[SOLVED] Need to access UEFI BIOS, can't get in anymore...

Hi all...

I have a very cheap Evolve III Maestro that I got as a toy/learning tool. My main laptop died a quick death the other day so this one is acting as my main until I fix or replace the other one.

In my attempt to get everything working, I was looking in BIOS. I noticed an option somewhere (AMI BIOS) to choose between different operating systems. It was set to Windows. I figured, why not change it to Linux, that maybe it would help the OS (Mint Cinnamon) detect the audio. Now whenever the laptop is powered on or reboots, I get a black screen until the Mint splash appears. My previous method of getting into BIOS (repeatedly hitting the ESC key) no longer works.

I tried this:

systemctl reboot --firmware-setup

...and it just shuts down to a black screen. Nothing else happened after several minutes. I hit the power button and was able to boot back into Mint, but I NEED to get back into BIOS to change the boot order, as right now it skips over USB and just boots straight from the built-in MMC.

Edit: It seems as though the command line option went...somewhere. Almost as if it went to BIOS, but the screen was turned off.

Any assistance whatsoever would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
JP

Originally Posted by jonrpick Hi all... I have a very cheap Evolve III Maestro that I got as a toy/learning tool. My main laptop died a quick death the other day so this one is acting as my main until I fix or replace the other one. In my attempt to get everything working, I was looking in BIOS. I noticed an option somewhere (AMI BIOS) to choose between different operating systems. It was set to Windows. I figured, why not change it to Linux, that maybe it would help the OS (Mint Cinnamon) detect the audio. Now whenever the laptop is powered on or reboots, I get a black screen until the Mint splash appears. My previous method of getting into BIOS (repeatedly hitting the ESC key) no longer works. I tried this: systemctl reboot --firmware-setup ...and it just shuts down to a black screen. Nothing else happened after several minutes. I hit the power button and was able to boot back into Mint, but I NEED to get back into BIOS to change the boot order, as right now it skips over USB and just boots straight from the built-in MMC. Edit: It seems as though the command line option went...somewhere. Almost as if it went to BIOS, but the screen was turned off.

A quick search indicates you can press F2 while the system is powering on/booting, and BIOS will come up.

Originally Posted by TB0ne A quick search indicates you can press F2 while the system is powering on/booting, and BIOS will come up.

Just tried that... Tried F1 and Del as well to no avail.

I know it's a long shot, but is there a way to access UEFI while the system is booted up?

Originally Posted by jonrpick Just tried that... Tried F1 and Del as well to no avail. I know it's a long shot, but is there a way to access UEFI while the system is booted up?

No. I'd look at your owners manual for the key-combination to use to get into BIOS.

Originally Posted by TB0ne No. I'd look at your owners manual for the key-combination to use to get into BIOS.

Unfortunately there's no manual. This is one of those $79 Micro Center educational laptop for kids. Really low end, MMC instead of a HDD or SSD, RAM soldered in. No manual came with it.

post the contents of /etc/default/grub

Originally Posted by jonrpick Unfortunately there's no manual. This is one of those $79 Micro Center educational laptop for kids. Really low end, MMC instead of a HDD or SSD, RAM soldered in. No manual came with it.

And have you tried a search engine for the manual??? Putting "Evolve III Maestro user manual" into a search engine pulls up lots.

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859 post the contents of /etc/default/grub

Here you go...

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in this file, see:
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

Comment out the GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden line by changing to this:

#GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden

run

sudo update-grub

reboot, this should give you the grub menu.
At the grub menu press c for grub> prompt

grub>fwsetup

also change GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 to
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
before running sudo update-grub

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859 Comment out the GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden line by changing to this: #GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden run sudo update-grub reboot, this should give you the grub menu. At the grub menu press c for grub> prompt grub>fwsetup

also change GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 to GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 before running sudo update-grub

Ok, I did all of this... no change. After a reboot, I popped in a bootable Fedora USB stick. During the boot process, the LED did not flash on the USB stick even one time, until Cinnamon was almost up and running (off the internal drive).

So I've re-examined what's happening. Upon a fresh boot, the screen goes completely dark, meaning the backlight on the screen is off. It doesn't even power on until after the OS on the internal drive starts loading.

I believe access to BIOS/UEFI is still there, and I believe the GRUB menu is there. But I believe that neither can be seen due to the screen being powered off.

Now I'm wondering why choosing a Linux option in the BIOS would disable the screen until the OS begins loading. There was another option I changed, I believe pertaining to audio. Audio was the last hurdle to getting this laptop fully functional without external USB devices connected.

I'm at a loss... Now I'm wondering if there's a method to reset BIOS to factory settings without actually getting in there.

(Sigh)

Change
#GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
To
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu
Run sudo update-grub
Reboot

Were you not able to find any helpful suggestions in the user manuals for your computer online?

You changed an option in the BIOS but did not take note of it? Were you not already booting/using Linux Mint? Definitely need to note changes in the BIOS for reasons which should be obvious now. Resetting to factory defaults may be possible but I'm sure that will be the end of your Linux Mint install unless if was preinstalled. There are quite a number of sites showing manuals for the device you are using and that would seem to be the next best step.

Originally Posted by yancek Were you not able to find any helpful suggestions in the user manuals for your computer online? You changed an option in the BIOS but did not take note of it? Were you not already booting/using Linux Mint? Definitely need to note changes in the BIOS for reasons which should be obvious now. Resetting to factory defaults may be possible but I'm sure that will be the end of your Linux Mint install unless if was preinstalled. There are quite a number of sites showing manuals for the device you are using and that would seem to be the next best step.

The "manuals" I've seen for this model online are all basically quick-start guides. After page 1, they get into logging into and configuring Wifi on Windows 10. I'll keep looking, but so far I've yet to see one that mentioned BIOS or anything else regarding the hardware. I do plan to pop the bottom off and see if there's a CMOS battery that can be pulled.

In all of my years of changing BIOS settings (35+) I've never seen anything like this. Call it overconfidence...

I fail to see how resetting BIOS would wipe the Mint installation, but I'm not worried about it. That's a 10-15min fix/change. And this machine is a toy for me. Although my main laptop suddenly had a main board failure last week, so for now this is it until the new board arrives. This one does boot to Mint, and I'm typing on it now. I was actually going to install Fedora when all of this happened, so I'm not tied to any particular distro on this laptop. I'm a Debian fan otherwise.

Thanks

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859 Change #GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden To GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu Run sudo update-grub Reboot

No change... After the first set of changes there was a noticeable delay before the boot process. I assume that to be the additional 10 seconds added to the timeout.