So, I made my bootable EndevourOS image. I installed it on my secondary SSD, while I have Win11 on my primary SSD (need it for my job).
When I installed it I booted it up and everything was ok. A bit confusing, but ok.
Wanted to get into Windows again because I needed to work on something for a design (Adobe programs), next thing I know: my computer isn’t recognizing my Windows drive…
It’s there. I can see it on the “disks” app on EndevourOS, I can mount the disk and even see my files in there. But it just won’t boot.
Read the documentation and it mentions an “os-prober”, that I needed to change GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false in the etc/default/drub file… I don’t have that file anywhere in my system…
I installed os-prober, nothing. I searched any other folder with a similar name and checked files… The only file with a mention of os-prober is grub.d that says “if GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=xtrue then random warning”, but that is a set of instructions (i think), not the actual file.
I don’t think I should have tried EOS/Arch when I’ve been learning Linux for only 2 days, can anybody help me with this? Thank you for any answers in advance.
Others are chiming in on how to debug the issue where your Linux bootloader isn’t picking up Windows, but if you really need to access Windows for your work, you can try going into the BIOS and changing the boot order to launch from your Windows EFI partition. That usually still works even after installing Linux as its a separate EFI binary.
So wait, what happens if you (obviously) turn off the computer, unplug the second ssd, then turn on the computer? Try that and report back.
While I was trying to fix the issue all day, this comment is one of the things I tried, but when my laptop started, it just said “checking media… fail”, then getting reset into an endless loop. I said it in other comments but I think I erased an EFI partition that I shouldn’t have, I think Windows took part of my secondary SSD somehow.
hi, I think EOS uses systemd-boot as a default bootloader. so grub may not matter. I don’t have much experience with systemd-boot, but for now, you could just try and boot from the primary windows drive by pressing the BIOS key and changing the boot order (or using your motherboards‘ external drive boot button)this key is different for many motherboards, so you should check google for yours. As for systemd-boot, I don’t have much experience so I’d either google (specifying the two drives) or ask gpt. Good luck!
After reading all these comments I just decided to format all my drives and start over. I made the mistake of installing EndevourOS at 12am when the next day I had to use Windows for my job! I did enter BIOS and changed the order but not even my BIOS recognized the OS, it just said “checking media… fail” and it fell into a permanent loop. What I said in another comment was that I thought this had happened:
It’s weird, but I had Fedora installed on my secondary SSD. Apparently when I did a clean Windows install, it installed in the primary SSD but took a part of Fedora on the secondary SSD as a Windows EFI partition. Then, when I installed EOS I selected “erase the disk” for the secondary SSD. I think it erased that EFI partition and I couldn’t go back to windows, but since the primary SSD still had my files I could still see them. To be honest, something like that never happened before so I’m not even sure of what I’m saying.
I’m not even sure if that’s what happened, as I’m still not an expert in these things, but when I erased the secondary SSD there was a “EFI partition” I had not seen before.
Oof. Sounds really stressful. I hope you figure this out. Try installing refind and running “refind-install”. It searches your system for bootable disks and gives you a big menu to choose from.
At the end I just erased all my disks and started all over again :( figured it was the easiest and quickest way to deal with it because I urgently needed W11 for my job, I’ll just be more ready for next time and read more about the OS before making a move so sudden like that
Shit, it’d take me days if not weeks to get my windows install set back to how I have it. Well, I’m guessing you have a better system than I for reseting your OS from scratch.
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Consider boosting up from a live Linux(for example Ubuntu) and using boot-repair. I have had similar problems and managed to at least get the Windows boot going again.
Also are you using UEFI or MBR?
I was using UEFI I think? I used Rufus to make the bootable flash drive and it just gave me either MBR or GPT, when I selected GPT it showed me the UEFI option to the right (iirc). I spent all day seeing these comments and at the end of the day I had to delete everything in my hard drives and start over again…
It’s weird, but I had Fedora installed on my secondary SSD. Apparently when I did a clean Windows install, it installed in the primary SSD but took a part of Fedora on the secondary SSD as a Windows EFI partition. Then, when I installed EOS I selected “erase the disk” for the secondary SSD. I think it erased that EFI partition and I couldn’t go back to windows, but since the primary SSD still had my files I could still see them. To be honest, something like that never happened before so I’m not even sure of what I’m saying.
USE. SYSTEMD-BOOT. ALREADY.
This is a feature, not a bug. You have been freed from Windows!
I wish, I still need to use Adobe products for my job, not even sure if I can install Adobe products in Linux yet, I’m still learning haha!
