[SOLVED] Double boot Debian entry on BIOS

jazzy_mood · 12-10-2019, 02:38 PM

Hi all,

I installed Debian, but when I enter in the BIOS I see two boot options for Debian. I'm not sure if this is normal or not.

As a side note (possibly related), some idiot has been hacking me repeatedly since several months. I have formatted my HDD several times, but it does not solve the problem. I'm not sure if the problem might be in the EFI/BIOS itself.

Any clues?

teckk · 12-10-2019, 03:13 PM

Quote:

when I enter in the BIOS

You want to explain that? Or do you mean the grub/bootloader config/menu
If you mean grub menu, then that could be your current kernel and a fallback kernel.

Quote:

if the problem might be in the EFI/BIOS itself.

Is the machine UEFI or BIOS? Those are different. BIOS, everything is in the novram. EFI, part of it is on the hard drive.

Quote:

Any clues?

Way more info please.

jefro · 12-10-2019, 03:30 PM

UEFI seems to be a problem. Not all UEFI systems act like they should.

It could be that a left over entry in uefi is showing. Use command sudo efibootmgr to see entries. If you have quite a lot then you need to delete before it locks up. sudo efibootmgr -Bb 009 for example to delete 009. I suppose there is a batch mode in command but I don't know it.

It is unfortunately normal that you could see a few entries in uefi boot choice. Install and re-install and even upgrade or update could do that. You could easily try either choice (and they can swap positions after you try it too) just to see. Again this goes back to efi shell command to fix or efibootmgr program..

Now as to this hacker issue.... Post that in a different forum please. You may or may not have an issue.

jazzy_mood · 12-13-2019, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefro

UEFI seems to be a problem. Not all UEFI systems act like they should.

It could be that a left over entry in uefi is showing. Use command sudo efibootmgr to see entries. If you have quite a lot then you need to delete before it locks up. sudo efibootmgr -Bb 009 for example to delete 009. I suppose there is a batch mode in command but I don't know it.

It is unfortunately normal that you could see a few entries in uefi boot choice. Install and re-install and even upgrade or update could do that. You could easily try either choice (and they can swap positions after you try it too) just to see. Again this goes back to efi shell command to fix or efibootmgr program..

Now as to this hacker issue.... Post that in a different forum please. You may or may not have an issue.

Thank you. That solved the issue temporarily, but, for some reason, the Debian entry on the BIOS/UEFI keeps replicating itself. It's not a problem, but I just wonder why this happens.

jefro · 12-16-2019, 03:10 PM

If you find out let me know. I assume it is a uefi on some very few bios's. I never bothered to dig into it deeper.

Shadow_7 · 12-17-2019, 04:47 AM

more than one is normal. one option is likely a recovery option, single user or other modes. With even more options as you upgrade and have more than one kernel to boot from.

Perhaps SSH is enabled by default. Making it easy for anyone to access your machine once connected to a network. With default credentials and whatnot if you only installed it and never configured it.

jazzy_mood · 12-17-2019, 02:56 PM

The weird thing is that they seem to be two identical entries on the UEFI/BIOS. They both have the same HDD ID, so I'm not sure. I guess it's a flaw on the hardware, but I'm not completely sure.

I'm assuming this is a normal behavior of EFI Grub or this hardware, so I'll mark this as solved.