[Solved] Can't find Linux Mint after unplugging the device

[Bober]

Dear Linux Mint community,

I was so happy to make my first concrete steps to finally embark on this journey, but after a seemingly successful installation and my first experiences in the Linux Mint world (I completed the installation, installed updates and did some other things, i.e. ticked the "Consider recommended packages as dependencies" in the "Synaptic Package Manager", changed the setting "false" into "true" in the settings file "/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00recommends", installed "Double Commander", "Leafpad", "pavucontrol" and "Catfish", decreased the swap use to 10, turned on the "Uncomplicated Firewall", set the root password, and installed some fonts. During the process, I had to reboot a few times and it all went super smoothly.

Then I had to turn my laptop off and unplug the power chord (I wasn't using the battery). When I booted the device again, it went straight to windows 8...I then checked the UEFI and all the settings were back to what they were before I changed them prior to installation of Mint Cinnamon 18.3., i.e. the F12 option was disabled again, windows was again on top of the boot list, and Ubuntu wasn't there at all.

Now, let me say a few things about my Acer Aspire V5-131. When I don't use the battery and I turn off+unplug the device, the clock stops at the time when I unplugged it. I then have to access the UEFI and adjust the clock there every time it happens. But when I use the battery and turn off the device, the clock is fine when I boot the device again. I read that it could be caused by an empty CMOS battery, but have no idea if something else could be also the source of the problem. The second problem with my Acer - and this is the one that causes me lots of trouble - is the blue screen that says INQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. It has been appearing basically ever since I got this device, but I must admit that I was a bit lazy to return it, and I thought that I will solve the problem somehow. I tried different fixes for it, but it still appears. I read that rolling back the drivers could help, but I think that in my case this doesn't make sense since I got it new. Am I wrong here? I repaired the registry and defragmented the disk though, but still happens. I run the hardware diagnostic too, but no errors to be found. Check for malware and co. also couldn't solve the problem.

Now, back to things more related to my installation of Linux Mint. I used a 16 GB USB drive with a .iso image of the 64-bit Cinnamon 18.3. During the installation, I created a partition of around 35 GiB. As far as I know, the swap was created with 1.8 GiB per default (my device has 2GB of RAM). Now, when I check the partitions from windows, they look like this:

Volume | Layout | Type | File System | Status | Capacity | Free Space | % Free | my comment
N/A | Simple | Basic | N/A | Healthy (OEM partition) | | 400 MB | 400 MB | 100%
N/A | Simple | Basic | N/A | Healthy (EFI system partition) | 300 MB | 300 MB | 100%
N/A | Simple | Basic | N/A | Healthy (Recovery partition) | 451 MB | 451 MB | 100%
N/A | Simple | Basic | N/A | Healthy (Primary partition) | 31.53 GB | 31.53 GB | 100% | not sure if it existed before installing Linux
N/A | Simple | Basic | N/A | Healthy (Primary partition) | 1.89 GB | 1.89 GB | 100% | not sure if it existed before installing Linux
N/A | Simple | Basic | N/A | Healthy (OEM partition) | 15.26 GB | 15.26 GB | 100%
(C:) | Simple | Basic | NTFS | Healthy (Boot, Page file, Crash dump, Primary partition) | 109.25 GB | 65.13 GB | 60%
(D:) | Simple | Basic | NTFS | Healthy (Primary partition) | 306.58 GB | 191.32 GB | 62%

I think I wrote all I know, but if some additional data could be useful, please let me know.

Would be really grateful if someone could help me somehow.

Best wishes to all of you!

[michael louwe]

@ Bober, .......

...

.
It is bad practice to unplug the battery from the laptop. There is no harm leaving the battery plugged in while the laptop is connected to the electrical AC power wall outlet. The battery's internal logic circuit automatically prevents overcharging/overheating when the laptop is connected to the AC wall outlet.

The non-chargeable CMOS battery helps to store whatever changes have been made to BIOS settings and power the BIOS clock when the computer is powered-off. Depending on usage pattern, the CMOS battery will last a minimum of about 2 years. Unplugging the battery from the laptop while it is powered-off will deplete the CMOS battery faster. I think the laptop's battery also acts as a backup power source for the CMOS battery, ie if the laptop is powered-off, CMOS battery power is not used when the laptop battery is plugged in. A dead CMOS battery and unplugged laptop battery will not retain any changes made to BIOS settings after the computer/laptop has been powered-off.

In your case, you should replace the dead CMOS battery and try reinstalling Grub, as per ... https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/6
... If unsuccessful, try reinstalling LM 18.3 = the LM Installer automatically installs EFI Grub data on the BIOS firmware(= NVRAM) and internal hard-drive.

The CMOS battery of my 4 years old Acer laptop is still OK. I keep the laptop battery plugged in even though the laptop is connected to the AC wall outlet.

Bear in mind that Timeshift, by default, will use about 5GB to 10GB of disk space to store snapshots or restore points, either on the internal or external hard-drive.

[Bober]

Thank you, Michael, for your explanation.

I heard many times that to prolong the lifespan of the laptop's battery when using it while connected to the wall outlet, it is better to remove the battery. Is this just a myth? This is maybe too off-topic now, sorry.

Could reinstalling the Grub and start using the laptop with the battery inserted all the time without replacing the CMOS battery (at least for now) an option? Could this work?

And if I have to reinstall LM, are there any changes that I should/could do to optimise the partitioning of my disk before proceeding with the installation?

[michael louwe]

@ Bober, .......

Could reinstalling the Grub and start using the laptop with the battery inserted all the time without replacing the CMOS battery (at least for now) an option? Could this work?

If it works, likely Yes, ie no need to replace the CMOS battery immediately, but the laptop battery should not be fully discharged. Previously, I bought the CMOS battery for my old Dell laptop from a grocery shop(= same as the batteries in some watches) for about US$0.50.
I'm not sure if it will work, ie no harm trying the reinstall Grub method.
.

And if I have to reinstall LM, are there any changes that I should/could do to optimise the partitioning of my disk before proceeding with the installation?

In your case, reinstalling will just mean choosing the manual "Something else" install method, delete all the Linux partitions(= do not touch the Windows, OEM and Recovery partitions) to create a new free-space and proceed to manually partition the free-space, eg 2GB for Swap and about 30GB for the Root or / partition. Ensure that the "Device for boot loader installation" is the EFI System Partition(= fat32/300MB).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

For some guidance on dual-booting LM alongside Win 10/8.1 in UEFI and GPT-disk mode, please refer to .......
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=163126 (dual-booting UEFI computers)
http://linuxmint-installation-guide.rea ... en/latest/
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... ct/windows
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... nt-install
https://www.tecmint.com/install-linux-m ... uefi-mode/ (note step 17)
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=122276 (manual partitioning Tutorial for Legacy BIOS mode and MBR/ms-dos disks)[use as a guide]

Ensure that Secure Boot, Fast Boot and CSM(or Legacy BIOS) are disabled in BIOS setup, Fast Startup is disabled in Win 10/8.1(>Control Panel >Power options), the Live LM media(DVD or USB-stick) is booted in UEFI mode in BIOS setup.

To dual-boot, you only need to pre-shrink the Windows partition if you intend to use the manual "Something else" install method, ie no need to do so if you intend to use the automatic "install LM alongside Windows Boot Manager" method, which will be followed by the LM Installer auto-partitioning the disk and auto-installing the Linux Grub bootloader onto the Windows ESP. Only a root / and swap partition will be auto-created with a total default size of about 20GB. The user will be given the option to increase this default size by moving a slider on the colored Partition table, subject to the maximum available free space in the Windows partition.

For the "Something else" install method, manually partition the pre-shrunk free space accordingly, eg 50GB for /, 1.5X RAM size for Swap(at the end of this space) and 200GB for Home; and ensure that the "Device for boot loader installation" is the Windows EFI System Partition(= ESP = fat32/about 104MB/mount point is /boot/efi) which is usually dev/sda1.
.
.

P S - Certain high-end OEM Win 8.x/10 computers, eg Acer, Asus and HP, have an obstructive or pro-M$ BIOS setting for "select an UEFI file as trusted for executing",(= Linux cannot boot). For the fix, please refer to ...
https://itsfoss.com/no-bootable-device-found-ubuntu/
viewtopic.php?t=236560

The above latest(= 2017) OEM laptops, eg Acer E and S series, may have even removed this BIOS setting(eg "No bootable device" after installing Linux and cannot be fixed), but may be restored by a new BIOS firmware update from the OEMs = update through Windows only. This was after many complaints from affected users. ...
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=254948
... Another workaround is ...
https://askubuntu.com/questions/862946/ ... re-es1-533

Sometimes to boot from the Live LM USB Flash-drive in new Acer computers, eg Acer ES 15, you need to enable the F12 boot menu in the Main section of the BIOS setup, then pressed F12 instead of F2 during power up. Will then be given the option of Windows Boot Manager or Linux (Flash-drive).

[austin.texas]

I heard many times that to prolong the lifespan of the laptop's battery when using it while connected to the wall outlet, it is better to remove the battery. Is this just a myth?

http://batterycare.net/en/guide.html

[BG405]

I've been informed by a knowledgeable friend that some of the newer machines rely on the main battery, at least in the case of those with a built-in battery pack, however I've been unable to find an obvious online reference so far. However, your machine looks like a decent design which should have a replaceable CMOS cell, often a CR2032. I couldn't see one in the images I found but it may be concealed or on the other side of the board.

It's not usual practice to remove the battery when the power supply is disconnected, except for the purposes of clearing the CMOS etc..

[catweazel]

I heard many times that to prolong the lifespan of the laptop's battery when using it while connected to the wall outlet

It's ok to do that. I do it all the time when I suspect a battery is on its way out.

[Bober]

Thank you for all the replies!

I will check for the CMOS cell as soon as possible.

In the meantime, I wanted to solve the LM issue and after I placed the main battery back in its place, disabled the secure boot, and put Windows Boot Manager at the bottom of the boot list, LM booted without any problem. I didn´t even have to reinstall Grub.

Thanks again for helping me with this initial stumbling block.

Best wishes to all of you.