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Currently I have installed Manjaro, but have access to GRUB before loading the OS, my USB is recognized, but it won't boot from it, even if I manually select it.

I've tried using different programs on another Windows machine to make the USB bootable with Windows and tried 4 ISOs using different partition types (MBR/GPT) and it still won't boot from it. I thought of fully resetting the BIOS, but I can't do it since my laptop (Innjoo Leapbook M100) doesn't have a CMOS battery and frankly, I don't think it's necessary since if I put Manjaro on a USB again, I can fully boot and install it, so it works fine.

Things I've tried to make it boot from the USB:

  • Format the drive in FAT32 and put a W7 on it. It recognizes it, but it still won't boot from it.
  • I tried the "GPT partition scheme for UEFI" and the format for my W10 .iso auto-changes to FAT32, but the same thing happens as in W7.
  • I've also tried Unetbootin, Universal USB Installer and Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool.
  • I've tried to put W10 and W7 using Rufus as well.
  • If I use NTFS format for W10 using Rufus, it doesn't recognize it, therefor it doesn't boot from it.
  • I tried putting the W10 using DD on Manjaro. It still wouldn't recognize it.
  • The last thing I tried is putting the W10 on a USB with the official W10 tool from Microsoft that downloads and puts it on the USB. It recognizes it, but it still won't boot so I can install it.

Additional information:

  • When I was installing Manjaro, I had to use Rufus with the DD Image option.
  • My BIOS has only 3 tabs: "Main", "Boot" and "Save and Exit" (Aptio Setup Utility - American Megatrends). There is no way to set up things like "Legacy mode", nor is the "Fast boot" option enabled.

I found this, but I don't know how to do it for a Windows. How do I do that (using GRUB 2.02)?

Doombringer
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1 Answers1

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From grub type: ls (that is an L) to list your devices.

Assuming that your USB shows up as (hd1) and there is only 1 partition type:
chainloader (hd1,1)+1
boot

ravery
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  • When I type ls, I get (hd0) (hd0,msdos1) (hd1) (hd1,gpt3) (hd1,gpt2) (hd1,gpt1) (hd2) (hd3). I'm assuming (hd0,msdos1) is my USB containing the W10.

    Would this be correct chainloader (hd0,msdos1)+1 and then boot ?

    I'd try it myself, but I don't want to mess it up since I not very good with Linux, let alone GRUB, I figured it'd be safer to ask first.

     – Doombringer Jul 07 '17 at 18:51
  • yes, that would be the way – ravery Jul 07 '17 at 18:52
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    OK. Will try that. Should I still install vmlinuz and initrd somehow or do they come installed? If I only put chainloader (hd0,msdos1)+1 I get an error saying "invalid EFI file path". – Doombringer Jul 07 '17 at 18:55
  • that is your boot error, is there an efi folder on it? you need an efi version of windows installer vmlinuz and initrd.img are for linux booting – ravery Jul 07 '17 at 19:08
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    On the USB? If, so, then Yes. It's in "/efi/boot/bootia32.efi". I was thinking, am I supposed to put "chainloader (hd0,msdos1)+1 root=/efi/boot"? or "chainloader (hd0,msdos1)+1 root=/dev/sda/sda1/efi/boot"? Also, there's a file called "bootmgr.efi" in the main folder outside of everything on the USB. – Doombringer Jul 07 '17 at 19:12
  • you have a 32 bit installer, is the computer 64 bit? chainloader takes care of that – ravery Jul 07 '17 at 19:15
  • Yes, the computer is 64bit. – Doombringer Jul 07 '17 at 19:16
  • theoretically 32-bit can run on 64-bit systems but, your EFI implementation may force you to get a 64-bit installer, it is looking for /efi/boot/bootx64.efi – ravery Jul 07 '17 at 19:17
  • Would it give me some sort of error or message that it's required to be a 64 bit installer? – Doombringer Jul 07 '17 at 19:19
  • nope just ignores it as not bootable – ravery Jul 07 '17 at 19:19
  • That's unfortunate. Can I force it to take the 32 bit or should I get the 64 bit? I wanted to get the 32 bit hoping that it would use less RAM. – Doombringer Jul 07 '17 at 19:20
  • considering the benefits of 64-bit, I'd look for a 64-bit EFI installer, should be easier to find that the 32-bit efi installer was – ravery Jul 07 '17 at 19:22
  • OK. I'll do that and post the results. – Doombringer Jul 07 '17 at 19:23
  • I just tried with the 64 bit and I got the same error ("invalid EFI file path") and I do have the "bootx64.efi" file in the "/efi/boot" folder. – Doombringer Jul 07 '17 at 20:17
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    try chainloader (hd0,1)/efi/boot/bootx64.efi (note: it may be case sensitive) – ravery Jul 07 '17 at 20:21
  • You won't believe it, but I won't have to. I setup the boot order for the Nth time in the BIOS and this time, it booted the Windows x64 bit installer from the USB! Will be installing it now. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for sparing time to help me out. <3 – Doombringer Jul 07 '17 at 20:26
  • no problem, you may have to set grub up again after installing. turn off fast boot and hibernate inside windows after it is installed – ravery Jul 07 '17 at 20:30
  • I would like to echo @DoombringerBG 's sentiments and also thank you @ravery . I spent some tens of hours working trying to get an old Mac booting Ubuntu again from a USB, with no progress. The problem was that the "Install Ubuntu" option to boot was not appearing after the post-Bios boot options. I tried everything with Grub2 to make it boot from the USB. For clarity, what finally worked was: 1) set root='hd[something],[some partition]' 2) chainloader (hd0,1)/efi/boot/bootx64.efi # crux move by @ravery 3) boot, and the Installer appeared on the boot menu! – ximiki Jan 18 '20 at 21:29
  • Note that the error I was getting was something like "error: invalid EFI file path" after chainloader +1. Step 2 of my previous comment fixed the problem. – ximiki Jan 18 '20 at 21:34
  • I get an error: you need to load the kernel first. I'm trying to load a 32 bit Windows USB installer. – user1768761 Apr 10 '21 at 19:08