SA5-271: Dual booting and changing the boot order in the ACER boot manager

The Acer Switch Alpha 12 has a preinstalled Windows 10 with a standard UEFI partition (standard can be found from URL: uefi.org). According to the standard, everything in \EFI\boot\*.efi would boot. To try this, I installed GRUB2 (grand unified boot loader). This loader started working from the EFI directory but only if I tapped F12 during the boot and selected the second option from the boot manager list after the "Windows 10" options. Second test was to copy the \EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi to another file to reverse the search order. I think this did not work, the GRUB2 was not the default boot loader after this. The names should be 8-character names, the renamed file was left in the directory.

How can I set the default boot order in the ACER boot manager to start GRUB2 boot loader instead of loading the Windows 10 as a default?

UEFI standard lists environment variables to set to do this. How do I set these variables in ACER UEFI boot manager?

Are there any good instructions how to dual boot other operating systems? I would like to leave the OEM software as is and to just use the ACER boot manager if it is possible or GRUB2 or other boot manager to boot other operating systems as well.

ficer

Accepted answers

All comments

ficer

The start directorys "Administrative tools" and choosing "System Configuration" in my case lists only this Windows boot option in the "boot" tab. How can I install another operating system or change the boot order? Is this a Windows feature?

ficer

JackE

Go to the BIOS boot priority tab. Move Grub to the top of the boot order. Jack E/NJ

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ph/b7wpvi1r73yi.jpg

JackE

Here are instruction for Ubuntu. Jack E/NJ

( 0) Pre-shrink Windows partition to desired unallocated space for Linux installation.
( 1) Make bootable GPT/FAT32(default) stick from the Linux installation iso with Rufus.
( 2) Set BIOS supervisor password(SECURITY), disable secure boot(BOOT)& enable F12 Windows boot mgr (MAIN).
 Save BIOS settings & exit. May not be needed with some Linux installations like Mint.
( 3) Shutdown & insert bootable Linux stick
( 4) Turn back on while immediately tapping F12. Select Linux stick to run.
( 5) Preferrably select a default Linux install option
( 6) Follow on-screen instructions to install alongside Windows.
( 7) Let Linux automatically set & resize partitions for Linux & its swap. Adjust for more or less space only
 if absolutely necessary.
( 8) Shutdown & remove Linux stick.
( 9) Turn back on while tapping F2.
(10) Re-enable secure boot(BOOT) & select UEFI file as trusted(MAIN). Select HDD0, SSD0 or eMMC0, then <EFI>,
 then <ubuntu>, then grubx64.efi the UEFI file. Enter grubx64.efi in the space provided if selecting
 it doesn't automatically enter it. Save BIOS setting and exit. 
(11) Boot into Windows. Then shutdown again.
(12) Turn back on while tapping F12.
(13) If desired, put grubx64.efi ahead of Windows boot manager in UEFI bootstrapper

ficer

Answear to Jack E/NJ first letter: Do you mean I should have a device reserved for the Grub? It would be so much easier if the preinstalled UEFI boot manager could be used. Grub works fine from there as well. How about what happens during the Linux installation, does it replace the boot order?

Answear to the second post: I have had difficulties booting from the memory stick or the internal SD-card slot. These were: NetBSD and FreeBSD ready made memory stick images burned with Rufus. Can you recommend a working Linux installation, my preference is Gentoo or SUSE or similar. I would like to test and try Xen with a host operating system.

These were really good instructions except the number 13: How can I put the grubx64.efi ahead of Windows boot manager in UEFI bootstrapper? This would actually solve all my problems. Do you mean Linux installationr replaces the UEFI code?

ficer

JackE

@ficer>>>These were really good instructions except the number 13: How can I put the grubx64.efi ahead of Windows boot manager in UEFI bootstrapper? This would actually solve all my problems. Do you mean Linux installationr replaces the UEFI code?>>>

Simple press the up and down arrows to change the boot order. If you keep pressing the grub up arrow it will eventually go to the top of the boot order. The Linux installation doesn't replace the UEFI code, it adds to it. Jack E/NJ

ficer

This setting has to be: HDD first. If Windows boot manager is chosen, the Grub is not found By tapping F12. By tapping F12 with this setting, the following boot option menu appears:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/w3/rpqjnl4v3hta.png

The default is number 1, "Windows Boot Manager", by tapping F12 and choosing option 2, GRUB loads. Something else to note is the small text at uppar right corner: 5.0 setuputility.

How do I install another boot loader in the ACER boot menu as you have shown in the image?

Windows is already there, how was it installed? What I had to do was to copy the grub -file to the /EFI/boot -directory, are there some other files to copy or to install in another directory? I haven't managed to boot a single OS memory stick image yet.

fizer

ficer

Some more information: absolutely no USB stick will boot. They won't show in the BIOS (F2) or (F12) list or is this UEFI boot manager? In the options the following settings are not accessible:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/6a/80044da2tcmq.png

Ok I'm new to UEFI boot loaders. What are these TPM settings? Where can I find a manual. By pressing enter, the laptop rebooted and showed a "do you wan't to continue to erase" mode. Somekind of a state can be cleared like this but what is it.

Is there a manual available how to use these TCM and TPM settings?

No memory stick will boot. Does this have anything to do with these settings. Does this have anything to do with registering the Windows 10?

fizer

JackE

One thing at a time. Does grub show up in the BIOS boot priority order? Jack E/NJ

ficer

No it dont (F2). fizer

JackE

Let's back waaayyy up. Where did you get the Linpus Lite installation? Jack E/NJ

ficer

First of all, "where did you get" was a wrong question. Clearly, the loader is not found. Neither are the USB disks or the SD-card -slot disks. How can I make the USB bootable from the BIOS? And, UEFI definitions include NVRAM variables. It seems to me that this list changes the NVRAM variables. For Linux there are UEFI commandline tools. Are there any for Windows?

Where to get:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EFIBootLoaders
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_boot_loaders
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub2 <=====

fz

JackE

Please. How did Linpus Lite get on your system? Jack E/NJ

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ty/0y4l8yqxp4i3.jpg

ficer

Simply, by installing. I do not anymore remember. What I think, it was the command line tools. Linpus must have an access to the Alpha 12 UEFI keys or it has signed the .efi with a known certificate key. Other just .efi:s without signing have not been visible similarly with or without "secure boot".

Questions:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/sg/94x47b0nro9j.png

1) How can I set these settings (in the image) active again? Shouldn't it be possible to select these .efi -files as trusted?
2) Do I have to reset as in the second option to get this back, what will then happen to the Windows 10 boot ? How to make it active again?

and:

3) How can I install my own certificate to use to check the .efi is trusted?

Answears:

1) bootx64.efi is a standard name and it is allways the default option. (In 64-bit x64 PC:s excluding Itanium). "machine type short-name defines a PE32+ image format architecture", as defined in 3.5.1.1. Many .efi -files may exist and in these cases the boot order is not determined.
2) The EFI partition or ESD has to be FAT32, 16 or 8, NTFS won't do.

It is really suspicious why the GRUB2 loader does not boot. When a (maby correct) option is found, it just jams and does not load. No graphics is printed. In any case it should be possible to install UEFI applications and loaders as the user would like to. At the moment Acer Switch Alpha 12 UEFI bootloader does not accept extra loaders or applications as in the image (the options are not available).

The BIOS firmware was from year 2016 at support site. It is older than this machine. What should I do? Is something mixed up, not verified in the ESD? At the moment, legacy BIOS is the only boot option for other than "Windows 10" operating systems. USB disk becomes number 0, HDD is then 1 if USB boot is needed.

fizer

JackE

I'm currently running Mint 18.3 Cinnamon dual boot without any issues whatsoever on an SA5-271. The Grub bootloader is seen by the BIOS and was made to be first in the boot order so it loads Cinnamon by default, not Win10. In fact, I don't even use Win10 anymore on this machine. So I suggest you give Mint 18.3 installation stick a try to see if it will clean up your BIOS & HDD from all the previous installations that you've tried. If it doesn't work than we'll have to turn to diskpart command line and gparted to try to clean things up. Jack E/NJ

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Puraw 365

Jack22 175

RenanVilela 95

Diya1811 90

GAMING6698 75

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™