Computer does not start without USB stick inserted

Support and Help
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1

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

We built a new tabletop computer with my son and few weeks everything worked well.

Today we faced a new weird issue. When we tried to start the computer it did freeze immediately. We could not even get into BIOS. Lights did come on and fans started. That’s it. No response to any keys.

When we inserted USB stick with Ubuntu 24.04 in it, the computer started without any issues. It did not start USB stick Ubuntu, it just started as it used to do before, SSD Ubuntu. Everything works well and all the discs are available without issues.

But, if we remove USB stick then it freeze again in startup. No access to BIOS.

Ubuntu is updated.

What could cause this weird issue and how to fix it?

Thanks!

2

First guess:- Hardware fault, possibly power supply?

Try to boot into the USB again
When you reach the desktop in a live session, open a terminal and enter

sudo systemctl reboot --firmware-setup

This should reboot into UEFI settings
Have a look around to see if any option needs attention.

3

Hi,

Thanks!

We were able to reboot into BIOS and checked UEFI settings. Everything seems to be fine.

We have one extra old power supply and will check if that will solve the issue. That will go to tomorrow. I will keep you updated.

Answer appreciated!

4

Your USB booted OK, which indicates that the motherboard and USB ports are working.
Have you checked that your internal disk is securely attached?

By the way, if you remove internal and external disks, then the PC should boot to firmware (UEFI settings) because there is no alternative.

Having removed all disks and being unable to boot to UEFI/BIOS settings would indicate a motherboard problem?

5

UEFI has a fast boot setting.
That assumes everything is the same, and immediately boots. Often so quickly you have no time to press any key to get into UEFI/BIOS settings or choose one time boot.
Check UEFI settings and if fast boot on turn it off.

You can check boot configuration with one report from Boot-Repair. I often run report just to document my system.
Lets see details on your configuration. Please copy & paste the pastebin link to the BootInfo summary report ( do not post report), do not run the auto fix till reviewed.
Use often updated ppa version with your USB installer or any working install over somewhat older ISO or run update in ISO to make it current.
Boot-Repair - Community Help Wiki &
https://sourceforge.net/p/boot-repair/home/Home/

6

Make sure that your BIOS/UEFI has the internal disk set as the first choice for boot priority.

Unplug any USB drives.

Then boot.

If still issue and no joy,

  • Boot from Live ISO

and run

update-grub

Reboot again.

If still issue and no joy, Create a bootable image of Boot Repair and

  • Boot from BootRepair

to perform the repair operations, by following the instructions.

If still issue and no joy, you need to perform a full re-install, along with, possibly, :frowning:

  • re-formatting of disk, and
  • rebuilding of partition tables.

Does anyone know if the following is a better alternative over (or is it the same as) the above-mentionned Boot Repair:

  • ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
7

Thanks!

We will try all of these, but crazy thing is that I found 2015 USB stick with nothing in it and inserted it to PC, and it starts without issues :rofl: But, if we remove the USB stick then it just hangs. In BIOS first startup option is internal SSD drive.

8

The Boot-Repair ppa is the current version. And ppa can be added to most live installers.

I recently ran the ISO from Boot-Repair and it now offer an update, so it then is also the most current version. But you must run update.

1 Like
9

Hi,

We installed Boot Repair from link above and run it with recommended options. PC starts now without USB hack. Problem has been fixed.

In the end warp did not claim our PC :sunglasses: Emperor Protects!

EDIT: Just to be clear we did not make bootable image. We just installed the Boot Repair to our computer and run it. It automatically fixed boot issue and after restart everything was fine. Very easy!

sudo apt install -y wget;
wget -O- https://sourceforge.net/projects/boot-repair/files/key.gpg | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/boot-repair.gpg;
echo 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/boot-repair.gpg] https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/yannubuntu/boot-repair/ubuntu noble main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/boot-repair.list;
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y boot-repair

…and run the program, choose recommended option and after the program did it’s magik then restart.

There were few notices and we chose “Yes” to all.

1 Like
10

Thanks!

I will try all of these

11

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