Lenovo ThinkCentre M91P - "Error 1962: No operating system found" after successful 24.04.5 LTS install

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Ubuntu Version

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Desktop Environment (if applicable)

Other

Problem Description

I am entirely unable to boot into Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS after what appears to be a completely successful installation process.
Every time the installation finishes, I am prompted to remove the USB and reboot. Upon rebooting, the PC emits a single normal POST “beep”, but the BIOS immediately throws an “Error 1962: No operating system found” screen. The BIOS does not seem to create or recognize any “ubuntu” entry in the Primary Boot Sequence, showing only the hardware name of the SSD. The system is completely unusable.

Relevant System Information

OS: Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS (amd64)
Machine: Lenovo ThinkCentre M91P (7034A2G)
Motherboard/BIOS: Lenovo BIOS Revision Level 9HKT47AUS (Date: 01/10/2012)
Target Drive (Disk 1): HP SSD S700 500GB (SATA) - The drive selected for the OS.
Secondary Drive (Disk 2): WDC WD5000AADS-00S9B0 500GB
Installation Media: Kingston DataTraveler 3.0 USB drive (created with Rufus 4.15)

Error Messages / Logs

Error 1962: No operating system found. Boot sequence will automatically repeat.

What I’ve Tried

Attempt 1: Pure UEFI Installation
Flashed USB with Rufus (Partition Scheme: GPT, Target System: UEFI non-CSM).
Set Lenovo BIOS Startup Boot Mode strictly to [UEFI].
Booted USB, selected “Erase disk and install Ubuntu” on the HP SSD.
Installation completed perfectly.
Result: Error 1962 upon reboot. No “ubuntu” entry in BIOS boot order.
Attempt 2: Legacy / MBR / CSM Installation
Knowing this 2012 Lenovo motherboard has a notoriously buggy UEFI, I reflashed the USB with Rufus (Partition Scheme: MBR, Target System: BIOS or UEFI).
Set Lenovo BIOS Startup Boot Mode to [Auto] (enables Legacy/CSM).
Booted into GNU GRUB menu successfully, proceeded with “Erase disk and install” on the HP SSD.
Installation completed (shutdown logs showed normal “Could not detach loopback…”).
Forced reboot, removed USB, checked BIOS (Boot Mode still [Auto], HP SSD at priority 1:).
Result: Error 1962 again.
I am certain I am targeting the correct SSD. I have also tried adding/removing drives from the “Excluded from boot order” BIOS list to force a refresh, with no luck. The BIOS refuses to recognize either the EFI bootloader or the MBR boot code written by the installer.

2

Lenovo have security options in the UEFI settings, perhaps you need to disable them e.g.

Secure Boot
TPM (Trusted Platform Module)
TCG (Trusted Computing Group)
PTT (Platform Trust Technology)
FTPM (Firmware Trusted Platform Module)
TPT (Trust Platform Technology)
PSP (Platform Security Processor)
Device Guard (some Lenovo devices)
OS Optimised Defaults (some Lenovo devices)
Lock UEFI BIOS Settings
Boot Order Lock

1 Like
3

I encountered this situation 10 years ago when I installed a second HDD in my Lenovo K450e desktop. At that time this was a behavior specific to Lenovo machines pre-installed with Windows 10. The solution for me was on the old ubuntuforums; not sure if the information has been migrated to this platform. But I kept a hard copy of the relevant discussion and here is what it says:

Your efi partition should have these folders:

/EFI/Boot

/EFI/Microsoft/Boot

/EFI/ubuntu

And in each you have grubx64.efi and have secure boot off in UEFI. 

Then in Boot you rename grubx64.efi to bootx64.efi and in Microsoft/Boot rename grubx64.efi to bootmgfw.efi

The post also mentions

Run the summary report in Boot-Repair just so we can see the configuration. Post link to report.

I don’t have any notes on this and I don’t remember ever using it.

Please be very careful in attempting changes like this. This information is very old and certainly specific to my system, which of course at that time came with Windows 10 pre-installed. Your setup may be completely different. Moderators please remove if inappropriate or judged potentially damaging.

More recent discussions of similar topics:

Good luck.