UEFI Boot Problems

[linthusiast]

Hi, I've spent the last few days trying to get my machine with an Asus P8P67 (rev 3.1, B3) that has UEFI firmware to automatically boot Natty 64 bit successfully. To simplify matters, I have a single 64GB SSD, with no other OS and no intention to install any OS apart from Ubuntu.

I installed Ubuntu on the SSD. Before installation I manually created the following partitions:
1) 200MB FAT16 (EFI, /boot/efi) a.k.a. /dev/sda1
2) 55GB approx (ex4, /) <-- my root partition a.k.a. /dev/sda2
3) 8GB approx (swap) a.k.a. /dev/sda3

I instructed Ubuntu to install the bootloader to the EFI partition. The installer completed installation and requested that I remove the USB drive and press [enter]. Pressing [enter] did nothing, so I manually rebooted the machine. I accessed my EFI settings on my motherboard and noticed a new "ubuntu" entry along side my SSD as the only positive boot options. The "ubuntu" entry was flagged as UEFI, while my SSD was not. I set ubuntu as my primary boot option and rebooted and all I got was a purple screen with no further reading from my SSD.

I manually rebooted, and attempted to boot my live USB so I could at least get shell access. After several unsuccessful attempts to boot the live version, I got in and removed grub-pc and replaced with grub-efi-(the 64bit version) & efibootmgr. I rebooted my machine and it still failed to boot in to Ubuntu on my SSD. Still with the blank purple screen and nothing else.

So upon reboot instead of accessing my UEFI settings, I can simply press F8 to bring up a list of boot options. "ubuntu" is in that list and when I select it I can boot straight in, but when I select "ubuntu" as my primary boot option in my UEFI settings, I simply get a purple screen and it doesn't work. Right now I am in Ubuntu on my machine after pressing F8 and manually selecting "ubuntu" as the boot option. When I power on the PC, it won't boot up on it's own, so my only option is to manually press F8 and select "ubuntu". This has been working for me for the past few boots today, but I don't trust any method 100% at this stage.

Here is what I get from dmesg | grep EFI

[    0.000000] EFI v2.00 by American Megatrends
[    0.000000] Kernel-defined memdesc doesn't match the one from EFI!
[    0.000000] EFI: mem00: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000008000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem01: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000008000-0x0000000000067000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem02: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000067000-0x0000000000078000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem03: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000078000-0x00000000000a0000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem04: type=2, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000100000-0x000000000054d000) (4MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem05: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000054d000-0x0000000000f00000) (9MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem06: type=2, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000000f00000-0x0000000001000000) (1MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem07: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001000000-0x0000000001425000) (4MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem08: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001425000-0x0000000001429000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem09: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001429000-0x0000000001435000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem10: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001435000-0x0000000001438000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem11: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001438000-0x000000000147d000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem12: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000147d000-0x000000000148b000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem13: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000148b000-0x0000000001495000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem14: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001495000-0x000000000149d000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem15: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000149d000-0x00000000014a3000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem16: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014a3000-0x00000000014a6000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem17: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014a6000-0x00000000014ae000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem18: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014ae000-0x00000000014b1000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem19: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014b1000-0x00000000014b5000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem20: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014b5000-0x00000000014b7000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem21: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014b7000-0x00000000014c2000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem22: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014c2000-0x00000000014c4000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem23: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014c4000-0x00000000014c5000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem24: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014c5000-0x00000000014c6000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem25: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014c6000-0x00000000014c7000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem26: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014c7000-0x00000000014c8000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem27: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014c8000-0x00000000014cb000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem28: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014cb000-0x00000000014ce000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem29: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014ce000-0x00000000014d4000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem30: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014d4000-0x00000000014d6000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem31: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014d6000-0x00000000014ec000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem32: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014ec000-0x00000000014f7000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem33: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014f7000-0x00000000014fb000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem34: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014fb000-0x00000000014fd000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem35: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000014fd000-0x0000000001513000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem36: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001513000-0x000000000151e000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem37: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000151e000-0x0000000001525000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem38: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001525000-0x000000000152c000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem39: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000152c000-0x0000000001538000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem40: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001538000-0x000000000153b000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem41: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000153b000-0x000000000194e000) (4MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem42: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000194e000-0x0000000001950000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem43: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001950000-0x0000000001951000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem44: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001951000-0x0000000001956000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem45: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001956000-0x000000000195c000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem46: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000195c000-0x000000000195e000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem47: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000195e000-0x0000000001973000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem48: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001973000-0x0000000001975000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem49: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001975000-0x0000000001978000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem50: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001978000-0x0000000001979000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem51: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001979000-0x000000000197c000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem52: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000197c000-0x0000000001995000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem53: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001995000-0x00000000019ad000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem54: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000019ad000-0x00000000019b5000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem55: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000019b5000-0x00000000019b7000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem56: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000019b7000-0x00000000019bf000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem57: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000019bf000-0x00000000019c5000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem58: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000019c5000-0x00000000019d9000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem59: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000019d9000-0x00000000019da000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem60: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000019da000-0x00000000019e5000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem61: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000019e5000-0x00000000019f0000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem62: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000019f0000-0x00000000019f7000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem63: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000019f7000-0x0000000001a29000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem64: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a29000-0x0000000001a37000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem65: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a37000-0x0000000001a38000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem66: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a38000-0x0000000001a3b000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem67: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a3b000-0x0000000001a40000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem68: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a40000-0x0000000001a43000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem69: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a43000-0x0000000001a44000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem70: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a44000-0x0000000001a73000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem71: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a73000-0x0000000001a81000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem72: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a81000-0x0000000001a83000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem73: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a83000-0x0000000001a94000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem74: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001a94000-0x0000000001ab4000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem75: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001ab4000-0x0000000001b7d000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem76: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001b7d000-0x0000000001b82000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem77: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001b82000-0x0000000001b84000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem78: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001b84000-0x0000000001b89000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem79: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001b89000-0x0000000001b93000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem80: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001b93000-0x0000000001b98000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem81: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001b98000-0x0000000001ba0000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem82: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001ba0000-0x0000000001ba4000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem83: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001ba4000-0x0000000001ba8000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem84: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001ba8000-0x0000000001bac000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem85: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bac000-0x0000000001bae000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem86: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bae000-0x0000000001bb0000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem87: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bb0000-0x0000000001bb6000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem88: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bb6000-0x0000000001bb9000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem89: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bb9000-0x0000000001bbf000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem90: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bbf000-0x0000000001bc4000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem91: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bc4000-0x0000000001bd9000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem92: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bd9000-0x0000000001bdb000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem93: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bdb000-0x0000000001bdf000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem94: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bdf000-0x0000000001be1000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem95: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001be1000-0x0000000001be5000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem96: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001be5000-0x0000000001be7000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem97: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001be7000-0x0000000001be8000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem98: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001be8000-0x0000000001bfa000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem99: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001bfa000-0x0000000001c06000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem100: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c06000-0x0000000001c0a000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem101: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c0a000-0x0000000001c12000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem102: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c12000-0x0000000001c21000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem103: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c21000-0x0000000001c23000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem104: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c23000-0x0000000001c25000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem105: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c25000-0x0000000001c2f000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem106: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c2f000-0x0000000001c34000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem107: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c34000-0x0000000001c36000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem108: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c36000-0x0000000001c38000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem109: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c38000-0x0000000001c4f000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem110: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c4f000-0x0000000001c52000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem111: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c52000-0x0000000001c55000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem112: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c55000-0x0000000001c58000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem113: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c58000-0x0000000001c5b000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem114: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c5b000-0x0000000001c6a000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem115: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001c6a000-0x0000000001ca0000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem116: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001ca0000-0x0000000001ca4000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem117: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001ca4000-0x0000000001cbf000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem118: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001cbf000-0x0000000001cc0000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem119: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001cc0000-0x0000000001d04000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem120: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001d04000-0x0000000001d07000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem121: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001d07000-0x0000000001d12000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem122: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001d12000-0x0000000001d14000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem123: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001d14000-0x0000000001d35000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem124: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001d35000-0x0000000001d4a000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem125: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001d4a000-0x0000000001d58000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem126: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000001d58000-0x0000000002164000) (4MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem127: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000002164000-0x00000000026cf000) (5MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem128: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000026cf000-0x00000000026ee000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem129: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000026ee000-0x000000000270b000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem130: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000000270b000-0x0000000002745000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem131: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000002745000-0x0000000002a3b000) (2MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem132: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000002a3b000-0x0000000002b67000) (1MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem133: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000002b67000-0x0000000003b40000) (15MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem134: type=1, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000003b40000-0x0000000003b60000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem135: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000003b60000-0x0000000004443000) (8MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem136: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000004443000-0x0000000004527000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem137: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000004527000-0x0000000004c39000) (7MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem138: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000004c39000-0x0000000004c3a000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem139: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000004c3a000-0x00000000366e0000) (794MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem140: type=2, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000366e0000-0x0000000037368000) (12MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem141: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000037368000-0x000000008fefd000) (1419MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem142: type=2, attr=0xf, range=[0x000000008fefd000-0x00000000befbc000) (752MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem143: type=10, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000befbc000-0x00000000bf010000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem144: type=6, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000bf010000-0x00000000bf35b000) (3MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem145: type=0, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000bf35b000-0x00000000bf5a1000) (2MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem146: type=10, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000bf5a1000-0x00000000bf5b2000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem147: type=0, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000bf5b2000-0x00000000bf5b5000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem148: type=6, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000bf5b5000-0x00000000bf5c6000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem149: type=5, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000bf5c6000-0x00000000bf5c7000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem150: type=6, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000bf5c7000-0x00000000bf5c9000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem151: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000bf5c9000-0x00000000bf5cb000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem152: type=10, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000bf5cb000-0x00000000bf5cc000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem153: type=6, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000bf5cc000-0x00000000bf5cd000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem154: type=5, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000bf5cd000-0x00000000bf5d4000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem155: type=10, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000bf5d4000-0x00000000bf5de000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem156: type=5, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000bf5de000-0x00000000bf5eb000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem157: type=6, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000bf5eb000-0x00000000bf62c000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem158: type=5, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000bf62c000-0x00000000bf637000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem159: type=6, attr=0x800000000000000f, range=[0x00000000bf637000-0x00000000bf63a000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem160: type=10, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000bf63a000-0x00000000bf67d000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem161: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000bf67d000-0x00000000bf7f4000) (1MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem162: type=4, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000bf7f4000-0x00000000bf7f7000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem163: type=3, attr=0xf, range=[0x00000000bf7f7000-0x00000000bf800000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem164: type=7, attr=0xf, range=[0x0000000100000000-0x000000023f800000) (5112MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem165: type=11, attr=0x8000000000000001, range=[0x00000000fed1c000-0x00000000fed20000) (0MB)
[    0.000000] EFI: mem166: type=11, attr=0x8000000000000001, range=[0x00000000ff000000-0x0000000100000000) (16MB)
[    1.626138] EFI Variables Facility v0.08 2004-May-17

Here is what I get from sudo efibootmgr -v

BootCurrent: 0000
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0000,0001
Boot0000* ubuntu	HD(1,22,5f5e2,3567a134-959c-4658-b40c-1ce8dd125f3f)File(\EFI\ubuntu\grubx64.efi)
Boot0001* Hard Drive	BIOS(2,0,00)

Strangely enough, even though I get output from efibootmgr. sudo lsmod | grep efi always returns nothing.

/boot/efi, the mount point for /dev/sda1 (above) simply contains the following directory structure and single file:
/boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi

What am I missing?

Any help appreciated & advTHANKSance

[oldfred]

Not too many here know UEFI including me. I do use gpt but with BIOS. But I have some links.

grub EFI -skodabenz
1. Most of the modern UEFI systems come with GPT instead of MBR.
2. GRUB needs to be installed to the ESP (EFI SYSTEM PARTITION). The ESP has to be the first partition in the drive, with file system of a FAT variant, and it has to be larger then 100 MiB. Ubuntu mounts the ESP by default in /boot/efi .
3. After you install grub in the ESP, you need to make a boot enrty for it using efibootmgr, or you could launch it with the UEFI shell
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UE...g#UEFI%20Shell

http://www.rodsbooks.com/bios2uefi/

This is Arch but still discusses grub2.
Grub2 efi info ArchLinux
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...r_UEFI_systems

Someone posted this but they also booted windows and used refit. I think grub/Ubuntu has lots of other files in the ubuntu directory.

find /boot/efi -name "*efi"

/boot/efi
/boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi
/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/refit.efi
/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi
/boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
/boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgr.efi
/boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/memtest.efi
/boot/efi/EFI/grub/grub.efi
/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT-backup/bootx64.efi
/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT-backup/BOOT/refit/refit.efi
/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT-backup/BOOT/bootx64.efi

[linthusiast]

Thank you oldfred

From your post I think I've got most of that correct already in that I manually setup the partitions:
1) 200MB FAT16 (EFI, /boot/efi) a.k.a. /dev/sda1
2) 55GB approx (ex4, /) <-- my root partition a.k.a. /dev/sda2
3) 8GB approx (swap) a.k.a. /dev/sda3

Upon Ubuntu (11.04 x64) installation, I requested that the installer write the bootloader to /dev/sda1 (my 200MB EFI / FAT16 partition, as above). During the installation I didn't have to tell the installer to create an EFI record for "ubuntu". It did this automatically, as the new entry was immediately available as a UEFI boot option in my UEFI settings upon reboot.

At that time, the installer would have automatically installed grub-pc and not grub-efi. Once I got back in to the machine via USB live, I used Synaptic Package Manager to uninstall grub-pc and replace it with grub-efi-dummy, grub-efi-(the 64bit version) and efibootmgr.

Although sudo lsmod | grep efi returns nothing, sudo efibootmgr -v does give me a list of boot options. (See my last post)

Having a look at dmesg just there I have noticed the following amongst what seems to be a fairly normal log:

 4.827515] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[    4.827521] WARNING: at /build/buildd/linux-2.6.38/arch/x86/mm/ioremap.c:109 __ioremap_caller+0x3a4/0x3d0()
[    4.827522] Hardware name: System Product Name
[    4.827523] Modules linked in: parport_pc ppdev binfmt_misc snd_hda_codec_realtek arc4 snd_hda_intel snd_hda_codec nls_iso8859_1 nls_cp437 vfat fat snd_hwdep psmouse snd_pcm snd_seq_midi snd_rawmidi b43 snd_seq_midi_event mac80211 snd_seq serio_raw snd_timer eeepc_wmi snd_seq_device cfg80211 joydev snd nvidia(P) soundcore usbhid hid sparse_keymap ath3k xhci_hcd snd_page_alloc lp parport ssb firewire_ohci r8169 firewire_core crc_itu_t ahci libahci
[    4.827542] Pid: 1123, comm: Xorg Tainted: P        W   2.6.38-8-generic #42-Ubuntu
[    4.827543] Call Trace:
[    4.827547]  [<ffffffff81065cef>] ? warn_slowpath_common+0x7f/0xc0
[    4.827549]  [<ffffffff81065d4a>] ? warn_slowpath_null+0x1a/0x20
[    4.827551]  [<ffffffff81040e04>] ? __ioremap_caller+0x3a4/0x3d0
[    4.827552]  [<ffffffff81038c79>] ? default_spin_lock_flags+0x9/0x10
[    4.827653]  [<ffffffffa0612055>] ? os_map_kernel_space+0x85/0xe0 [nvidia]
[    4.827656]  [<ffffffff814b6b73>] ? pci_conf1_read+0xc3/0x120
[    4.827658]  [<ffffffff81040e87>] ? ioremap_nocache+0x17/0x20
[    4.827742]  [<ffffffffa0612055>] ? os_map_kernel_space+0x85/0xe0 [nvidia]
[    4.827824]  [<ffffffffa05e50ad>] ? _nv022990rm+0x55/0x71 [nvidia]
[    4.827876]  [<ffffffffa01105ef>] ? _nv025429rm+0x62/0x11a [nvidia]
[    4.827927]  [<ffffffffa0110740>] ? _nv022146rm+0x99/0xcb [nvidia]
[    4.827978]  [<ffffffffa0110bc3>] ? _nv022209rm+0x58/0x9e [nvidia]
[    4.828028]  [<ffffffffa010cd50>] ? _nv022166rm+0xe9/0x31b [nvidia]
[    4.828079]  [<ffffffffa010d02c>] ? _nv022216rm+0xaa/0x173 [nvidia]
[    4.828129]  [<ffffffffa010d145>] ? _nv022165rm+0x50/0x5d [nvidia]
[    4.828179]  [<ffffffffa0112a0f>] ? _nv022157rm+0x6e/0x78 [nvidia]
[    4.828260]  [<ffffffffa05e8e7a>] ? _nv018970rm+0x69/0x121 [nvidia]
[    4.828339]  [<ffffffffa05e8df8>] ? _nv018984rm+0xe8/0x101 [nvidia]
[    4.828395]  [<ffffffffa0132f41>] ? _nv004550rm+0x68/0x1f4 [nvidia]
[    4.828503]  [<ffffffffa040ea7c>] ? _nv014822rm+0x176/0x4c3 [nvidia]
[    4.828611]  [<ffffffffa040db93>] ? _nv015121rm+0xe9/0x165 [nvidia]
[    4.828658]  [<ffffffffa00e387c>] ? _nv015298rm+0xd/0x12 [nvidia]
[    4.828737]  [<ffffffffa05e8bbf>] ? _nv002400rm+0x19d/0x28a [nvidia]
[    4.828816]  [<ffffffffa05e9a0f>] ? _nv002394rm+0x4a7/0x685 [nvidia]
[    4.828895]  [<ffffffffa05ef51d>] ? rm_init_adapter+0x9d/0x111 [nvidia]
[    4.828973]  [<ffffffffa060b1a4>] ? nv_kern_open+0x494/0x6c0 [nvidia]
[    4.828977]  [<ffffffff81168f4a>] ? chrdev_open+0xda/0x1f0
[    4.828979]  [<ffffffff81168e70>] ? chrdev_open+0x0/0x1f0
[    4.828980]  [<ffffffff81162cee>] ? __dentry_open+0xce/0x2f0
[    4.828982]  [<ffffffff8116ef33>] ? generic_permission+0x23/0xc0
[    4.828985]  [<ffffffff812b083e>] ? devcgroup_inode_permission+0xe/0x110
[    4.828987]  [<ffffffff811641e1>] ? nameidata_to_filp+0x71/0x80
[    4.828989]  [<ffffffff811733c8>] ? finish_open+0xc8/0x1b0
[    4.828991]  [<ffffffff811725b7>] ? do_path_lookup+0x87/0x160
[    4.828992]  [<ffffffff81173b88>] ? do_filp_open+0x2c8/0x7c0
[    4.828995]  [<ffffffff81090cb9>] ? in_group_p+0x9/0x40
[    4.828998]  [<ffffffff815c0a29>] ? _cond_resched+0x9/0x40
[    4.829001]  [<ffffffff811809cd>] ? expand_files+0x1d/0x110
[    4.829002]  [<ffffffff81180ea7>] ? alloc_fd+0xf7/0x150
[    4.829004]  [<ffffffff8116425a>] ? do_sys_open+0x6a/0x150
[    4.829006]  [<ffffffff8116eff2>] ? path_put+0x22/0x30
[    4.829007]  [<ffffffff81164360>] ? sys_open+0x20/0x30
[    4.829009]  [<ffffffff8100c002>] ? system_call_fastpath+0x16/0x1b
[    4.829011] ---[ end trace a7919e7f17c0a727 ]---
[    4.829081] ioremap error for 0xbeffe000-0xbefff000, requested 0x10, got 0x0

Right now in my UEFI settings my boot order is as follows:
1) "ubuntu"
2) My SSD disk

If I had a USB memory stick connected, I would obviously have more options available, but when it's just the SSD, the above 2 options are all that is available.

Today when I booted for the first time, I was just left with the purple screen and no disk activity. So I rebooted. I pressed F8 on my motherboard splash screen which gives me a list of boot options. I selected "ubuntu" and I was then given the Grub listing. I selected the first option, which would normally just boot Ubuntu, and again I'm left at a purple screen with no further activity. So I reboot again and this time I access my UEFI settings. I leave the boot order alone, and simply select an immediate boot of "ubuntu", the Grub menu pops up again, I select the first option as before, and hep presto I'm at my Ubuntu login screen within about 6 - 7 seconds.

It's incredibly frustrating because of the 3 different approaches as described above to boot the machine as far as the Ubuntu login screen, it's simply a case of trial and error until one of the methods works. What I can't understand is that "ubuntu" is the boot option that is ultimately selected in every method described above, yet it doesn't always work.

From the links I noticed that some people are building grub 1.99 from source and copying it to their EFI partition. I have not done this because Grub 1.99 already comes with Ubuntu 11.04 x64 and I have read elsewhere that this version can manage EFI booting.

If it was a case that I could never boot in to Ubuntu I would chalk it up a solid misconfiguration, but the randomness of success is what is causing me such grief.

Also the partition table is definitely based on GPT because fdisk complains when I do a sudo fdisk -l

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.

Apologies again for all the info, I genuinely appreciate any help I can get.

[oldfred]

In BIOS mode some start to boot but then have video or other parameter settings that are needed. So are you booting and have a video issue.

I think the grub 1.99 in Oneiric is more updated and current than the one in 11.04. 11.10 is due shortly.

[linthusiast]

I am not sure if I'm having a video issue, in that I can't tell. From the dmesg listing I provided in my last post, it certainly looks like an "nvidia" issue. I have an NVidia 8800 GTS 512MB card installed in the PCI-E socket. After first successful boot following the install, the system notified me that Nvidia drivers were available. The nvidia drivers are now installed, they were downloaded from the net during the driver installation and I can confirm that my card is up and running fine. I even have twin Full HD (1920x1080) screens connected via a digital interface and all is working perfectly. The dmesg listing I provided in my last post was obviously following a successful boot.

Actually when I look in the "Additional Drivers" utility is shows two NVIDIA accelerated graphics drivers.

1) NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (version 173)
2) NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (version current) [Recommended]

The first one has a grey ball to the left, and the second one has a green ball.

When I click on the second one, it says down the bottom of the window
"This driver is activated but not currently in use."

This is strange because before I installed the driver, I wouldn't have been able to access Unity, etc, but since the driver was installed, I can do all of that (Compiz, etc, etc).

Is there anything from the above that identifies a problem?

I am keeping my Natty install basic at the moment, because I intend to perform a clean install of Oneric x64 on Thursday when it becomes available. However if I'm doing something wrong at this stage and just bringing problems with me to Oneric then it would be seriously cool to find out what they are so I can fix them.

Also just to be clear, when my computer freezes during an unsuccessful boot, the screen is completely purple. There are no visual anomalies / scattered display / etc that would suggest rendering issues.

Is there a way that I can get some insight in to the boot process instead of looking at a purple screen?. At least that way I might get some clue as to where the boot process is failing in those cases.

[linthusiast]

OK, I powered down my machine about 2 hours ago, having worked with it fine for several hours and came back to boot it again about an hour ago. Despite numerous attempts I have consistently failed to boot the machine to the Ubuntu login screen. In my previous posts I stated that if I attempt to try each of 3 methods, I should be able to boot successfully using one of them. I can now confirm this is not the case.

I have tried everything, and I keep ending up in the same place. The first time I powered the machine on, it just gave me the purple screen and froze. I have noticed that during the Ubuntu boot sequence my keyboard and mouse turn off and back on again (which is quite normal) during all boot attempts. On occasion now I notice that either both or one of those USB devices doesn't turn back on before the boot sequence freezes. It could just be a timing thing. I have also tried different keyboards and mice (both PS/2 & USB). Makes no difference.

The next time I boot after a previous boot failure, I get to see the GRUB 1.99-rc1 menu (which is correct behavior), where again I select Ubuntu (first choice) and again it proceeds on to the exact same thing where the HD activity LED flickers a couple of times before everything just stops and I'm again left with a blank purple screen.

I'm at my wits end, my problem is that I don't know where the problem is. Is it hardware? Is it UEFI firmware? Is it GRUB? Is it a driver issue?

How can I diagnose further?

The only time I get access to status information is when the machine has actually booted successfully, when it doesn't all I can do is press hard reset and live in hope that one of the methods I have available to bring the machine up next time works.

Anyone have any other ideas for things I could try?, I would really appreciate your help.

Surely if a UEFI boot of Ubuntu on my machine works even once, it means that everything configuration wise must be in order. From that it makes no sense how random all this is.

[oldfred]

I just installed Oneiric and it also installed both the nVidia 173 and current and seemed to be using 173 as the default. I uninstalled 173 and installed the current version as that was all it offered in older installs. I thought the 173 was for older versions of nVidia cards. I have a 9600GT.

This was a note I copied somewhat.

Please note: This NVIDIA Linux graphics driver release supports GeForce 6xxx and newer NVIDIA GPUs, GeForce4 and older GPUs are supported through the 96.43.xx and 71.86.xx NVIDIA legacy graphics drivers. GeForce FX GPUs are supported through the 173.14.xx NVIDIA legacy graphics drivers.

I have so little knowledge of UEFI that I can be only a little help. I have seen several others post and a few seem to get it to work and others have issues. Some have just reverted to BIOS mode and even reinstalled to MBR partitioning. But I still like gpt partitioning even with BIOS mode. I do know their are more fixed to grub1.99 in Oneiric.

Do you get to a grub menu? If so use e for edit and remove quiet splash. That will let you see the boot process like the dmeg or log files you have posted.

[linthusiast]

Thank you oldfred, I really appreciate your help.

Yes I get as far as the Grub menu. When I cold boot the machine I don't see a Grub menu because I only have one OS installed (Ubuntu). Then if the machine fails to boot and I do a reset, then I see the GRUB menu the next time (without countdown), which is correct Ubuntu behaviour in the event that a previous boot failed.

So anyway I press 'e' at the GRUB menu and I get an emacs type interface that lets me modify the record. I go to the line that loads my kernel and I remove the text "quiet splash", leaving everything else in place. My choices beyond that point are press ESC to just discard changes and go back to GRUB menu or press F10 to boot. When I press F10 to boot, I just get the blank purple screen like the changes I just made don't take effect.

Something else I have observed to consistently occur during every unsuccessful boot I've made since my last post is that just before it freezes on the purple screen (before where it should show the Ubuntu logo and loading dots) my mouse and keyboard turn off. The mouse turns back on and the keyboard never does. I have tried both a USB & PS/2 keyboard just in case it was the keyboard.

So I still can't see the boot messages to get more visibility. I am using the GRUB system incorrectly?

Oh yes I forgot to mention I re-install Natty once again using the same partition layout as before, and confirmed that the installer did not attempt to install grub-pc. It knew to use EFI. After the install completed. I rebooted the machine and it came up perfectly the next time. I noticed during the installation something about nvidia-current not installing with an ERROR. I looked this up and many people seemed to have this problem, but an apt-get install --reinstall nvidia-current seemed to sort it out. So I did that and it worked fine. The Additional Drivers utility however still said that the driver was not in use. So I decided then to get the latest drivers from NVidia themselves, released in the last few days. I installed those and confirmed via my Nvidia utility that they were installed and running.

I rebooted the machine and back I am again to the same old frozen purple screen.

[oldfred]

On a frozen screen use this to reboot:

Holding down Alt and SysRq (which is the Print Screen key) while slowly typing REISUB
R-E-I-S-U-B to force shutdown
A good way to remember it is.
Raising Skinny Elephants Is Utterly Boring ...or
Reboot System Even If Ultimately Broken ...LOL.
http://kember.net/articles/reisub-th...linux-restart/
Another
sudo init 0

Generally pressing and holding Ctrl+Alt and
then PrintScr, R, E, I, S, U, B (Raising Elephants Is So Utterly Boring)
should do a clean reboot.
R gives back control of the keyboard, S issues a sync, E sends all processes but init the term singal, I sends all processes but init the kill signal, U mounts all filesystem ro to prevent a fsck at reboot, B reboots the system

From an edited grub menu, it is control -x to use the edited commands to boot.

My BIOS has settings for USB mouse & keyboard. Until I changed those in BIOS they did not work correctly. Not sure if your UEFI has the same settings, but is has a BIOS mode and I would think it has many pages with options in UEFI.

See mine where I had to change to enabled.

[linthusiast]

When I hold Ctrl & press x while editing Grub after pressing 'e', it doesnt boot with the modified options. It just displays the 'x' character like I'm not holding Ctrl. The only way for me to boot is to press F10 & that looks like it completely ignores any changes I've made.

In the last few mins I managed to "Try Ubuntu" booted via UEFI USB. First attempt, crashed with what looked like a kernel panic, black screen, high res. The next reboot I selected the same boot option; UEFI USB. Again kernel panic, but looked like a different message, high res. Third time it just booted straight to desktop.

I'm starting to think this isn't an UEFI issue as I wouldn't be able to get to GRUB at all if it was. Does that sound plausible?

I'm wondering has this more to do with Grub config, kernel compatibility with my Sandybridge motherboard or a driver issue.

Strange thing though that started this whole process for me was about 2 weeks ago when this started happening. My computer, built by me in July with an ASRock P67 Pro3, i5 2500k and running nothing but natty was working flawlessly up until 2 weeks ago. When I first installed I didn't know anything about UEFI, so just performed the Natty install as normal. It worked and my machine booted. It continued to do that without fail for over 2 months. Then suddenly one day it just stopped. I thought it was a board failure because I tried everything except processor in another machine and components were fine. So I just got an Asus P8P67 to replace the motherboard. I performed a clean Natty install with that new board and I still face the same boot problems.

I cannot understand how I managed to work without problems for 2 months and then suddenly it's like Ubuntu just took a dislike to my new hardware.

From that I wonder is there new information that would assist in diagnosing the problem.