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I don't have a BootLoader on my hard drive (i.e. no other operating system - i.e. no Windows - it is an HP ProBook 6470b). I loaded Ubuntu 16.4 from a live USB but it won't boot from the Hard Drive (when I restart with the USB removed). When I try and boot from the hard drive (with no USB drive attached) I get the message: "no such file or directory as /boot/efi" - I suppose I need to somehow transfer the EFI Boot Loader from the USB drive to the Hard Drive. Can any kind soul help me with this - with explicit terminal commands as I am a noob to Linux. Many thanks - much appreciated - happy to send you a few hundred Satoshi's if you can help. Sincerely, DB

Duncan
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2 Answers2

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Im not entirely sure on how to lay this out but ill give it a shot.

Firstly boot into ubuntu on your live usb.

Then open a terminal and copy and paste each line individually:

"sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair && boot-repair"

After installing and running boot-repair it should give you specific instructions on what to do. Just make sure you know your drive names and partions say /dev/sda1 for example. I hope this helps. I would go into more detail but im on my phone at the moment.

Chayton smith
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  • Many thanks - greatly appreciated. I have done as you suggested but still won't boot - get "Boot Device Not Found" notice. However, I then added /boot/efi directory and now I can boot by going into bios (switch on - F2 repeat - etc) and then selecting (seriatum): "Boot from EFI file" - "select File System: ,Acpi / ......./Pci ..... /Sata (Port0)/HD (Part1, Sig ...........) - \EFI - Ubuntu - grubx64.efi - and then that boots me into Ubuntu. Sorry - all a bit complex, eh? Thanks for your help anyway. – Duncan Sep 12 '16 at 19:20
  • I know this sounds silly but is UEFI selected within the bios and not legacy? – Chayton smith Sep 12 '16 at 21:26
  • to clarify: when in Termnal, in the root directory ( " / " ) I can see that there is a boot directory, i.e. " /boot " - and then in the boot directory there is: " /boot/efi " - so the directory is there - and I seem to be able to access it during the manual boot (as described above, when I choose " Boot from EFI file " (from the options offered under the "Boot Device Options" heading - as you probably know, the full offerings under this "Boot Device Options" heading are (in order): OS Boot Manager; Boot from EFI file; Notebook Hard Drive; Notebook Upgrade Bay; Notebook Ethernet). – Duncan Sep 13 '16 at 14:32
  • /boot/efi does not exist. The directories you're looking for are located in /boot/grub/i386-pc/efiemu64.o Your installation might have stuffed up as you are missing the GRUB bootloader. Boot-repair should have fixed this. Its the only solution that i can think of other than Just re-creating a bootable USB and re-installing Ubuntu on top of your old installation. Make sure you use the proper software to create a bootable USB drive. – Chayton smith Sep 14 '16 at 03:50
  • Thanks Chayton, for your continuing help. I have tried a reinstall - did not solve the problem. I used "Unetbootin" to create the live USB - is there perhaps another one I should try? – Duncan Sep 14 '16 at 09:36
  • Ubuntu has one that comes with the os. Rufus is a good one thats available on windows. Those are the only I've had experience with i know that linuxliveusbcreator stuffs up fairly often. – Chayton smith Sep 14 '16 at 10:43
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I'm not sure if I understood it right but is sounds like your boot as a live cd but didn't install the operating system. If that's the case, you definitely don't have a bootloader either an operating system. Try to put the LiveCD again and install the system.

Adonist
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  • If trying to boot installer, you do not boot from hard drive and do not need a boot loader on hard drive. But you do need to change UEFI boot settings to allow USB to boot. You may need to turn UEFI Secure boot off (may actually say "Windows" or "Other") and/or specifically turn on allow USB ports or allow USB boot or similar settings. Check your UEFI. If still not working how did you install Ubuntu to flash drive. You must use installer, not copy ISO. Or: http://askubuntu.com/questions/395879/how-to-create-uefi-only-bootable-usb-live-media – oldfred Sep 12 '16 at 15:01
  • Many thanks for your reply. No, sorry if I did not make it clear - no problem booting and load from the live USB flash drive ("thumb drive") - and, as you will see from my reply to Chayton Smith, I can now boot from the hard drive, but only by the circuitous (manual) route indicated. Thanks once again for your time. Sincerely, Duncan – Duncan Sep 12 '16 at 19:23