UEFI settings won't load after setting up Linux Dual-Boot in Acer Nitro laptop

Hello, I use an Acer Nitro laptop that came pre-installed with Windows 10. I decided to try setting up a dual boot with Linux Manjaro, using the following tutorial:

https://forum.manjaro.org/t/root-tip-how-to-dual-boot-manjaro-and-windows/1164

I was able to successfully install Linux, but I could no longer boot into the UEFI settings. Attempting to do so left me with a black screen with an underscore in the upper-left corner. Nothing could be done and the only option would be to reboot and boot into Windows normally. This is a problem because it leaves me with no way to meaningfully change the boot order (attempting to do so with efibootmgr didn't work), and in general I just think having access to the UEFI settings is important.

I tried following PlanetMercury's advice in this thread:

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/538305/cant-access-uefi-after-installing-linux-dual-boot/

I was able to boot back into the UEFI settings and re-enable secure boot and set Manjaro as safe, but there was no way to affect the boot order. I assumed rebooting would fix this but trying to boot into UEFI again left me back at square one with the cursor in the corner. To make matters worse, I can't try this tutorial anymore because secure boot being enabled leaves me unable to boot into Linux at all. Any help regarding fixing this issue would be much appreciated 🙏

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title]

Accepted answers

VanIsBadAtNames

Update: I solved the problem! What I did was based on taiwei's advice in the thread I linked. The problem was that using mountvol wouldn't work as the EFI partition where Manjaro and rEfind were was in the D drive, not the C drive. So what I did was the following:

Boot Windows 10 and run Powershell as an admin.
Run "diskpart"
In diskpart, run "list disk".
Enter "select disk [disk number]"
Enter "select partition [efi partition number]"
Run "assign letter = e" (This can be any empty letter)
Open Explorer++ as an admin.
Go to the drive I assigned the EFI partition to.
Copy the folders where any EFI files are stored to a safe place, then delete them from the E drive.
Do an advanced startup (one way this can be done is rebooting and holding shift on startup), then go "Troubleshooting", then "Advanced Settings", then "UEFI Firmware Settings", and then finally "Restart." I was in.
From this point onwards I disabled secure boot, ran Windows 10, put the EFI files back into the EFI partition, went back into the UEFI settings, and changed the boot order accordingly.

Hopefully this is able to help anyone who had the same issue I did!

All comments

William_mk2

@VanIsBadAtNames

I understand you say "I was able to successfully install Linux, but I could no longer boot into the UEFI settings. Attempting to do so left me with a black screen with an underscore in the upper-left corner. Nothing could be done and the only option would be to reboot and boot into Windows normally"

When you are trying to boot into windows it will go to login screen

If you are typing a wrong password or pin it will show you the power button on the lower right corner of screen. If you click on the power button, it will show you sleep , shutdown or restart.

Hold the shift key on the lower left corner of keyboard and click on restart Keep holding the shift key till you see chose an option screen

It will show you chose an option, continue, troubleshoot - Now you can remove the finger from shift key

click on troubelshoot - go to advanced options

go to uefi firmware settings - click on restart

It will go to bios to access the uefi settings.

Hope this will help !

VanIsBadAtNames

Thank you, but this did not work. Doing so reset the computer but the UEFI settings still weren't showing, I still got a blank screen with an underscore in the corner.

VanIsBadAtNames

Update: I solved the problem! What I did was based on taiwei's advice in the thread I linked. The problem was that using mountvol wouldn't work as the EFI partition where Manjaro and rEfind were was in the D drive, not the C drive. So what I did was the following:

Boot Windows 10 and run Powershell as an admin.
Run "diskpart"
In diskpart, run "list disk".
Enter "select disk [disk number]"
Enter "select partition [efi partition number]"
Run "assign letter = e" (This can be any empty letter)
Open Explorer++ as an admin.
Go to the drive I assigned the EFI partition to.
Copy the folders where any EFI files are stored to a safe place, then delete them from the E drive.
Do an advanced startup (one way this can be done is rebooting and holding shift on startup), then go "Troubleshooting", then "Advanced Settings", then "UEFI Firmware Settings", and then finally "Restart." I was in.
From this point onwards I disabled secure boot, ran Windows 10, put the EFI files back into the EFI partition, went back into the UEFI settings, and changed the boot order accordingly.

Hopefully this is able to help anyone who had the same issue I did!

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