#GRUB menu not installing correctly

62 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

upper wyvern
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Description
I had installed Linux mint on an external USB hard drive. But due to it being slow I Uninstalled it and went back to windows. When I did this. The grub menu stayed but was different. It now said GNU GRUB version 2.12. I reinstalled Linux directly onto my hard drive as a dual boot setup and it still booted into GNU grub. I tried to create a new grub menu but with the command "grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg. and it says default grub not found. I am not sure how to fix this and I just want the default grub menu back

Steps to reproduce

  1. Install Linux mint on an external hard drive.
  2. remove external hard drive and use computer in windows as normal. (This is when the GNU GRUB menu showed up)
  3. Install Linux mint onto the internal C drive. In a separate partition.

Expected behavior
The regular grub boot menu would appear on startup
Actual behavior
The GNU GRUB menu appears on startup

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hard wolf
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boot live, and use the boot repair app included in the apps menu

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these situations when installing to any external drive, you really TRULY should remove the internal drive temporarily. one screw and out.

upper wyvern
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By boot live you mean to boot from the USB that has Linux flashed onto it?

And that's good to know thank you

hard wolf
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yep

upper wyvern
hard wolf
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ok now go into BIOS

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see if UEFI boot list priority has 'ubuntu' in it. then move it to top.

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forget about external drive, just the 2 OS on the internal drive now

hard wolf
upper wyvern
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There's 2 ubuntu's in boot priority. I do not have the external drive plugged into the system. One of them is already on top. I'll switch it with the other one and see if that changes anything

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(Thank you for the help by the way)

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It now boots directly into Linux without the grub menu!

hard wolf
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ok in linux now, search disks in start menu

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open it, and show the internal drive

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do u see a big NTFS partition, which is where Windows would be

upper wyvern
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The seagate portable is a different external drive.

And I do see that partition. It's the third one

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hard wolf
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well your Windows is still there. in partition 3

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select partition 5

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then read the bottom text for "Partition Type"

upper wyvern
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It says EFI system

hard wolf
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ok so u have two EFI partitions rn on same drive.

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not the best, but maybe can be fixed

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open terminal, and do efibootmgr and show

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also disconnect the other hard drive. no need to have it in right now

hard wolf
upper wyvern
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Alright. Here's what it pulled up.
It has the long windows boot manager alongside two ubuntus

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hard wolf
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boot current is 3

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so bad one is 4

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note the hard drive has very long ID

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starting with ce1

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to remove bad one, do sudo efibootmgr -b 0004 -B

upper wyvern
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Alright. Done. Now there's only boot 0000 and boot 0003

hard wolf
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do sudo os-prober

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only nvme drive should be in.

upper wyvern
hard wolf
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do sudo nano /etc/default/grub

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what's it say for timeout; and timeout_style?

upper wyvern
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Timeout says 10. Timeout style =menu

hard wolf
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do you want less than 10 seconds to choose options?

upper wyvern
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That should be fine tbh

hard wolf
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ok close . (ctrl-x)

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do sudo update-grub

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watch if it adds windows

upper wyvern
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It just says default grub not found

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hard wolf
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must put dash

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nvm

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do boot repair again. do NOT have external hdd connected.

upper wyvern
hard wolf
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btw dont use that pastebin, it's junk

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i can never see it.

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do a reboot, remove usb stick n see what happens

upper wyvern
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Oh fair enough. Sorry

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We are back to GNU GRUB

hard wolf
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if it's just grub>*

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then type normal and press enter

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or try exit

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also, try starting Windows using your BIOS key or Boot Menu key as soon as you power-on.