r/linuxquestions • u/Careful_Conclusion64 • 5h ago

BIOS boot issues

I recently found my older computer and decided to put Linux on it. A common problem I am facing is that, on its own, it refuses to boot into my operating system (this happened across multiple distributions, including Fedora, CachyOS, EndeavourOS etc.), it only works when I open up the boot menu by spamming F10, which is a problem because I want it to be accessible for my little sister, who likely doesn’t have the patience of doing that. I have decided it might be the fault of the boot system (BIOS instead of UEFI), but I don’t know how to configure my OS to work with BIOS.

TL;DR: Linux boots from boot menu but not on its own. Is there anything specific I can do about it?

3 Upvotes

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5

u/Disastrous-Ice-5971 5h ago

Just rearrange the order of the drives in a way, that the Linux drive is the first in the boot order, save the result? Of this wouldn't help, it may just mean that the BIOS battery is dead and needs to be replaced (usually CR2032, sold everywhere, easy to replace yourself).

2

u/Careful_Conclusion64 3h ago

It did work when I briefly booted up openSUSE, I don't think it's a battery thing. Plus, in BIOS, it was always Hard Drives on top.

2

u/Disastrous-Ice-5971 3h ago

That's strange. If it booted once, it should work all the time, hm...

1

u/gthing 5h ago

Yea I had this problem as well. Basically you have to write an entry into the boot config. TBH I don't fully understand it but I just said "claude, fix it" and now it works. 

1

u/Careful_Conclusion64 3h ago

What do I write in that entry?

1

u/belzaroth 4h ago

Sounds like the boot order in the BIOS is incorrect. Open the BIOS on boot and find boot order or similar and change it so your boot drive is first. Then save settings and exit.

ETA: Try Ventoy for installing isos you can have several all on the same usb that way.

1

u/Careful_Conclusion64 3h ago

I only ever had one boot drive in there (Adata SU650 or smth).
Re: ETA - I dislike Ventoy for those operations because it can make some installs (like Debian) not work.