2019 Acer Swift SF314-41 fails to boot live-usb [SOLVED]

[m_pav]

Nothing works, including any of the options listed in the mint tutorial linked to earlier in this thread. Aside from our own, I tried PartedMagic, Gparted Live, OpenSuSe & Ubuntu. All boot to a point, then the cursor stops flashing, or the animation stops progressing. An earlier version of OpenSuSe did fail just after a message flashed up about not being able to access iommu adresses.

Acer will not permit an older BIOS to be loaded so I can't roll it back.

The BIOS Fast Boot is different to the Windows FastBoot. In Windows, it caches startup files, in the BIOS, when enabled it appears to automatically permit signed SecureBoot keys from "other" media, and when turned off, the user us required to submit a signed efi boot file.

[tequila]

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2427570 amd_iommu=off" in /etc/default/grub

[tequila]

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2427570 amd_iommu=off in /etc/default/grub
https://www.reddit.com/r/AcerOfficial/c ... 3_sf31441/

[Huckleberry Finn]

Now at least we know that it's not distro-specific, just requiring the correct boot parameter (whatever it is).

[Huckleberry Finn]

Oh la la, we already have the solution within our forum (exactly the same issue with same pc) :

https://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php ... 24#p529724

Code: Select all

idle=nomwait nvme_core.default_ps_max_latency_us=5500

[j2mcgreg]

Here's another possible solution that was posted here in Sept. 2019 (post #7):

https://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=52920

This one has an extra parameter than the one posted above by Huckleberry Finn.

[Huckleberry Finn]

Same page, post #7 :)

[j2mcgreg]

Same page, post #7 :)

My new glasses must be garbage because I was sure that there was a slight difference between the two of them.

[Huckleberry Finn]

The one in reddit link is without the idle=nomwait ...

[m_pav]

Yay, working ! Thank you all for your help. Top marks go to @Huckleberry Finn for finding the magic line originally posted by @fparri

This was the first hurdle to overcome, the second required a careful read of the Ubuntu thread linked to by @tequila, which had another link I followed to get the dual boot operational because in order to upgrade the BIOS, it had to be done through Windows and I kept it thinking it might come in handy for my wife on the rare occasion she might need it for her work.

The original reddit post is from dolphies_person --> https://i.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/comm ... pire_es15/ relevant contents copied below.
- - - - - - - - - -
Windows will require an extra step to get GRUB to the top and prevent the Windows Bootloader from blocking Linux.

----- EDITED 10 April 2024, better solution found -----
Boot into Windows and install the trial version of EasyUEFI from the website. Complete the install wizard, and then start the tool. Select Manage EFI Boot Option and create a new entry. Name it whatever, change the type to Linux or other OS, and make sure to select the ~100mb EFI partition under 'Please select the target partition:' and click browse under file path. Go to \EFI\boot\bootx64.efi and press OK. Now move the one you just created all the way up in the boot order, return to the first EasyUEFI screen, close and reboot.

Since the release of MX23.2, we can use the extra functionality added to our "MX Boot Options" package, the "Manage UEFI Boot Options" button, to open the UEFI Editor and simply move the MX GRUB entry to the topmost position.

Now, GRUB should become the first boot choice and allow booting into MX LInux. I highly recommend after installation, when you've successfully booted in to the fresh install that you make a snapshot ISO and burn it to USB, then put it away for use on this machine in the future should you ever need it. The additional GRUB Cheat codes now in operation on your fresh install will be integrated in to the Snapshot ISO and you may find it useful for other similar machines, as I discovered only yesterday, hence the reason for this edit.
----- END EDIT -----

Now I have a fully operational machine running very sweetly on a personal respin I built specifically for my Wife for her role as a teacher.

Couldn't have done it without y'all.