Bug? Maximum of two boot menu entries

[Hans_Bausewein]

Firmware bug?
Or would Intel call this a feature?

Every time I install a third operating system one of the existing entries is removed by the firmware, it seems.

I have a NUC8i7HVK2 with firmware upgraded to BIOS Update HNKBLi70, version 0064, 10/28/2020 .

Before the boot:

Boot0006* Qubes HD(1,GPT,81dab18b-aef0-4f79-b7dd-61e6295671da,0x800,0x64000)/File(\EFI\qubes\xen.efi)
Boot0007* Linux Mint 20.1 HD(1,GPT,81dab18b-aef0-4f79-b7dd-61e6295671da,0x800,0x64000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)
Boot0008* debian VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0009* ubuntu VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot000A* debian HD(1,GPT,d03a4a1f-c136-4c3a-a7c2-c70713d28022,0x800,0x64000)/File(\EFI\debian\shimx64.efi)

Current :

Boot0006* Qubes HD(1,GPT,81dab18b-aef0-4f79-b7dd-61e6295671da,0x800,0x64000)/File(\EFI\qubes\xen.efi)
Boot0007* Linux Mint 20.1       VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0008* debian        VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot0009* ubuntu        VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot000A* debian        HD(1,GPT,d03a4a1f-c136-4c3a-a7c2-c70713d28022,0x800,0x64000)/File(\EFI\debian\shimx64.efi)

Boot0007 is disabled.

Hans

[Hans_Bausewein]

I've deleted the disabled entries and recreated the Linux Mint entry:

efibootmgr -c -d /dev/nvme0n1 -p 1 -l "\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi" -L "Linux Mint 20.1"

Now I have:

efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 000A
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 000B,0006,000A,0001
Boot0001* Windows Boot Manager  VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)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.}...o................
Boot0006* Qubes HD(1,GPT,81dab18b-aef0-4f79-b7dd-61e6295671da,0x800,0x64000)/File(\EFI\qubes\xen.efi)
Boot000A* debian        HD(1,GPT,d03a4a1f-c136-4c3a-a7c2-c70713d28022,0x800,0x64000)/File(\EFI\debian\shimx64.efi)
Boot000B* Linux Mint 20.1       HD(1,GPT,81dab18b-aef0-4f79-b7dd-61e6295671da,0x800,0x64000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)

Let's reboot and see what happens . . .

Hans

[Hans_Bausewein]

Qubes is disabled:

efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 000A
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 000B,000A,0006,0001
Boot0001* Windows Boot Manager  VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)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.}...o................
Boot0006* Qubes VenHw(99e275e7-75a0-4b37-a2e6-c5385e6c00cb)
Boot000A* debian        HD(1,GPT,d03a4a1f-c136-4c3a-a7c2-c70713d28022,0x800,0x64000)/File(\EFI\debian\shimx64.efi)
Boot000B* Linux Mint 20.1       HD(1,GPT,81dab18b-aef0-4f79-b7dd-61e6295671da,0x800,0x64000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)

Hans

[Alberto_Sykes]

hansbw, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

For this scenario, for your information, Intel® tested and validated the Intel® NUC Kit NUC8i7HVK with Windows* 10, 64-bit - Windows* Server 2016 as Operating Systems, the drivers that we have available on our web site are for those Operating Systems and when using a different OS some problems could be expected, as you can confirm in the links below:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005628/intel-nuc.html

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/126143/Intel-NUC-Kit-NUC8i7HVK

You mentioned, "Every time I install a third operating system one of the existing entries is removed by the firmware", just to let you know, normally the technical support that we provide for the Intel® NUCs is when using just one OS, in this case, it seems you need to install a third one, so, I will do further research in order to confirm that information and to try to do our best in order to assist you with this matter, as soon as I get any updates I will post all the details on this thread.

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Hans_Bausewein]

Albert,

Thanks for checking.

Actually, the maximum on the NUC is one per disk (well, nvme SSD, of course) and I have 2 SSDs, hence a maximum of two.

In almost all examples using efibootmgr I see more entries per disk.

Reading  the UEFI specifications  now.

Hans

[Hans_Bausewein]

I have found a good solution, at least for my use case: refind

So instead of a Linux distribution's boot loader or boot manager I select the Refind boot manager, which in turn allows to select what to boot.

On Debian (and probably Mint, Ubuntu) it can be installed using:

apt-get install refind

I'll only occasionally use the Intel  (F10) boot menu. Maybe as a fall-back in case Refind is broken.

Hans

[Alberto_Sykes]

hansbw, You are very welcome, thank you very much for providing that information.

I just received an update on this matter, and I can confirm that we only support stand-alone installation, dual or triple boot is out of our scope of support, so in this case what we suggest is to visit and submit your inquiry DIRECTLY in the Linux distro's forums for further assistance on this matter:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/linux-osv.html

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Hans_Bausewein · Accepted solution]

@Alberto_Sykes

Thanks for the confirmation.

I've found a work-around: http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/refind.html

It's a boot manager, which in turn, allows selection of boot loaders (or other boot managers).

So from the Intel F10 menu I select the rEFInd menu and then the OS.

I have not tried Secure Boot, yet, but it should also work with uploading my own certificate.

Hans

[Hans_Bausewein]

This is not an issue for the more recent 10th gen NUC BIOS.

I have a NUC10i3FNK now, running the BIOS Update [FNCML357] Version: 0050, Date: 3/3/2021 firmware, which allows at least four boot entries per device.

So far I've not seen one being rejected, so I do not know the limit.

Hans

[Hans_Bausewein]

@Alberto_R_Intel1

Thanks for the confirmation.

I've found a work-around: rEFInd

It's a boot manager, which in turn, allows selection of boot loaders (or other boot managers).

So from the Intel F10 menu I select the rEFInd menu and then the OS.

I have not tried Secure Boot, yet, but it should also work after uploading my own certificate.

Hans

[Alberto_Sykes]

hansbw, Thank you very much for sharing those details.

Perfect, excellent, it is great to hear that you were able to find a work-around for this problem and that you giving the information for all the peers to see, we are sure it will be very helpful for all of them.

Any other inquiries, do not hesitate to contact us again.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician