How to flash BIOS without Windows - Aspire F5-572G

cluckclock

First I'll explain why I'm trying to flash my BIOS.

 

I dual-boot Windows 10 and a Ubuntu distro, Lubuntu. Lubuntu was experiencing "internal problems". One day I decided to reboot, and I was presented with this screen:

 

Failed to open \EFI\Boot\grubx64.efi - Not Found

Failed to load image \EFI\Boot\grubx64.efi - Not Found

Failed to start MokManager : Not Found

Failed to open \EFI\Boot\grub64x.efi - Not Found

Failed to load image \EFI\Boot\grubx64.efi : Not Found

start_image() returned Not Found

 

Or something like that. A few seconds after an image of a lock shows up and underneath it says, "Security Boot Fail". I was unable to access my operating systems. Using the F12 screen didn't help, either. It would try  to boot through Grub.

 

So I decided to check things out in the BIOS. I tried to trust some things with Secure Boot(I think) and change boot order. It didn't make any difference.

 

Except that the next time I logged into the BIOS,I couldn't get to lots of the options , they were as black as the text on the information page. The third time I think it  reduced my options even more. Both user and HDD passwords are set to 'clear', but the supervisor password is set. I thought of all the possible combinations that I could've entered as supervisor password, but I couldn't remember it and didn't get lucky. Also, in the middle of this mess Ubuntu went and disappeared from the F12 menu and boot order in the BIOS. When i had first installed the distro, Acer wouldn't recognize lubuntu, and I had to do some things in the BIOS that I can't remember.

 

Luckily, I could still boot Ubuntu from a live USB. I tried running boot-repair(reinstall Grub), which returned success. I tried to reboot, but I didn't get a friendlier screen. So I decided to flash my BIOS.

 

The problem is is that Acer's BIOS flash utilities are all .exe files, and of course I can't access Windows. I don't want to risk using Wine and after searching on the internet for hours, I haven't found a solution for flashing my BIOS without Windows but with only a .exe file.

 

So I've laid out my problem in front of you. Please let me know if you think BIOS flashing is completely unnecessary, but until now it seems my best lead to finding a solution to this, since changing boot order or turning off secure boot might bring me closer to solving my problem. Thanks

 

The problem with flashing my BIOS is that all the Acer BIOS versions flash through a .exe, which requires Windows to use. I don't have access to WIndows on that computer, though, nor my other installed OS. I don't want to run through Wine in case something goes wrong(as often does with Wine).

cluckclock

Thanks. I decided to do what you said(more or less) and made a bootable usb drive with Windows 10 using WinToUSB and Windows Media Creation Tool(to get ISO Image). Strangely, it didn't show up as the usb in the F12 menu. But something weird happened: While I had the USB drive plugged in, I decided to boot Windows from the menu. Usually it would give me the security boot fail screen, but instead it booted Windows on my hard drive! It did a disk check and repaired a file or directory called "System Partition". However, when I tried safe-ejecting my usb drive, it said it was being used, and I realized it was also very hot (intense use). It can be that the usb disguised itself as my Windows installation, and then booted into my Windows partition. After a few minutes I safely ejected it, with Windows still running. I will run the BIOS flash utility from Acer and will update this reply to tell how things worked out, for anyone who has the same problem. Thank you for your reply!

 

UPDATE:

 

The update went smoothly, and then booted into Windows. I decided to reboot, and found that I couldn't access the F12 menu(disabled in BIOS at default). But, I got a similar error message, but only about grubx64 - unable to open - not found. Security boot fail. I decided to check things in BIOS. Sadly, it still asked for a password. But by using the code it gives you at the end, I was able to access the BIOS. I found that pretty much all the settings I could change, and that the supervisor password was still set. Oh well, but at least I had access again. I cleared security boot settings and trusted everything under ubuntu. Then I disabled secure boot, for safe measures. I enabled f12 and then saved and exit. I immediately pressed f12, so I don't yet know what happens when I let it be, but that all matters on my boot order. I booted "Windows", and sure enough, as it used to always do, it booted into my GRUB menu. From there I could boot into ubuntu or Windows. I booted into windows since I'm not ready to face the slew of errors that I might get when I log in lubuntu. Everything works pretty much perfectly. If someone has the same problem, I'm entirely sure myself how I fixed it.

 

SECOND UPDATE:

 

If you are reading this because you have the same problem and you're an idiot like me, then you probably didn't know that the unlock password that you enter once you try entering the password 3 times, is set as your supervisor password. I'll explain:

 

When press f12, it may ask you for a password. If it does, and you didn't enter the right one after 3 times, it will give you two options. Select the first one. There, It will ask for a "unlock password". There is a string of numbers in brackets after. Go to bios-pw.org and enter that code. The site will give you the unlock password, enter it. That  password you just entered has become your supervisor password. Now you can reset your supervisor password using that code as your "current" password.

doughjohn

Hi

 

Don't quote me on this, but...

 

If you make a Windows 10 install disk, you can get an iso and create a USB or DVD I would imagine, and try that to repair windows initially.

 

Then for the really adventurous you can get to a command line with the install disk and perhaps the BIOS would run as a .exe from there, IE: as a dos proggy not needing a GUI, loaded from another source USB or whatever.

 

Of course you can try and reset the BIOS to defaults and research how to install Lubuntu and maybe, perhaps, you can recreate the boot sequence as was.

cluckclock

Thanks. I decided to do what you said(more or less) and made a bootable usb drive with Windows 10 using WinToUSB and Windows Media Creation Tool(to get ISO Image). Strangely, it didn't show up as the usb in the F12 menu. But something weird happened: While I had the USB drive plugged in, I decided to boot Windows from the menu. Usually it would give me the security boot fail screen, but instead it booted Windows on my hard drive! It did a disk check and repaired a file or directory called "System Partition". However, when I tried safe-ejecting my usb drive, it said it was being used, and I realized it was also very hot (intense use). It can be that the usb disguised itself as my Windows installation, and then booted into my Windows partition. After a few minutes I safely ejected it, with Windows still running. I will run the BIOS flash utility from Acer and will update this reply to tell how things worked out, for anyone who has the same problem. Thank you for your reply!

 

UPDATE:

 

The update went smoothly, and then booted into Windows. I decided to reboot, and found that I couldn't access the F12 menu(disabled in BIOS at default). But, I got a similar error message, but only about grubx64 - unable to open - not found. Security boot fail. I decided to check things in BIOS. Sadly, it still asked for a password. But by using the code it gives you at the end, I was able to access the BIOS. I found that pretty much all the settings I could change, and that the supervisor password was still set. Oh well, but at least I had access again. I cleared security boot settings and trusted everything under ubuntu. Then I disabled secure boot, for safe measures. I enabled f12 and then saved and exit. I immediately pressed f12, so I don't yet know what happens when I let it be, but that all matters on my boot order. I booted "Windows", and sure enough, as it used to always do, it booted into my GRUB menu. From there I could boot into ubuntu or Windows. I booted into windows since I'm not ready to face the slew of errors that I might get when I log in lubuntu. Everything works pretty much perfectly. If someone has the same problem, I'm entirely sure myself how I fixed it.

 

SECOND UPDATE:

 

If you are reading this because you have the same problem and you're an ***** like me, then you probably didn't know that the unlock password that you enter once you try entering the password 3 times, is set as your supervisor password. I'll explain:

 

When press f12, it may ask you for a password. If it does, and you didn't enter the right one after 3 times, it will give you two options. Select the first one. There, It will ask for a "unlock password". There is a string of numbers in brackets after. Go to bios-pw.org and enter that code. The site will give you the unlock password, enter it. That  password you just entered has become your supervisor password. Now you can reset your supervisor password using that code as your "current" password.