Windows 10 is no more an option in BIOS and GRUB

Ask Fedora
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1

After installing Fedora 37, I no longer have the option to boot Windows 10 in the bios. And when I boot to Fedora, there is no step by grub (I mean Fedora is booted directly).
I tried boot-repair without success.

bash-5.2$ lsblk
NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
nvme0n1     259:0    0 931,5G  0 disk 
├─nvme0n1p1 259:1    0   600M  0 part /boot/efi
├─nvme0n1p2 259:2    0     1G  0 part /boot
├─nvme0n1p3 259:3    0  93,1G  0 part /
├─nvme0n1p4 259:4    0 372,5G  0 part /home
├─nvme0n1p5 259:5    0    16M  0 part 
└─nvme0n1p6 259:6    0 464,3G  0 part

With Disk, I can see that:

nvme0n1p5 
type: Réservé Microsoft
content: unknow

and

nvme0n1p6 (this is my C:\ partition
type: NTFS

Here is the UUID

bash-5.2$ sudo blkid
/dev/zram0: LABEL="zram0" UUID="a7d3dd90-1f16-4a67-9c98-0f50e5f1e81e" TYPE="swap"
/dev/nvme0n1p1: UUID="9475-1F93" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="EFI System Partition" PARTUUID="f5b79e14-0714-4cd4-9dae-c0af6365bc9f"
/dev/nvme0n1p2: UUID="3332f51d-3112-4c8d-9fda-ee5c0aadace1" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="f4b9f4df-2d1c-4f24-9ce2-03903ab54dc0"
/dev/nvme0n1p3: UUID="2551efcc-f359-457e-811c-f35e2425109e" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="7cb5cf88-5a06-45b1-b456-1bf7322ca2b5"
/dev/nvme0n1p4: UUID="01e6a884-0e60-405d-96b3-be8173e665cb" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="38524210-8271-4998-93d6-0b2bb9bc7280"
/dev/nvme0n1p5: PARTLABEL="Microsoft reserved partition" PARTUUID="b79d4125-5fe5-4370-8828-2c0dd122eca3"
/dev/nvme0n1p6: BLOCK_SIZE="512" UUID="00D20312D2030C1A" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="6ff0df9b-1860-4f4c-96bc-33d4132e08b5"

I saw some people modify /etc/grub.d/40_custom, but I don’t know what to put in it. And I don’t know if this can fix the fact that even the bios don’t recognize it anymore.

2

Please post your output of sudo tree /boot/efi

Here is mine: (Windows 11 & Fedora dual boot)

$ sudo tree /boot/efi
[sudo] password for fcc: 
/boot/efi
├── EFI
│   ├── Boot
│   │   ├── BOOTIA32.EFI
│   │   ├── bootx64.efi
│   │   ├── fbia32.efi
│   │   └── fbx64.efi
│   ├── fedora
│   │   ├── BOOTIA32.CSV
│   │   ├── BOOTX64.CSV
│   │   ├── grub.cfg
│   │   ├── grubia32.efi
│   │   ├── grubx64.efi
│   │   ├── mmia32.efi
│   │   ├── mmx64.efi
│   │   ├── shim.efi
│   │   ├── shimia32.efi
│   │   └── shimx64.efi
│   └── Microsoft
│       ├── Boot
│       │   ├── BCD
│       │   ├── BCD.LOG
│       │   ├── BCD.LOG1
│       │   ├── BCD.LOG2
│       │   ├── bg-BG
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── bootmgfw.efi
│       │   ├── bootmgr.efi
│       │   ├── BOOTSTAT.DAT
│       │   ├── boot.stl
│       │   ├── CIPolicies
│       │   │   └── Active
│       │   │       ├── {5DAC656C-21AD-4A02-AB49-649917162E70}.cip
│       │   │       ├── {82443e1e-8a39-4b4a-96a8-f40ddc00b9f3}.cip
│       │   │       └── {CDD5CB55-DB68-4D71-AA38-3DF2B6473A52}.cip
│       │   ├── cs-CZ
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── da-DK
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── de-DE
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── el-GR
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── en-GB
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── en-US
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── es-ES
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── es-MX
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── et-EE
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── fi-FI
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── Fonts
│       │   │   ├── chs_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── cht_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── jpn_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── kor_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── malgun_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── malgunn_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── meiryo_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── meiryon_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── msjh_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── msjhn_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── msyh_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── msyhn_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── segmono_boot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── segoen_slboot.ttf
│       │   │   ├── segoe_slboot.ttf
│       │   │   └── wgl4_boot.ttf
│       │   ├── fr-CA
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── fr-FR
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── hr-HR
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── hu-HU
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── it-IT
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── ja-JP
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── kd_02_10df.dll
│       │   ├── kd_02_10ec.dll
│       │   ├── kd_02_1137.dll
│       │   ├── kd_02_14e4.dll
│       │   ├── kd_02_15b3.dll
│       │   ├── kd_02_1969.dll
│       │   ├── kd_02_19a2.dll
│       │   ├── kd_02_1af4.dll
│       │   ├── kd_02_8086.dll
│       │   ├── kd_07_1415.dll
│       │   ├── kd_0C_8086.dll
│       │   ├── kdnet_uart16550.dll
│       │   ├── kdstub.dll
│       │   ├── ko-KR
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── lt-LT
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── lv-LV
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── memtest.efi
│       │   ├── nb-NO
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── nl-NL
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── pl-PL
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── pt-BR
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── pt-PT
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── qps-ploc
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── Resources
│       │   │   ├── bootres.dll
│       │   │   └── en-US
│       │   │       └── bootres.dll.mui
│       │   ├── ro-RO
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── ru-RU
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── sk-SK
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── sl-SI
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── sr-Latn-RS
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── sv-SE
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── tr-TR
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   ├── uk-UA
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   ├── winsipolicy.p7b
│       │   ├── zh-CN
│       │   │   ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │   │   ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │   │   └── memtest.efi.mui
│       │   └── zh-TW
│       │       ├── bootmgfw.efi.mui
│       │       ├── bootmgr.efi.mui
│       │       └── memtest.efi.mui
│       └── Recovery
│           ├── BCD
│           ├── BCD.LOG
│           ├── BCD.LOG1
│           └── BCD.LOG2
└── System Volume Information

49 directories, 155 files
1 Like
3

certainly

bash-5.2$ sudo tree /boot/efi
[sudo] Mot de passe de lenaic : 
/boot/efi
├── EFI
│   ├── BOOT
│   │   ├── BOOTIA32.EFI
│   │   ├── BOOTX64.EFI
│   │   ├── fbia32.efi
│   │   └── fbx64.efi
│   └── fedora
│       ├── BOOTIA32.CSV
│       ├── BOOTX64.CSV
│       ├── gcdia32.efi
│       ├── gcdx64.efi
│       ├── grub.cfg
│       ├── grubia32.efi
│       ├── grubx64.efi
│       ├── mmia32.efi
│       ├── mmx64.efi
│       ├── shim.efi
│       ├── shimia32.efi
│       └── shimx64.efi
├── mach_kernel
└── System
    └── Library
        └── CoreServices
            └── SystemVersion.plist

7 directories, 18 files
4

It seems the Microsoft files in EFI is not there - one possibility is the EFI created by Windows is not preserved when installing Fedora. (By default, MS EFI partition is 100MB, while Fedora is 600MB).

1 Like
5

It seems that the fedora install wiped out the windows install.
Normally when dual boot installing partitions 1- 4 are kept as the windows partitions
p1 – EFI
p2 – hidden
p3 – windows os
p4 – recovery.

Then the user shrinks p3 (from within the windows disk manager) to allow enough space for the linux install and does not overwrite anything during the install.

The fact that the Microsoft data is missing from /boot/efi/EFI indicates the install may have been done while overwriting the entire disk (or at least while formatting and overwriting the efi partition)

At this point you probably need to reinstall windows. After that has been done do a new install of fedora making sure to not wipe out windows. Recovery may be possible by booting to windows media and attempting a repair.

6

I had also tried with windows media but it needs to boot on the os to work.
I didn’t know Windows had a UEFI partition too, and every time I installed Linux I formatted a new /boot/efi partition, so it must be because of that. But usually I don’t have a problem. Maybe this time I accidentally deleted the Windows boot partition.

So if I understand correctly, if I reinstall Windows, I will have 3 partitions:

  • EFI
  • Microsoft reserved partition
  • Windows os

And if I want to install linux, I can format a new partition for /boot/efi, being careful not to delete these 3 ?

7

After you reinstall Windows, you need to shrink your Windows partition to make room for the Fedora install. That could be done in Disk Manager. I personally use Paragon Partition Manager CE. It’s freeware. I find it easier. After you shrink the partition, don’t touch the unallocated space.

After you’ve done that, just go ahead and and install Fedora like normal. Do the automatic install – don’t manually format or partition anything. The Fedora Anaconda installer will take care of it for you.

Once you’ve completed the install – reboot and you should be presented with a GRUB menu with the option to choose either booting Fedora or Windows.

8

Actually 4. A recovery partition will be at the very end of the drive in my experience.

As suggested, do an automatic install.

Just an FYI. Any OS that boots with UEFI must have an efi partition to boot from. When you formatted the efi partition you wiped out the windows boot loader.

Linux shares an efi partition very readily with other OSes, so formatting it is seldom a good idea unless you are only booting one OS on that hardware.

1 Like