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08-04-2022, 12:26 PM
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#1
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LQ Guru
Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia, USA
Distribution: Debian 12
Posts: 8,375
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BIOS resets to defaults on every power up
First I will state the problem:
I have a HP Envy computer running Debian 11 that I have been running in legacy boot mode for seven months. Yesterday evening I booted the computer and it booted in UEFI mode. After much fooling around I determined that I could intercept the boot, change the BIOS to my original legacy mode settings, and successfully boot into Debian.
However, every time I power up the computer the BIOS announces that it has reset to defaults and then boots in UEFI mode. So I intercept the BIOS and set everything to my usual BIOS configuration and it boots into Debian. I don't know whether it announced the reset to BIOS defaults the first time it happened because I wasn't paying attention.
Now for a lot of detail which may or may not be relevant to the problem since I don't know what is causing the BIOS to reset to default settings on power up:
In January I bought two almost identical used HP Envy computers, one for home and one for my office. They both had Windows 10. They both have a hard drive and a SSD. On the home computer I used Windows utilities to shrink Windows down to three small partitions. On the office computer I wiped out Windows.
I set both computers to legacy boot and installed Debian 11 on both. The operating systems are identical on the two computers and the user data is different. On the home computer I installed grub on the SSD, /dev/sdb1. I have the problem at my office that other people can access my computer after hours so I installed grub on an unlabeled USB thumb drive which I throw into a pile of thumb drives in a drawer after each boot. I have never had any BIOS problem with the office computer.
So I have two questions:
1. Why did my home computer automagically decide to reset the BIOS to the default settings?
2. What do I have to do to stop the BIOS from resetting to the default settings every time I power up?
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08-04-2022, 12:37 PM
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#2
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Moderator
Registered: Aug 2002
Posts: 26,522
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Do the HP Envoy computers UEFI use NVRAM or do they still have CMOS?
A bad battery would be my first guess.
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1 members found this post helpful.
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08-04-2022, 12:38 PM
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#3
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Member
Registered: Dec 2018
Location: Orlando, FL
Distribution: Slackware AARCH64 and X86_64
Posts: 371
Rep: 
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BIOS resets to defaults on every power up
How old is the PC. I'm thinking it's the CMOS battery. If not I don't know.
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1 members found this post helpful.
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08-04-2022, 12:41 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Registered: Jan 2008
Distribution: Arch/Manjaro, might try Slackware again
Posts: 1,859
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I would suspect either (1) a CMOS battery failure or other hardware fault, (2) "corrective" action by Windows as 10+ seems quite taken with controlling the BIOS (3) an unlikely UEFI virus/worm whatever.
Change the battery, if that doesn't work, move windows to a better place 
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1 members found this post helpful.
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08-04-2022, 01:26 PM
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#5
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LQ Guru
Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia, USA
Distribution: Debian 12
Posts: 8,375
Original Poster
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OK, I'll buy a battery and see if that works.
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08-04-2022, 01:54 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Registered: Aug 2016
Posts: 3,345
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IME the only time bios gets reset with a power off is when the battery dies. How old is the machine? I think you will be happy with the battery replacement.
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1 members found this post helpful.
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08-04-2022, 02:16 PM
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#7
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LQ Veteran
Registered: Jan 2008
Location: florida panhandle
Distribution: Slackware Debian, Fedora, others
Posts: 7,774
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Does the system have an efi partition?
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08-04-2022, 03:19 PM
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#8
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LQ Guru
Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia, USA
Distribution: Debian 12
Posts: 8,375
Original Poster
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Quote:
Originally Posted by colorpurple21859
Does the system have an efi partition?
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Yes, it is one of the three small partitions used by Windows.
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08-04-2022, 03:44 PM
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#9
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Moderator
Registered: Mar 2008
Posts: 22,280
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Some HP systems have a way to force bios to remain the same.
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08-04-2022, 04:36 PM
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#10
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LQ Veteran
Registered: Jan 2008
Location: florida panhandle
Distribution: Slackware Debian, Fedora, others
Posts: 7,774
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Does the firmware/bios have a "boot from file" option when selecting firmware/bios boot menu and is there a os-manager option under firmware/bios boot options in settings? If so it is possible to set debian up to boot in uefi mode without the need for a live iso.
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08-04-2022, 08:28 PM
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#11
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LQ Guru
Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia, USA
Distribution: Debian 12
Posts: 8,375
Original Poster
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Quote:
Originally Posted by colorpurple21859
Does the firmware/bios have a "boot from file" option when selecting firmware/bios boot menu and is there a os-manager option under firmware/bios boot options in settings? If so it is possible to set debian up to boot in uefi mode without the need for a live iso.
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Yes. But I want to keep the two computers in sync as much as possible and I don't want to install UEFI on the office computer.
I bought and installed a new battery and boot now works as before the battery died. I also bought a second battery to take to the office. Thanks to everyone for your help.
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08-05-2022, 05:44 AM
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#12
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Jun 2022
Posts: 2
Rep:
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Steps to Reset the BIOS to Default Settings
Access the BIOS Setup utility.
See Accessing BIOS.
Press the F9 key to automatically load the factory default settings.
A message appears prompting you to continue this operation by selecting OK or to cancel the operation by selecting Cancel.
Confirm the changes by highlighting OK, then press Enter.
The BIOS Setup utility window appears with the cursor highlighting the first value on the window.
To save the changes and exit the BIOS Setup utility, press the F10 key.
Regards,
Rachel Gomez
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08-05-2022, 12:54 PM
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#13
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Member
Registered: Jan 2017
Location: Fremont, CA, USA
Distribution: Trying any&ALL on old/minimal
Posts: 997
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Hi Rachel Gomez, and welcome to posting although you registered a couple months ago.
The OP is an 'LQ Guru', so likely already knows this, and posted their (battery) resolution above.
Could you please post the link to where you found that information?
(It may have other basics which would be useful to a N00b like me, and would make your post look less like a SpamBot)
Also, if you'd like to find some threads that really really need help, you might search for some of my postings.
You can use the member introduction form to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about: your experience, PCs, Etc.
Looking forward to more complex solutions from you!!!
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