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Thread: How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

  1. #1
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    How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

    Greetings one and all.

    It seemed like a good idea but now I'm having regrets.

    I couldn't afford to replace my laptop with a new one so went for a "TOPTON Mini PC AMD Ryzen R5 3550H R7 2700U Vega 10 Graphic 2*DDR4 M.2 NVMe" and asked that the store install Ubuntu for me. Well they did, but now they can't remember the password that they used when they created the 'USER' account so I can't do a thing. Neither can they explain to me how to enter the BIOS so that I be able to reinstall Ubuntu on my own.

    Can anyone PLEASE help me with how to enter the BIOS?

    Many, many thanks in advance!

    All the best, Martin
    Last edited by tahitiwibble; July 28th, 2021 at 09:56 PM.

  2. #2
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    Re: How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

    Do you see a grub menu at boot or does it boot straight to Ubuntu?
    You should be able to get to the grub menu if it does not appear by default, but how you do that will depend on whether the computer uses legacy BIOS or UEFI.

    If BIOS you need to hold Shift just after pressing the power button, if UEFI, which is much more likely, you need to continually tap Esc also at the same time, just after pressing the power button.

    If, or maybe I should say when the grub menu appears select the Advanced section with cursor button and from that choose Recovery mode.
    Once in recovery mode follow the instructions at https://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/resetpassword very carefully and you should be able to reset your user password.

  3. #3
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    Re: How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

    Thank you AJ, some hope at last. No grub menu and probably UEFI, but I am just supposing things. I will try all your suggestions and let you know.

  4. #4
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    Re: How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

    Also, assuming Ubuntu is in UEFI mode and you can reach the grub menu, you will find an option to access the UEFI set-up.

  5. #5
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    Re: How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

    If UEFI, you press escape key between vendor's UEFI/BIOS screen & when grub should appear. Often have to try several times or press escape multiple times to get it to work.
    Most systems use del or f2 for directly access to UEFI from UEFI/BIOS screen. Many show keys on screen for just a few seconds.

    Is it Ubuntu user account or UEFI account passwords you need.
    UEFI boot install & repair info - Regularly Updated :
    https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295
    Please use Thread Tools above first post to change to [Solved] when/if answered completely.

  6. #6
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    Re: How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

    I am so grateful to you guys trying to help me out here! Huge thanks!

    Unfortuntely:

    In between time the vendor of this thing got back to me and gave me the password ......... they also said "Press F1, F2, ESC or DELETE to enter the BIOS".

    So, I eventually got into the system with ssaid password and was upset to see that they had installed Ubuntu 19 something and then went for an update to LTS version 20.04 (I would never have tried to do an update from the desktop but figured that as this is a brand new machine 'why not'). All went well untill the restart and now the machine freezes at various stages of the boot procedure. Sometimes I will have time to get to the desktop and sometimes never get past the already frozen login screen. I have restarted the computer hundreds of times with just about every possible key combination trying to get into the BIOS/UEFI hundreds of times to no avail. This is starting to affect me in an evil way. I don't know what to try next.

    I have never got to the vendor's UEFI/BIOS screen. I have never yet seen the grub menu.

    Quote Originally Posted by ajgreeny View Post
    if UEFI, which is much more likely, you need to continually tap Esc also at the same time, just after pressing the power button.
    AJ, did you mean to press the power button and then hold 'shift' and continually tap 'ESC' ....... simultaneously?

    Quote Originally Posted by tea for one View Post
    Also, assuming Ubuntu is in UEFI mode and you can reach the grub menu, you will find an option to access the UEFI set-up.
    You can't imagine how I long to set eyes on the grub menu; this has been nearly two days of trial and error now.

    Quote Originally Posted by oldfred View Post
    If UEFI, you press escape key between vendor's UEFI/BIOS screen & when grub should appear. Often have to try several times or press escape multiple times to get it to work.
    Most systems use del or f2 for directly access to UEFI from UEFI/BIOS screen. Many show keys on screen for just a few seconds.

    Is it Ubuntu user account or UEFI account passwords you need.
    Being a brand new box I can only suppose that this is UEFI. I am going to try all the variations on the key combination theme that you suggest. I just don't understand why I see no vendor's UEFI/BIOS screen.
    Last edited by howefield; August 5th, 2021 at 10:12 AM. Reason: posts merged.

  7. #7
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    Re: How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

    Here is another suggestion, assuming you have a USB stick with Ubuntu (or similar) prepared as an installation device:-

    Open the case
    Remove the hard drive(s)
    Plug in your installation media
    Power on the PC
    Boot into a live session
    Open a terminal and enter
    Code:
    sudo systemctl reboot --firmware-setup
    This command should reboot to the UEFI set-up.
    Last edited by tea for one; July 29th, 2021 at 10:14 AM.

  8. #8
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    Re: How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

    Thank you tea for one. I have a feeling that this might do the job, although not before tomorrow. It's past midnight and these poor old bones are weary. I will let you know how things went after the intervention. Peace to you.

  9. #9
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    Re: How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

    If the uefi is locked down by a password (although there's no reason why but as all I was able to find about the device is from AliExpress it's a way to scam unexperienced users) you could try to clear the cmos by detaching the backup battery which should clear it. Also as it clears out all customized data the system should force-prompt to enter uefi on next boot anyway.
    Also: Did the freeze already happened before you started to tinker around or did it only start after you did something yourself?

  10. #10
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    Re: How to enter BIOS on a mini PC with AMD processor?

    Quote Originally Posted by cryptearth View Post
    If the uefi is locked down by a password (although there's no reason why but as all I was able to find about the device is from AliExpress it's a way to scam unexperienced users) you could try to clear the cmos by detaching the backup battery which should clear it. Also as it clears out all customized data the system should force-prompt to enter uefi on next boot anyway.
    Also: Did the freeze already happened before you started to tinker around or did it only start after you did something yourself?
    Hey cryptearth thanks for the 2 cents. In a nut shell; after 24 hours of messaging them I eventually got the password from the vendor and got Ubuntu 19.?? up and running (you'd have thought they might send the password in the box with the PC).

    So I wanted to update the system to 20.04 and that's when everything fell apart. I would never have updated in that manner but thought "well it's a virgin system so what could go wrong!?" also I was never able to get into the BIOS/UEFI to boot from a USB stick. The update seemed to have gone OK but on reboot the freeze happened. The weird thing is that if I hit F1 on the boot procedure I can sometimes see the boot procedure scrolling on the command-line-type screen and I can sometimes even get to the desktop before it freezes again. The update just didn't go the way it could/should have.

    I got so demoralised by 48 hours of total frustration that I haven't looked at the thing since yesterday but am going to dismantle it this afternoon and try what 'tea for one' suggested, I will also disconnect the backup battery (if there is one). When I took the box out of the packaging I thought they'd missed out the 512 SSD that I bought but there is 512 gigs of storage somewhere, I just hope that it's not soldered onto the motherboard.

    BTW I got a message a few minutes ago from the vendor saying "Press DELETE to enter the BIOS" which doesn't work. At least they're being a little more specific because the other day it was "Press F1, F2 ESC or DELETE to enter the BIOS". You'd think that the people who supposedly built the machine might now exactly what is needed.
    Last edited by QIII; July 31st, 2021 at 09:26 PM. Reason: Family- and workplace-friendly language

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