Linux Mint 18 will destroy your UF bios on MSI 990fx-gd65v2

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Nobified[H]

[H]ard|Gawd
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Mar 21, 2013
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Basically it corrupt it....only thing the board will post is Memory, Bios Version, Cpu and move into shell 2.11 <--whatever this is??

Look out guys, I tried it and got spanked and laughed at for even trying. My gift for trying Linux was a board that is rendered useless!

:mad:
 
Was this a fresh download directly from the Linux Mint website? There was a time in the past February 20, 2016 when the website was hacked so there may be bad images floating around the web posing as valid Mint images. As a last resort, you could download a bootable bios updater and reflash your bios.
 
How the hell is an operating system going to corrupt the bios of a machine!

Honestly, this has all the makings of a troll post to me.

Nobified[H] said:
Look out guys, I tried it and got spanked and laughed at for even trying. My gift for trying Linux was a board that is rendered useless!
Click to expand...

Come off it!
 
BulletDust said:
How the hell is an operating system going to corrupt the bios of a machine!

Honestly, this has all the makings of a troll post to me.



Come off it!
Click to expand...


Hold your horses bro!

I have had a chance to calm down because I literally thought my 990fx board was bricked.

Let me explain.....

Linux Mint 18 does not like my MSI 990fx-gd65v2 motherboard period! It will load up to the screen then freeze, all USB rendered useless. Can't use keyboard, mouse or whatever USB related. It did not matter what bios adjustments I made or any hardware swaps to make Linux work. After a few reboots trying to figure out what to make this work, well after several attempts to make it work. the UeFI bios stopped working, stopped that I can't access bios in any way. It would reboot and show me the shell, the shell is what is used for the board to go into bios. The shell wasn't working, i am not referring to Linux but the boot of the motherboard's bios. The board was bricked, clear cmos, battery....etc etc etc...nothing.

I spend looking around the Internet on how to unbrick the board, i noticed one guy used a PS/2 keyboard. I was like what? So I tried it and I WAS able to excuse some commands to allow the motherboard to finally go into bios and reset it from bios. The board started working again.

Conclusion, Linux Mint 18 is buggy with 990FX board and will corrupt the Uefi bios, even if you remove your hard drives or clear the cmos. Your board is bricked until you use a Ps/2 keyboard to access the shell command to tell it to enter into bios. Once you are in bios, you can reset the board and the shell doesn't return on reboot. Everything on the board works again, usb...etc etc...

Understand now?


So, I grabbed an older 970 chipset board and mint linux 18 is working well.

This has nothing to do with me on the user end, mint linux 18 is buggy with 990fx board.
 
dwd999 said:
Was this a fresh download directly from the Linux Mint website? There was a time in the past February 20, 2016 when the website was hacked so there may be bad images floating around the web posing as valid Mint images. As a last resort, you could download a bootable bios updater and reflash your bios.
Click to expand...


Yup it was a DL from Mint Linux torrent.
 
auntjemima said:
So you get into the shell for linux... whats the issue? I would change boot option to a usb and wipe the drive and start over.
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No the UEFI bios was corrupt some how due to Linux. I had to use a PS/2 keyboard to revive the board and reset it from bios. Apprently the USB and all hardware are shut down during this shell command from the motherboard.
 


No SSd, Cdroms, USB Sticks...nothing worked.....until I used a PS/2 keyboard. Even with cleared cmos, battery removal......whatever....!
 
No answers? I am going to remain dumb until someone explains what happened? I would appreciate it! :cool:
 
Most likely you had the keyboard/mouse plugged into USB 3.0 complaint ports and the bios only supports USB 2.0 or PS2 connections? Perhaps you use a wireless keyboard/mouse that doesn't operate until the OS has fully loaded?

Whatever the case may be, there is no way Linux Mint 18 corrupted your UEFI/bios. Honestly, I think you saw a terminal prompt and just totally confused yourself.
 
Did you just run the install and "poof" it borked up?

The only interesting uefi tidbit that springs to mind is this story from back in February where uefi vars were accessible through /sys as read/write. The result being that if you did something dumb like "#>sudo rm -rf /" then you'd have a mess on your hands.
 
Frobozz said:
The only interesting uefi tidbit that springs to mind is this story from back in February where uefi vars were accessible through /sys as read/write. The result being that if you did something dumb like "#>sudo rm -rf /" then you'd have a mess on your hands.
Click to expand...

He couldn't have, according to his first post he was booting to some form of terminal prompt:

Nobified[H] said:
Basically it corrupt it....only thing the board will post is Memory, Bios Version, Cpu and move into shell 2.11 <--whatever this is??
Click to expand...
 
BulletDust said:
Most likely you had the keyboard/mouse plugged into USB 3.0 complaint ports and the bios only supports USB 2.0 or PS2 connections? Perhaps you use a wireless keyboard/mouse that doesn't operate until the OS has fully loaded?

Whatever the case may be, there is no way Linux Mint 18 corrupted your UEFI/bios. Honestly, I think you saw a terminal prompt and just totally confused yourself.
Click to expand...

Used all USB 2.0/3.0....the original install went good. I was booted into Linux Mint 18 live before the actual install. After a few seconds the Linux OS just froze and would not take any input from keyboard or swapping different usb ports. I tried everything to get anything to respond. The only way to restart the install or get out of a frozen screen is to turn off the machine or hit reset. Thought no big deal, I will turn off the USB 3.0 in bios since majority of my USB are 2.0. Went back and reinstall, same result frozen desktop. Went ahead and reset, figured I would try compatibility install, same result of frozen screen. Humm, I was running out of options, so I bare down my hardware with CPU/motherboard/ram....turn off everything except needed input devices. Attempt to reinstall Linux back into live, screen froze same result. So hit reset again to try to figure out another way to install, once I looked into bios for anything that could cause issues. Nothing I could find, so try to reinstall again and this time you see the shell. So, okay no biggie...I remove the USB linux install and the SSD from the motherboard. I hit cmos reset and remove the battery for 10 minutes. I am stuck at preboot, just see MSI logo then gives me the shell. I was stuck at shell, didn't matter what I did, how is the shell there when there is no usb linux install or SSD. Spent time looking for a solution on another PC and noticed a guy use a PS/2 keyboard. The shell responded to the PS/2 keyboard and I was able to exit the shell into bios. Then in bios I did a complete reset and the shell went away on next reboot. Only thing I can think off is that the MSI board has some kind of linux boot process before it goes into bios and it was corrupt by a failed linux install.

Remember I removed the USB Linux Install, removed the SSD, removed the cdrom....did a complete power down as well as cmos reset.....it keep going into boot shell like that picture above. Only when I used a PS/2 keyboard, I was able to exit the shell and it booted right into bios....where I promptly did a hard reset within bios. The next reboot was normal and I can proceed to install windows.


I tried mint linux 18 on an older motherboard using the AMd 970 chipset and the install went smooth and now being used to type all this info on [H].
 
Frobozz said:
Did you just run the install and "poof" it borked up?

The only interesting uefi tidbit that springs to mind is this story from back in February where uefi vars were accessible through /sys as read/write. The result being that if you did something dumb like "#>sudo rm -rf /" then you'd have a mess on your hands.
Click to expand...


The install poof itself with no input from me. I didn't do anything or had the chance to put in any commands. It went ahead and boot into live before the actual install on the SSD. Linux was immediately frozen before I had a chance to touch keyboard or mouse. The install failed upon live boot.
 
Nobified[H] said:
Used all USB 2.0/3.0....the original install went good. I was booted into Linux Mint 18 live before the actual install. After a few seconds the Linux OS just froze and would not take any input from keyboard or swapping different usb ports. I tried everything to get anything to respond. The only way to restart the install or get out of a frozen screen is to turn off the machine or hit reset. Thought no big deal, I will turn off the USB 3.0 in bios since majority of my USB are 2.0. Went back and reinstall, same result frozen desktop. Went ahead and reset, figured I would try compatibility install, same result of frozen screen. Humm, I was running out of options, so I bare down my hardware with CPU/motherboard/ram....turn off everything except needed input devices. Attempt to reinstall Linux back into live, screen froze same result. So hit reset again to try to figure out another way to install, once I looked into bios for anything that could cause issues. Nothing I could find, so try to reinstall again and this time you see the shell. So, okay no biggie...I remove the USB linux install and the SSD from the motherboard. I hit cmos reset and remove the battery for 10 minutes. I am stuck at preboot, just see MSI logo then gives me the shell. I was stuck at shell, didn't matter what I did, how is the shell there when there is no usb linux install or SSD. Spent time looking for a solution on another PC and noticed a guy use a PS/2 keyboard. The shell responded to the PS/2 keyboard and I was able to exit the shell into bios. Then in bios I did a complete reset and the shell went away on next reboot. Only thing I can think off is that the MSI board has some kind of linux boot process before it goes into bios and it was corrupt by a failed linux install.

Remember I removed the USB Linux Install, removed the SSD, removed the cdrom....did a complete power down as well as cmos reset.....it keep going into boot shell like that picture above. Only when I used a PS/2 keyboard, I was able to exit the shell and it booted right into bios....where I promptly did a hard reset within bios. The next reboot was normal and I can proceed to install windows.


I tried mint linux 18 on an older motherboard using the AMd 970 chipset and the install went smooth and now being used to type all this info on [H].
Click to expand...

Did you disable secure boot? Every one of the symptoms you explain sounds like secure boot was being activated as a result of trying to install an unsigned operating system. As a result the UEFI stopped the PC booting altogether. I would assume Mint 18 is signed in order to overcome the issues of secure boot, however I've had secure boot issues on machines when trying to install Windows 10!

The issue had nothing at all to do with Linux Mint 18, by the sounds of things you simply either don't know about secure boot or, like many devices these days, secure boot cannot be entirely disabled or secure boot simply had a meltdown - Not the first time I've come across that.

I can assure you, Linux Mint 18 did not toast your bios/UEFI.
 
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BulletDust said:
Did you disable secure boot? Every one of the symptoms you explain sounds like secure boot was being activated as a result of trying to install an unsigned operating system. As a result the UEFI stopped the PC booting altogether.

The issue had nothing at all to do with Linux Mint 18, by the sounds of things you simply either don't know about secure boot or, like many devices these days, secure boot cannot be entirely disabled - Not the first time I've come across that.

I can assure you, Linux Mint 18 did not toast your bios.
Click to expand...


The secure boot did not come up on the 990fx, the install froze upon live screen. On the 970 asus board, I did see the secure boot on that option as well. On the 990fx msi board, never saw the secure boot option.
 
Nobified[H] said:
The secure boot did not come up on the 990fx, the install froze upon live screen. On the 970 asus board, I did see the secure boot on that option as well. On the 990fx msi board, never saw the secure boot option.
Click to expand...

In my experience with secure boot, that's what happens when trying to run Linux live media - The system just halts.

It's a major PITA when trying to use Live media to rescue a Windows install and appears to be even more of an issue regarding the limited bios/UEFI on laptops.

You need to try and fully disable secure boot, it's the most ridiculous concept ever.
 
BulletDust said:
In my experience with secure boot, that's what happens when trying to run Linux live media - The system just halts.

It's a major PITA when trying to use Live media to rescue a Windows install and appears to be even more of an issue regarding the limited bios/UEFI on laptops.

You need to try and fully disable secure boot, it's the most ridiculous concept ever.
Click to expand...

To disable secure boot in motherboard bios or linux, which?
 
Nobified[H] said:
To disable secure boot in motherboard bios or linux, which?
Click to expand...

Secure boot is contained in the UEFI bios.

Bear in mind that quite often even once secure boot is disabled for legacy boot, secure boot is still not entirely disabled in my experience - It's the biggest PITA ever.
 
BulletDust said:
Secure boot is contained in the UEFI bios.

Bear in mind that quite often even once secure boot is disabled for legacy boot, secure boot is still not entirely disabled in my experience - It's the biggest PITA ever.
Click to expand...

Okay, so should I try again on the MSI 990FX or just leave it alone since the 970 chipset is working perfectly. The 990fx board is not bricked anymore, I can install windows on it.

Checked out the 970 secure bios boot, there are literally so many options. It appears I need to read up on it and fully understand it. Looks like we are making progress on finding the issue.
 
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Nobified[H] said:
Okay, so should I try again on the MSI 990FX or just leave it alone since the 970 chipset is working perfectly. The 990fx board is not bricked anymore, I can install windows on it.

Checked out the 970 secure bios boot, there are literally so many options. It appears I need to read up on it and fully understand it. Looks like we are making progress on finding the issue.
Click to expand...

Get Windows reinstalled on the 970 and just use the 990FX for now running Linux. Read up on secure boot and how to disable it on your board as it may come in handy if the time comes for you to rid yourself of Windows altogether. I totally recommend running both a Windows machine as well as a Linux machine when starting out in Linux, as running on bare metal gives a better overall experience and you still have a Windows machine to fall back on. Baby steps until you're comfortable moving away from a total reliance on Windows.
 
BulletDust said:
Get Windows reinstalled on the 970 and just use the 990FX for now running Linux. Read up on secure boot and how to disable it on your board as it may come in handy if the time comes for you to rid yourself of Windows altogether. I totally recommend running both a Windows machine as well as a Linux machine when starting out in Linux, as running on bare metal gives a better overall experience and you still have a Windows machine to fall back on. Baby steps until you're comfortable moving away from a total reliance on Windows.
Click to expand...


Alright, I will take your suggestion and many thanks to everyone. I just wish I didn't lose my cool when I realize the board was temp bricked due to lack of understanding. Money does funny things to people, especially staring at a $150 paperweight. :joyful: A paperweight cause by my stupidity lack of knowledge regarding secure boot. I am glad I didn't brick my board. How did I make it so far without knowing anything about secure boot. My reliant on Windows, keeping me in the dark as a useful mindless slave to the Windows kingdom to be exploited for profit of the elitists! The retard is strong with this one! :joyful: Freeing one enslaved mind at a time!
 
I've got no issues with secure boot on my Linux PC. It's a Dell T5500 with dual X5675 hex core xeons, 24GB of ram and a GTX 670FTW with a Vertex 3 SSD for the OS and two 1TB Seagate HDD's for /HOME and /Storage.

Damn thing's a monster and no secure boot to worry about!
 
BulletDust said:
I've got no issues with secure boot on my Linux PC. It's a Dell T5500 with dual X5675 hex core xeons, 24GB of ram and a GTX 670FTW with a Vertex 3 SSD for the OS and two 1TB Seagate HDD's for /HOME and /Storage.

Damn thing's a monster and no secure boot to worry about!
Click to expand...

I just refreshed my uncles old Acer Aspire S7382 with Ubuntu Mate 16.10. I left it dualboot but the Vista on the machine had 45 infections that had destroyed the network stack and who knows what. Uncle claimed that it was 'working just fine' when he stopped using it 4 years ago. Somewhere in betwheen when it was powered off, viruses and malware came lol. The machine went from unusable to a totally slick laptop.
 
B00nie said:
I just refreshed my uncles old Acer Aspire S7382 with Ubuntu Mate 16.10. I left it dualboot but the Vista on the machine had 45 infections that had destroyed the network stack and who knows what. Uncle claimed that it was 'working just fine' when he stopped using it 4 years ago. Somewhere in betwheen when it was powered off, viruses and malware came lol. The machine went from unusable to a totally slick laptop.
Click to expand...


That is bad man! My nephew asked me to fix his windows 10 due to massive slow down. I went and looked into and found over 100 virus and trojans with pop ups to the wazhooo! The infection started from GTA.exe. I asked my nephew if he was trying to DL grand theft auto, he replied "Yes uncle"! This wasn't the worse of it, chromium some how blanked over the actual OS face and made you think you were on the original screen. These things were so bad it took me nearly an hour to get rid of them all. It would have been faster to reinstall. :joyful:
 
B00nie said:
I just refreshed my uncles old Acer Aspire S7382 with Ubuntu Mate 16.10. I left it dualboot but the Vista on the machine had 45 infections that had destroyed the network stack and who knows what. Uncle claimed that it was 'working just fine' when he stopped using it 4 years ago. Somewhere in betwheen when it was powered off, viruses and malware came lol. The machine went from unusable to a totally slick laptop.
Click to expand...

I've seen the whole virus killing the network stack before, easiest thing to do in that instance is just reinstall. Every time i look at a clients PC and see Vista I cringe...
 
BulletDust said:
Most likely you had the keyboard/mouse plugged into USB 3.0 complaint ports and the bios only supports USB 2.0 or PS2 connections? Perhaps you use a wireless keyboard/mouse that doesn't operate until the OS has fully loaded?

Whatever the case may be, there is no way Linux Mint 18 corrupted your UEFI/bios. Honestly, I think you saw a terminal prompt and just totally confused yourself.
Click to expand...
I remember reading YEARS ago that there was some virus that could wreck your bios. Can't remember what is was called though.
 
Bird222 said:
So is UEFI immune to viruses?
Click to expand...

What do you think secureboot was created to help combat?

Protecting the pre-OS environment with UEFI

UEFI has a firmware validation process, called secure boot, which is defined in Chapter 27 of the UEFI 2.3.1 specification. Secure boot defines how platform firmware manages security certificates, validation of firmware, and a definition of the interface (protocol) between firmware and the operating system.
Click to expand...
 
I've seen that screen before.
Either your Mint is installed as UEFI and your BIOS is set to Legacy, or your BIOS has UEFI enabled but your Mint install is MBR and/or cannot access the drive (probably because of Secure Boot, as others have said).
Has nothing to do with your BIOS being destroyed, and the OS cannot corrupt or "destroy" any component's BIOS anyway (by itself). The only way an OS corrupts a piece of hardware's BIOS is if the flash is done incorrectly or there's a power change during the flash; either way, that's not the fault of the OS.
 
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