[Solved] Windows partition not accessible after upgrade [Solved]

[Hocksul]

Where did you install grub?

Your screenshot (post #7) shows an efi boot partition (sda1) but the efi boot manager shows MX23 (sda4) as the default boot partition.

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Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 244.14 GiB size: 239.25 GiB (98.00%) used: 127.36 GiB (53.2%) 
           fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 
           
           ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 200 MiB size: 196 MiB (98.00%) used: 31.2 MiB (15.9%) 
           fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 

I actually didn't install the grub. I updated from MX-21 to MX-23 according to this link. As instructed, I answered "N" when asked about grub-pc:

In general respond “N” (or select “keep local version”) to avoid changing of the configuration files, this is the safest choice for: /etc/issue, /etc/issue.net, adduser(?), /etc/crontab, sudoers, os-prober, grub-pc (and potentially other config files that you or the MX Team might have customized).


After the upgrade, this is what MX Boot Repair shows when ESP is selected, so the "Location" is sda1 and "Select root location" is sda4.

When I click on "Select root location", all the partitions show up as seen in my screenshot (post #7).

FWIW this is what MX Boot Repair shows when MBR is selected, so the "Location" is sda and "Select root location" is sda4.

[Hocksul]

... and FWIW, this one if root is selected:

[fehlix]

How can I get the options to boot into either OS (linux or windows) at the start up again?

Use UEFI Boot options list to select the uefi boot loader.
of the installed OS's.
You may need to press at POST a Fn-key or another like [Del], to get the
efi boot option selection list.
Search the web for the correct key to press, for your UEFI/BIOS System setup.

[Hocksul]

How can I get the options to boot into either OS (linux or windows) at the start up again?

Use UEFI Boot options list to select the uefi boot loader.
of the installed OS's.
You may need to press at POST a Fn-key or another like [Del], to get the
efi boot option selection list.
Search the web for the correct key to press, for your UEFI/BIOS System setup.

Just to make sure I am in the right place: is this what you are referring to?

If so, which Boot Option is the right one?

[fehlix]

Just to make sure I am in the right place: is this what you are referring to?

If so, which Boot Option is the right one?

Seems you entered the UEFI setup utility. Always good to remove old entries.
You would select the right one, which works for you.
I guess to boot into MX23 it may the one which boot to MX23.
Suggest boot option cleanup, try MX Boot Options to "remove old" entries.
Shown list may be limited, so better remove any not longer in use.
In case there is no other in the drop down list mentioning Windows
may be related to the limited number saved.
There is also a timeout mention of 1 second, so increase it to something like 10 seconds,
it may then show on the screen what key to press the select from the boot options list.

[j2mcgreg]

@Hocksul
Do you see in the lower third of the above image where it shows Fast Boot [Enabled]?
That needs to be disabled because it can interfere with the changes you are trying to make with your target SSD. If you can disable it right there in the BIOS, do so. Otherwise it will have to be disabled from within Windows.

[Hocksul]

I disabled the Fast Boot and increased the timeout to 10 seconds in the BIOS.
I also opened MX Boot Options, clicked on "Manage UEFI Boot Options", chose Boot0009* ubunut, and clicked Removed entry.

Unfortunately I still don't get the option to log into Windows. Moreover, removing ubuntu in MX Boot Options had no effect in BIOS, i.e., I still got Boot Option #4 ubuntu in BIOS. There seems to be a disconnect between BIOS and MX Boot Options.

One last thing:
I tried setting MX21.2.1 as my Boot Option #1 in BIOS. The system still booted into MX23, although the first screen (where you get 4 options: MX 23.3 Libretto, Advanced options for MX 23.3 Libretto, Memory Test and System setup ) looked a bit different than when MX23 was my Boot Option #1.

[fehlix]

I disabled the Fast Boot and increased the timeout to 10 seconds in the BIOS.
I also opened MX Boot Options, clicked on "Manage UEFI Boot Options", chose Boot0009* ubunut, and clicked Removed entry.

Unfortunately I still don't get the option to log into Windows. Moreover, removing ubuntu in MX Boot Options had no effect in BIOS, i.e., I still got Boot Option #4 ubuntu in BIOS. There seems to be a disconnect between BIOS and MX Boot Options.

You need to clean both
* in the NVRAM, with help of MX UEFI Boot Options, which only removes the enry from NVRAM
and
* on the ESP,
otherwise the self-cleaning feature of UEFI firmware will keep the entries
until they have been discover by UEFI firmware that they have been removed from the ESP.
UEFI will read and build the Bootoptions list after shutdown and startup,
not always after reboot.

I tried setting MX21.2.1 as my Boot Option #1 in BIOS. The system still booted into MX23, although the first screen (where you get 4 options: MX 23.3 Libretto, Advanced options for MX 23.3 Libretto, Memory Test and System setup ) looked a bit different than when MX23 was my Boot Option #1.

Seems to be a result of different Boot Repair attempt or probably something similar, where you got
now on two different location (partitions) a grub menu, probably using a older efi-grub loader.


But first you may need find out whether your Window efi-loader is still working.
Suggest boot from MX LiveUSB (latest) and on the boot LiveMenu,
select BootRescue -> (search) for efi bootloader or WIndows bootloader , it may find the Windows bootloader
to try to boot into.

[Hocksul]

I disabled the Fast Boot and increased the timeout to 10 seconds in the BIOS.
I also opened MX Boot Options, clicked on "Manage UEFI Boot Options", chose Boot0009* ubunut, and clicked Removed entry.

Unfortunately I still don't get the option to log into Windows. Moreover, removing ubuntu in MX Boot Options had no effect in BIOS, i.e., I still got Boot Option #4 ubuntu in BIOS. There seems to be a disconnect between BIOS and MX Boot Options.

You need to clean both
* in the NVRAM, with help of MX UEFI Boot Options, which only removes the enry from NVRAM
and
* on the ESP,
otherwise the self-cleaning feature of UEFI firmware will keep the entries
until they have been discover by UEFI firmware that they have been removed from the ESP.
UEFI will read and build the Bootoptions list after shutdown and startup,
not always after reboot.

I tried setting MX21.2.1 as my Boot Option #1 in BIOS. The system still booted into MX23, although the first screen (where you get 4 options: MX 23.3 Libretto, Advanced options for MX 23.3 Libretto, Memory Test and System setup ) looked a bit different than when MX23 was my Boot Option #1.

Seems to be a result of different Boot Repair attempt or probably something similar, where you got
now on two different location (partitions) a grub menu, probably using a older efi-grub loader.


But first you may need find out whether your Window efi-loader is still working.
Suggest boot from MX LiveUSB (latest) and on the boot LiveMenu,
select BootRescue -> (search) for efi bootloader or WIndows bootloader , it may find the Windows bootloader
to try to boot into.

Thanks for your comments! I will try it later today, as I don't have the latest version of MX LiveUSB right now.

Having said that, I just found this article . I wonder if the information presented in that article might be the root of the issue I am facing, as I am 100% sure I didn't play around with grub or tried different repair attempts etc ( I just tried one repair attempt based on post #2 of this thread).

According to the article, the issue is related to the most recent update of Grub. I checked my Grub version, and it is indeed 2.06:

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~:$ grub-install --version
grub-install (GRUB) 2.06-13+deb12u1

I am fully aware that the article is about Ubuntu and not MX, however, I am curious to know if the information provided is relevant to my issue as well.

Is it too risky to set

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GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false

and see what happens? I haven't tried that yet, as I want to ensure that I am not adding any further complications.

[fehlix]

Yes, you can try whether it helps. Also it depends a bit which conf files have been updated, b/c the newer ones which com with mx23
have been made to keep os-prober enabled.