I'm having a tough time getting Kubuntu up and running on my ASUS ROG laptop. It has two internal SSDs—one is 500GB, and the other is 1TB. Initially, UEFI only recognized one SSD, but after running some boot-repair operations, both are now visible. I reformatted one SSD using the Kubuntu installer and went through the install process for version 20.04 from a LiveCD, which works fine with my external optical drive. After that, I upgraded to 22.04 through the automated wizard, but now I can't boot into the OS without selecting it explicitly from the UEFI boot manager and having to dive into Grub's advanced options.
I've had to tweak Grub settings to deal with the "nouveau" graphics driver, which can be a hassle. Previously, everything was smooth sailing with Kubuntu 24.04, but a recent automatic update broke Vulkan for my games. I managed to back up my important documents, but I'm feeling frustrated. I've tried a few times to reinstall and upgrade, including using LVM, but I can't get a version that boots reliably. It seems this install process gets messed up during the mandatory reboots in between versions, and I can use WiFi while booting from the LiveCD, but not at the UEFI or Grub stages. I just want to find a reliable way to get a working Kubuntu installation with all the latest drivers and software!
4 Answers
So, just to clarify, you have one SSD with 20.04 and the other with 22.04 now, right? When you select the 24.04 in the UEFI menu, what happens exactly? Is there a GRUB menu that doesn't load properly, or do you get a black screen or an error after selecting it?
I have a friend who thinks the upgrade is causing your boot issues. They suggest booting into your 20.04, creating a live USB with 24.04 (maybe using DD if the USB burner gives you trouble), and then installing 24.04 directly. That could give you a fresh start!
Since you're having issues creating bootable media, maybe try different software for your USB stick. I've had better luck with Rufus or even doing it via the command line with DD if BalenaEtcher isn't cooperating. Just be careful with the commands to avoid data loss!
It sounds like the UEFI firmware isn't retaining your boot entries, which can be frustrating. This issue might stem from a failing battery, firmware bugs, or even power supply instability. One fix is to install a boot manager on your EFI system partition. You can use `grub-install` with the `--removable` option or try installing the rEFInd package and running `sudo refind-install --usedefault /dev/sda1`, replacing `/dev/sda1` with your EFI partition location. That should help things stick better!
Thank you! I will definitely give that a try today.
Currently, the 24.04 install isn't available; I just have 20.04 and 22.04. The 20.04 on the DVD is my fallback.