Ubuntu – BIOS not seeing Ubuntu installed on Acer Aspire ES1-132. Can boot via grub cli

aceraspireboot-partitiongrub2partitioning

(Lots of info in the title so that other people with the same problem may find it.)

I bought an Acer Aspire ES1-132, knowing that installing Linux might be a bit of a hassle.

What I have done so far:

  • Updated BIOS (InsydeH20) to version 1.09.
  • Disabled "Secure Boot" in BIOS.
  • Ran the Ubuntu Live-USB and installed on the HDD (eMMC).
  • Did not use guided partitioning and created 3 partitions according to
    this guide: How to use manual partitioning during installation?
  • Got "No bootable device" on startup.

This is where I am:
If I start the computer with the live-usb I can access the grub cli (c key at the usb boot loader menu) and by running these commands I can mount access the installed Ubuntu desktop, seemingly without other problems:

set root=(hd1,2)
linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/mmcblk0p2
initrd /initrd.img
boot

And if I just put the computer in sleep mode it "starts" as usual. The annoying thing is having to carry a usb-drive around every time I need to restart the thing.

If I run lsblk I get:

NAME           MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINT
mmcblk0rpmb    179:24   0    4M  0 disk  
mmcblk0boot0   179:8    0    4M  1 disk  
mmcblk0boot1   179:16   0    4M  1 disk  
mmcblk0        179:0    0 58,2G  0 disk  
├─mmcblk0p2    179:2    0 18,6G  0 part  /
├─mmcblk0p3    179:3    0 35,8G  0 part  /home
└─mmcblk0p1    179:1    0  3,8G  0 part  
  └─cryptswap1 253:0    0  3,8G  0 crypt [SWAP]

and df:

Filesystem          1K-blocks    Used Available Use% Mounted on
udev                  1913736       0   1913736   0% /dev
tmpfs                  387044    6472    380572   2% /run
/dev/mmcblk0p2       19091584 5867364  12231352  33% /
tmpfs                 1935208   63800   1871408   4% /dev/shm
tmpfs                    5120       4      5116   1% /run/lock
tmpfs                 1935208       0   1935208   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mmcblk0p3       36819652  872108  34054168   3% /home
tmpfs                  387044      12    387032   1% /run/user/121
tmpfs                  387044      92    386952   1% /run/user/1000
/home/jens/.Private  36819652  872108  34054168   3% /home/jens

So when I restart the computer I get a "No bootable device".

What I have tried that didn't work:

  • Set "trusted file" (or whatever it's called) in the BIOS, since that option isn't available to me, even after setting supervisor password.
  • Running boot-repair, when I do I can no longer use the method I have now to access the OS.

Any suggestions?

Best Answer

Many thanks fpl2 - you gave me vital info that I've been after having had a few runs at this.

Note all of this was done with Secure Boot disabled and starting with USB boot at top of list as bootable devices.

I managed to do a clean minimal install of Ubuntu 18.04 with a live USB stick on my Acer Aspire ES1-132-C8WF. This time, though, without requiring REFIND, I found that after my install if I run the Ubuntu installation USB again, then run a live session (Try Ubuntu) and do the following in a terminal (you obviously could do this in 3 or 4 commands, but this lets you see the manual steps as you go):

sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt
cd /mnt
ls
cd EFI
ls
sudo mkdir Microsoft
cd Microsoft
sudo mkdir Boot
cd Boot
sudo cp -r /mnt/EFI/ubuntu/* .
sudo mv shimx64.efi bootmgfw.efi

and hey presto! it boots, and the 'Windows Boot Manager' magically puts 'Windows Boot' (which is now actually Ubuntu 18.04) to the top of the list in the F2 boot menu.

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