To : debian-efi@lists.debian.org From : Derrin Morton Subject : UEFI searching for bootx64.efi - but debian has not created this in ESP - help please. Hi Folks – I have spent my tiny brain capacity and drawn a blank – probably not reviewing the correct documentation – I had managed to avoid bugging the Debian lists for about 10 years – having installed it successfully on various old laptops – and recently inside a Windows WSL. The problems come later when I find my hard ware just doesn’t have enough grunt for the data workloads and tools I experiment with (next challenge – elasticsearch et al.) So “treating” myself to a refurbed server. Still hoping to keep Debian as the main stay – but aiming to build a number of docker containers with access to ZFS 2x2TB filesystem Climbed the first step off ground zero – got the OS installed – just unable to launch into it because UEFI doesn’t seem to want to play Skipping to the question (back drop and detail below) UEFI searching for bootx64.efi - but debian has not created this in ESP - help please.Straight to the question Option 1 How do I force the UEFI Boot Option to search one of the above efi files actually created by the debian install when UEFI will only search for bootx64.efi This seems a voodoo task because during initial analysis the UEFI ignores looking for an instructed efi and over-rides looking for bootx64.efi Option2 – where can I source a bootx64.efi that UEFI will recognise and “make the boot up happen”, using the installed Debian 11.5 e.g. – copy shimx64.efi as bootx64.efi will writing to /media/user/<GUID>/usr/lib/shim automatically copy to ESP ? (didn’t work) e.g. – copy a bootx64.efi from EFI/boot in ? https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/jigdo-cd/ but will a bootx64.efi.signed file be required? Back drop and context Server Details Dell Precision T5810 Tower Workstation 1 x Intel Xeon E5-2650 v3 Ten-Core 2.3GHz CPU Manufacture Date : 17 April 2015 No other OS’s / brand new disks Avoiding using Intel RST – planning to use ZFS Debian image 11.5.0 Sourced via Jigdo https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/jigdo-cd/ Written to a KINGSTON USB stick with balenaEtcher on a Windows 11 machine Launched UEFI booter successfully – and definitely UEFI booted in d-I (https://wiki.debian.org/UEFI?action="">) Used the guided partition manager – Left the ESP ; / ; /var as is (512 MB; 25GB; 10GB, respectively Changed swap ; /tmp ; /home for different sizes – (72GB; 1GB; 85GB) (64GB RAM – am likely going to need to hibernate as Mrs Derrin will want silence occasionally 8-) ) Debian installation completed successfully Removed all installation media and reboot Black screen of doom “No Bootable devices found” with F1 help / F2 Enter settings / F5 run performance tests So, back to UEFI A new entry was created in the UEFI Boot sequence called “debian” with a new FSO reference to bootx64.efi Problem is – bootx64.efi is not in the FSO partition (presumably this is looking at the Debian created ESP Partition) Only these files exist FSO:/EFI/debian/ shimx64.efi grubx64.efi mmx64.efi fbx64.efi BOOTX64.CSV ? grub.cfg So during the install – bootx64.csv was created – not bootx64.efi Opened the file systems with a Debian Live torrent grabbed and burnt to USB Does not open ESP partition – opens all other partitions fine.
/media/user/<GUID>/usr/lib/shim : shimx64.efi mmx64.efi fbx64.efi BOOTX64.CSV ? shimx64.efi.signed mmx64.efi.signed fbx64.efi.signed Contents of BOOTX64.CSV “shimx64.efi, Debian,, This is the boot entry for debian" Created a boot sequence boot order to use shimx64.efi – but UEFI on reboot adjusts it back to “bootx64.efi” So UEFI is looking for bootx64.efi but Debian has rendered other efis. So ? Option 1 How to force UEFI Boot option to search one of the above Debian created .efi’s – This seems a voodoo task because during initial analysis the UEFI ignores looking for an instructed efi and over-rides looking for bootx64.efi Option2 – where to source a bootx64.efi that UEFI will recognise and “make the boot up happen”, e.g. – copy shimx64.efi as bootx64.efi will writing to /media/user/<GUID>/usr/lib/shim automatically copy to ESP ? e.g. – copy a bootx64.efi from EFI/boot in ? https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/jigdo-cd/ but will a bootx64.efi.signed file be required ? Working through the reference material Debian installs grub-efi for its EFI bootloader, as:
Agreed – Debian has installed as expected – but UEFI is ignoring this – even when the boot option is manually explicitly configured UEFI is ignoring this … and reverting the boot option to \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.efi Its like UEFI is only looking to USB for booting ?... – Have disable support for USB Boot in UEFI – still black screen of death Advice much appreciated Derrin Derrin Morton |