Member Avatar for it@61@sec

I've discovered a weird problem with my Linux Mint-system (Linux Mint 18).
After rebooting my system (or restarting as well) I got the GRUB menu, but my keyboard is not responding...
So I have to wait for the timeout to get my system booted.

The keyboard is wired to the computer through an USB-connection. So it's not wireless.
And it works OK as soon as my system has booted.. (?).

I have installed/loaded Linux kernel 4.4.142, 4.4.143 and 4.4.145.
When running kernel 4.4.142 Virtualbox and VMWare Workstation works as it should, but when I try to use 4.4.143 or 4.4.145 they both refuse to load.
So I want to be able to choose which kernel to run depending on what I want to do.. :-)

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by RuhiAngel

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Good catch, . , what you saw is classic firmware behavior: GRUB relies on the UEFI/BIOS for keyboard input, not Linux drivers. If pre-boot USB init is skipped, the keyboard is dead at the menu. If it recurs, try disabling Fast Boot, enabling pre-boot USB keyboard support, and turning on xHCI/EHCI hand-off. Also try a USB 2.0 port (black), or a PS/2 keyboard if available. Updating the motherboard firmware is worth doing.

When the keyboard will not respond but you need an older kernel, set the next boot from a running session with grub-reboot. First, copy the exact menu title, then schedule a one-time boot and reboot:

sudo awk -F\' '/submenu|menuentry/ {print $2}' /boot/grub/grub.cfg
sudo grub-reboot 'Advanced options for Linux Mint>Linux Mint, with Linux 4.4.142-generic'
sudo reboot

Note: the '>' separates submenu components and the title must match exactly. See the grub-reboot man page. (manpages.ubuntu.com)

If you want GRUB to remember what you last chose, set these and regenerate the config:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub   # set: GRUB_DEFAULT=saved and GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true
sudo update-grub

update-grub is just a wrapper for grub-mkconfig on Ubuntu/Mint, and GRUB_DEFAULT=saved/GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true makes the last selection the future default. (manpages.ubuntu.com, help.ubuntu.com)

On your VirtualBox/VMware note: after changing kernels, their out-of-tree modules may need rebuilding. Quick checks and fixes:

sudo dkms status
sudo dkms autoinstall
sudo /sbin/vboxconfig              # VirtualBox
sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all   # VMware

DKMS rebuilds modules for the running kernel; VMware’s vmware-modconfig (or first launch) rebuilds its vmmon/vmnet; VirtualBox’s vboxconfig triggers its module setup. If Secure Boot is enabled, you may need to sign the modules; check /var/log/vbox-setup.log for VBox errors. (manpages.ubuntu.com, knowledge.broadcom.com, virtualbox.org)

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

I've seen that but it usually comes down to USB keyboards, BIOS and settings in the BIOS. Try what options you have for USB legacy and keyboard support in the BIOS. Be aware there is no one fix for this but many. I'm sharing the one I run into.

Member Avatar for it@61@sec

But it's very strange that it worked the first time I did a reboot after changing the GRUB config. But then it suddenly stopped working.
OK, I'll check the BIOS.

Member Avatar for it@61@sec

The problem was solved when I restored BIOS to default values.
I don't know what has been changed (I have not changed any values), but now it seems to work.
The GRUB is a beta-version.... (?)
Thanx!

Edited by it@61@sec
Member Avatar for rproffitt

I couldn't write this is always the fix, only that it's the most common one I've used.

Member Avatar for RuhiAngel

In any case, when I restart it straightforwardly run windows 10 (No decision OS menu) show up again Go into <ubuntu> and select grubx64.efi and it should boot up. be that as it may, as long as no mistakes, you ought to have the option to reboot now and get grub first. After you have transformed it back to UEFI mode, at that point reboot once more into Windows

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