Dell T5820 won't boot Linux Mint installed OS on SATA drive...

Question

I've tried all kinds of options in BIOS and nothing seems to work. The drive is formatted for GPT and I'm trying to boot under UEFI with Secure Boot off. I've popped the drive into a Z800 and it fires up without issue. I've popped a Windows 10 drive into the 5820 and it fires up without issue. Therefore, I know that the drive works and the desktop works.

The diagnostic test shows no errors. There are no beep codes or lights. BIOS correctly identifies the drive under system info but it does not show under the boot menu. All I see there are options for Windows Boot Manager and IPX - no other peripherals (DVD, SD, USB, etc) and I can't add any. If I switch to Legacy Boot, all these options are available, but the GPT formatted drive will, of course, not boot in this mode.

Anyone have any ideas? There are a lot of BIOS combinations on the 5820. I'm thinking that maybe I just haven't hit the right combination yet. Thanks.

anne_droid · Answer

Hi

Please can you confirm the Make Model and OS, along with any configuration details like touch screen, backlit keyboard, SFF or tower etc etc.

What/Which OS's are installed?

Onto what/which storage device?

What Boot Manger details can you supply?

What Boot Loader details can you supply?

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I have had numerous occasions where on install GrUB has failed to install, and so linux wont boot.

There is,of course, the absolutely excellent boot system called Refind.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/refind/

If in doubt please ask.

Chino de Oro · Answer

Hello @anne_droid , OP has a fixed workstation T5820 which is designed with variant of storage options. OP wants to boot Linux Mint on a SATA drive installed on the front flexbay.

The Dell Precision 5820 offers versatile storage with internal bays for up to six 2.5" SATA/SAS SSDs or five 3.5" SATA/SAS HDDs, plus an optical bay that can house more drives or M.2 NVMe SSDs via adapters, and optional Ultra-Speed PCIe cards for multiple M.2 NVMe SSDs, supporting configurations from standard SATA to high-speed NVMe for significant storage capacity and performance:

* Main Drive Bays (Flex Bays): Support 2.5" SATA/SAS drives (up to 6) or 3.5" SATA/SAS drives (up to 5), allowing for large-capacity HDDs or fast SSDs, and optional front-accessible M.2/U.2 NVMe SSDs (with specific CPU/adapter).

* Optical Bay (5.25"): Can hold DVD/Blu-ray drives or be used with adapters for more 2.5"/3.5" drives.

* M.2 NVMe Slots: Can be added via Dell Ultra-Speed Drive Quad (x16) or Duo (x8) PCIe cards for high-performance NVMe SSDs, or directly in the front FlexBays with specific backplane.

* SAS/SED Options: Available with Xeon W CPUs for enterprise-grade SAS drives and Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs).

Hello @MrAreDee , make sure to test the SATA boot drive on the lower front flexbay only. If all else failed, try a clean install.

anne_droid · Answer

On second thoughts, and jumping to a conclusion........

I suspect the BIOS is missing the BOOT MANAGER entry......

Which could be corrected by rEFInd boot manager, or as suggested by @Chino de Oro a re-install.

user_390399 · Answer

On second thoughts, and jumping to a conclusion........

I suspect the BIOS is missing the BOOT MANAGER entry......

Which could be corrected by rEFInd boot manager, or as suggested by @Chino de Oro @blocky blast a re-install.

Thank you for sharing

Precision Fixed Workstations

Dell T5820 won't boot Linux Mint installed OS on SATA drive...

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