Windows borked on my dual boot Dell xps

Jason · August 28, 2021, 12:52:25 PM

Can you turn off EFI? I'm not that familiar with it; maybe I'm just thinking of Secure boot.

Where is the tab are you talking about that isn't showing other OSes? Do you mean in EasyBCD?

It might be easiest to clone the Ubuntu partition and re-install Windows fresh as Buster suggested. It'd probably be less time than trying to hunt down solutions to this problem.

fox · August 28, 2021, 01:44:48 PM

Quote from: Jason on August 28, 2021, 12:52:25 PM
Can you turn off EFI? I'm not that familiar with it; maybe I'm just thinking of Secure boot.

I don't know how to turn off EFI, but Secure boot is off.

Quote from: Jason on August 28, 2021, 12:52:25 PM
Where is the tab are you talking about that isn't showing other OSes? Do you mean in EasyBCD?

Yes, in EasyBCD

Quote from: Jason on August 28, 2021, 12:52:25 PM
It might be easiest to clone the Ubuntu partition and re-install Windows fresh as Buster suggested. It'd probably be less time than trying to hunt down solutions to this problem.

I'm thinking same.

ssfc72 · August 28, 2021, 03:26:36 PM

It just occurred to me that my Dell XPS Windows probably needs to do an update. I will boot into the Windows OS and see if it causes any problem for me, after the Win update, to boot into my MXLinux.

Oops, I just remembered that I got rid of Windows OS on my Dell XPS and only have MXLinux, on it.
I would have to get the Image I made of the XPS, when it had Win 10 on it. :-(

fox · August 28, 2021, 08:58:59 PM

Well I started over again (3rd try), erased the SSD, installed Windows 10, used its disk manager to make space for Ubuntu, and then installed Ubuntu from a live USB using the install alongside Windows option. Same result - Windows won't boot from the grub menu, but I can get either Windows or Ubuntu to boot by selecting the option I want after hitting the F12 key at startup. I spent hours trying to find a solution, but nothing that was suggested worked. Also, I found several other Ubuntu users posting about the same problem. I'm not a happy camper. I don't know whose fault this is - Dell, Microsoft and/or Canonical/Ubuntu. I wasted three days on this and don't have a lot to show for this time. If I had known this, I would never have bought a Dell xps and I'm still perplexed as to why I have this problem now.

A Mac laptop is starting to look more attractive, if I need a laptop at all.

buster · August 28, 2021, 09:12:47 PM

Could also be the latest little update for grub has a glitch and will be sorted out over the next week or so. Grub is usually the key player with dual boots.

ssfc72 · August 29, 2021, 12:28:44 AM

maybe try a Win 11 install, just for the heck of it. it apparrently is available as a download or might even be an optiom in your win 10 update.

Jason · August 29, 2021, 05:51:34 AM

I guess you're well past the date to get free support from Dell? Did you have the issue right away with Windows or was it when you applied all the updates? My guess is that Microsoft messed up something since that seems to be when you noted the problem. I actually wish I had Windows on this laptop right now so I could help! Maybe just use your ad hoc solution for now and see if the next quality update (which includes security fixes but not feature upgrades) fixes the problem.

fox · August 29, 2021, 07:56:25 AM

The problem occurred right after I did a firmware update on the laptop; I only realized that this morning. Apparently I can downgrade the firmware on a Dell laptop; I might try that this morning. Even if not, if a firmware update caused the problem, another firmware update might fix it.

As you can tell from the title of my post, I actually thought that the Windows installation itself was borked. That was unfortunate because the things I did afterward caused me to lose some files (nothing serious) but more importantly, to start over from scratch. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure that all that was broken was the grub boot, as the error messages I got during a Windows boot from grub are the same now as they were before.

With another night of sleep behind me, I'm not as upset as I was. I can still boot into both systems; it's just kludgy to have to change the boot from the default to the other system by going to the BIOS. And I learned a lot about Windows repair and bootloaders by all my efforts to solve the problem.

Assuming that the problem hasn't gone away by Monday night, I would like to bring my laptop to our outdoor MUG and have you and Bill look at the BIOS settings. If Bill would bring his xps, we can compare his settings with mine.

Oh and yes, I am well past the free support date. The model (9365) came out in 2017 and I bought it in 2018.

ssfc72 · August 29, 2021, 08:01:07 AM

Sure, I will make a note to myself, to bring my XPS.

fox · August 29, 2021, 07:49:45 PM

Quote from: ssfc72 on August 29, 2021, 12:28:44 AM
maybe try a Win 11 install, just for the heck of it. it apparently is available as a download or might even be an option in your win 10 update.

I did a Windows 11 install alongside Windows 10. It didn't change anything as far as booting is concerned. I can boot into it or Windows 10 from the Windows bootloader and Ubuntu through the Grub bootloader. I can make either one as the default in BIOS, and boot the other by selecting it after pressing the F12 key.

ssfc72 · August 30, 2021, 03:13:58 PM

On my Dell XPS, in thr BIOS, i have Legacy boot on and EFI OFF.

fox · August 30, 2021, 04:25:50 PM

Interesting. Is your drive an NVME SSD or a SATA SSD, Bill? I didn't think a NVME drive could boot in legacy mode.

I saw the following YouTube video, which shows how to change to legacy mode, but I have no idea what kind of drive this guy was using, and his BIOS is text-based, and different from mine, which is graphic-based.

ssfc72 · August 30, 2021, 04:46:39 PM

My Dell XPS is an M2 SSD.

fox · August 30, 2021, 05:06:35 PM

m2 is the form factor (how it's attached). The question is whether the drive uses the newer, faster nvme protocol, or is a SATA ssd. I'm not sure how you find this information, but in Windows settings, under Device Manager/Storage Controllers, I have listed a "Standard NVM Express Controller". I'm guessing that wouldn't be there if NVME wasn't supported, though I think you could install a m2.SATA drive in that slot.

Anyway, bring your Dell along tonight.

ssfc72 · August 31, 2021, 09:44:29 AM

Fox, I am just grasping at straws here, for a way to solve your Windows boot problem.
Last evening you were able to boot from a different menu, into Win 10 or 11 and your Dell XPS was running on battery.
Maybe try running on battery at your home, instead of being powered by the power adapter, and see if you can still boot from a menu, into Win 10 or 11?