Installation issues prevent restarting to Windows 11 following Pop OS setup.
Installation issues prevent restarting to Windows 11 following Pop OS setup.
I recently upgraded my Lenovo Legion 5 to Windows 11 and installed Pop. Since I wasn't entirely new to this process, I skipped tutorials and the setup went smoothly. The Pop installation completed perfectly, and I used it to restart. After shutting down the laptop, I noticed no Windows or similar options in the boot menu. I suspect the issue was that Pop wasn't configured for dual boot, so my Windows installation was removed. Running os-prober in Pop returned nothing. Boot-repair showed the paste URL was blank, though I’m certain the internet connection is working and the test was repeated. Update notes indicate logs were saved, available at the provided link. When I booted, the system defaulted to GRUB and attempting a grub update produced errors: it tried to source files but generated an empty configuration. It seems the C drive might be missing or hidden, and I haven’t confirmed Windows is installed there. I’ve tried various fixes but nothing resolved the problem. If anyone has suggestions, I’d appreciate it. It feels like I’ve exhausted all options... Edited December 10, 2021 by flexflower boot-repair output
Sure, I can check your windows installation files in Pop's file manager.
It doesn't quite fit. In the grub terminal I somehow displayed what looked like the root files of Windows (though I couldn't pinpoint exactly which ones). When I typed "ls (something)," several items appeared. It's unclear if this was clear, and I'm sorry for using vague terms to describe many things.
If you still have the files on the drive, that’s a positive sign. Running 'ls' in the Linux terminal will show all the files in the directory, suggesting everything appears to be present. However, based on your description, it seems you might have disabled or removed the Windows bootloader. You can restore it using your pop_os installation or a Windows repair disk. Search for tutorials on fixing the Windows bootloader, as that’s likely what happened with your system.
I really struggled to get it to function. I planned to reinstall Windows entirely. I tried burning the Windows 11 ISO onto a USB drive using gnome-multiwriter (Etcher didn’t work), then I powered off the laptop and pressed F12 to access the boot menu. Initially, it didn’t recognize the USB, but it worked when I switched to legacy mode in the BIOS. Still, it doesn’t seem to work now, as shown in the attached file. This situation is really frustrating. I thought I could handle this issue, but I’m stuck. Please help. Edited December 10, 2021 by flexflower (file not attached).
I didn't go into too much detail because there are other options and the issue isn't present even when using Etcher on a Windows machine. It just fails to recognize the drive as EFI no matter what I do. The legacy version still behaves as described. I think it's best to hand it over to a professional. Thanks for all the suggestions!