I have Linux distributions on separate SSDs. Some appear in the firmware boot priority settings, but others only show up in the one-time boot device menu. Does that mean they aren't creating NVRAM entries, or could the firmware be hiding them? Would a firmware update help?
Why do some Linux installs show up in the boot menu but not boot priority?
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t307~ferrule_6
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Not necessarily. The one-time boot menu can show bootable devices as well as named firmware entries, while the priority screen may display them differently. Seeing a drive in one menu but not the other doesn't prove that its NVRAM entry is missing.
From a Linux system booted in UEFI mode, run sudo efibootmgr. Look at the Boot entries and BootOrder. If the missing distribution has an entry there, the issue may be how the firmware presents it rather than whether the installer created it.
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First make sure you're comparing the same thing. On some machines one key opens firmware setup and another opens a one-time boot menu. Those keys and the contents of each menu vary by manufacturer, so the menu labels matter more than the key you press.
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I wouldn't update the firmware as the first troubleshooting step. Check efibootmgr and whether the affected SSDs are internal or removable first. Firmware may not retain boot entries for removable drives, and a one-time device entry is not necessarily the same as a persistent boot entry.
If an entry is actually missing, check the distribution's bootloader installation instructions before recreating it. Make sure the system is booted in UEFI mode and that you know which EFI system partition contains the bootloader.
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t307~ferrule_6:
What if efibootmgr lists the distribution, but the firmware priority screen still doesn't?
Zenvik.38:
That points toward a firmware display or boot-order issue. Check whether its entry is also in BootOrder before changing anything.