Can't access boot menu or bios to do a clean install
Yesterday I installed Ubuntu 18 on a computer (Dell Optiplex 990, yeah I know, it was $25) via a USB stick. I had just gotten the computer, so it was totally blank, and I was able to push f12 to enter the boot menu, no problem.
I messed something up while trying to set it up, so rather than trying to fix it I figured it'd be easier to do a clean install. Except now I can't seem to access the boot menu again to do so. Instead, no matter what I do it goes to Grub2, where I don't have an option to boot from USB.
There's no problem with the USB itself (I tried it on another computer and it works), and obviously I was able to use that USB port before to get Ubuntu the first time. I tried F2 for the BIOS menu, which is what the manual I found on Google tells me I should be pressing, but that also goes to Grub2.
I've gone through all the related threads I can find, so sorry if this is a duplicate, but I can't find any that seem to be helpful / that are written in a way I understand, I'm pretty out of my depth at this point.
boot grub2 usb
edited Feb 13 at 21:22
Pilot6
52.7k15108197
asked Feb 5 at 19:00
AlexAlex
12
|
show 1 more comment
Yesterday I installed Ubuntu 18 on a computer (Dell Optiplex 990, yeah I know, it was $25) via a USB stick. I had just gotten the computer, so it was totally blank, and I was able to push f12 to enter the boot menu, no problem.
I messed something up while trying to set it up, so rather than trying to fix it I figured it'd be easier to do a clean install. Except now I can't seem to access the boot menu again to do so. Instead, no matter what I do it goes to Grub2, where I don't have an option to boot from USB.
There's no problem with the USB itself (I tried it on another computer and it works), and obviously I was able to use that USB port before to get Ubuntu the first time. I tried F2 for the BIOS menu, which is what the manual I found on Google tells me I should be pressing, but that also goes to Grub2.
I've gone through all the related threads I can find, so sorry if this is a duplicate, but I can't find any that seem to be helpful / that are written in a way I understand, I'm pretty out of my depth at this point.
boot grub2 usb
edited Feb 13 at 21:22
Pilot6
52.7k15108197
asked Feb 5 at 19:00
AlexAlex
12
Try to attach external keyboard and press F2 exectly when Dell logo appears.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:18
I am using an external keyboard, and have tried several dozen times pressing at different times. The computer manual also says that pressing too early can block it and not to press until the keyboard lights up, but it doesn't light up until half a second before Grub comes up, so that could be something?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 19:25
a little severe solution, but you can unplug your HDD. Your system then should boot to BIOS, as long as there will be no ROM with grub.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:43
Yikes. Anything that doesn’t involve taking apart my computer? I can try, of course, but...
– Alex
Feb 5 at 20:42
Also, if I do that, at what point do I plug the HDD back in? Just after it boots to BIOS?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 21:14
|
show 1 more comment
Yesterday I installed Ubuntu 18 on a computer (Dell Optiplex 990, yeah I know, it was $25) via a USB stick. I had just gotten the computer, so it was totally blank, and I was able to push f12 to enter the boot menu, no problem.
I messed something up while trying to set it up, so rather than trying to fix it I figured it'd be easier to do a clean install. Except now I can't seem to access the boot menu again to do so. Instead, no matter what I do it goes to Grub2, where I don't have an option to boot from USB.
There's no problem with the USB itself (I tried it on another computer and it works), and obviously I was able to use that USB port before to get Ubuntu the first time. I tried F2 for the BIOS menu, which is what the manual I found on Google tells me I should be pressing, but that also goes to Grub2.
I've gone through all the related threads I can find, so sorry if this is a duplicate, but I can't find any that seem to be helpful / that are written in a way I understand, I'm pretty out of my depth at this point.
boot grub2 usb
edited Feb 13 at 21:22
Pilot6
52.7k15108197
asked Feb 5 at 19:00
AlexAlex
12
Yesterday I installed Ubuntu 18 on a computer (Dell Optiplex 990, yeah I know, it was $25) via a USB stick. I had just gotten the computer, so it was totally blank, and I was able to push f12 to enter the boot menu, no problem.
I messed something up while trying to set it up, so rather than trying to fix it I figured it'd be easier to do a clean install. Except now I can't seem to access the boot menu again to do so. Instead, no matter what I do it goes to Grub2, where I don't have an option to boot from USB.
There's no problem with the USB itself (I tried it on another computer and it works), and obviously I was able to use that USB port before to get Ubuntu the first time. I tried F2 for the BIOS menu, which is what the manual I found on Google tells me I should be pressing, but that also goes to Grub2.
I've gone through all the related threads I can find, so sorry if this is a duplicate, but I can't find any that seem to be helpful / that are written in a way I understand, I'm pretty out of my depth at this point.
boot grub2 usb
boot grub2 usb
edited Feb 13 at 21:22
Pilot6
52.7k15108197
asked Feb 5 at 19:00
AlexAlex
12
edited Feb 13 at 21:22
Pilot6
52.7k15108197
asked Feb 5 at 19:00
AlexAlex
12
edited Feb 13 at 21:22
Pilot6
52.7k15108197
edited Feb 13 at 21:22
Pilot6
52.7k15108197
edited Feb 13 at 21:22
Pilot6
52.7k15108197
52.7k15108197
asked Feb 5 at 19:00
AlexAlex
12
asked Feb 5 at 19:00
AlexAlex
12
asked Feb 5 at 19:00
AlexAlex
12
12
Try to attach external keyboard and press F2 exectly when Dell logo appears.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:18
I am using an external keyboard, and have tried several dozen times pressing at different times. The computer manual also says that pressing too early can block it and not to press until the keyboard lights up, but it doesn't light up until half a second before Grub comes up, so that could be something?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 19:25
a little severe solution, but you can unplug your HDD. Your system then should boot to BIOS, as long as there will be no ROM with grub.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:43
Yikes. Anything that doesn’t involve taking apart my computer? I can try, of course, but...
– Alex
Feb 5 at 20:42
Also, if I do that, at what point do I plug the HDD back in? Just after it boots to BIOS?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 21:14
|
show 1 more comment
Try to attach external keyboard and press F2 exectly when Dell logo appears.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:18
I am using an external keyboard, and have tried several dozen times pressing at different times. The computer manual also says that pressing too early can block it and not to press until the keyboard lights up, but it doesn't light up until half a second before Grub comes up, so that could be something?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 19:25
a little severe solution, but you can unplug your HDD. Your system then should boot to BIOS, as long as there will be no ROM with grub.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:43
Yikes. Anything that doesn’t involve taking apart my computer? I can try, of course, but...
– Alex
Feb 5 at 20:42
Also, if I do that, at what point do I plug the HDD back in? Just after it boots to BIOS?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 21:14
Try to attach external keyboard and press F2 exectly when Dell logo appears.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:18
Try to attach external keyboard and press F2 exectly when Dell logo appears.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:18
I am using an external keyboard, and have tried several dozen times pressing at different times. The computer manual also says that pressing too early can block it and not to press until the keyboard lights up, but it doesn't light up until half a second before Grub comes up, so that could be something?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 19:25
I am using an external keyboard, and have tried several dozen times pressing at different times. The computer manual also says that pressing too early can block it and not to press until the keyboard lights up, but it doesn't light up until half a second before Grub comes up, so that could be something?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 19:25
a little severe solution, but you can unplug your HDD. Your system then should boot to BIOS, as long as there will be no ROM with grub.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:43
a little severe solution, but you can unplug your HDD. Your system then should boot to BIOS, as long as there will be no ROM with grub.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:43
Yikes. Anything that doesn’t involve taking apart my computer? I can try, of course, but...
– Alex
Feb 5 at 20:42
Yikes. Anything that doesn’t involve taking apart my computer? I can try, of course, but...
– Alex
Feb 5 at 20:42
Also, if I do that, at what point do I plug the HDD back in? Just after it boots to BIOS?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 21:14
Also, if I do that, at what point do I plug the HDD back in? Just after it boots to BIOS?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 21:14
|
show 1 more comment
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
To enter Bios keep hitting the DELETE key while booting up. I have a dell optiplex 520.
edited Feb 7 at 15:14
Charles Green
13.8k73858
answered Feb 7 at 14:25
Hommel MillsHommel Mills
1
add a comment |
Turns out that, counterintuitively, I had to wait until well, well after it had the Dell logo and ‘Press F12 For Boot Menu’ written on the screen, like 2-3 seconds after. From what the manual said, you need to wait for the keyboard to initialize (it will light up), and pressing F12 before that will make it ignore any subsequent keypresses, even if you’re tapping repeatedly.
In my case, the keyboard actually didn’t initialize until the Dell logo had disappeared and the screen was blank.
answered Feb 7 at 19:51
AlexAlex
12
add a comment |
Try holding the RESET switch for 3 seconds and you should get to the BIOS. Works on every computer I own (or have owned).
EDIT: Just saw that you've fixed it yourself!
answered Feb 7 at 19:58
Charlie CamilleriCharlie Camilleri
1
Thanks for the advice anyway, good to know for future reference!
– Alex
Feb 8 at 0:42
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "89"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faskubuntu.com%2fquestions%2f1115895%2fcant-access-boot-menu-or-bios-to-do-a-clean-install%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
To enter Bios keep hitting the DELETE key while booting up. I have a dell optiplex 520.
edited Feb 7 at 15:14
Charles Green
13.8k73858
answered Feb 7 at 14:25
Hommel MillsHommel Mills
1
add a comment |
To enter Bios keep hitting the DELETE key while booting up. I have a dell optiplex 520.
edited Feb 7 at 15:14
Charles Green
13.8k73858
answered Feb 7 at 14:25
Hommel MillsHommel Mills
1
add a comment |
To enter Bios keep hitting the DELETE key while booting up. I have a dell optiplex 520.
edited Feb 7 at 15:14
Charles Green
13.8k73858
answered Feb 7 at 14:25
Hommel MillsHommel Mills
1
To enter Bios keep hitting the DELETE key while booting up. I have a dell optiplex 520.
edited Feb 7 at 15:14
Charles Green
13.8k73858
answered Feb 7 at 14:25
Hommel MillsHommel Mills
1
edited Feb 7 at 15:14
Charles Green
13.8k73858
edited Feb 7 at 15:14
Charles Green
13.8k73858
edited Feb 7 at 15:14
Charles Green
13.8k73858
13.8k73858
answered Feb 7 at 14:25
Hommel MillsHommel Mills
1
answered Feb 7 at 14:25
Hommel MillsHommel Mills
1
answered Feb 7 at 14:25
Hommel MillsHommel Mills
1
1
add a comment |
add a comment |
Turns out that, counterintuitively, I had to wait until well, well after it had the Dell logo and ‘Press F12 For Boot Menu’ written on the screen, like 2-3 seconds after. From what the manual said, you need to wait for the keyboard to initialize (it will light up), and pressing F12 before that will make it ignore any subsequent keypresses, even if you’re tapping repeatedly.
In my case, the keyboard actually didn’t initialize until the Dell logo had disappeared and the screen was blank.
answered Feb 7 at 19:51
AlexAlex
12
add a comment |
Turns out that, counterintuitively, I had to wait until well, well after it had the Dell logo and ‘Press F12 For Boot Menu’ written on the screen, like 2-3 seconds after. From what the manual said, you need to wait for the keyboard to initialize (it will light up), and pressing F12 before that will make it ignore any subsequent keypresses, even if you’re tapping repeatedly.
In my case, the keyboard actually didn’t initialize until the Dell logo had disappeared and the screen was blank.
answered Feb 7 at 19:51
AlexAlex
12
add a comment |
Turns out that, counterintuitively, I had to wait until well, well after it had the Dell logo and ‘Press F12 For Boot Menu’ written on the screen, like 2-3 seconds after. From what the manual said, you need to wait for the keyboard to initialize (it will light up), and pressing F12 before that will make it ignore any subsequent keypresses, even if you’re tapping repeatedly.
In my case, the keyboard actually didn’t initialize until the Dell logo had disappeared and the screen was blank.
answered Feb 7 at 19:51
AlexAlex
12
Turns out that, counterintuitively, I had to wait until well, well after it had the Dell logo and ‘Press F12 For Boot Menu’ written on the screen, like 2-3 seconds after. From what the manual said, you need to wait for the keyboard to initialize (it will light up), and pressing F12 before that will make it ignore any subsequent keypresses, even if you’re tapping repeatedly.
In my case, the keyboard actually didn’t initialize until the Dell logo had disappeared and the screen was blank.
answered Feb 7 at 19:51
AlexAlex
12
answered Feb 7 at 19:51
AlexAlex
12
answered Feb 7 at 19:51
AlexAlex
12
answered Feb 7 at 19:51
AlexAlex
12
12
add a comment |
add a comment |
Try holding the RESET switch for 3 seconds and you should get to the BIOS. Works on every computer I own (or have owned).
EDIT: Just saw that you've fixed it yourself!
answered Feb 7 at 19:58
Charlie CamilleriCharlie Camilleri
1
Thanks for the advice anyway, good to know for future reference!
– Alex
Feb 8 at 0:42
add a comment |
Try holding the RESET switch for 3 seconds and you should get to the BIOS. Works on every computer I own (or have owned).
EDIT: Just saw that you've fixed it yourself!
answered Feb 7 at 19:58
Charlie CamilleriCharlie Camilleri
1
Thanks for the advice anyway, good to know for future reference!
– Alex
Feb 8 at 0:42
add a comment |
Try holding the RESET switch for 3 seconds and you should get to the BIOS. Works on every computer I own (or have owned).
EDIT: Just saw that you've fixed it yourself!
answered Feb 7 at 19:58
Charlie CamilleriCharlie Camilleri
1
Try holding the RESET switch for 3 seconds and you should get to the BIOS. Works on every computer I own (or have owned).
EDIT: Just saw that you've fixed it yourself!
answered Feb 7 at 19:58
Charlie CamilleriCharlie Camilleri
1
answered Feb 7 at 19:58
Charlie CamilleriCharlie Camilleri
1
answered Feb 7 at 19:58
Charlie CamilleriCharlie Camilleri
1
answered Feb 7 at 19:58
Charlie CamilleriCharlie Camilleri
1
1
Thanks for the advice anyway, good to know for future reference!
– Alex
Feb 8 at 0:42
add a comment |
Thanks for the advice anyway, good to know for future reference!
– Alex
Feb 8 at 0:42
Thanks for the advice anyway, good to know for future reference!
– Alex
Feb 8 at 0:42
Thanks for the advice anyway, good to know for future reference!
– Alex
Feb 8 at 0:42
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Ask Ubuntu!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faskubuntu.com%2fquestions%2f1115895%2fcant-access-boot-menu-or-bios-to-do-a-clean-install%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Try to attach external keyboard and press F2 exectly when Dell logo appears.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:18
I am using an external keyboard, and have tried several dozen times pressing at different times. The computer manual also says that pressing too early can block it and not to press until the keyboard lights up, but it doesn't light up until half a second before Grub comes up, so that could be something?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 19:25
a little severe solution, but you can unplug your HDD. Your system then should boot to BIOS, as long as there will be no ROM with grub.
– Gravemind
Feb 5 at 19:43
Yikes. Anything that doesn’t involve taking apart my computer? I can try, of course, but...
– Alex
Feb 5 at 20:42
Also, if I do that, at what point do I plug the HDD back in? Just after it boots to BIOS?
– Alex
Feb 5 at 21:14