BIOS loading screen doesn't show

bios

60,245

Solution 1

You may have inadvertantly selected a "quick boot", "boot logo" or similar setting, which replaces the BIOS' normal output with a graphical image and might skip certain checks to make the system boot faster. But I find it hard to see that something like that would have changed without you actively doing anything to the BIOS.

Removing the CMOS battery, or using a "CLEAR CMOS" jumper on the motherboard (at least on full-sized motherboards there is usually one that can be set to either "normal" or "clear"/"reset"), would be the first thing I try. You'll lose all BIOS settings, including the system date and time, but once you get into the BIOS setup a "restore to factory defaults" or similar should be all that is needed to bring the settings to reasonable values. Remember to reset the system time afterwards, preferably before booting (some things may be upset when the system time makes sudden jumps of many years). Note that since you have a single-boot Linux system the OS may be configured to read the system clock as UTC rather than local time.

Clearing the CMOS memory by any means will usually force you to enter the BIOS setup on the next boot, because then the internal data checksum won't match.

Solution 2

There are more ways to open the BIOS, depending on what company developed it. Have you tried all of these? (Or at least those by your system's manufacturer

Might be that you somehow disabled the BIOS from showing at boot, and you should be able to re-enable it in the BIOS itself (using whatever key combination, see link above)

60,245

notablytipsy

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

notablytipsy over 1 year

I have a single operating system (Ubuntu). When I start my computer, I get a black screen, and after a few seconds, the Ubuntu loading screen, and after that I'm able to use my computer as usual. I do not get the BIOS loading screen. I've tried F2 and F12 (which are the keys used in Toshiba Satellite, my laptop) while the black screen shows to enter BIOS setup, but those don't work.

How do I fix this? I've already reinstalled Ubuntu (not because of this) and the problem still persists, though I doubt that Ubuntu is the problem.

EDIT: My questions is not how to enter the BIOS setup - I know how to do that. The problem is that I don't even get the usual loading screen that says "TOSHIBA" and "Press F12 to enter setup". My computer, on being turned on, directly shows the Ubuntu loading screen
- Kreiri almost 11 years
  
  askubuntu.com/questions/180244/how-do-i-enter-bios
- notablytipsy almost 11 years
  
  I've already tried that - that's not the problem. I assume that the OP there gets the BIOS screen that shows the laptop model and instructions to enter BIOS setup. I don't even get that.
- sawdust almost 11 years
  
  The key sequence to enter the BIOS after power up depends on the PC. What make & model is your PC? Have you tried reading the manual for your PC?
- notablytipsy almost 11 years
  
  Toshiba Satellite, and yes. I've entered the BIOS many times before (mostly to change boot sequence). This is a recent problem
notablytipsy almost 11 years

Yes, I've tried them all
Kryptoxx almost 11 years

Does your system have PS/2 connections? Sometimes you can only access BIOS using these instead of USB keyboard
notablytipsy almost 11 years

Only my touchpad. It's a laptop
notablytipsy almost 11 years

I'm unabke to even see the BIOS loading screen, which I could just a few weeks back
Kryptoxx almost 11 years

And everything else works fine? You didn't notice something like the time being reset or something? You could try clearing CMOS, this might solve your problem. Try removing the battery and power cable and hold the power button for several seconds, that could help
notablytipsy almost 11 years

Nope, everything works fine after the Ubuntu screen comes, none of my settings changed, and everything was smooth: I was able to shut down, restart, hibernate, everything. I've already tried the power thing, but I didn't try CMOS. I'll do that now.
notablytipsy almost 11 years

Already tried - see the other answer.
notablytipsy almost 11 years

Thank you! You were right, I had enable 'Fast Boot' and forgotten about it, because I anyway had only one operating system. I didn't know that would skip system checks, so I've disabled it. On Toshiba, if you press and hold F2 before turning your laptop on, it goes to the BIOS setup.
notablytipsy almost 11 years

The above answer solved it, so did yours. Thanks for telling me about CMOS, I didn't know about that and I'm sure that'll come in handy some time
user almost 11 years

@asymptotically Exactly what Fast Boot mode does varies from system to system, but unless the few additional seconds spent doing the Power-On Self Test (POST) are a major problem for some reason, I tend to set all relevant BIOS settings to "take your time and show what you are doing" values. It doesn't bother me (and less tech-savvy people will just see some text flash by briefly) and it makes diagnostics much easier if something goes wrong.
Kryptoxx almost 11 years

No problem, glad I could be of help ;)
notablytipsy about 9 years

The selected answer already suggested that, but thanks!
Community about 2 years

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