Dual boot menu no longer showing and no Ubuntu option in Boot Options

Support and Help
1

I have been operating a dual boot set up (Windows 10,Ubuntu 24.04) on my HP desktop for several months without any issues. However, this morning, when I came to boot my desktop, it automatically went to Windows, without showing a Grub Boot Menu.

I tried to solve the issue by going into UEFI settings but I no longer see a Ubuntu option. I also made sure Windows Fast Startup is turned off. I have legacy support enabled and secure boot disabled. Additionally, I checked my Windows update history and there were no updates ran in the last week.

Is there any way I can get Ubuntu back ?

Below is the Boot-Repair tool summary from help.ubuntu :

paste.ubuntu.com/p/NR25PQkHJg

Thanks guys

2

Welcome to Ubuntu Discourse.

If you can boot the computer using a liveUSB, then choose to Try Ubuntu.

Follow the instructions here to create a boot info summary and post the pastebin link back here.

Do not try the repair option, let us first see the results.

This will allow us to get a better understanding of the setup and offer solutions.

3

Thank you for your reply.

Should I use the USB I used before when I initially created the dual boot several months ago? Will I lose any of my data doing this?

4

If the USB has 24.04 on it, then yes you can use it.

No, you will not lose any data so long as you choose to Try Ubuntu rather than installing.

To download and run the boot info script you will need to be connected to the internet.

5

If you follow the suggestion to Create BootInfo Summary suggested in post 2, it will not make any changes. It will simply create a text file with information on your system and give you a link which you can post here so that members who have more knowledge of Grub can view it and make suggestions. That is why it was suggested to NOT do any repairs. Any yes, you can use the Ubuntu usb you used to install Ubuntu with the Try Ubuntu option. You need to set up your internet connection for it to work obviously.

6

Thank you.

https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/NR25PQkHJg/

I installed the Boot-Repair onto my USB and booted my desktop from the USB. Above is the paste.

I followed the instruction for Boot-repair, and did not need to use my old USB with Ubuntu.

Should I carry out the recommended repairs?

7

You have Windows 10 on nvme0n1p3
Ubuntu 24.04 on a separate disk sdb4

Power off the PC
Power on and immediately tap F9 repeatedly to access PC boot menu
Do you see Ubuntu?

9

Ubuntu is not listed in Boot Options

10

Power on PC
Tap repeatedly F10 to access UEFI (BIOS) settings
Disable Legacy Support
Power off and Power on
Tap repeatedly F10 to access UEFI (BIOS) settings
System Configuration > Boot Options > OS Boot manager (under UEFI Boot Order)
What do you see here?

12

IMG_2918
IMG_29181920×1440 259 KB

13

Starting at line 132, I do not see an ubuntu entry in UEFI? Not sure how that would get erased. But you need a full reinstall, not update of grub. It looks like Boot-Repair is suggesting that, but Boot-Repair has a full un-install & reinstall of grub in its advanced options. I might also update kernel as that may do more updates. https://sourceforge.net/p/boot-repair/home/Home/ If given option be sure to choose ESP - efi system partition on your Linux drive, not the NVMe Windows drive. Drive may change from sda to sdb or back depending on if USB drive connected or not, always check first. And HP requires you to go into system settings to change boot order.

14

Ubuntu is either on:-

  • SATA0:WDC etc
  • SATA1:WDC etc

Select one or the other and see if it boots?

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15

So I followed @tea-for-one 's advice and selected the WDC and booted. I was able to get into Ubuntu, with all my data. My only question now is how do I ensure this doesnt happen again, and should I still go ahead and reinstall Grub as per @oldfred 's advice ?

16

Ubuntu is on which WDC disk?
Can you move it above Windows in your UEFI boot order settings?

Also, you will need to edit your grub file to add Windows Boot Manager
sudo nano /etc/default/grub

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu # change hidden to menu
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 # change 0 to 10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`( . /etc/os-release; echo ${NAME:-Ubuntu} ) 2>/dev/null || echo Ubuntu`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false # add this line

sudo update-grub

17

They both had the same name in Boot Options (F9). Once I selected the second, the Boot Options automatically changed back to how they were before, with Ubuntu being the top choice.

Thanks for your help @tea-for-one, I owe you one big time.

1 Like