Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

digbyd11 · 2025-11-26 19:46

In the hope of saving some time below are my earlier posts in

Index» Q4OS Support» Set up dual boot Win10 Q4OS

and your responses. The last of which was --

@digbyd11
Please, would you create a new topic to solve your issue ?
We will solve it apart as it's a separate issue.
It seems the OP did solve his issue, so we can close this one.

To which I said --

Sorry I do not understand my post is part of my ongoing issue which has not been solved.

but then

Hi Sorry for my last post I think I now understand.
OP = Original Poster and twosheds problem does seem to have been resolved with his final comment being
"I just need to press F2 and choose the OS in BIOS. No Grub or BCD needed."

Could not see how to highlight the, I think 6 posts I have made and your responses, and move these to a
new topic "Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot manager" ?

So this is the earlier stuff

ME -- Hi I have a similar problem which none of the above has fixed.
Just used the Q4OS Aquarius, WinSetup.exe - 64bit / x64 on my Windows 10.
Everything goes fine the first set up no problem then the desktop environment no problem.
But when I restart my computer there is no dual boot screen just straight into Windows.
My Windows is set for the dual boot to be active and show for 30 seconds before defaulting to the Windows OS.
It seems as it the Q4OS has not been registered in the dual bbot so just goes straight to the only option Windows.
Any ideas?

YOU -- Welcome to the forum @digbyd11 smile

On some computers, firmware forces the Windows bootloader to be the only in the boot list,
which means by default, you won't see Q4OS entry when you boot your computer.
Please see the chapter "3. Boot menu" for the solution https://www.q4os.org/dqa014.html#boome

ME -- Thanks for the info. I had tried the solutions given but with no luck. So uninstalled everything and reset my Boot Menu then reinstalled Q4OS again. No luck, after the full install the Boot Menu still only contains Windows, no Q4OS.

On the reinstall of Q4OS Windows after the first part of the install, when it gets to the bit that says "done your computer needs to reboot" when I reboot the first lines that come up say.

Failed to open #EFI#DebianBoot#S - Invalid Parameter
Failed to load image : Invalid Parameter
start_image() returned Invalid Parameter, falling back to default loader
Loading Q4OS Aquarius operating system ...
Loading initial ramdisk...
Initializing system ...

Then everything goes fine the install finishes and I set up the desk top environment, reboot and there is no Q4OS in the Boot Menu only Windows.

Looks as if the "Failed .... Invalid Parameter" stuff stops the Q4OS being registered but I can not fine any ref to what to do about it !

A bit more info is that at the very end of the install this is part of the messages that come up.

..... detect bootable binaries on them ...., and stuff happens to try and add a boot menu entry.

I assume that the earlier "Failed to load image" means there is no binary to find and hence no boot menu entry can be created!

YOU -- It looks something is removing Q4OS boot entry from Bios. Maybe antivirus or some other protective software ? You could try fix Q4OS bootloader entry from Windows this way:

- Navigate to the folder where the fixefiboot.bat file resides. The path should be something like this: C:\Windows\linux64\Debian12_S001\winboot\EFI\ (You may need to adjust the drive letter if your Windows partition isn't C:, but it usually is).
- Locate the file named "fixefiboot.bat"
- Right-click the fixefiboot.bat file.
(Run as administrator)
- When finished, restart

Post back the result please

ME -- Hi Thanks for the response.

Before I try to run the "fixefiboot.bat" there are two things which need to be clarified.

1) The Q4OS has installed to "C:\Linux64\Debian12_S001\winboot\EFI\" not the "C:\Windows\"path.
2) The "C:\Linux64\Debian12_S001\winboot\EFI\" does not contain any "fixefiboot.bat".

The only "*.bat"files in the install are under "C:\Linux64\Debian12_S001" including "fixefiboot.bat".

Should I (a) move the install to the "C:\Windows\"path.
and (b) move the "*.bat"files including "fixefiboot.bat" to the "\EFI\" directory
and then run the "fixefiboot.bat".

Or does the install process need to be revised so that the install is made as per your details ?

You -- Yes, that's it. Just run fixefiboot.bat as is.

ME -- Hi done that and rebooted. No change. Only option in the Boot Menu is Windows.

I do have AVG on my system but this does not report any problems with the install.

Have also checked my Windows set up and this uses UEFI.

Using bcdedit I get the file as attached. If q4os did exist as a second option what should the Windows Boot Loader entry look like and I will see if I can force a manual include.

Have now tried uninstalling again and installing to my E: drive instead. That killed my computer as on reboot the system could not find the Windows install. After about 10 reboots which kept failing I use ESC on boot up which got me the Grub screen. Booting to the second limited boot to Q4OS from this Grub resulted in a full install and system set up of Q4OS with a reduced desk top set up. Then able to install web browser and office with this all seeming to work fine. BUT. Then on reboot the boot menu comes up with the only option being Windows, no Q4OS option. So it seems I have a fully functioning Q4OS on my computer which can not be booted. So the topic is still Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS because the install system does not correctly register in the boot menu.

I am using a Toshiba Desk Top and using AOEMI Partition Assistant my E: drive shows as one partition Basic MBR
my C: drive shows up as Basic GPT with a number of partitions the major one being C:, but there are other smaller partitions showing as *: including *:recovery and *:system. I suspect that bootable media is expected to be in *:system

q4osteam · 2025-11-26 20:33

If you need help, please specify the issue as clearly and exactly as possible. Exact steps to reproduce the issue would be helpful. Short means better. The original post should not contain useless information.

digbyd11 · 2025-11-26 21:04

The basic problem is as stated in the title.

Installing Q4OS Windows does not result in the Q4OS being registered in the Boot Loader so it can not be used.

The verbose nature of the initiating post is because you have already questioned and I have responded to several options.

None have resulted in a satisfactory install.

q4osteam · 2025-11-26 21:25

Well, so let's start. Do we understand correctly ?
- Windows 10 installation.
- Installed Q4OS using q4os-winsetup.exe
- First reboot went to the working Q4OS setup
- On second reboot you don't see Q4OS boot entry, computer is booting to Windows 10
Is that correct ?

Please boot from the Q4OS-6 live media and run in terminal:
$ sudo efibootmgr
and post back the output.

digbyd11 · 2025-11-26 22:16

Yes your summary is correct.

Where do I find Q4OS-6 live media, have put this in search engine and looked at the Q4OS site. There are various install options but nothing called "live media". My Ubuntu shell returns command not found for the sudo efibootmgr

q4osteam · 2025-11-26 22:25

https://www.q4os.org/downloads1.html > the first option "Q4OS Andromeda, Plasma, live - 64bit / x64"

digbyd11 · 2025-11-27 20:48

Hi Thanks did that OK but have been unable to capture the output in a form that allows me to then use it here. Sorry.

I have however found that using Grub2Win as a front end boot manager allows me to create the Q4OS boot entry. In the Grub2Win manual they talk about this Windows only boot problem and their solution 2 allowed me to get the Q4OS to register in the Grub2Win boot manager.

I used the C:\Linux64\Debian12_S001\winboot\EFI\grub0efi.cfg to set up this entry in Grub2Win and it does then try to boot Q4OS but reports that there is "No root device specified, boot arguments must include a root = parameter". So looks as if with a correct grub.cfg file ( I have obviously used the wrong one ) I may be able to get the twin boot working. Is there such a file?

q4osteam · 2025-11-27 20:59

digbyd11 wrote:

Hi Thanks did that OK but have been unable to capture the output in a form that allows me to then use it here.

Just post a screenshot. It will tell something important about EFI boot records.

q4osteam · 2025-11-27 21:16

digbyd11 wrote:

I used the C:\Linux64\Debian12_S001\winboot\EFI\grub0efi.cfg to set up this entry in Grub2Win ...

It's not the correct way. You need to run <EFI partition>/DebianBoot/shimx64.efi binary. It will start bootloader chainload running gurbx64.efi what looks for <EFI partition>/DebianBoot/grub.cfg configuration. If you have Secureboot enabled, shimx64.efi is the only way, as it's signed with a trusted key by Microsoft.

digbyd11 · 2025-11-27 22:05

The only shimx64.efi file generated by the Q4OP install is at
C:\Linux64\Debian12_S001\winboot\EFI\shimx64.efi
There does not appear to be a <EFI partition>/DebianBoot/
This does not want to run
Secureboot is DISenabled

Last edited by digbyd11 (2025-11-27 22:13)

q4osteam · 2025-11-28 09:06

digbyd11 wrote:

The only shimx64.efi file generated by the Q4OP install is at C:\Linux64\Debian12_S001\winboot\EFI\shimx64.efi

It's an inactive backup copy only. The active shimx64.efi resides in <EFI> partition.

digbyd11 wrote:

There does not appear to be a <EFI partition>/DebianBoot/

If you have working Windows 10 install there must be <EFI> partition on your harddisk.

q4osteam · 2025-11-28 09:29

We would need to get a debug information to be able to investigate the issue further. Please attach the following logfile:
c:\users\<username>\appdata\local\temp\wubi-5.x-rev344.log

digbyd11 · 2025-11-28 11:01

Hi Thanks, thought you meant that Q4OS had created its own EFI part. Sorry.
Have set my system to show the EFI part and found the shimx64.efi. So the question now is how do I run this to get a correct grub.cfg registered into Grub2Win. Or is this not possible.
In Cmd Admin trying to just execute the shimx64.efi ask for the file to use ?
Still trying to get the EFI boot records output for you but is proving particularly awkward for some reason.

q4osteam · 2025-11-28 11:04

digbyd11 wrote:

Still trying to get the EFI boot records output for you but is proving particularly awkward for some reason.

Just take a screenshot with your phone.

digbyd11 · 2025-11-28 20:38

This is the log file

Attachments:

wubi-5.x-rev346.log, Size: 183 KiB, Downloads: 124

digbyd11 · 2025-11-29 18:35

Hi final got some stuff for the efibootmgr report. Not from the live CD option though.
I got this by uninstalling the Q4OS windows which was not registering with the boot menu.
Then reinstalling up to the point where the desk top environment was set up but NOT rebooting and instead using the Q4OS install to open the terminal and run the sudo efibootmgr command.
The attached file is the result.
Then when rebooting from this there is some scrip that runs, presumably as a result of the earlier reinstall, then we are back to no Q4OS registered in the boot loader just Windows.

Attachments:

efibootmgr.txt, Size: 1.08 KiB, Downloads: 125

q4osteam · 2025-11-29 18:43

digbyd11 wrote:

Then when rebooting from this there is some scrip that runs, presumably as a result of the earlier reinstall ...

What a script do you mean ?

q4osteam · 2025-11-29 18:51

digbyd11 wrote:

Hi final got some stuff for the efibootmgr report. Not from the live CD option though.

You can see two Q4OS records in the UEFI:
Boot0000* Q4OS Aquarius Linux
Boot0005 Q4OS Aquarius
what is correct and expectable as Q4OS is up and running..

But, we really need the efibootmgr output generated from a live media, when Bios doesn't display Q4OS entries. From this list we will see, if the Q4OS entry is really registered or not. If Q4OS entry will be there we can choose further investigation. So please, boot live media, run efibootmgr, get a snapshot by your phone and post it here.

digbyd11 · 2025-11-30 00:03

Have obtained the attached.

Attachments:

efibootmgr.jpg, Size: 211.18 KiB, Downloads: 98

digbyd11 · 2025-11-30 09:33

q4osteam wrote:

digbyd11 wrote:
Then when rebooting from this there is some scrip that runs, presumably as a result of the earlier reinstall ...
What a script do you mean ?

Just noticed I have not responded to this.

When I install Q4OP Windows up to the point where the desk top has been set up and I do not reboot the install is useable.
Then if I reboot some scrip runs which I assume is the final part of the install which would run if you choose reboot now after getting the desk top working. This then boots straight into Windows.

q4osteam · 2025-11-30 10:47

digbyd11 wrote:

When I install Q4OP Windows up to the point where the desk top has been set up and I do not reboot the install is useable.
Then if I reboot some scrip runs ...

We still don't understand what script do you mean. It's somewhat suspicious as there should be no script. There should be logout and reboot process.

- Please specify the messages and behavior that led you to conclude that some "script" is running.
- Would you please describe "the script" exactly and the way so we will be able to reproduce.

digbyd11 wrote:

Have obtained the attached. ,,,

Well, that's it. We can see an inactive Q4OS entry "005" available in your BIOS. Now we can investigate why it's inactive and likely get a fix and a solution for you. Please follow the steps:

- Install Q4OS using Winsetup once again
- Reboot and login to the Q4OS Plasma dektop
- Run in terminal:
$ reportq4
- Save the debug file generated "$HOME/Documents/qreport.tar.gz" somewhere
- Ship this file via email support@q4os.org , or attach it here for us to analyze.

Thanks for the valuable reporting +1

digbyd11 · 2025-11-30 11:19

This is regarding the script bit, will see about the second part shortly.

In the install process a lot of script runs and you get to a point where the system set up begins. In my case it only asks for the internet connection to be set and then says all done. A screen then comes up with a choice of six boxes one of which is the set up desk top. I use this and pick the second choice, Working desk top but not fully loaded desk top. The choice of six boxes screen appears again and I close the menu. I now have a working install and all seems fine.

If I now use the Q4OS reboot there is some more script in the same style as previously but it goes past too fast for me to capture and then the system reboots. This brings up the boot menu but it only has Windows as the options.

digbyd11 · 2025-11-30 11:26

Regarding the second bit.

I can not do this - Reboot and login to the Q4OS Plasma dektop
If I reboot I only get Windows.
If I exit the menu after setting up the desk top environment I can use the what seems to be operational install but only without a reboot.

Will do your stuff and send the resulting file using this method.

q4osteam · 2025-11-30 11:29

digbyd11 wrote:

In the install process a lot of script runs and you get to a point where the system set up begins. ... If I now use the Q4OS reboot there is some more script in the same style as previously but it goes past too fast for me to capture and then the system reboots.

Oh yes, now we understand. These are no scripts but systemd services output. It's perfectly normal and all right. So don't bother with the "scripts" anymore.

digbyd11 wrote:

Regarding the second bit. ... I can not do this - Reboot and login to the Q4OS Plasma dektop

You can do. Once you install Q4OS from Windows again, the first reboot to Q4OS works as you confirmed. So do that and generate the report "qreport.tar.gz" please:

- Install Q4OS using Winsetup once again
- Reboot and login to the Q4OS Plasma desktop
- Run in terminal:
$ reportq4
- Save the debug file generated "$HOME/Documents/qreport.tar.gz" somewhere
- Ship this file via email support@q4os.org , or attach it here for us to analyze.

Last edited by q4osteam (2025-11-30 11:32)

digbyd11 · 2025-11-30 17:25

Attached is the report

Attachments:

qreport.tar.gz, Size: 149.07 KiB, Downloads: 134

Q4OS Forum

#1 2025-11-26 19:46

Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#2 2025-11-26 20:33

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#3 2025-11-26 21:04

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#4 2025-11-26 21:25

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#5 2025-11-26 22:16

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#6 2025-11-26 22:25

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#7 2025-11-27 20:48

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#8 2025-11-27 20:59

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#9 2025-11-27 21:16

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#10 2025-11-27 22:05

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#11 2025-11-28 09:06

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#12 2025-11-28 09:29

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#13 2025-11-28 11:01

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#14 2025-11-28 11:04

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#15 2025-11-28 20:38

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#16 2025-11-29 18:35

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#17 2025-11-29 18:43

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#18 2025-11-29 18:51

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#19 2025-11-30 00:03

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#20 2025-11-30 09:33

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#21 2025-11-30 10:47

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#22 2025-11-30 11:19

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#23 2025-11-30 11:26

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#24 2025-11-30 11:29

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

#25 2025-11-30 17:25

Re: Set up duel boot Win 10 Q4OS does not register in boot menu

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