Thre Fedora Bios entries | Grub > UEFI Firmware Settings | How to change general Fedora in something useful

ilikelinux · May 20, 2023, 2:14pm

How to change the entry into something where it is possible to distinguish the device/fedora version.

About the Hardware Settings I do have:
I’m using a HD docking station (USB3) for two disks
and also do have a internal disk in my small Intense PC

Sometimes I do boot from a usb-stick with a new/old fedora version.
Internal and external Disks have separate grub2 installed (fi this matters)

I do use this kind of settings while we do have a newer Fedora version (lately F37 F38)
The internal disk is the daily driver F37 while F38 is to test and migrate if works.
In the end I swap just the disk. To be ready for a new setup.

It is quite disturbing if I try to set the boot order new, that everything works as intended with such an ammount of Fedoras .

I would like to re-label this entries so that i know which entry belongs to which slot/disk/usb-port.
Remembering to discuss this issue already but I could not find a solution anymore.

I believe it must been something in the UEFI partitions ?

Here the output of sudo efibootmgr -v

BootCurrent: 0014
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0017,0015,0014,0016,000A,0005,0003,0004,0006,0007,0008,000B,000C,000D,000E,000F,0010
Boot0000  Setup	FvFile(721c8b66-426c-4e86-8e99-3457c46ab0b9)
      dp: 04 06 14 00 66 8b 1c 72 6c 42 86 4e 8e 99 34 57 c4 6a b0 b9 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0001  Boot Menu	FvFile(86488440-41bb-42c7-93ac-450fbf7766bf)
      dp: 04 06 14 00 40 84 48 86 bb 41 c7 42 93 ac 45 0f bf 77 66 bf / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0002  Diagnostic Splash	FvFile(a7d8d9a6-6ab0-4aeb-ad9d-163e59a7a380)
      dp: 04 06 14 00 a6 d9 d8 a7 b0 6a eb 4a ad 9d 16 3e 59 a7 a3 80 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0003* SATA HDD2:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f602)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 02 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0004* SATA HDD3:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f603)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 03 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0005* USB HDD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,33e821aaaf33bc4789bd419f88c50803)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 33 e8 21 aa af 33 bc 47 89 bd 41 9f 88 c5 08 03 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0006* USB CD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,86701296aa5a7848b66cd49dd3ba6a55)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 86 70 12 96 aa 5a 78 48 b6 6c d4 9d d3 ba 6a 55 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0007* USB FDD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,6ff015a28830b543a8b8641009461e49)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 6f f0 15 a2 88 30 b5 43 a8 b8 64 10 09 46 1e 49 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0008* ATAPI CD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,aea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a354)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b ae a2 09 0a df de 21 4e 8b 3a 5e 47 18 56 a3 54 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0009* CD-ROM:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,be9d0102e211f3489efa0b983c96839b)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b be 9d 01 02 e2 11 f3 48 9e fa 0b 98 3c 96 83 9b / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000A* SATA HDD4:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f604)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 04 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000B* SATA HDD0:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f600)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 00 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000C* SATA HDD1:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f601)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 01 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000D* SATA HDD5:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f605)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 05 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000E* Other HDD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f609)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 09 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000F* Internal Shell	FvFile(c57ad6b7-0515-40a8-9d21-551652854e37)
      dp: 04 06 14 00 b7 d6 7a c5 15 05 a8 40 9d 21 55 16 52 85 4e 37 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0010* PCI LAN:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,78a84aaf2b2afc4ea79cf5cc8f3d3803)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 78 a8 4a af 2b 2a fc 4e a7 9c f5 cc 8f 3d 38 03 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0011* IDER BOOT CDROM	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x16,0x2)/Ata(0,1,0)
      dp: 02 01 0c 00 d0 41 03 0a 00 00 00 00 / 01 01 06 00 02 16 / 03 01 08 00 00 01 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0012* IDER BOOT Floppy	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x16,0x2)/Ata(0,0,0)
      dp: 02 01 0c 00 d0 41 03 0a 00 00 00 00 / 01 01 06 00 02 16 / 03 01 08 00 00 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0013* ATA HDD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f6)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0014* Fedora	HD(1,GPT,82efa53e-ecaa-4ce0-9c83-f397d12831b4,0xffff,0x11ffee)/File(\EFI\fedora\shimx64.efi)
      dp: 04 01 2a 00 01 00 00 00 ff ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 ee ff 11 00 00 00 00 00 3e a5 ef 82 aa ec e0 4c 9c 83 f3 97 d1 28 31 b4 02 02 / 04 04 34 00 5c 00 45 00 46 00 49 00 5c 00 66 00 65 00 64 00 6f 00 72 00 61 00 5c 00 73 00 68 00 69 00 6d 00 78 00 36 00 34 00 2e 00 65 00 66 00 69 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0015* Fedora	HD(1,GPT,ada8f29e-5e89-4de4-947b-1d485bede1b8,0xffff,0x11ffee)/File(\EFI\fedora\shimx64.efi)
      dp: 04 01 2a 00 01 00 00 00 ff ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 ee ff 11 00 00 00 00 00 9e f2 a8 ad 89 5e e4 4d 94 7b 1d 48 5b ed e1 b8 02 02 / 04 04 34 00 5c 00 45 00 46 00 49 00 5c 00 66 00 65 00 64 00 6f 00 72 00 61 00 5c 00 73 00 68 00 69 00 6d 00 78 00 36 00 34 00 2e 00 65 00 66 00 69 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0016* Linux	HD(1,GPT,82efa53e-ecaa-4ce0-9c83-f397d12831b4,0xffff,0x11ffee)/File(\EFI\fedora\grub.efi)fedora-37
      dp: 04 01 2a 00 01 00 00 00 ff ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 ee ff 11 00 00 00 00 00 3e a5 ef 82 aa ec e0 4c 9c 83 f3 97 d1 28 31 b4 02 02 / 04 04 2e 00 5c 00 45 00 46 00 49 00 5c 00 66 00 65 00 64 00 6f 00 72 00 61 00 5c 00 67 00 72 00 75 00 62 00 2e 00 65 00 66 00 69 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
    data: 66 65 64 6f 72 61 2d 33 37
Boot0017* Fedora	HD(1,MBR,0x6615bdd6,0x800,0x12c000)/File(\EFI\fedora\shimx64.efi)
      dp: 04 01 2a 00 01 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 c0 12 00 00 00 00 00 d6 bd 15 66 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 01 / 04 04 34 00 5c 00 45 00 46 00 49 00 5c 00 66 00 65 00 64 00 6f 00 72 00 61 00 5c 00 73 00 68 00 69 00 6d 00 78 00 36 00 34 00 2e 00 65 00 66 00 69 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00

computersavvy · May 20, 2023, 8:35pm

With that many entries in the output of efibootmgr I see why it gets confusing.
The image seems from the bios and the efibootmgr entry is the best.

I wonder exactly how many OSes you are actively using at present?

efibootmgr says you last booted with entry 0014.

If you know exactly which entry applies to the different OSes you have in use then keep only those entries. If not, then you will have to by trial and error identify which are in use.

You can remove all the unnecessary entries, one at a time with efibootmgr. For example you could remove the boot0000 entry with efibootmgr -B -b 0000, and similarly for each entry there that you wish to remove.

Obviously you would not remove 0014, and whichever other(s) you determine are currently in use.

ilikelinux · May 20, 2023, 9:14pm

BootOrder: 0017,0015,0014,0016,000A,0005,0003,0004,0006,0007,0008,000B,000C,000D,000E,000F,0010

It looks like that it just accumulates not removes anymore ?! From hardware I use the disk with?
So, I guess i start with hardware i physically not have on my Intense mini pc right? like:

Boot0012* IDER BOOT Floppy	, Boot0009* CD-ROM:	VenMsg , Boot0012* IDER BOOT Floppy	PciRoot

Edit:
Removing those above removed 3Fedora entries. It is just one now … it means as long as i swap the disk in the slots as log it gives me new entries. Best ist then to sort after slots of the usb disk docking station.

New Summary made after remove.

BootCurrent: 0014
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0014,0003,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,000A,000B,000C,000D,000E,000F,0010
Boot0000  Setup	FvFile(721c8b66-426c-4e86-8e99-3457c46ab0b9)
      dp: 04 06 14 00 66 8b 1c 72 6c 42 86 4e 8e 99 34 57 c4 6a b0 b9 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0001  Boot Menu	FvFile(86488440-41bb-42c7-93ac-450fbf7766bf)
      dp: 04 06 14 00 40 84 48 86 bb 41 c7 42 93 ac 45 0f bf 77 66 bf / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0002  Diagnostic Splash	FvFile(a7d8d9a6-6ab0-4aeb-ad9d-163e59a7a380)
      dp: 04 06 14 00 a6 d9 d8 a7 b0 6a eb 4a ad 9d 16 3e 59 a7 a3 80 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0003* SATA HDD2:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f602)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 02 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0004* SATA HDD3:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f603)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 03 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0005* USB HDD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,33e821aaaf33bc4789bd419f88c50803)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 33 e8 21 aa af 33 bc 47 89 bd 41 9f 88 c5 08 03 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0006* USB CD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,86701296aa5a7848b66cd49dd3ba6a55)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 86 70 12 96 aa 5a 78 48 b6 6c d4 9d d3 ba 6a 55 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0007* USB FDD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,6ff015a28830b543a8b8641009461e49)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 6f f0 15 a2 88 30 b5 43 a8 b8 64 10 09 46 1e 49 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0008* ATAPI CD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,aea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a354)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b ae a2 09 0a df de 21 4e 8b 3a 5e 47 18 56 a3 54 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0009* CD-ROM:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,be9d0102e211f3489efa0b983c96839b)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b be 9d 01 02 e2 11 f3 48 9e fa 0b 98 3c 96 83 9b / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000A* SATA HDD4:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f604)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 04 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000B* SATA HDD0:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f600)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 00 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000C* SATA HDD1:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f601)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 01 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000D* SATA HDD5:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f605)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 05 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000E* Other HDD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f609)
      dp: 03 0a 25 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 09 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot000F* Internal Shell	FvFile(c57ad6b7-0515-40a8-9d21-551652854e37)
      dp: 04 06 14 00 b7 d6 7a c5 15 05 a8 40 9d 21 55 16 52 85 4e 37 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0010* PCI LAN:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,78a84aaf2b2afc4ea79cf5cc8f3d3803)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 78 a8 4a af 2b 2a fc 4e a7 9c f5 cc 8f 3d 38 03 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0011* IDER BOOT CDROM	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x16,0x2)/Ata(0,1,0)
      dp: 02 01 0c 00 d0 41 03 0a 00 00 00 00 / 01 01 06 00 02 16 / 03 01 08 00 00 01 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0012* IDER BOOT Floppy	PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x16,0x2)/Ata(0,0,0)
      dp: 02 01 0c 00 d0 41 03 0a 00 00 00 00 / 01 01 06 00 02 16 / 03 01 08 00 00 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0013* ATA HDD:	VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f6)
      dp: 03 0a 24 00 d2 38 78 bc 82 0f 60 4d 83 16 c0 68 ee 79 d2 5b 91 af 62 59 56 44 9f 41 a7 b9 1f 4f 89 2a b0 f6 / 7f ff 04 00
Boot0014* Fedora	HD(1,GPT,82efa53e-ecaa-4ce0-9c83-f397d12831b4,0xffff,0x11ffee)/File(\EFI\fedora\shimx64.efi)
      dp: 04 01 2a 00 01 00 00 00 ff ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 ee ff 11 00 00 00 00 00 3e a5 ef 82 aa ec e0 4c 9c 83 f3 97 d1 28 31 b4 02 02 / 04 04 34 00 5c 00 45 00 46 00 49 00 5c 00 66 00 65 00 64 00 6f 00 72 00 61 00 5c 00 73 00 68 00 69 00 6d 00 78 00 36 00 34 00 2e 00 65 00 66 00 69 00 00 00 / 7f ff 04 00

computersavvy · May 20, 2023, 9:24pm

Since efibootmgr is reading from the uefi bios then it seems the bios does not remove entries for non-existent OSes or devices. Thus, yes, you would want to definitely remove the related entries

There was a thread a short time back where the user had a lot of entries that showed up in efibootmgr and it seems the bios was not able to add more entries until some were removed. I have no idea what the limits may be or if it varies by bios brand, but keeping the entries simple, few, and relevant to the current hardware & software seems appropriate.

ilikelinux · May 20, 2023, 9:30pm

Is this the same as when i press F12 or F10? I still have a bit a mess in between legacy bios and uefi.

computersavvy · May 20, 2023, 9:33pm

I think the boot menu (F10 or F12) only displays bootable devices the bios currently sees during that boot and certainly does not display it the same as efibootmgr. It may even show devices not shown in efibootmgr since it also looks for bootable usb devices or other newly attached bootable devices such as a DVD.

Also, it is important to know that efibootmgr can only show devices seen in a bios capable of booting uefi mode.

Personally I never allow my systems to boot legacy mode by setting the bios to uefi only or disabling legacy/csm mode.

ilikelinux · May 21, 2023, 1:30pm

Mine definitely is compatible with UEFI. And until I eliminated all legacy installations I will keep Legacy active or switch it on as used.

While checking all the boot entries I also found the EFI Shell entry again. Showing the help command it is displaying quite a lot of information where I cant display all because of missing less more options.
Do I have to configure this shell somehow in a separate boot partition?

computersavvy · May 21, 2023, 10:21pm

I thin the efi shell is one of the options from the grub menu where you can drop to the efi shell. It would not normally be accessed by most users and likely is not necessary. Seems it may have been added when trying to boot with other than the normal grub menu options.

Although I have never used it, I suspect it is the grub shell accessible with the c from the grub boot menu. (or maybe even lower level than that).

ilikelinux · May 22, 2023, 12:36am

With the “UEFI Firmware Settings” under “Boot Options” I could take it on top of the boot list to enter it.

I watched the following Video to get familiar with the shell (he speaks quite fast).

I made me some notes based on the Video and will make based on them a Tutorial how to use the shell.

Just as a recap. what It does:

EFI Shell command prompt for bios or motherboard
Boot to any boot loader
executes .efi files
debug broken boot loader ; checking error codes
recover bricked bios
reflash bios

I keep it this way for today and just add a link to the help command list.

Type help to see all commands available (with Page Up Pagg Down navigate to see all commands)
map -r shows Volumes and with FS0: change into the volume 0 as example (Dos box style) and ls & cd etc. see help command.