? Article 11: “Boot Failed” Troubleshooting
OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS • macOS Sequoia (Apple Silicon) • Windows 10/11
Use plain steps first. Only go deeper if the quick fixes don’t work.
???? First checks (all OS)
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Power & cables: Plug in charger; reseat power/HDMI/USB.
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Remove extras: Unplug USB drives, docks, SD cards, DVDs.
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Boot menu & disk seen? Enter BIOS/UEFI (F2/Del/Esc; HP often F10 for BIOS, F9 for Boot Menu).
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Confirm system drive is detected.
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Boot order: set internal SSD first.
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If you recently enabled Secure Boot/BitLocker/FileVault, note you may need recovery keys.
Hardware change? Revert recent RAM/SSD swaps or reseat them.
Try 3 power cycles: Power on → when logo shows, hold power 10 sec. Do this 3 times to trigger recovery (Windows).
???? Windows 10 & 11
A) Enter Windows Recovery (WinRE)
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If not shown: force-shutdown 3 times during boot → Automatic Repair.
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Or from sign-in screen: Shift + Restart → Troubleshoot.
B) One-click repairs
Troubleshoot → Advanced options:
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Startup Repair → follow prompts.
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Startup Settings → Restart → 4 to boot Safe Mode.
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Uninstall updates → remove latest Quality or Feature update.
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System Restore → pick a restore point (if available).
C) Disk & system checks (Command Prompt in WinRE)
Identify Windows drive (often C:):
dir C:\Windows
Repair disk:
chkdsk C: /f /r
Repair system files (offline):
sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows
DISM /Image:C:\ /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
D) Fix bootloader (UEFI preferred)
Open Command Prompt →
diskpart
list vol
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Find the EFI partition (FAT32, ~100–300MB). Note its volume number.
Assign a letter and rebuild boot files:
sel vol <EFI#>
assign letter=S:
exit
bcdboot C:\Windows /l en-us /s S: /f UEFI
Legacy BIOS systems can use:
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd
E) BitLocker / drivers / last resort
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BitLocker prompt? Retrieve the recovery key (Microsoft/Azure AD account or IT).
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In Safe Mode: remove last GPU/storage drivers, disable fast startup, clean startup (msconfig).
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In-place repair install: boot from a Windows 10/11 USB → run setup.exe → Keep files & apps.
Useful log: C:\Windows\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt
???? macOS Sequoia (Mac mini M1 / Apple Silicon)
A) Basic recoveries
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Force shutdown (hold power 10s). Wait 10s, power on.
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Startup Options (Recovery):
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From power off: press & hold Power until Options gear appears → Options → Continue.
B) Safe Mode (to isolate extensions)
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From Startup Options, select your Macintosh HD, hold Shift, click Continue in Safe Mode.
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If it boots, remove problematic login items/apps, then reboot normally.
C) Disk First Aid
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In Recovery → Disk Utility → View → Show All Devices.
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Select the top-level SSD (then each APFS volume like Macintosh HD and Data) → First Aid on each.
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If errors fixed, restart.
D) Reinstall macOS (no data wipe)
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In Recovery → Reinstall macOS → choose Macintosh HD.
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This reinstalls the OS; user data stays (if disk is healthy & not erased).
E) If still stuck
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Startup Security Utility (Recovery → Utilities): ensure boot policy OK (usually Full Security).
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FileVault on? You must know a user password to unlock the disk.
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Erase & install (last resort): Backup first → Disk Utility Erase (APFS, GUID) → Reinstall macOS.
Handy commands (Recovery → Terminal):
diskutil list # see disks/volumes
csrutil status # SIP status
Apple Silicon doesn’t have manual NVRAM/SMC resets; full shutdown + power-on replaces them.
???? Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
A) Quick wins
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At HP logo tap F9 → boot your internal SSD.
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If you see GRUB menu:
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Choose Advanced options for Ubuntu → (recovery mode).
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In Recovery Menu:
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fsck → yes to fixes
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dpkg → repair broken packages
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root shell → then update-initramfs -u and update-grub, reboot
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B) Stuck at black screen / splash
At GRUB, press e on the first entry → find the line starting with linux → append:
nomodeset
Press F10 to boot.
If that works, install/reinstall correct NVIDIA drivers or remove problematic ones:
sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall
C) Dropped to initramfs / “clean, files” / BusyBox
Identify root partition (example /dev/sda3 or /dev/nvme0n1p3):
fsck -yf /dev/sda3
reboot
D) “Emergency mode” / fstab errors
A wrong UUID in /etc/fstab will block boot.
From Recovery root shell:
blkid # get correct UUIDs
nano /etc/fstab # fix wrong entry or comment it with #
update-initramfs -u
update-grub
reboot
E) Reinstall GRUB (UEFI) from a Live USB (when GRUB is missing)
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Boot Ubuntu Live USB → Try Ubuntu.
Mount your root & EFI (adjust devices to match your system):
sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt # root
sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot/efi # EFI
for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys /run; do sudo mount -o bind $i /mnt$i; done
sudo chroot /mnt
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=ubuntu
update-grub
exit
sudo umount -R /mnt
reboot
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If Secure Boot blocks drivers, disable it in BIOS or enroll MOK as prompted.
F) Logs to quickly check
journalctl -xb # last boot logs
dmesg | less # kernel messages
/var/log/syslog
???? Hardware tests (if OS repairs fail)
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Disk health (SMART):
Ubuntu:
sudo apt install smartmontools
sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda
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Windows: wmic diskdrive get status (basic) or vendor tool.
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Memory test:
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GRUB often offers Memtest86+ (Ubuntu).
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Windows: Windows Memory Diagnostic (mdsched.exe).
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Or boot USB MemTest86.
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✅ Final verification (all OS)
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Multiple reboots OK (no loops, no errors).
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Date/time correct.
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Drivers updated (Windows Update / Additional Drivers on Ubuntu / macOS Software Update).
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Disk free space > 10–15%.
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Create a restore point/Time Machine snapshot/system image after recovery.
???? Field hints
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If the message mentions encryption (BitLocker/FileVault/LUKS), don’t brute-force—get the recovery key.
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Dual-boot systems: when Windows updates, it can rewrite boot entries. Reinstall GRUB via Live USB.
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When in doubt, backup first using a Live USB or Target Disk/Recovery before aggressive repairs.