc77-01"
/dev/sda2: SEC_TYPE="msdos" UUID="7B74-C482" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="cf16dc77-02"
/dev/sda3: UUID="23ff0f68-a0e5-44b4-8f25-c19e8054339a" UUID_SUB="5007401d-3fae-450c-98e5-2e6c96471988" TYPE="btrfs" PARTUUID="cf16dc77-03"
/dev/sda4: UUID="6982eac4-18a8-4e9e-b8f5-d667f83300a6" TYPE="swap" PARTUUID="cf16dc77-04"
/dev/sdb1: SEC_TYPE="msdos" UUID="5939-BB66" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="7c782b0b-01"
/dev/sdb2: UUID="2019-05-15-02-21-24-97" LABEL="openSUSE-Leap-15.1-NET-x86_64470" TYPE="iso9660" PARTUUID="7c782b0b-02"
/dev/sdb3: UUID="17c9e087-24bf-4a70-a947-ceb65a4f4977" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="7c782b0b-03"
som@linux-ua26:~> sudo parted -l
Model: ATA TOSHIBA MQ01ABD1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system     Flags
 1      1049kB  538MB   537MB   primary  fat32           boot, type=0b
 2      538MB   1062MB  524MB   primary  fat16           esp, type=ef
 3      1062MB  998GB   997GB   primary  btrfs           type=83
 4      998GB   1000GB  2148MB  primary  linux-swap(v1)  type=82


Model: SanDisk Cruzer Blade (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 15.7GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      141kB   4141kB  4000kB  primary  fat16        esp, type=ef
 2      4141kB  131MB   127MB   primary               boot, hidden, type=17
 3      131MB   15.7GB  15.5GB  primary  ext4         type=83


som@linux-ua26:~> cat /etc/fstab
UUID=17c9e087-24bf-4a70-a947-ceb65a4f4977  /          ext4  acl,user_xattr  0  1
UUID=7B74-C482                             /boot/efi  vfat  defaults        0  0
som@linux-ua26:~> efibootmgr -v
Absolute path to 'efibootmgr' is '/usr/sbin/efibootmgr', so running it may require superuser privileges (eg. root).
som@linux-ua26:~> su root
Password: 
linux-ua26:/home/som # efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 000F
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 000F,0000,0010,0012,0014,0015,0016,0005
Boot0000* opensuse-secureboot    HD(2,MBR,0xcf16dc77,0x100800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\OPENSUSE\SHIM.EFI)
Boot0005  ubuntu    HD(1,MBR,0xcf16dc77,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\UBUNTU\SHIMX64.EFI)..BO
Boot000F* opensuse    HD(2,MBR,0xcf16dc77,0x100800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\OPENSUSE\GRUBX64.EFI)..BO
Boot0010* UEFI: SanDisk    PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x14,0x0)/USB(1,0)/CDROM(1,0x114,0x7a10)..BO
Boot0012* UEFI: SanDisk    PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x14,0x0)/USB(1,0)/CDROM(1,0x114,0x7a10)..BO
Boot0014* UEFI: SanDisk    PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x14,0x0)/USB(1,0)/CDROM(1,0x114,0x7a10)..BO
Boot0015* UEFI: SanDisk, Partition 1    PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x14,0x0)/USB(1,0)/HD(1,MBR,0x7c782b0b,0x114,0x1e84)..BO
Boot0016* UEFI: SanDisk, Partition 2    PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x14,0x0)/USB(1,0)/HD(2,MBR,0x7c782b0b,0x1f98,0x3c868)/CDROM(1,0x114,0x7a10)..BO
linux-ua26:/home/som # 

As you have already seen in at least one of your earlier posts, your so called screen shots are not to be seen here on the forums. When you want to upload images somewhere and show them here the use https://susepaste.org/ . There is an Image button right-top.

Then post the URL of the resulting page (NOT of the image) in your post by using the URL button (the one with the Globe) from the tool bar of the post editor.

OK got it.

I wrote way back in the other thread’s #98, “erasing the entire disk for a fresh start”. The disparity between two partitions in fstab and 4 actual disk partitions indicates to me that may not have happened. Instead, the combination of outputs seems to indicate a fouled up installation that depends on both USB stick and HD to be able to run the HD’s installation:

fstab: UUID=17c9e087-24bf-4a70-a947-ceb65a**4f4977**  /          ext4  acl,user_xattr  0  1
blkid: /dev/**sdb3**: UUID="17c9e087-24bf-4a70-a947-ceb65a**4f4977**" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="7c782b0b-03"

fstab: UUID=7B74-**C482**                             /boot/efi  vfat  defaults        0  0
blkid: /dev/**sda2**: SEC_TYPE="msdos" UUID="7B74-**C482**" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="cf16dc77-02"

Though it might be possible at least in theory to repair this, because of the presence of two ESP-compatible vfat partitions on the HD, and the secure boot and ubuntu entries in efibootmgr output, my best recommend now is to try again to 100% wipe the disk, either before starting installation, or as a component of installation (during installation, wiping the disk). Unless you’re sure you want to employ secure boot, because you’re so new with Linux, I suggest to not use it in a new installation.

How to wipe the entire disk? Also how do I know my installation usb is kosher?

Also how can I be sure that my hard disk has really been wiped clean, and what is the best way to create an installation USB?

Google can tell you many ways. Do you have a disk utility CD, DVD or USB stick, such as ultimatebootcd or gparted? One way is to use the Xubuntu or openSUSE installation media, key in Ctrl-Alt-F3 after starting it up, and using DD from the shell prompt. Likely fdisk, gdisk and/or parted could also be used from the same shell prompt.

The theoretically easy way is to let the openSUSE partitioner simply use the whole disk without saving anything existing. It won’t actually “wipe”, but it will destroy the existing partitioning, making what was already there inaccessible once the installation write process has begun.

If it boots and proceeds as expected, odds are very high there’s nothing wrong with it.

What is the best way to create an installation USB?

That is unanswerable, purely subjective. Whatever works for you is best for you. Create installation USB stick - openSUSE Wiki explains some that are known to work. SDB:Live USB stick - openSUSE Wiki has another that uses DD. I use K3B when available. Otherwise I do it the DD way:

dd if=/path/to/iso-file of=/dev/sdX