Grub points to wrong boot for Windows

Ask Fedora
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1

Hi guys. My mount point in grub keeps pointing to /dev/sdc1. I believe it needs to point to /dev/sdc3 to boot into Windows without a bluescreen.

To explain a bit of context, I recently had to totally reinstall windows because it broke unrecoverably. I have backed everything up so all is good on that front. This does make me wonder if the fat32 partition is left over from the previous boot order and is crashing because it points to a partition that no longer exists?

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image2552×563 70 KB

bit of an edit: Would it be possible to delete the first fat32 partition if it is just left over and I hadn’t wiped it previously? If this is the case now is the time to experiment while I’m setting up windows 10 again and have most of my user data on an external drive.

2

do you tried pressing f11 or key for boot selection? and select windows ? In ADATA HD you have only windows system right?

3

In that image there is shown only one efi partition, which is sdc1 and since windows is booting with uefi that partition is required. When booting look at the grub menu and see what partition the windows entry is trying to boot from. If not sdc1 then grub sees another windows entry on a different device.

Has grub for fedora added the new install of windows into the grub menu? If not then have you tried booting to fedora then running sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg and attempted to add the menu entry?

Note that if there is still a directory located at /boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft then fedora will not see the one on /dev/sdc1 but use the other one instead which is probably wrong. Instead one could remove that directory and fedora grub should then locate the one on sdc1 by running the grub2-mkconfig command.

4

Will sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg just rewrite the grub menu and redetect windows? More just asking for educational value than anything.

When I get a moment back to my computer I can include a list of my boot disks via the asus motherboard. I have a feeling that there’s a redundant boot in there but I can’t be too sure.

5

This is correct, However I (could be mistaken) that it’s listing more boots because there’s sectors of the disk that still have a boot partition located on it I neglected to remove. I will come back with what my motherboard software sees when i get some time.

6

We can see what is actually there on all devices by looking at the output of lsblk -f.
That will show us all the partitions, including all the efi partitions.
Yes, running the grub2-mkconfig command will use os-prober and locate other OSes to add to the menu

Another tool (though it may not be accurate since it does not clean up stale entries automatically) is efibootmgr and it will show what the bios sees (has seen and recorded) as bootable devices.

9

I did actually run sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg, However it seems that while it did update the list, it readded the one that bluescreens. I included a shot of what my drives look like in ASUS boot menu…

The one highlighted boots perfectly fine into windows, however when I select ADATA itself it goes bluescreen. Not sure if that means there’s a redundant entry in there or if i have to play brainsurgeon a little more.

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10

Please post the output of the commands I gave above.

11

Sure thing, Sorry about that.

lsblk -f
NAME FSTYPE FSVER LABEL UUID FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
loop0 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/aria2c/9
loop1 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/bare/5
loop2 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/core18/2785
loop3 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/core18/2790
loop4 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/core20/1974
loop5 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/core20/2015
loop6 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/flasharch/28
loop7 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/flasharch/29
loop8 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/gnome-3-28-1804/194
loop9 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/gnome-3-28-1804/198
loop10 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/gtk-common-themes/1535
loop11 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/moosync/12
loop12 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/nightmayr-kf5-qt-5-15-2-core20/30
loop13 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/qt5-core20/15
loop14 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/snapd/19361
loop15 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/snapd/19457
loop16 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/yuzu/655
sda
├─sda1 ntfs System Reserved 664803A048036DDD
├─sda2 ntfs Hard Drive D4DED5A7DED581E2 350.9G 62% /run/media/brett/Hard Drive
└─sda3 ntfs 4852041E5204137C
sdb
├─sdb1 ext4 1.0 ec059043-b9be-4670-aee4-733644b5577e 598.7M 32% /boot
└─sdb2 btrfs fedora_localhost-live c4451282-3443-4a64-b32d-57ae24ccbfbb 212.1G 54% /home
/
sdc
├─sdc1 vfat FAT32 E0B2-EA73
├─sdc2
└─sdc3 ntfs 94A0E771A0E757EE
sdd
└─sdd1 vfat FAT32 Brett’s Dat 1690-76D6
zram0 [SWAP]
nvme0n1
├─nvme0n1p1
├─nvme0n1p2
└─nvme0n1p3 ntfs Extra Data BE8E67588E6707EB 303.2G 67% /run/media/brett/Extra Data

12

I see sdc1 & sdd1 which both appear to be efi partitions. Neither are mounted though.

Also I see no /boot/efi mounted partition.

Is fedora booting as legacy boot or uefi boot?
Please also post the output of sudo fdisk -l and mount as well as df for us.

13

Disk /dev/sda: 931.51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: TOSHIBA DT01ACA1
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x4326f7cd

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 2048 718847 716800 350M 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 718848 1952600063 1951881216 930.7G 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3 1952602112 1953521663 919552 449M 27 Hidden NTFS WinRE

Disk /dev/sdb: 465.76 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Disk model: WDC WDS500G2B0A
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x03c7f889

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1 * 2048 2099199 2097152 1G 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 2099200 976773119 974673920 464.8G 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdc: 953.87 GiB, 1024209543168 bytes, 2000409264 sectors
Disk model: ADATA SU800
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: E253B4EE-5A99-48C2-B9F3-F7380E44F4A5

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdc1 2048 206847 204800 100M EFI System
/dev/sdc2 206848 239615 32768 16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdc3 239616 2000408575 2000168960 953.8G Microsoft basic data

Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 931.51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 97D74F4A-1840-4F95-ACF6-31B95B3221D7

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/nvme0n1p1 206848 208895 2048 1M Microsoft LDM metadata
/dev/nvme0n1p2 208896 239615 30720 15M Microsoft reserved
/dev/nvme0n1p3 239616 1953525134 1953285519 931.4G Microsoft LDM data

Disk /dev/zram0: 8 GiB, 8589934592 bytes, 2097152 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 4096 = 4096 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes

Disk /dev/loop0: 44.3 MiB, 46456832 bytes, 90736 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop1: 4 KiB, 4096 bytes, 8 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop2: 55.66 MiB, 58368000 bytes, 114000 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop3: 55.66 MiB, 58363904 bytes, 113992 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop4: 63.45 MiB, 66531328 bytes, 129944 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop5: 63.46 MiB, 66547712 bytes, 129976 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop6: 134.11 MiB, 140627968 bytes, 274664 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop7: 134.55 MiB, 141082624 bytes, 275552 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop8: 164.82 MiB, 172830720 bytes, 337560 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop9: 164.82 MiB, 172830720 bytes, 337560 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop10: 91.69 MiB, 96141312 bytes, 187776 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop11: 155.35 MiB, 162897920 bytes, 318160 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop12: 520.45 MiB, 545730560 bytes, 1065880 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop13: 301.44 MiB, 316080128 bytes, 617344 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop14: 53.26 MiB, 55844864 bytes, 109072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop15: 53.26 MiB, 55844864 bytes, 109072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop16: 36.91 MiB, 38699008 bytes, 75584 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
results of sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sdd: 28.87 GiB, 30995907072 bytes, 60538881 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 3.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x003049a2

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdd1 2048 60538879 60536832 28.9G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Results of Mount:

proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel)
devtmpfs on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,seclabel,size=4096k,nr_inodes=1048576,mode=755,inode64)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,seclabel,inode64)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,seclabel,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,seclabel,size=6525272k,nr_inodes=819200,mode=755,inode64)
cgroup2 on /sys/fs/cgroup type cgroup2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel,nsdelegate,memory_recursiveprot)
pstore on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel)
bpf on /sys/fs/bpf type bpf (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,mode=700)
configfs on /sys/kernel/config type configfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
/dev/sdb2 on / type btrfs (rw,relatime,seclabel,compress=zstd:1,ssd,discard=async,space_cache=v2,subvolid=257,subvol=/root)
selinuxfs on /sys/fs/selinux type selinuxfs (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime)
systemd-1 on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type autofs (rw,relatime,fd=31,pgrp=1,timeout=0,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct,pipe_ino=20698)
mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel)
hugetlbfs on /dev/hugepages type hugetlbfs (rw,relatime,seclabel,pagesize=2M)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel)
tracefs on /sys/kernel/tracing type tracefs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,seclabel)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,seclabel,nr_inodes=1048576,inode64)
/dev/sdb2 on /home type btrfs (rw,relatime,seclabel,compress=zstd:1,ssd,discard=async,space_cache=v2,subvolid=256,subvol=/home)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/bare_5.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/bare/5 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core20_1974.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/core20/1974 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/aria2c_9.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/aria2c/9 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core20_2015.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/core20/2015 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core18_2785.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/core18/2785 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core18_2790.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/core18/2790 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/flasharch_28.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/flasharch/28 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/flasharch_29.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/flasharch/29 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-3-28-1804_198.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/gnome-3-28-1804/198 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-3-28-1804_194.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/gnome-3-28-1804/194 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gtk-common-themes_1535.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/gtk-common-themes/1535 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/moosync_12.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/moosync/12 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/nightmayr-kf5-qt-5-15-2-core20_30.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/nightmayr-kf5-qt-5-15-2-core20/30 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/qt5-core20_15.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/qt5-core20/15 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/snapd_19361.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/snapd/19361 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/snapd_19457.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/snapd/19457 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/yuzu_655.snap on /var/lib/snapd/snap/yuzu/655 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,context=system_u:object_r:snappy_snap_t:s0,errors=continue,x-gdu.hide,x-gvfs-hide)
/dev/sdb1 on /boot type ext4 (rw,relatime,seclabel)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
sunrpc on /var/lib/nfs/rpc_pipefs type rpc_pipefs (rw,relatime)
net_cls on /sys/fs/cgroup/net_cls type cgroup (rw,relatime,seclabel,net_cls)
tmpfs on /run/user/1000 type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,seclabel,size=3262632k,nr_inodes=815658,mode=700,uid=1000,gid=1000,inode64)
portal on /run/user/1000/doc type fuse.portal (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1000,group_id=1000)
/dev/nvme0n1p3 on /run/media/brett/Extra Data type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0,default_permissions,allow_other,blksize=4096,uhelper=udisks2)
/dev/sda2 on /run/media/brett/Hard Drive type ntfs3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,windows_names,iocharset=utf8,uhelper=udisks2)
/dev/sdd1 on /run/media/brett/Brett’s Dat type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=ascii,shortname=mixed,showexec,utf8,flush,errors=remount-ro,uhelper=udisks2)

df:

Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
devtmpfs 4096 0 4096 0% /dev
tmpfs 16313176 14528 16298648 1% /dev/shm
tmpfs 6525272 2192 6523080 1% /run
/dev/sdb2 487336960 263008736 222353856 55% /
tmpfs 16313176 12752 16300424 1% /tmp
/dev/sdb2 487336960 263008736 222353856 55% /home
/dev/loop1 128 128 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/bare/5
/dev/loop4 65024 65024 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/core20/1974
/dev/loop0 45440 45440 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/aria2c/9
/dev/loop5 65024 65024 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/core20/2015
/dev/loop2 57088 57088 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/core18/2785
/dev/loop3 57088 57088 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/core18/2790
/dev/loop6 137344 137344 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/flasharch/28
/dev/loop7 137856 137856 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/flasharch/29
/dev/loop9 168832 168832 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/gnome-3-28-1804/198
/dev/loop8 168832 168832 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/gnome-3-28-1804/194
/dev/loop10 93952 93952 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/gtk-common-themes/1535
/dev/loop11 159104 159104 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/moosync/12
/dev/loop12 532992 532992 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/nightmayr-kf5-qt-5-15-2-core20/30
/dev/loop13 308736 308736 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/qt5-core20/15
/dev/loop14 54656 54656 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/snapd/19361
/dev/loop15 54656 54656 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/snapd/19457
/dev/loop16 37888 37888 0 100% /var/lib/snapd/snap/yuzu/655
/dev/sdb1 996780 314852 613116 34% /boot
tmpfs 3262632 160 3262472 1% /run/user/1000
/dev/nvme0n1p3 976641020 658759888 317881132 68% /run/media/brett/Extra Data
/dev/sda2 975940604 596849588 379091016 62% /run/media/brett/Hard Drive
/dev/sdd1 30253616 11114080 19139536 37% /run/media/brett/Brett’s Dat

Sorry it’s a little long.

14

Did you run efibootmgr?

What is the result of cat /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

Please post both.

What I can see is that windows installed on sda is installed in legacy boot
Windows installed on sdc is installed in uefi boot

I cannot tell how fedora was installed but the 2 commands above will give me that info. I suspect it was legacy boot mode.

15

Yes, I reinstalled Windows onto a drive that I’m thinking might have had partitions i didn’t delete on it. Infact i did it through “custom installation” and left two different partitions active, would perhaps seeing these partitions in disk manager prove my suspicions currect?

During this process I also had to change the "Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk has an MBR Partition table. On EFI Systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT Disks. So I think I was stuck changing it to GPT for the install to work.

Initially my WIndows install (before totally breaking) much have been in MBR, Since it never allowed me to upgrade to 11 as I seem to recall.

efibootmgr tells me “EFI variables are not supported on this system”

cat: /sys/firmware/efi/efivars: No such file or directory

16

This info tells me that you cannot boot the windows installed on sdc from fedora grub.
Fedora is booting in legacy boot mode and the windows installed on sdc is installed in efi mode so they cannot see one another at all

If you wish to be able to boot both fedora and windows from grub then the only fix is to have both installed in the same boot mode. This would require that either you fully reinstall windows in legacy boot mode (possibly overwriting what is on sda) or you fully reinstall fedora and allow it to use the existing partitions on sdb as well as the efi partition on sdc.

Note that you would find it easiest to do the fedora reinstall since you can keep the existing /home data with custom partitioning and not formatting that data. Also using /dev/sdc1 as the /boot/efi partition and again not formatting that.

It also would probably be best to set the bios to boot in uefi mode only before starting. Fedora installs in the boot mode used to boot the install media.

17

I might just reinstall Windows since it’s more broken. However I totally agree with this, I’ve had a way easier time redoing Fedora when it totally breaks then fixing Windows. Tells you something about the linux philosophy :laughing:

Though I’m not entirely sure why it told me it only accepts Windows 10 in GPT if it was in MBR previously with 0 issues.

18

The important thing to remember is that installing windows after installing fedora mostly breaks grub for fedora and may also force a reinstall of fedora as well. Installing fedora second does not normally break windows booting, especially when using uefi.

As I recall, windows 7 was definitely only installed in MBR (dos formatted drive). I think that both windows 8 and windows 10 could be installed in either, though windows 10 preferred gpt (UEFI boot). My laptop came with windows 10 and gpt partitioning.

It is apparent that your system is capable of booting in either mode since you have installed OSes that are both uefi and mbr booting.

Back to the real problem–
You said that you (re)installed windows on sdc and that it told you to install it on a gpt partitioned drive. After this fedora cannot access the proper windows installation, which is due to the legacy boot vs uefi boot problem.

I suspect there is no problem with the newer windows installation, but rather that a reinstall of fedora into a uefi mode will solve the original problem and things will boot properly for both OSes. Attempting to reinstall windows 10 in a dos partitioned drive to use legacy boot will break fedora booting; that is almost 100% assured.

19

Been looking into reinstalling Fedora with grub detecting EFI boots, Is there a guide? the one I found didn’t seem to work correctly when formatting the drive.

20

Grub does not detect efi boots. The bios selects the boot mode depending on how the os being booted was originally installed or how the install media is selected for booting.

The fedora install media is hybrid and can be selected from the bios boot menu to boot either uefi or legacy. If bios is set to boot uefi only then the install media will always boot uefi mode since that is what the bios wants. If bios is set to use CSM then the user must select the boot mode when booting the install media.