Re: [PLUG] BIOS settings changing without user input on new laptop

[george@georgesbasement.com]

While I can offer no solutions, here's another instance of SSD 
unforeseen
consequences:

I bought a hybrid hard drive, that has an SSD component to it that is
meant to speed up its performance, intending to transfer the contents of
my current disk-based hard drive and then swap the two drives.

While I never got around to making the swap, I did the next best thing 
by
putting the SSD hard drive into an external USB-connected hard drive
enclosure, where it works faster than the internal hard drive, 
especially
during bootup.

Therein lies the rub: grub is stored in the SSD portion of the hybrid 
drive,
and there's nothing I can do to access or change the grub data that is 
stored
there.

I can play around with the data that is stored in /etc/grub.d, but that 
SSD
data is what the hybrid drive remembers, so changing 
/etc/grub.d/01_PASSWORD
(for example) has no effect on what grub expects during bootup.

The solution may exist if there is a way of instructing the system to 
ignore
the SSD-stored data, either during shutdown or during startup ...

Look here for an extended version of the problem discussion:
https://trisquel.info/en/forum/updating-grub-hybrid-usb-hard-drive

I'm also the guy who started that thread.

George Langford

Greg Helledy wrote:

My new Dell Inspiron laptop has developed a very odd problem.  I finally
got the OS I wanted (MX linux) installed properly on a replacement SSD,
but now every time I turn it on it doesn't boot.  The reason is that the
default boot device in BIOS has been changed to "Diskette 
Drive", which
of course the laptop doesn't have.  If at boot I hit F12 to bring up a
boot menu, I'll see "Diskette Drive" as the default, and if I 
choose
Hard Drive instead, it boots normally.  If I hit F2 to go into BIOS, I
can change it to Hard Drive, and then save and exit, and it will boot
normally.  But as soon as the laptop is powered off, BIOS is reverted to
"Diskette Drive" as the default boot device.  Also, the Fast 
Boot option
is changed to Enabled, after being saved as Disabled.

To be clear, the system came with UEFI boot enabled, I disabled that
<blockquote>Boot List Option:  Legacy (other choice is UEFI)

Secure Boot: Disabled

Load Legacy Option ROM: Enabled
</blockquote>
Anyone ever heard of anything like this?  What would I do next, open the
box up again and switch the SSDs back to try booting the factory Win10
install?  Boot off a USB stick?  Can the OS change BIOS settings without
me being able to tell anything's happening (IOW, should I suspect the
linux install, or does this have to be a BIOS problem)?

--
Greg Helledy
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