P253 P253-M-53234 G50 win 10 - stuck in boot manager. No access to BIOS or windows

billsey

FAT32 is a filesystem, GPT is a partition layout, so they are mutually exclusive. You can have FAT32 on MBR or on GPT. Secure Boot being enabled will likely interfere with USB booting. We really need you to get into the BIOS... Hibernation isn't a factor since that doesn't start loading until the OS load point in startup. BIOS and Boot Menu are earlier than that.

Try this, at the boot manager screen press and hold the power for 30 seconds or so, to force a full power down. Disconnect power (and anything else inserted) and flip the laptop over. Remove the battery and again press and hold power for another 30 seconds. Reinstall battery, flip back upright and press and hold the F2, while holding it turn the power on and don't release F2 until you either get the BIOS or the boot manager.

If you get into the BIOS, make sure it's set for UEFI boot, disable Secure Boot and enable the boot menu. Put your install flash in and save and exit the BIOS. Press the F12 as soon as it starts coming up and choose the flash drive from the menu. When prompted, choose to install and when you get to the screen asking which partition to use manually delete all partitions, then choose the full disk unallocated space. Things should work from there...

lochgman

Never done one before, but will give it a go soonish - back to work in morning. Don't know what you'll see - switch on, DOS box with "No bootable drive found, press return, DOS box with 3 boot options HDD, CD/DVD, Network, plus USB if it's plugged in before switching on. F2 and ALT F10 on boot up have no effect.Would you need to see anything else?

lochgman

Post 25 is for egydiocoelho. Billsey - I will attempt your suggestion tomorrow evening, and post feedback either way

Commodore_1995#

Is that what is showing?

Before trying billsey's suggestion, try pressing the f8 key, to see what options are showing up.

lochgman

Gents - neither suggestion does anything different. Trying to paste in 2 images taken by mobile and sent to my email - but can't seem to add them here - any hints?

lochgman

Photo 1
Hope this gets through

Commodore_1995#

On this screen, it should be showing WINDOWS BOOT MANAGER. However, only the hard disk model is showing. This indicates that the efi partition may be corrupted.

lochgman

This screen still appeared when SSD was absent, and when new USB recovery disk was used. If the efi partition on the disc is corrupted, how do I sort it out - still don't understand where this screen is coming from - it looks like an older version of windows.

Commodore_1995#

Is windows installed on the ssd or hard drive? Maybe this topic will help you: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000124331/how-to-repair-the-efi-bootloader-on-a-gpt-hdd-for-windows-7-8-8-1-and-10-on-your-dell-pc?lang=en

billsey

It looks like there is no HDD installed, the boot menu is showing the SSD, a DVD and the network. Could you take pictures of the BIOS screens for us? Blank out the serial numbers but leave all the rest of the settings as they are now. Do you have a Windows install flash drive to use for additional diagnostics?

lochgman

@egydiocoelho - Win 10 on ssd which came with laptop - how can I verify if it is all there in the right directory (root?). Checked out the link - F8 for Dell - which key for Acer P253 so I can try the associated method - trying to access any disk, SSD HDD or USB gets me to boot manager screens.
billsey - Yes ssd, dvd and network on boot list. No access to Bios - cannot get any further than boot manager screens. I do not get "press F2 for bios/setup" message after switching on,  nor do I have any joy pressing or holding any suggested Function key.

Is there any other way of accessing the BIOS? or disabling secure boot outside the BIOS?

billsey

Your best bet is going to be to get into the BIOS and it sounds like it might have been mucked up by the previous owner. You might be able to catch it at just the right bit of time by pressing and holding the F2 key while turning the system on. You might also be able to get into diagnostics by turning it off with the power button three times in a row during POST. If you have a Windows install flash drive plugged into a USB port, does it show up in that boot menu?

lochgman

Have been trying F2 - tapping key and holding it when turning on - as well as other keys, some of which sound a series of beeps - no morse pattern detected as in older boot ups.

Will try 3x turn off but it doesn't appear to get as far as post tests, or they are disabled somehow. switching on gets to first screen box with " no bootable - etc message - but will try to do this.

USB drive in, boot up, error message " No bootable device, press return, boot manager screen as posted, but with USB at end of list, selected with nav keys, press enter - back to "No bootable device message - press a key, back to screen manager with USB in position 4, and round and round I go! Hence question re secure boot not allowing use of the USB boot.

Will let you know how I get on when I can try it.

billsey

OK, I'm wondering if the 'refurbisher' did something with a custom BIOS for diagnostics, and never changed back to the stock one. I don't know of any method for an end user to force a BIOS replacement with these models, though the service centers have tools to deal with it. The stock POST allows for the F12 menu before POST is completed, reading between the lines anyway, which could explain the behavior. Maybe use Rufus to create a DOS bootable flash drive, then see if it shows in that menu and allows booting to DOS. That would get us farther anyway.

akhukumfilislam

lochgman said:

HELP   Trying something else.....How do I make a recovery USB drive that will work in UEFI - I think the one I have will only work with Legacy. Still cannot access BIOS to change settings.

Rufus or Ventoy should work in creating UEFI windows install disk which you can use to do the needed recovery.

lochgman

akhukumfilislam said:

lochgman said:

HELP   Trying something else.....How do I make a recovery USB drive that will work in UEFI - I think the one I have will only work with Legacy. Still cannot access BIOS to change settings.

Rufus or Ventoy should work in creating UEFI windows install disk which you can use to do the needed recovery.

Done this with Rufus and used it, but although the USB appears on the boot manager list, and selecting it, then pressing return the P253 still does not run the bootloader on the USB - as though access is denied - possibly by secure boot to stop the bios?? being altered - just an assumption as I don't really know what is happening. Thanks anyway - going to try DOS boot - if I can work out how to do that.

lochgman

billsey said:

OK, I'm wondering if the 'refurbisher' did something with a custom BIOS for diagnostics, and never changed back to the stock one. I don't know of any method for an end user to force a BIOS replacement with these models, though the service centers have tools to deal with it. The stock POST allows for the F12 menu before POST is completed, reading between the lines anyway, which could explain the behavior. Maybe use Rufus to create a DOS bootable flash drive, then see if it shows in that menu and allows booting to DOS. That would get us farther anyway.

Will try to contact seller and ask.
Will look into DOS bootable USB when I can get access to Win10 machine - probably Sat pm - unless this Vista machine will do the job - any advice on whether that would work appreciated.

lochgman

billsey said:

OK, I'm wondering if the 'refurbisher' did something with a custom BIOS for diagnostics, and never changed back to the stock one. I don't know of any method for an end user to force a BIOS replacement with these models, though the service centers have tools to deal with it. The stock POST allows for the F12 menu before POST is completed, reading between the lines anyway, which could explain the behavior. Maybe use Rufus to create a DOS bootable flash drive, then see if it shows in that menu and allows booting to DOS. That would get us farther anyway.

Will try to contact seller and ask.
Will look into DOS bootable USB when I can get access to Win10 machine - probably Sat pm - unless this Vista machine will do the job - any advice on whether that would work appreciated.

lochgman said:Any of you guys used Easy Recovery Essentials from neosmart.net/Easy/RE - sounds as though it may be too good to be true - except $60 price tag - would it be worth a try as a last resort. Will try a DOS bootable on CD - run out of flash drives! when I get access to Win 10 machine

lochgman

RRE DOS boot USB using RUFUS - wouldn't accept CD/DVD so had to resort to wiping one of the 2 16Gb USB drives. Completed and tried it before switching on - no change no matter what I do. Tried everything - F2, Alt F10, press n hold F10, DEL, F1, Ctrl Alt Esc, F8 - holding and tapping - just goes to NBD found!. 

Any more suggestions/ideas - except obvious - sell it for spares!

billsey

I would be heavily into getting some sort of support from the seller. It's obviously got something really weird going on and shouldn't have been offered as refurbished.

[although it would be interesting to play with...]