BIU no longer booting automatically in new computer

[bj676920]

I installed BIU on a new computer with 1TB SSD, an ASUS TUF B860-PLUS WIFI motherboard and Windows 11 Pro. Worked fine and booted into BIU no problem. I then installed Debian Linux into a spare partition on the SSD and now a problem: BIU will no longer boot - I just get a blank screen with a non-flashing cursor in the upper-lefthand corner. If I change the boot priority - the option that automatically boots first - in the BIOS to either Windows 11 or the new Linux, they boot fine.

But...the BIOS also lists all the boot options in a separate list called 'Boot Override' - basically Direct Boot. Click on an option there and the computer will directly boot into that option. If I click on the BootIt option there, it works! Why there and not automatically, I don't know.

So I can do everything I want to do in BIU - backups in particular - I just have to manually go into the BIOS and pick the BIU option in 'Boot Override'. Not a terrible inconvenience, but not as convenient as automatically booting into BIU. Any suggestions as to what's going on and how to fix it?

Thanks in advance.

[TeraByte Support]

1 - boot the installation media and reinstall.
2 - enable the auto reactivate option in settings.

If the boot order changed and you can't change it in the BIOS, then boot to the install BIU and it will reactivate itself.

[bj676920]

I didn't mention it in my original email, but I had tried reinstalling. Tried it again and no change. Enabled the auto reactiviate option and no change.

[TeraByte Support]

Then you system is not following the configured boot order. There are some odd-balls out there in the past like this https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/kb ... -computer/

[bj676920]

Okay, this is now strange.

My new computer is not an Acer with an InsydeH2O BIOS. (It's a custom-build with an ASUS motherboard and AMI BIOS.) And most critically, as I said in my initial post, BUI worked exactly as expected when I first installed it on this computer before installing Debian Linux. So it occurred to me to just try deleting Debian Linux. All I did was remove the two Debian Linux partitions - main and swap - using the partition manager in BUI. And it worked! BUI is again working exactly the way it's supposed to, booting automatically into it.

I thought maybe the Debian Linux install had messed up the EFI partition somehow, but no, apparently the mere existance of those two Debian Linux partitions caused the problem. I would like to get Debian Linux on this computer, so any suggestions as to what to try next?

[Brian K]

Have you tried disabling all items in Boot Option Priorities except BootIt? You might need to do it more than once as the items can return.

[TeraByte Support]

The fundamentals of UEFI booting is to boot the \efi\boot\bootx64.efi in the EFI System partition (if you have more than one, it may be booting some other one).

There is also an option to have boot items much like BootIt. When supported you'll see entries like "BootIt UEFI" and others in your BIOS and should be able to set the boot order.

You can use scripting to dump things via "list uefi bootitems /a /d" and then for a specific one "list uefi bootitems /a /dump <bootnum>", you could dump all with no <bootnum> but in BIU would scroll off the screen.

But prior to BootIt loading it doesn't have control, the BIOS does. If Linux is setting "bootnext" ("list uefi bootnext") then that would override the BIOS, but never seen Linux do that and selecting from the BIOS boot menu should override as well.

[bj676920]

I've spent parts of the last few days experimenting, removing and reinsalling Linux and using a UEFI utility to display what's going on.

1) The computer initially has one EFI partition and a Windows partition, plus a bunch of free space. BootIt UEFI is installed and is the first priority in the BIOS and the computer automatically boots into it as expected. It's booting '\EFI\BOOTIT\BOOTX64.EFI' according to the utility. There are two other possible entries to boot from: 'Windows Boot Manager' and 'UEFI OS', both of which boot into Windows 11 and work as expected, if chosen as the first priority.

2) Debian Linux is then added. The installation process creates 3 new partitions in the free space: a second EFI partition, the main Linux partition and a Linux swap partition.

Not surprisingly, the Linux installation process makes Linux the first boot priority in the BIOS. The Linux EFI files are in the new second EFI partition, but the computer boots into it no problem. If I set the first boot priority back to BIU, then that's when I get the blank screen. According to the utility it's still trying to boot '\EFI\BOOTIT\BOOTX64.EFI'.

'Windows Boot Manager' has disappeared in the BIOS boot priority options and 'UEFI OS' now appears to be trying to boot into BUI, so I can't actually boot into Windows right now. However, the BIOS also has a boot override list, which now includes Linux, BIU and 'UEFI OS'. If I choose BIU here, it works! I can go to Windows from there and after that, "Windows Boot Manager' reappears in the BIOS.

3) So I can boot into Windows or Linux by setting them as the first boot priority in the BIOS. I can boot into BIU, but only by going into the BIOS and picking it in the boot override list. Now I try one more thing: removing the main and swap Linux partitions - converting them back to free space - but leaving the second EFI partition. I then set the first boot priority back to BIU and now it works again! The computer automatically boots into BIU as expected.

*************************

I feel I've got a good handle on what is booting when. BIU works as the first priority option, but only when those Linux partitions aren't there. It does work all the time when selected from the direct boot list in the BIOS.

Also note than when Linux is intalled and I boot into BIU via the direct boot list, Linux does not appear as an option in BIU. Is it supposed to automatically? I tried adding it manually. When I choose that option in BIU, Linux starts to boot, but very quickly aborts with the message 'Bootloader has not verified loaded image. System is compromised. halting.' Yet Linux boots perfectly fine when set as the first boot priority in the BIOS.

So that'w where I am. Any suggestions?

[TeraByte Support]

You shouldn't have two EFI System partitions, especially on the same drive. The flaw is in the Linux installer that is creating another EFI System partition for some reason. I presume there is enough free space in the existing one (make the EFI System partition 600M to 1000M).

[bj676920]

I think I tried this somewhere along the line, but I went ahead and tried it again and deleted the second EFI partition. Didn't make a difference - BIU still boots to a blank screen. Windows still works when it's the first boot priority and BIU still works when chosen from the boot direct list.