Dell Optiplex 3040 and 7040 no bootable device found

[AJ_nathan]

We have a number of Dell Optiplex 3040 micros and 7040 micros that we are trying to load Debian 9 onto. Everything seems to go just fine during the install from USB but once install completes the machines won't boot into Debian.

We've tried various versions of Debian 9 (9.9, 9.12) as well as Debian 10 (10, 10.3, 10.4). We've used the latest BIOS from Dell for each model, and tried rolling back to some of the earlier versions; all attempts meet the same screen showing no bootable devices found. We've tried standard SATA platter drives as well as a number of various SSD drives, and these machines typically have anywhere from 4 to 12 GB of RAM. We've touched BIOS settings galore and the only thing we can get to work is if we install as Legacy OS, but we're trying to stick with UEFI.

We've had other Optiplex machines (9020's,5020's, etc) that all loaded just fine without issues; so we're wondering if anyone knows if this is a Optiplex XX40 series issue, as well as if the newer series have the same problem.

Any advice or knowledge would be helpful.

Thanks,
Nathan

[arochester]

we can get to work is if we install as Legacy OS, but we're trying to stick with UEFI.

What advantages do you think you will see by using UEFI instead of Legacy? (Not, what is the difference between UEFI and Legacy but what advantages do YOU expect to see?)

[Head_on_a_Stick]

the only thing we can get to work is if we install as Legacy OS, but we're trying to stick with UEFI.

The UEFI firmware is probably defective and will only boot $ESP/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi, see also https://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloade ... ive-naming

You can install a non-UEFI system then convert it to UEFI booting by using

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# apt install grub-efi-amd64-bin
# mount /dev/sdXY /mnt
# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt --removable
# mkdir -p /mnt/EFI/Microsoft/Boot
# cp /mnt/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI /mnt/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi

Replace X & Y with the drive letter and partition number for the EFI system partition.

Just be sure to use a GUID partition table with both an ESP and a BIOS boot partition (type "ef02" in gdisk or with the "bios_grub" flag in {g,}parted, no filesystem).

[bmc5311]

Old thread, yes, I know...
I was having the same issue attempting to install debian on a dell optiplex 3040.
For anyone still interested and for future searchers, this is what worked for me:
pastebin ----> https://pastebin.com/hdkBdYYu

[@ttila]

So, do you disable secure boot? Or enabling something like boot "other os" in uefi settings? My Lenovo G580, a 11 years old laptop, boots Debian12 in uefi mode. It Is not a Dell but i think UEFI Is a standard and It shouldn't the problem.

[bmc5311]

I tried a whole bunch of combinations, no matter what i did, the bios kept reverting back to BOOTX64.CSV and couldn't find find the sda1 partition. In it's current configuration it boots from shimx64.efi with secure boot enabled. I believe there is some specific issue with this model dell and the debian installer (if that makes sense?), although I had the same problem with void and did not have the problem with sparkylinux.

[vide]

Hey @bmc5311 , thank you very much for your post and solution! I just got a 2nd hand Dell Optiplex 3040 (updated to latest firmware) and after successfully installing Debian at the first try, I couldn't boot it, either with UEFI or legacy BIOS. With UEFI I got redirected to the Dell system check automatically.
To expand what you put in the pastebin with the right solution:
1) install Debian from USB as usual
2) reboot and it won't boot into Debian, with UEFI activated
3) reboot again in the installation media and select "Rescue mode" from the Grub advanced options
4) enter the rescue mode, configure keyboard etc and then choose to open a shell in the root partition (say yes to the /boot partition question)
5) at the prompt, execute `grub-install`
6) at the prompt, execute now `grub-install --removable`
7) poweroff, remove the USB key and reboot into Debian and enjoy it!

TBH I'm not sure step 5 is needed, I think that it is 6 that did the trick, but anyway it won't hurt.
Again, thanks for your help bmc5311!

[bmc5311]

Glad my stumbling around helped @vide! It was frustrating for sure.

[Random_Troll]

Remember to update the debconf database in respect of the '--removable' option so that it is applied when the GRUB packages are updated:

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# dpkg-reconfigure grub-efi-amd64

Select the "force extra installation to the EFI removable media path" option.

Or add the configuration manually:

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# debconf-set-selections <<<'grub-efi-amd64 grub2/force_efi_extra_removable boolean true'

[saltydolphin8827]

Just by reading all of the other replies on this thread I've learned quite a lot myself!

[Johen Scott]

3020 here. No problems with Buster. Bullseye or Bookworm.

[drakut]

Hey @bmc5311 , thank you very much for your post and solution! I just got a 2nd hand Dell Optiplex 3040 (updated to latest firmware) and after successfully installing Debian at the first try, I couldn't boot it, either with UEFI or legacy BIOS. With UEFI I got redirected to the Dell system check automatically.
To expand what you put in the pastebin with the right solution:
1) install Debian from USB as usual
2) reboot and it won't boot into Debian, with UEFI activated
3) reboot again in the installation media and select "Rescue mode" from the Grub advanced options
4) enter the rescue mode, configure keyboard etc and then choose to open a shell in the root partition (say yes to the /boot partition question)
5) at the prompt, execute `grub-install`
6) at the prompt, execute now `grub-install --removable`
7) poweroff, remove the USB key and reboot into Debian and enjoy it!

TBH I'm not sure step 5 is needed, I think that it is 6 that did the trick, but anyway it won't hurt.
Again, thanks for your help bmc5311!

I'm trying to boot from nvme m.2 (dell optiplex 3070 micro) after install debian 12 sucessfully (UEFI mode in BIOS is ok ).
So, I boot in rescue mode from USB with distributive Debian 12, on step 5 i prompt:

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grub-install --removable /dev/nvme0n1p1

got message, that file system ext2 doesn't support embedding.

tried

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grub-install --removable /dev/nvme0n1

but still can't boot from my embedded nvme m.1 pcie. Please, help

[Random_Troll]

tried

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grub-install --removable /dev/nvme0n1

but still can't boot from my embedded nvme m.1 pcie. Please, help

The UEFI version of grub-install will ignore any block device arguments because it can only install core.img (grubx64.efi) to the EFI system partition, which it presumes to be mounted under /boot/efi/.

Anyway you shouldn't be using grub-install directly because the debconf database won't be updated, as I noted in my last post. Use dpkg-reconfigure instead.

[drakut]

tried

Code: Select all

grub-install --removable /dev/nvme0n1

but still can't boot from my embedded nvme m.1 pcie. Please, help

The UEFI version of grub-install will ignore any block device arguments because it can only install core.img (grubx64.efi) to the EFI system partition, which it presumes to be mounted under /boot/efi/.

Anyway you shouldn't be using grub-install directly because the debconf database won't be updated, as I noted in my last post. Use dpkg-reconfigure instead.

I undestood my problem - i deleted default automatic partitions when i was install debian 12 )

[mgw_nib]

@bmc5311 and @Random_Troll : Thank you both for the posting this solution! I was beyond frustrated with this Optiplex 3040 install, because nothing I tried was working. Cheers!

[vide]

Remember to update the debconf database in respect of the '--removable' option so that it is applied when the GRUB packages are updated:

Thanks for the tip!
Since I had to reinstall once again after a permanent disk failure, I now reinstalled with Debian 12 and while the issue persist, you can now fix it from the Rescue mode ncurses dialog without dropping to a shell, choosing the "Force GRUB installation to the EFI removable media path" option (which should be similar to what is done by dpkg-reconfigure). I wonder if there is a way to do this from the installer directly, because I'm pretty sure I said yes to a similar question during the installation process but I ended up with a non-booting installation anyway. After this, the system boots up as expected.

[eole73]

I just gave a new life to an optiplex 3040 and ran into the same trouble. The tricks given here worked just fine! Thanks everyone on this post for helping!

As still a newbie on linux, I have a question about the recommendation given by Random_Troll. I followed it and ran the command :

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 # debconf-set-selections <<<'grub-efi-amd64 grub2/force_efi_extra_removable boolean true' 

But what does it do exactly for what ? (I saw that it set the value of the paramater grub2/force_efi_extra_removable to true in the file /var/cache/debconf/config.dat)