Yes, a Linux installation can influence your BIOS or UEFI settings.
Yes, a Linux installation can influence your BIOS or UEFI settings.
Yes, a Linux installation can influence your BIOS or UEFI settings. It might also affect your computer's posting capabilities.
Unless it somehow caused your motherboard BIOS to fail, it shouldn't. It might influence your Windows setup if you don't partition the drive properly.
I didn’t have a Windows installation on the PC experiencing this problem. The system wasn’t even set up with an operating system, and the drives that arrived weren’t installed at all.
An operating system cannot influence the UEFI/BIOS beyond setting it as a boot choice. If you're concerned about malicious activity from an OS, it's possible because you can modify UEFI settings from within the OS, though this is rare. Should the storage device be completely taken out of the system, then the OS on that drive has no impact on anything it isn't connected to.
Traditional BIOS setup, UEFI style. Prior to CONFIG_EFIVAR_FS in the kernel, CONFIG_EFI_VARS was used. The newer efivarfs driver performs basic validation and restricts access to non-standard EFI variables, preventing accidental corruption—though not completely safe. The efivars driver likely had less awareness of flawed UEFI implementations, making it slightly more prone to bricking. Either way, such actions would need deliberate intent and a poorly designed BIOS.
I acknowledge file systems might be a bit confusing for me, but this issue appears to be the main cause. This error seems really puzzling. I can't even start the UEFI or show anything on the screen. I think I bought this computer from a recycler and I’m not sure the UEFI was current.
The motherboard model is not specified directly, but the discussion focuses on potential causes of issues rather than identifying a specific hardware part. A faulty PSU or incorrect component connections are more probable explanations, and the situation seems to hinge on timing rather than deliberate tampering. The EFI driver interacts with stored variables in /sys/firmware/efi/efivars, which can be explored further by searching for relevant information.
It's an Asus Prime B340 plus. I appreciate the assistance, and it seems this was likely the problem. I'm considering purchasing a new motherboard just to test it out. Even after swapping in a different CPU, the same issues persisted. This problem appeared immediately after I finished the Mint installation. The computer booted into UEFI normally, and the Mint install on the drive went through successfully.
Confirm if it's a 340 model. You mentioned issues with booting into UFEI and displaying content. Did you install Linux and try booting again from the USB used for original setup? Could you access the BIOS settings on the monitor or cable? If not showing BIOS info, might the monitor or display card be faulty.