After updating my MSI PRO B650M-A WIFI motherboard BIOS, my computer stopped showing GRUB and now boots straight into Windows 11. Linux Mint is still installed on one of several SSDs, but most repair guides seem to assume there is only one drive. Is reinstalling Mint necessary, or can I restore the Linux boot entry without affecting the other SSDs? I'm completely new to boot repair, so I'd especially appreciate beginner-friendly instructions explaining how to identify the right EFI partition after starting a live USB. Running lsblk -f shows a layout that doesn't match the examples in the guides.
4 Answers
Another option is to restore the Mint EFI entry from Windows. In an administrator PowerShell window, you can copy the Windows Boot Manager entry with `bcdedit /copy "{bootmgr}" /d "Linux Mint"`, then use the returned identifier with `bcdedit /set "{guid}" path EFIubuntushimx64.efi`. Mint commonly uses the `ubuntu` EFI directory. This only works if that EFI partition and file are still present, so verify the installation first and be careful to replace `{guid}` with the value returned by the command.
If firmware keeps choosing Windows, temporarily disconnecting the Windows SSD can make the boot-repair process less confusing, but it should not be necessary. Check the firmware boot order first, and make sure the BIOS update did not switch storage or boot mode settings. Back up anything important before changing partitions or reinstalling a bootloader; reinstalling Mint is usually not the first step.
A BIOS update often resets the boot settings rather than deleting Linux. First enter the firmware setup and check whether the system is still using UEFI mode, then look for a boot entry named Linux Mint, ubuntu, or GRUB. You can also open the motherboard’s one-time boot menu and try selecting the SSD containing Mint. If it boots, run `sudo update-grub` from Linux.
Having multiple SSDs does not make GRUB repair fundamentally different. The important pieces are the Linux installation and the EFI System Partition, which may be on a different drive. From a Mint live USB, `lsblk -f` or `sudo fdisk -l` helps identify them: the EFI partition is usually a small FAT32 partition, while the Linux system partition is commonly ext4. Mount the correct partitions, then reinstall or recreate the GRUB boot entry with `grub-install` or `efibootmgr`. Don’t guess if the layout is unclear—taking a photo or copying the full command output makes it much easier to identify the right partitions safely.
I’m stuck because my `lsblk -f` output looks different from the examples. I’m not sure which FAT32 partition belongs to the Linux installation or whether Windows is using the same one.