I'm trying to install Linux alongside Windows, but I haven't been able to boot into Linux afterward. I've tried Pop!_OS, Bliss OS, CachyOS, and Nobara. In some cases the installation seems to complete, but when I press F12 to open the boot menu, the only option shown is Windows Boot Manager. I may have disabled Secure Boot, but I'm not sure what else could be preventing the Linux boot entry from appearing. What should I check?
2 Answers
Before reinstalling again, open the firmware’s boot configuration instead of relying only on the F12 menu. Look for an entry such as Linux Boot Manager or an EFI file on the drive. If it isn’t there, the installer may have been started in Legacy mode while Windows uses UEFI, or the EFI system partition may not have been mounted correctly. Recreate the installer and explicitly select the UEFI entry for the USB drive when booting it.
Several of those distributions may require Secure Boot to be disabled, or they may need additional manual setup if Secure Boot remains enabled. Enter your firmware settings and verify that Secure Boot is actually off. Also check that Windows and the Linux installer are both booting in the same mode—preferably UEFI rather than Legacy/CSM. If the installation still doesn’t create a boot option, reinstalling a mainstream distribution such as Fedora KDE may be a useful test.
I think I already turned off Secure Boot, but I’ll verify it in the firmware settings and check whether both installers are using UEFI.