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[solved] Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

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Tharv93
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Joined: 2018-05-18 14:09

[solved] Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#1 Post by Tharv93 »

I have just installed Debian 9 on my Toshiba Satellite laptop. My system is UEFI. I installed with all the default settings, and partitioned my drive using the guided, use entire disk option. After initial install, my computer rebooted and my system correctly loaded. After that initial boot, now every time I try to boot up, I see a message from my BIOS stating to insert a bootable disk. I'm assuming that Grub wasn't found. Note, I made no changes whatsoever to the system before attempting to boot, after install. I installed no additional packages, and I didn't even connect to a network. I installed from the xfce disk 1, from my USB.
Last edited by Tharv93 on 2018-05-20 09:45, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Insert boots or disk firmware error upon boot

#2 Post by p.H »

Can you post the output of the following command ?

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fdisk -l
You can run it in a shell on any live system or the Debian installer in rescue mode.

Tharv93
Posts: 7
Joined: 2018-05-18 14:09

Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#3 Post by Tharv93 »

This is the output of

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fdisk -l
using my Arch install LIVE disk, on the affected PC. note: I ommited the headings "device", "start", "end", "sectors", "size", and "type" to make it a little easier to read in this format.

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Disk /dev/sda: 698.7 GiB, 750156374016 bytes, 1465149168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes/ 512 bytes

Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: B6FBF989-3414-4EE5-890B-FCDC78B4BACF


/dev/sda1          2048                1050623               1048576                  512M                EFI System
/dev/sda2          1050624           1454819327           1453768704           693.2G             Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3          1454819328      1465147391           10328064              4.9G                 Linux swap

Disk /dev/loop0: 450.4 MiB, 472313856 bytes, 922488 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


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Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#4 Post by p.H »

So this is an EFI installation.
Is EFI boot enabled and secure boot disabled in the UEFI setup ?
Does the UEFI boot menu and/or the output of efibootmgr contain a "debian" entry ?

Tharv93
Posts: 7
Joined: 2018-05-18 14:09

Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#5 Post by Tharv93 »

Secure Boot is disabled, and UEFI boot is enabled.

Output of efibootmgr on my Arch LIVE disk does not contain a Debian entry. It reads as follows:

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BootCurrent: 0003
Timeout: 2 seconds
BootOrder: 0000,0000,0004,2003,2001,2002
Boot0001* UEFI: IP6 Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller
Boot0002* UEFI: IP4 Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller
Boot0003* UEFI: TSSTcorp CDDVDW SU-208GB
Boot2001*EFI USB Device
Boot2002* EFI DVD/CDROM
Boot2003* EFI Network


What can can cause there not to be a Debian entry during a fresh installation, and how can I add it?

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Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#6 Post by p.H »

Some UEFI implementations are broken. But didn't you write that the system could boot once after installation ? Then the EFI boot entry must have been present at that time. The BootOrder variable contains 0000 twice and 0004, but there is no Boot0000 nor Boot0004 boot entry. Maybe they were deleted for some reason. No wonder why in the light of my experience I consider EFI boot unreliable.

You can create an EFI boot entry with efibootmgr (from live system is ok), or with grub-install (in Debian chroot).

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efibootmgr --verbose --create --disk /dev/sda --part 1 --loader '\EFI\debian\grubx64.efi' --label "debian"
(check the path relative to the EFI partition filesystem root first - EFI path must be in DOS/Windows format with \ instead of /)

Or you can install a copy of the GRUB EFI core image in the "removable device path" as a fallback boot loader which does not rely on an EFI boot entry.

1) Mount the EFI partition on /mnt
2) Create a /mnt/EFI/boot directory if not already present
3) Copy /mnt/EFI/debian/grubx64.efi as /mnt/EFI/boot/bootx64.efi

Tharv93
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Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#7 Post by Tharv93 »

I attempted to create a debian boot entry using

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efibootmgr
. I used the exact coding that you provided, after making sure that the path was correct for my system.

This was returned:

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EFI variables are not supported on this system.

This makes no sense to me. Now anytime I simply run efibootmgr on my live disk, I get that same return.

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Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#8 Post by p.H »

Err, if efibootmgr without argument prints the list of EFI boot variables that you posted above, EFI variables should obviously be supported. Either you booted in legacy mode (hence no /sys/firmware/efi) or /sys is not mounted.
Did you boot the Arch live in the same way ? Did you run the command from the live shell (no need to chroot, only for grub-install) ?

Maybe the Arch live can be booted either in EFI and legacy mode and the UEFI boot menu offers the two options. You must select the EFI entry.

Tharv93
Posts: 7
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Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#9 Post by Tharv93 »

Yes, I booted the Arch live as I normally do, and the same way I did previously. I did not chroot into my system, I only mounted the efi partition to verify the path was correct.

Just now, I attempted to reboot again into my Arch live, and again I ran efibootmgr. This time, it returned the boot sequence.

Attempting to create the debian entry....

This time, it seems to have worked. It returned my boot sequence again, with the debian entry as 0000.

Attempting to reboot into my system.....

Receiving the same message, "Reboot and select proper Boot Device"

I rebooted into my Arch live, ran efibootmgr again, and the Boot sequence returned, but again there is no debian boot entry. No 0000 or 0004.

I'm beginning to think the same as you, of the unreliability of UEFI.

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Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#10 Post by p.H »

Then try the fallback solution. In my experience it has proven more reliable than EFI boot entries.

Tharv93
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Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#11 Post by Tharv93 »

Okay, I tried the fallback solution and my system booted into debian. I don't understand why my boot entry was being deleted every time after reboot. I believe that was my initial problem. But then, why did my system boot correctly after the initial installation?

baffling.

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Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#12 Post by p.H »

No clue, sorry.
I just suspect some UEFI firmwares to delete boot entries considered "invalid", such as those pointing to a non-existent file. I have seen it happen once after replacing the system drive. Maybe there was a mistake in my efibootmgr parameters. Now you can boot into Debian, you can try to recreate the boot entry the regular way, by running grub-install (with no parameter), and see what happens to it.

Tharv93
Posts: 7
Joined: 2018-05-18 14:09

Re: Insert boot disk firmware error upon boot

#13 Post by Tharv93 »

Thanks for helping out. I will try that. In the meantime, my problem is solved so I will mark this thread solved.

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