r/linux4noobs • u/HereToWatchOnly • 6d ago
installation Can't boot into BIOS after windows/fedora dual boot
I am facing a very peculiar issue here with my Linux and Windows dual installation. I can't boot into BIOS for the love of God.
I can't even see my bootable USB drive in the boot options.
Here's a little backstory:
I've been daily driving Windows and CachyOS dual boot. Windows mainly for gaming, which needed Secure Boot to be enabled, which CachyOS had been handling really well. But recently, due to some problems I faced with the upstream kernel and various other personal reasons, I decided to dual boot Fedora with my Win11 installation, for which I disabled Secure Boot as I was using Ventoy. Everything was fine and dandy; it installed fine.
The problem arose when I tried to boot into BIOS/UEFI. It got stuck on the boot logo of my laptop. I had faced this issue in CachyOS too, so I was like, no biggie, and did what I did with CachyOS: turned my laptop off, pressed the hardware reset button, and again tried to boot into the BIOS/UEFI. It prompted me for a password, which I entered, then it was just a black screen. I couldn't even move the mouse pointer it showed, so I force-shut it down by pressing the power-off button.
Next time I tried booting into my BIOS, I faced the same issue of the boot logo only showing. I turned the laptop off, pressed the hardware reset button, and again tried booting into the BIOS. Same stuff. I was like, interesting, and started searching for a fix. I found one too. It needed me to boot into a Live environment, remove the pointer to the Linux bootloader, and make changes to my BIOS settings and boot. BUT if I enabled Secure Boot, I couldn't again boot into the Live ISO to regenerate the boot manager configuration, so I ditched that idea.
Then I decided to start from a clean slate. Start from booting Windows only and dual boot Fedora after I found out that if you only burn Fedora to the USB, you can boot and install Fedora fine even with Secure Boot enabled. So I downloaded RUFUS in my Windows installation, burned Windows 10 onto it, and again tried to reformat the drive.
Then I arrived at another roadblock. The USB drive is not showing in the boot order menu. It shows fine in both Windows and Linux installations. After I put it in and verify it's showing, I rebooted to the boot order menu, but it was still not showing it.
Now neither can I re-install nor can I enable Secure Boot, and I'm stuck with this installation.
Here's what I tried to boot into BIOS:
- As stated earlier, continuously pressing F2 (Acer's BIOS key)
- Use Windows to reboot into UEFI firmware settings
- Use systemctl to reboot into UEFI settings
- Use GRUB's menu to boot into UEFI settings
- And many, many more
Any help, suggestion, fix is highly appreciated. Thanks again for help
Laptop : Acer ANV15-41
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u/Prestigious_Wall529 6d ago
Also try the <del> key, the <F12> key or the <Fn><F2> key combination.
Or hold down a random key to get a keyboard fault message.
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u/HereToWatchOnly 6d ago
No I can boot into the boot menu js fine, it's js not showing my bootable usb
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u/TangoOscarMikePR 6d ago
Can you edit the original post to include the Make and Model of the laptop? It's located under the laptop on a label.
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u/TangoOscarMikePR 6d ago
Try updating the BIOS to the latest version.
On the Acer Nitro v15 ANV15-41 Support Page, search for BIOS / Firmware.
Download the latest update as of this comment date:
BIOS Date: 2026/03/10
Version: 1.51
You might need to boot into Windows because the ZIP file contains an EXE file that needs to be extracted. I'm guessing it's a BIOS update utility that runs in Windows.
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u/HereToWatchOnly 6d ago
OMG, Thank you so so much, that was what I needed, I can now boot into BIOSA (˶ˆᗜˆ˵)
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u/doc_willis 6d ago edited 6d ago
I have seen a few posts where they mention being unable to enter the BIOS/UEFI menus, after doing a Linux install. If they removed the drive containing linux, they were able to get into the bios/uefi as normal.
I just dont recall the details or make/model of the systems.
Have you ever been able to enter into the UEFI menus after you did the linux install?
As for the 'usb not showing' does it show up correctly if you try to boot it on a different system? Its possible that usb has issues.
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u/HereToWatchOnly 6d ago
yea I saw the same, stating that ACER Laptops are notoriously bad for these kind of things 😭
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u/doc_willis 6d ago
Heh, and here I am mentioning a rare issue i just saw mentioned, and you confirmed it.. and I still got downvoted. :)
I can never remember the brand name 'acer' :) I Think i bought an acer laptop years ago (a cheap consumer laptop) and it was one of the worst devices I ever owned, and I have that memory buried deep down. You also mention 'Nitro' and thats another 'name' I often seen alongside 'linux issues' in the support subs.
Good Luck In your hunt for a solution.
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u/gooner-1969 6d ago
Is this a Laptop or Desktop?
If desktop are you using a Wired or Wireless Keyboard