3

I have legacy boot in my HDD, and after I enabled fast boot, my keyboard gets disabled during boot so i cannot access my BIOS setting. Is there a way I can maybe disable it(fastboot) without accessing BIOS.

Deva
  • 67
  • Why ask here? You don't mention any OS, however the fast boot reminds me of an off-topic OS. https://askubuntu.com/help/on-topic – guiverc Sep 18 '20 at 07:00
  • This has nothing to do with Ubuntu. Access to a BIOS is always possible; you just have to press the correct key and be quick enough. And yes, the correct key depends in your motherboard brand and the time to press it is also different :) "my keyboard gets disabled during boot" so that is a wireless one? change the keyboard to a wired one? – Rinzwind Sep 18 '20 at 07:00
  • @Rinzwind thats just it both my keyboard and mouse get disabled during bootup. – Deva Sep 18 '20 at 07:05
  • @Rinzwind i searched the internet :Boot from Network, Optical, and Removable Devices are disabled during fast boot – Deva Sep 18 '20 at 07:06
  • @guiverc where do i post it? – Deva Sep 18 '20 at 07:07
  • Up to you, I've already posted a link to the Stack Exchange sites available, are you asking me to post it again? https://askubuntu.com/help/on-topic (see the another Stack Exchange site detail on that page; I've never thought about hardware questions on SE so can't advise further sorry) – guiverc Sep 18 '20 at 07:09
  • If your BIOS refuses all wired keyboard input during early boot, then you have a motherboard problem, not an Ubuntu issue. If you have a FastBoot problem, that's a Windows support question; not an Ubuntu issue. – user535733 Sep 18 '20 at 14:37
  • Often full cold boot/power shutdown causes a normal boot and then you have time to press keys. http://askubuntu.com/questions/652966/unable-to-access-bios-menu-after-installing-windows-8/653006#653006 – oldfred Sep 18 '20 at 14:53

1 Answers1

4

Three possibilities:

  1. Reboot into UEFI settings

Assuming that your machine still boots, you could try and reboot your current OS into the UEFI settings. This is possible on Windows (but off-topic here). On GNU/Linux systems, try:

sudo systemctl reboot --firmware-setup

And then reset the fastboot option. Note that this does not work for all UEFI firmware, depending on the quality of the implementation.

  1. Change the grub default

Another way to get out of this catch 22 would be altering the grub default. Run:

grep -e "^menuentry " /boot/grub/grub.cfg

and see if it has UEFI Firmware Settings. IF it does, count the menuentries starting from 0. Then edit the default that grub will boot:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

(or use vi instead of nano) and set the GRUB_DEFAULT= to the value you counted. Run

sudo update-grub

To 'set' the default option you'll boot the next time. You could even select that OS from Redmond and try your luck there. Once in the UEFI setup, disable FastBoot, save and reboot, select Ubuntu, en reset the default in /etc/default/grub back to the old value (0, probably). (Don't forget update-grub). Again, this will probably only work on decent UEFI implementations.

A side note: On dual boot systems, I set GRUB_DEFAULT=saved and add a line GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true. This will make grub remember what was started last - handy when Windows wants to endlessly restart during major updates.

  1. Hardware-reset the UEFI settings

If all else fails: refer to your hardware manual looking for BIOS setup reset (usually involves opening the case, removing the battery, placing a jumper, removing it and restarting). All UEFI/BIOS settings will be lost - do this only if you know how the UEFI is configured now - if, for example, your SATA controller was set to something other than the default, you'll have trouble accessing the contents of your harddisk(s). (Mainly you get to choose between RST, AHCI and IDE (or legacy or whatever), with AHCI the most likely one.)

Adriaan
  • 322
  • I tried it out, it returns Cannot indicate to EFI to boot into setup mode: Firmware does not support boot into firmware. – Deva Sep 19 '20 at 08:14
  • Assuming your computer is not too old and/or you still have UEFI enabled (along legacy BIOS, because that's how you boot your HD, you say in your question), you could try one other thing (number 2) as outlined in todays edit of my answer. And, of course, option 3 is still on the table. Good luck! – Adriaan Sep 19 '20 at 09:08
  • 1
    Brainwave: what would happen if you pulled all SATA cables and USB sticks? The machine would not be able to boot and hopefully start the UEFI setup? Worth a try? – Adriaan Sep 19 '20 at 09:11