[SOLVED] Too many GRUBs / BootLoaders on Dual Boot

[fehlix]

There's only one bootloader: grub (which stands for GRand Unified Bootloader.)

A normal GRUB install, generates always a grub.cf grub-menu. On MBR/BIOS we have only one active grub-bootloader, so you only see one grub-menu. On UEFI you can list the efi-grub loader with the UEFI-bootmenu, and for different install you would than boot into different grub-menus.

.. now it boots directly into MX giving the Grub menu!

OK, I assume you have run MX Boot Repair.

how can i add the Windows loader in that menu?

That's a known "bug" and a fix is already available, awaiting to get released, asap.
Workaround re-run update-grub,either manually or using MX Boot Options.

/boot/efi/ is Empty

Yes, the reason /boot/efi is empty because that directory is just a mount point.
And as you originally installed within BIOS-mode and not in UEFI-mode no fstab entry has been generated for
the ESP (EFI System Partition).
Your ESP is sda1:

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sda                                                                               
├─sda1      vfat     SYSTEM   72DF-E82C                                           

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name                          Flags
 1      1049kB  274MB   273MB   fat32        EFI system partition          boot, esp

To fix-add the missing entry run this from the terminal command line as normal user:
Do copy paste onto command-line terminal ( Paste = Ctrl-Shift-V)
First lets make a backup of fstab just in case:

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sudo cp  /etc/fstab  /etc/fstab.backup 

Now let's add the mssing ESP-entry:

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echo -e "\nUUID=72DF-E82C  /boot/efi vfat defaults,noatime,dmask=0002,fmask=0113 0 0" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Now let's mount the ESP onto /boot/efi

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sudo mount -a

Now, letS' see what efi-loader we have on the ESP:

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find /boot/efi  -iname "*.efi" -ls

In addition:
Let's list the UEFI-boot menu entry from the NVRAM:

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sudo efibootmgr -v

Please post the output of the last two commands to double check what we can remove.

[Energy]

I'm Happy to have solved the main issues, thanks!,

OK, I assume you have run MX Boot Repair.

Exactly

how can i add the Windows loader in that menu?

That's a known "bug" and a fix is already available, awaiting to get released, asap.
Workaround re-run update-grub,either manually or using MX Boot Options.

Yes i did it when i did run the Fix


.



find /boot/efi -iname "*.efi" -ls

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   262   1492 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1527608 Oct 11 22:09 /boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
      363   1476 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1511224 Oct 11 22:09 /boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgr.efi
      364   1292 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1321784 Sep 11 11:34 /boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/memtest.efi
      372   1492 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1527608 Oct 11 22:09 /boot/efi/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi
      381     64 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root        62436 Mar 19  2018 /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/fwupx64.efi
      382   1108 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1133944 Mar 26  2018 /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi
      383   1144 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1169992 Mar 26  2018 /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/shimx64.efi
      384   1144 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1168464 Mar 26  2018 /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/mmx64.efi
      387    132 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root       135168 Nov 18 07:04 /boot/efi/EFI/MX19/grubx64.efi

remember there was Mint (.Ubuntu)

and
sudo efibootmgr -v

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BootCurrent: 0002
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0002,0000,0005,0001
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager	HD(1,GPT,30f9d0f4-1f32-4ece-bf15-d667731fecbb,0x800,0x82000)/File(\EFI\MICROSOFT\BOOT\BOOTMGFW.EFI)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}....4...............
Boot0001* X-2019	HD(1,GPT,30f9d0f4-1f32-4ece-bf15-d667731fecbb,0x800,0x82000)/File(\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI)
Boot0002* MX19	HD(1,GPT,30f9d0f4-1f32-4ece-bf15-d667731fecbb,0x800,0x82000)/File(\EFI\MX19\GRUBX64.EFI)
Boot0005* ubuntu	HD(1,GPT,30f9d0f4-1f32-4ece-bf15-d667731fecbb,0x800,0x82000)/File(\EFI\UBUNTU\SHIMX64.EFI)..BO

Thanks

[fehlix]

find /boot/efi -iname "*.efi" -ls

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381     64 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root        62436 Mar 19  2018 /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/fwupx64.efi
382   1108 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1133944 Mar 26  2018 /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi
383   1144 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1169992 Mar 26  2018 /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/shimx64.efi
384   1144 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1168464 Mar 26  2018 /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/mmx64.efi

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Boot0005* ubuntu	HD(1,GPT,30f9d0f4-1f32-4ece-bf15-d667731fecbb,0x800,0x82000)/File(\EFI\UBUNTU\SHIMX64.EFI)..BO

The no longer used Mint entry, which is using the "ubuntu" entry name, can be cleared by this:
Clear NVRAM-entry # 5 from the UEFI-boot menu:

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sudo efibootmgr --verbose --bootnum 5 --delete-bootnum

remove the unused "ubuntu" subfolder from ESP:

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sudo rm -r /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu

+++EDIT+++
And perhaps tidy up the bootorder within NVRAM, and remove # 5
From current

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BootOrder: 0002,0000,0005,0001

to

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BootOrder: 0002,0001,0000

using this

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sudo efibootmgr --verbose --bootorder 2,1,0

HTH

[Energy]

Now it seems so clean!

find /boot/efi -iname "*.efi" -ls

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 279   1492 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1527608 Oct 11 22:09 /boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
      380   1476 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1511224 Oct 11 22:09 /boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgr.efi
      381   1292 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1321784 Sep 11 11:34 /boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/memtest.efi
      389   1492 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root      1527608 Oct 11 22:09 /boot/efi/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi
      392    132 -rw-rw-r--   1 root     root       135168 Nov 18 07:04 /boot/efi/EFI/MX19/grubx64.efi

sudo efibootmgr -v

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BootCurrent: 0002
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0002,0001,0000
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager	HD(1,GPT,30f9d0f4-1f32-4ece-bf15-d667731fecbb,0x800,0x82000)/File(\EFI\MICROSOFT\BOOT\BOOTMGFW.EFI)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}....4...............
Boot0001* X-2019	HD(1,GPT,30f9d0f4-1f32-4ece-bf15-d667731fecbb,0x800,0x82000)/File(\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI)
Boot0002* MX19	HD(1,GPT,30f9d0f4-1f32-4ece-bf15-d667731fecbb,0x800,0x82000)/File(\EFI\MX19\GRUBX64.EFI)

It's all right now, isn't it?!
THANKS!!

[Energy]

I've modified the first post with [Solved]
Thanks everybody

[Eadwine Rose]

Just grabbing back on this.. UEFI BIOS has two entries in it that are gone from the system



I have this jotted down from a while back (thanks Fehlix for letting me know about that back when):

Cleaning up efi folder

An installed linux (or WinOS) will create a new "sub-folder" within the ESP (mounted onto /boot/efi ).
So if you would have installed, Ubuntu or Debian, you might find a sub-folder
/boot/efi/ubuntu, /boot/efi/debian (or whatever name debian has chosen)
After "uninstalling" e.g. ubuntu or debian, by clearing "formating"/re-using or otherwise,
of the installed partition (of ubuntu or debian), the folder within the ESP get not removed.
So tidy up ESP means: manually removing un-used efi-sub-folders of those uninstalled OS's.

So.. I saw them in /boot/efi/EFI/ and got rid of the folders there, however they still show up in the UEFI BIOS menu.


Now.. to remove them the above is not what I keep finding when I google, rather:

To find the number of what you want to remove:

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efibootmgr

Then to remove:

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efibootmgr -b 000x -B

x can be any number, like 0000, 0001 etc, match with the one you want to remove.



Will this not work on MX, considering the different advice above?

[fehlix]

To find the number of what you want to remove:

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efibootmgr

Then to remove:

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efibootmgr -b 000x -B

x can be any number, like 0000, 0001 etc, match with the one you want to remove.

Will this not work on MX, considering the different advice above?

Removing folders on the EFI System Partition will not automiticaly remove corresponding entries with NVRAM which are shown by running

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efibootmgr -v

Usage to delete

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efibootmgr --help
usage: efibootmgr [options]
	-b | --bootnum XXXX   modify BootXXXX (hex)
	-B | --delete-bootnum delete bootnum

With recent efibootmgr you can just write the number without the leading zeros,
e.g.:
efibootmgr -B -b 3
or
efibootmgr --delete-bootnum --bootnum 3

[Eadwine Rose]

OK so...

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root@eadwineMX19:/home/eadwine# efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0001,0003,0004,0002,0000,0005
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager	HD(1,GPT,d58b1603-0183-4ab9-a119-57f79716dbb8,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\MICROSOFT\BOOT\BOOTMGFW.EFI)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...C................
Boot0001* MX19	HD(1,GPT,d58b1603-0183-4ab9-a119-57f79716dbb8,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\MX19\GRUBX64.EFI)
Boot0002* MX18.3	HD(1,GPT,d58b1603-0183-4ab9-a119-57f79716dbb8,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\MX18.3\GRUBX64.EFI)
Boot0003* antiX19	HD(1,GPT,d58b1603-0183-4ab9-a119-57f79716dbb8,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\ANTIX19\GRUBX64.EFI)
Boot0004* MX18.1	HD(1,GPT,d58b1603-0183-4ab9-a119-57f79716dbb8,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\MX18.1\GRUBX64.EFI)
Boot0005* UEFI: SanDisk Cruzer Glide 1.27, Partition 2	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x3)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/USB(6,0)/HD(2,MBR,0x6041d4,0x1d04000,0x18800)..BO

If I wanted to remove the antix and the 18.1 entry I do this:

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efibootmgr -B -b 3

and then this:

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efibootmgr -B -b 4

[fehlix]

OK, after having removed 3 and 4 you shall also better adjust the boot order
which is now this:
BootOrder: 0001,0003,0004,0002,0000,0005
taking out 3 and would be this:
BootOrder: 0001,0002,0000,0005

which you set with

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efibootmgr -o 1,2,0,5

or

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efibootmgr  --bootorder 1,2,0,5

[Eadwine Rose]

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root@eadwineMX19:/home/eadwine# efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0001,0003,0004,0002,0000,0005
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager	HD(1,GPT,d58b1603-0183-4ab9-a119-57f79716dbb8,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\MICROSOFT\BOOT\BOOTMGFW.EFI)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...C................
Boot0001* MX19	HD(1,GPT,d58b1603-0183-4ab9-a119-57f79716dbb8,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\MX19\GRUBX64.EFI)
Boot0002* MX18.3	HD(1,GPT,d58b1603-0183-4ab9-a119-57f79716dbb8,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\MX18.3\GRUBX64.EFI)
Boot0003* antiX19	HD(1,GPT,d58b1603-0183-4ab9-a119-57f79716dbb8,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\ANTIX19\GRUBX64.EFI)
Boot0004* MX18.1	HD(1,GPT,d58b1603-0183-4ab9-a119-57f79716dbb8,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\MX18.1\GRUBX64.EFI)
Boot0005* UEFI: SanDisk Cruzer Glide 1.27, Partition 2	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x3)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/USB(6,0)/HD(2,MBR,0x6041d4,0x1d04000,0x18800)..BO
root@eadwineMX19:/home/eadwine# efibootmgr -B -b 3
BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0001,0004,0002,0000,0005
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager
Boot0001* MX19
Boot0002* MX18.3
Boot0004* MX18.1
Boot0005* UEFI: SanDisk Cruzer Glide 1.27, Partition 2
root@eadwineMX19:/home/eadwine# efibootmgr -B -b 4
BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0001,0002,0000,0005
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager
Boot0001* MX19
Boot0002* MX18.3
Boot0005* UEFI: SanDisk Cruzer Glide 1.27, Partition 2
root@eadwineMX19:/home/eadwine# efibootmgr -o 1,2,0,5
BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0001,0002,0000,0005
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager
Boot0001* MX19
Boot0002* MX18.3
Boot0005* UEFI: SanDisk Cruzer Glide 1.27, Partition 2
root@eadwineMX19:/home/eadwine# 

That should do it then :) Lessee and reboot.