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I just installed ubuntu on my GF's computer, after the installation, as always he said me to remove the instal CD, so I do it, then I got a message "no boot device". So I just ran a live CD, I installed boot repair and I rebooted after he's job was complete. Now, when I start the PC, I get a message "Default Boot Device Missing or Boot failed, insert Recovrery Media and Hit any key" here, if I press ok, I'm able to chose a boot device, there is 2 :

  1. Unknow Device: ("the name of the HDD")
  2. Windows Boot Manager: ("the name of the HDD, exactly the same")

if I chose the first, I'm able to run ubuntu, but why there is still windows boot manager whereas I completely removed windows ? Then, I just want the PC normally boot on linux, without any "missing boot device" or anything.

Valkas Ironhorn
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    Please post the URL that Boot Repair provided, as that will contain vital technical information. Beyond that, it's clear that you're running an EFI-based computer. Such computers store boot loaders on the EFI System Partition (ESP) and store pointers to those boot loaders in NVRAM. It's this NVRAM list that generates the boot menu you describe. This list has clearly not been updated since Windows was removed (and the ESP might not have been blanked, as well), which is why you still see a Windows entry. – Rod Smith Sep 13 '15 at 18:51
  • Ok understood thanks for answering. Here is the URL from boot repair : http://paste.ubuntu.com/12399934/ – Valkas Ironhorn Sep 13 '15 at 20:30

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It should be booting after Boot Repair has done its thing. You've probably got a defective EFI on your hands. I recommend you check your manufacturer's site for an updated EFI (it will probably be called a "BIOS update" or something similar). If you find one, update the firmware and then try running Boot Repair again. I don't actually hold out much hope that this will work, but it might. One complication with this advice is that you may need to be booted into Windows to update the firmware, so you may need to get it working well enough to boot before you can do this. Other times, though, you can update the firmware using the firmware's own setup utility -- you'll just need to write the setup files to a USB flash drive from another computer.

If that doesn't work, then my next suggestion is to disable Secure Boot, download the USB flash drive or CD-R version of my rEFInd boot manager, prepare a boot medium, and boot with it. This should enable you to boot either Ubuntu or Windows. Boot Windows, open an Administrator Command Prompt window, and type:

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi

This creates a boot entry from Windows, which is occasionally more reliable than doing the job from Linux. If it works, you can re-enable Secure Boot.

If that doesn't work, then my (almost) final suggestion is to run Boot Repair again, but enter the Advanced menu and select the option to back up and rename boot loaders. (I don't recall the precise phrasing, but it should be obvious.) Run the repair with that option selected. This enables an ugly hack to work around the ugly EFI bug that's causing your problem.

Really, though, if you have to resort to that last option, your computer is broken. As in, broken so badly that it should be returned to the manufacturer as defective. If the computer is new enough to qualify for an in-store return, I suggest you do just that, then write to the manufacturer to report the reason for the return. Without such returns, and knowing the reason for them, manufacturers will continue to ship broken firmware.

Rod Smith
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