Grub comes as part of a typical Linux installation. How you install it depends on the Linux distribution. Under Arch Linux, it's achieved with a series of commands during the installation procedure.
I don't think the EFI boot menu is standardized; my understanding is that the user interface tends to be customized by the board developer. However, there's also a UEFI shell that you can install. I haven't tried it, but it's a command line interface to UEFI.
On 2/24/19, 12:15, "David Mehler" wrote:
Hello,
Thanks. How did you get grub installed and how to get it to beep?
Is the EFI boot menu standardized in any way?
Thanks.
Dave.
On 2/24/19, Jason White wrote:
> When the machine is booting, there should be a key combination you can press
> to reach the EFI boot menu. Then, you need to select the USB drive as the
> boot device. At that point, you can boot into whatever operating system is
> on that drive. If it's Linux, you'll have the usual commands available,
> including those which I mentioned in the previous post.
>
> On my laptop, F12 invokes the boot menu. I then press the down-arrow key an
> appropriate number of times to reach the USB device and press enter. The
> exact key sequence depends on your machine and how the boot order is
> defined. For example, on your machine, the key to initiate the boot menu
> probably isn't F12.
>
> I now have Grub installed on my laptop so that it beeps fairly early in the
> boot process, and I can use arrow keys to select either Linux or Windows,
> both of which are installed on the SSD. Thanks are owed to participants in
> the BRLTTY mailing list for helping with the Grub configuration.
>
> On 2/23/19, 20:12, "David Mehler" wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> Adding to my last message, an arch linux thumb drive also won't boot
> either.
>
> Where do I find the linux efivar and the efibootmgr commands?
>
> Thanks.
> Dave.
>
>
> On 2/23/19, David Mehler wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I had some unexpected sighted help last night and got secure boot
> off.
> > For this machine the m5a97 motherboard the setting was in the uefi,
> > advanced setup, boot tab, secure boot area. By default secure boot is
> > on and can not be disabled. So, cleared secure boot keys, saved, and
> > then secure boot was disabled. I then rebooted and rechecked uefi and
> > confirmed secure boot is indeed still disabled. Hope that is of use
> to
> > someone.
> >
> > My problem still is now putting in a thumb drive, either a win10
> > created 1803 thumb drive, or a talking win PE in neither case will
> > they boot. Any ideas on that?
> >
> > Thanks.
> > Dave.
> >
> >
> > On 2/23/19, Jason White wrote:
> >> The Linux efivar command will let you set the UEFI variables at a
> fairly
> >> low
> >> level. You can also use the efibootmgr command to change the boot
> order,
> >> and
> >> probably to add boot loaders too.
> >>
> >> I needed to turn off Secure Boot recently to enable an Arch Linux
> >> installation on a laptop. The easiest solution was to call an Aira
> agent
> >> for
> >> assistance. I read somewhere that the Secure Boot setting can't be
> >> changed
> >> once the operating system is loaded; you have to do it from the
> firmware
> >> menu during the boot process. I can't verify this claim though. At
> least
> >> on
> >> my laptop (a Lenovo P51), you can also change the EFI variables
> within
> >> Windows using scripts available from the manufacturer's web site.
> >>
> >>
> >> On 2/22/19, 13:39, "John G Heim" wrote:
> >>
> >> I am not sure I am totally up on the latest technology. But my
> guess
> >> is
> >>
> >> that you will probably have to get sighted assistance. About a
> year
> >> ago,
> >>
> >> I poked around looking for linux tools that allowed you to
> access
> >> EUFI
> >> settings. I found nothing of significance.
> >>
> >> There is some chance you could manage it with the KNFBReader
> iPhone
> >> app.
> >>
> >> The KNFBReader app can read a computer screen. It does not do
> well
> >> with
> >>
> >> console text. It does much better with black text on a white
> >> background.
> >>
> >> I actually succeeded in changing a BIOS setting once but I used a
> PC
> >> Weasel card. So that is a card that looks like a VGA card to the
> >> system
> >>
> >> but it actually gives you text output on a serial port. You can
> use a
> >> null-modem cable and a terminal emulator on a second machine to
> get
> >> to
> >> the console display. So what I did was to google for how to
> change
> >> the
> >>
> >> setting and found a video where the person walked you through
> >> changing
> >> the setting. I could kind of follow along with which keys he
> was
> >> hitting and did the same thing. It worked. But there was
> probably
> >> devine
> >>
> >> intervention. Every once in a while I look on Craig's List for
> one of
> >> those PC Weasel cards. They stopped making them years ago. It
> saved
> >> my
> >>
> >> bacon many a time though.
> >>
> >> It can be frustrating to get sighted assistance from someone who
> is
> >> not
> >>
> >> tech savvy to do something like change a EUFI setting. Another
> thing
> >> I've done in the past is to pack the machine up, drag it to a
> used
> >> computer store, and offer them $5 to helpme. Actually, the last
> time
> >> I
> >> did something like that, I didn't set a price ahead of time and
> they
> >> dinged me for $20. Lots of times they'll do stuff like that for
> free
> >> though.
> >>
> >> On 2/21/19 10:59 PM, David Mehler wrote:> Hello,
> >> >
> >> > I've had to do a new win10 install and somehow I must have
> cleared
> >> my
> >> > bios settings, had also to replace a power supply. The first
> clue
> >> came
> >> > after the machine was booted up again and wouldn't boot off of
> any
> >> USB
> >> > drive, so I checked system information, UEFI was back on as
> was
> >> secure
> >> > boot. I do not remember how I turned this off as I just did
> it
> >> once
> >> > and forgot about it. I do not like UEFI nor secure boot,
> although
> >> I
> >> > understand the purpose i'd rather be able to set my machine
> to
> >> boot
> >> > off an inserted USB thumb drive.
> >> >
> >> > The motherboard is an Asus m5a97 and the bios is an american
> >> megatrends.
> >> >
> >> > Suggestions welcome.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks.
> >> > Dave.
> >> > _______________________________________________
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>
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