I'm dual-booting Windows 11 and Fedora on an Acer laptop. The system boots both operating systems normally, but I can no longer enter the BIOS/UEFI setup. Pressing F2, using Windows' UEFI firmware restart, systemctl, and GRUB's firmware option either leaves the laptop stuck on the Acer logo or results in a black screen after entering the firmware password. A hardware reset temporarily changed the behavior once, but the firmware still would not become usable.
The problem started after replacing CachyOS with Fedora. Secure Boot was disabled during the Fedora installation because I was using Ventoy. I also created a Windows installer with Rufus, but the USB drive does not appear in the firmware boot menu, even though both Windows and Linux detect the drive correctly.
I'm now unable to access the firmware settings, enable Secure Boot, or boot from installation media. I've already tried repeatedly pressing F2, the Windows "restart into UEFI firmware settings" option, systemctl, and GRUB's firmware setup entry. What else should I check?
4 Answers
Since the firmware password screen appeared once and then went black, a full power reset may be worth trying: shut down, disconnect the charger and peripherals, hold the power button for around 30 seconds, then boot and try the setup key immediately. If the laptop has a documented battery-reset pinhole, use that procedure from the service manual. Avoid repeated forced shutdowns if the firmware is updating.
The USB should be tested on another computer to make sure the installer and drive are genuinely bootable. If it works elsewhere, recreate it using a proper UEFI/GPT image and try a different USB port or another flash drive. Some firmware boot menus will not show removable media if the image was written in an incompatible mode.
First, confirm the exact Acer model because the firmware key and recovery procedure can vary. Besides F2, try Delete, F12, or Fn+F2, and make sure you’re using the built-in keyboard rather than a wireless one. Holding a key during startup can also trigger a keyboard-error screen, which helps confirm whether the firmware is actually accepting input.
A firmware setup freeze can sometimes be caused by the installed drive or its EFI boot entries rather than Fedora itself. If you can do so safely, power the laptop off completely and temporarily disconnect or remove the internal SSD, then try entering setup with only the charger connected. If the BIOS opens normally, reconnect the drive and inspect or reset its boot entries.
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