Cant boot from 32Gb eMMC disc

[Steve]

Hi guys
I`m a long time user of Kubuntu on my 15" laptop with dvd drive and 500Mb hard drive with no probs at all. I decided today to take Windows 10 off my little 10" Acer laptop with 2Gb ram and 32Gb eMMC hard drive with no dvd drive. I made a bootable usb drive using Rufus and chose the GFT partition for uefi option and Kubuntu 16.04 iso connected by cable to my router so all the third party stuff could be installed as it progressed, I chose to use the whole disc. Removing the usb stick when it finished installing I made sure the 32Gb drive was first to boot from in uefi but now I just get a message on screen telling me `No Bootable Device` so I`m a bit stuck what to do next.
When I`ve played` about with different distro`s in the past on my bigger laptop I just put a Linux dvd in the drive and it loaded,installed,booted and ran no problems so its seems I need to tell the little laptop to boot from the 32Gb drive or maybe do something with the Grub somehow any idea what to try next please?
thanks
Steve

[Qqmike]

I'm not specifically familiar with the eMMC (got no experience with it).

However, it sounds like you do have UEFI, you did partition as a GPT drive. Good so far. If you did your own partitioning, did you make a partition for the EFI System Partition (the ESP)? That's where the GRUB2-EFI files will go.

Personally, to be safe, I'd use GParted Live USB to do the partitioning:
http://gparted.org/livecd.php
but, as long as you know what you are doing, any partition editor is OK.

The ESP:

The "preferred default" location for the ESP is usually sda1 (the first partition), but, fact is, it can be anywhere. Some Windows systems use sda1 or sda2. In Linux, I like sda1. But, as I say, the ESP can be anywhere.

Specs of the ESP:

200 MB (up to 500 MB; but for you, 200 MB is plenty)
FAT32
In GParted you should set the boot flag on this ESP partition and only on this partition.
(If instead of using GParted (or some GUI like it), doing this at the command line, you would use a partition code of type EF00 for the ESP.)

The ESP is the 5th topic ("ESP -- EFI System Partition") in my how-to,
UEFI Simplified, a quicker version
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post379977

I'm thinking that is why your UEFI firmware ("BIOS") isn't seeing your ESP and GRUB2-EFI bootloader.
In fact, if you did not create an ESP, the Kubuntu installer may have installed the older legacy GRUB instead of the newer GRUB2-EFI; not real sure.

Btw, for UEFI, you must use the 64-bit version of Kubuntu (not the 32-bit version, if offered).

[claydoh]

Have you disabled secure boot? You won't be able to boot Kubuntu if you haven't.

Which device do you have? Many of these 10 inch Windows mini laptops do have quirks involved with linux installation but that is usually in relation to booting the live disk as they usually have 32-bit-EFI-only setups which makes normal isos unbootable without adding an extra file to the flash drive. You don't have this issue as you were able to boot and install.

The installer *should* handle creating the required EFI folder but I could be wrong there.

sent from my LG V10 using Tapatalk

[Steve]

Hi Guys
Many thanks for the very helpful replies. While playing around with Linux in the past and before I chose Kubuntu I drifted from one distro to another just putting the iso dvd in and choosing the whole disc and I always let the installation choose its own partitions with no probs so I`ve never needed to manually partition the hard drive and I assumed it would be the same with installing from a usb stick. Maybe the installation is different from a usb stick or possibly these little laptop eMMC drives need a nudge I`m not sure?. I did disable secure boot.
Following Qqmike`s reply I tried reinstalling with the following -
Partition Type Mount Size
/dev/mmcblk0p1 fat32 /boot/efi 200mb
/dev/mmcblk0p2 linuxswap none 2Gb
/dev/mmcblk0p3 ext4 / 27.08mb

but still getting `No bootable device`. If I boot with the usb stick still in and then remove it before it gets to the desktop I can use the laptop perfectly its just getting the thing to boot from the onboard drive and not the usb stick. I`m not confident the above settings are correct and it would be great if one of you guys could suggest what to do next please?. Sorry trying to show the settings spaced better must be the forum format preventing it!.
cheers
Steve

[claydoh]

No the installation is the same no matter which media is used.

What model is your laptop?


I have one of these little laptops, and Acer One 10. There are hardware support problems with Linux still, mainly no sound as the Bay Trail does not have good support depending on the specific device. Wifi I have to compile from source, and Bluetooth does not work, but there is driver code that works for some (not me, yet). Kubuntu installation itself was straightforward though.

I have done a fair bit of research that has led me to many different varieties of these small Windows devices, and perhaps I have come across something that might help with your particular model.

[Qqmike]

I'm on the run, out the door, ... quickly ... did you set the "boot" flag on that ESP partition (using, say, GParted Live USB)?

[Steve]

Hi again folks
My laptop is the Acer Aspire E11 ES1-111M-C3CP. Everything seems to work ok with it when I get past the booting, Wifi,sound etc all works fine and yes I did put the efi in the /boot while installing using the usb stick should I have?(this was created using the windows app Rufus). Linux installs have always been pretty easy with the dvd`s and never had these boot issues before. I would have carried on using Windows 10 except for the never ending updates which filled the windows directory to about 27gb which with a 32Gb drive didn`t leave much room for anything else. Just wondering if I can`t get it to work with Kubuntu maybe it won`t work with any other distro?.
thanks again
Steve

[Qqmike]

yes I did put the efi in the /boot while installing using the usb stick should I have?

Not sure what you've done. But here's what needs to be done: On that special partition called ESP, you need to set a boot flag. You do this using GParted live USB, for example. We are not creating a separate "boot partition" or anything like that; and we are not directly doing anything to the directory /boot, per se. Just setting a boot flag on the ESP partition.

[elijathegold]

Not sure what you've done. But here's what needs to be done: On that special partition called ESP, you need to set a boot flag. You do this using GParted live USB, for example. We are not creating a separate "boot partition" or anything like that; and we are not directly doing anything to the directory /boot, per se. Just setting a boot flag on the ESP partition.

If you are using the KDE partition manager then make sure that the disk isn't mounted and right click on the EFI partition. Select properties and turn on the boot flag in there.

[Steve]

I can confirm that the efi partition has the boot flag selected using KDE partition manager as suggested by elijathegold. Still no joy with the boot up and still getting `No bootable devices` screen.
If I leave the usb stick in and then start the pc I can get to the Grub screen and then remove the stick and carry on with a working machine!. Have to say this takes me back years ago when I first started dabbling with Linux and spent many nights burning the midnight oil trying to get stuff configured and working. Can`t really think of anything else to get the thing to boot without the usb stick - so near yet so far . Cmon guys don`t condemn it to a life of Windoze .
thanks for your help so far!
cheers
Steve

[elijathegold]

It sounds like grub may have been installed to the wrong disk when setting up. When booted, make sure the USB key is removed and run sudo grub-install