Fix “No Boot Device Found” After Linux Mint Install

25
Mar
2026
by Web Kiwi Webhosting
| Boot Issues, Linux Mint, No Bootable Device

Problem

After a successful Linux Mint installation on an Acer Aspire F15 (UEFI mode, Secure Boot disabled, full disk wipe), the machine reboots to a black screen with the message “No Boot Device Found”. The installed OS does not appear as a boot option in the BIOS.

This happens because the Linux Mint installer did not correctly register the GRUB bootloader entry in the UEFI NVRAM (the BIOS boot table). The OS is installed correctly on disk — the boot pointer is simply missing.

ℹ️

Confirmed working configuration: UEFI mode enabled, Secure Boot disabled, Legacy/CSM mode disabled. Do not change these settings during this procedure.

What You Will Need

The original Linux Mint USB installer (the same one used to install), a working internet connection on the laptop (ethernet cable recommended — wireless may be unreliable at this stage), and approximately 10–15 minutes.

⚠️

Do not attempt to reinstall Linux Mint. The OS is already correctly installed on disk. Reinstalling will not fix the problem and risks data loss.

Steps

Phase 1 — Boot from USB in UEFI Mode

1

Insert the Linux Mint USB and power on the laptop

Press F12 (or F2 for BIOS setup) immediately on startup to open the boot menu.
2

Select the USB in UEFI mode

In the boot menu you will likely see two entries for the USB drive — one labelled with just the device name, and one prefixed with UEFI:. Select the UEFI: entry.

⚠️

You must select the UEFI USB entry, not the legacy one. If you boot in legacy mode, Boot-Repair will not be able to fix the UEFI boot entry.
3

Choose “Start Linux Mint” at the boot menu

At the Linux Mint boot menu, select Start Linux Mint to boot into the live desktop session. Do not choose Install.

Phase 2 — Install and Run Boot-Repair

4

Connect to the internet

Plug in an ethernet cable if available. If using wireless, click the network icon in the taskbar and connect to the appropriate network. Verify connectivity before continuing.
5

Open a Terminal

Right-click the desktop and choose Open Terminal, or press Ctrl + Alt + T.
6
Add the Boot-Repair repository and install it

Run these three commands one at a time. Wait for each to finish before running the next. Enter your password when prompted.
```
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
```
```
sudo apt update
```
```
sudo apt install boot-repair
```
7
Launch Boot-Repair
```
boot-repair
```
A graphical window will open. Wait a moment while it scans your system.
8

Click “Recommended Repair”

Click the large Recommended Repair button. Boot-Repair will now automatically detect the installed Linux Mint system and rewrite the GRUB UEFI boot entry.

ℹ️

This process takes 1–3 minutes. Do not close the window or interrupt it. You will see a progress log scrolling in the window.
9

Note the pastebin URL

When Boot-Repair finishes, it will display a pastebin.com URL. Copy this URL and save it (take a photo of the screen if needed). This log is useful for diagnosis if the problem persists.

Phase 3 — Set Boot Order in BIOS

10

Remove the USB and reboot

Close Boot-Repair, remove the USB drive, and reboot the machine. Immediately press F2 to enter the BIOS setup.
11

Find and set the new boot entry

Navigate to the Boot tab in BIOS. You should now see a new entry — it may be labelled ubuntu, grub, or Linpus lite (Acer UEFI firmware commonly uses these names for Linux bootloaders). This is your Linux Mint installation.

Move this entry to the top of the boot order using the on-screen instructions (usually F5/F6 or +/- keys).

ℹ️

The entry name ubuntu is normal and expected — GRUB registers itself under this name on many systems regardless of which Ubuntu-based distribution is installed.
12

Save and exit BIOS

Press F10 to save changes and exit. The machine will reboot and should now boot directly into Linux Mint.

✅

Expected outcome: The GRUB bootloader menu appears, followed by the Linux Mint desktop. If the machine still shows “No Boot Device Found”, escalate to a senior technician with the pastebin URL from Step 9.

Background / Why This Happens

On UEFI systems, the bootloader is not written directly to the drive’s master boot record. Instead, it is stored in an EFI System Partition (ESP) on the drive, and a pointer to it is registered in the motherboard’s NVRAM. On certain Acer Aspire models, the Linux Mint installer creates the EFI partition and installs GRUB correctly, but fails to write the NVRAM boot entry. The machine therefore cannot find a boot device even though the OS is intact. Boot-Repair detects this and corrects the NVRAM entry without touching the installed OS.