I'm dual-booting Windows 11 and Fedora on an Acer laptop. Previously I used Windows and CachyOS, with Secure Boot enabled for Windows gaming. I later installed Fedora and disabled Secure Boot because I was using Ventoy.
Since then, entering the BIOS/UEFI setup has become unreliable. Pressing F2 sometimes leaves the laptop stuck at the manufacturer's logo. After using the hardware reset button, I was able to reach the firmware screen once, but after entering the firmware password it turned black and became unresponsive. The same boot-logo freeze happens when I try again.
I've also tried Windows' "Restart to UEFI firmware settings" option, Linux commands such as systemctl for rebooting into firmware, and the firmware option exposed through GRUB, but none of them solve the problem.
I created a Windows installer USB with Rufus, but although the USB drive is visible inside both Windows and Linux, it does not appear in the firmware boot menu. I'm therefore unable to reinstall Windows, change Secure Boot settings, or start another installation. I'm looking for suggestions to regain access to the UEFI setup and determine whether the internal drive, firmware settings, or USB media is causing the issue.
3 Answers
The laptop’s exact make and model would be important here, since Acer firmware menus and recovery procedures vary. Check the label on the underside or the original documentation. Also test the installer USB on another computer to confirm that it was created correctly and that the drive itself is healthy.
There are cases where a firmware implementation hangs while inspecting an EFI boot entry or an installed drive. If possible, power the machine down completely and temporarily disconnect or remove the internal drive containing the Linux installation, then try entering UEFI setup again. If the firmware opens normally with that drive removed, the issue is likely related to the drive or one of its EFI boot entries rather than the USB stick.
Try the other common firmware-entry keys as well: Delete, F12, or Fn+F2. On some laptops, the function keys behave differently depending on the keyboard mode. You can also hold down a key during startup; some firmware will display a keyboard-error message and then enter setup or show an additional diagnostic screen.
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