Playbook: Acer Aspire F5-573G — Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Install & EFI Bootloader Fix

Runbook for installing Ubuntu 24.04 LTS on Radek’s private dev laptop (Acer Aspire F5-573G, i5-7200U, 8 GB RAM, SSD SSDPR-CX400-512-G2, BIOS: InsydeH20 v1.18). This laptop serves as the local Claude Code dev workstation (VSCode + Claude Code).

Root cause of the boot problem: InsydeH20 v1.18 on this Acer model ignores NVRAM BootOrder entries written by efibootmgr. It always falls back to the hardcoded path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi. Subiquity (the Ubuntu 24.04 installer) registers an EFI entry but does not write the fallback path, so the system appears unbootable after installation. The fix is to copy Ubuntu’s shim into the Microsoft Boot path.

What triggers this

Fresh Ubuntu 24.04 install on the Acer F5-573G → system shows “No bootable device” on first boot.
Reinstall after disk wipe.
Bootloader corruption (GRUB update gone wrong, accidental EFI partition wipe).

Confirm

After installing Ubuntu 24.04 and rebooting without the USB drive:

BIOS shows “No bootable device” or boots directly into Windows (if dual-boot) without offering GRUB.
efibootmgr (from live USB) shows a ubuntu boot entry but it is never selected.
The EFI path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi is missing or does not point to Ubuntu shim.

# From live USB — confirm the EFI partition has an ubuntu entry but no Microsoft fallback
ls /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/                                # should list: ubuntu (maybe Microsoft)
ls /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ 2>/dev/null    # likely missing or wrong
efibootmgr                                           # shows BootOrder and current entries

Hardware reference

Field	Value
Model	Acer Aspire F5-573G
CPU	Intel Core i5-7200U (Kaby Lake)
RAM	8 GB
Storage	SSDPR-CX400-512-G2 (512 GB SSD)
BIOS	InsydeH20 v1.18
Secure Boot	Enabled — cannot disable without supervisor password in this BIOS
EFI fallback	Hardcoded to `\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi`
LAN port	None (USB adapter or WiFi for SSH from live USB)
Local IP (during install)	`192.168.0.161` (verify via ARP or router admin)

Part A — Prepare Ubuntu 24.04 Desktop (manual install path)

The desktop installer is the standard recovery path. Skip to Part B if Ubuntu is already installed but won’t boot.

Download Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Desktop ISO from https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop.
Flash to USB:
- Windows: Rufus (GPT partition scheme, UEFI (non-CSM), write in ISO mode)
- Linux/macOS: sudo dd if=ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress && sync
Boot from USB:
- Press F12 at the Acer logo → select the USB device from the boot menu.
Follow the graphical Ubuntu installer normally (select language, keyboard, disk, user). Use “Erase disk and install Ubuntu” for a clean install.
When the installer finishes and prompts to restart — click Restart Now, remove the USB when asked.
Expected result: “No bootable device” error. This is normal on this hardware. Continue to Part B with the live USB.

Part B (optional) — Autoinstall via user-data (for future unattended reinstalls)

Use this path to skip the graphical installer and automate disk layout, user creation, and package installation. Requires network access at boot time to fetch the user-data file.

user-data gist: https://gist.github.com/radieu/6c016b4bf35a3bd86824973fd8f77576
Short URL: https://tinyurl.com/259ocnmc

Critical format requirement

The file must begin with version: 1 on the first line — with NO #cloud-config wrapper. InsydeH20 autoinstall errors with "Malformed autoinstall in version or interactive-sections" when the file starts with #cloud-config.

Correct format (first two lines):

version: 1
autoinstall:

Wrong format (causes “Malformed autoinstall” error):

#cloud-config
autoinstall:
  version: 1

Temporary password

The user-data sets a temporary password: ubuntu2026. Change it immediately after the first login:

passwd

Boot with autoinstall

At the GRUB menu of the live USB, press e on “Try or Install Ubuntu”, then append to the linux line:

autoinstall ds=nocloud-net;s=https://tinyurl.com/259ocnmc/

Press Ctrl+X to boot. The installer runs unattended and reboots automatically. Then continue to Part C (bootloader fix).

Part C — EFI Bootloader Fix (ALWAYS required on this hardware)

This is the main fix. Run it from the live USB after every install.

Step 1 — Boot the live USB and enable SSH

Power on with the USB drive inserted. At the GRUB menu select “Try Ubuntu” (not install). Once the desktop loads, open a terminal and enable SSH access:

wget -qO- https://tinyurl.com/2xhc9la6 | sudo bash

This script installs and starts openssh-server and configures key-based auth using the Acer’s local IP. It is a convenience bootstrap — inspect it before running if security is a concern.

Note the IP address shown by the script (usually 192.168.0.161). Verify with:

ip addr show | grep 'inet '

Step 2 — Connect from the Windows workstation

From the Windows dev machine (PowerShell):

ssh -i C:\Users\konar\.ssh\id_ed25519 ubuntu@192.168.0.161

If the IP differs, check the router’s DHCP table or use:

arp -a | Select-String "192.168.0"

All remaining commands run over this SSH session.

Step 3 — Identify disk partitions

lsblk -f
# or
sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda

Expected layout after a clean Ubuntu 24.04 install:

/dev/sda1 → EFI System Partition (FAT32, ~512 MB)
/dev/sda2 → ext4 root partition (remainder of disk)

Adjust partition names (sda1, sda2) if the output shows different assignments.

Step 4 — Mount the installed system

sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi
sudo mount --bind /dev  /mnt/dev
sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
sudo mount --bind /sys  /mnt/sys
sudo mount --bind /run  /mnt/run
sudo mount -t efivarfs efivarfs /mnt/sys/firmware/efi/efivars

Verify the mounts:

mount | grep /mnt
ls /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/

Step 5 — Reinstall GRUB inside the chroot

sudo chroot /mnt grub-install \
  --target=x86_64-efi \
  --efi-directory=/boot/efi \
  --bootloader-id=ubuntu \
  --recheck
 
sudo chroot /mnt update-grub

Expected output from grub-install: Installation finished. No error reported.

Step 6 — Copy Ubuntu shim to the Microsoft Boot fallback path (KEY FIX)

InsydeH20 v1.18 always checks \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi first, regardless of NVRAM BootOrder. Copying Ubuntu’s shim there makes the BIOS load Ubuntu while “thinking” it is starting Windows Boot Manager.

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot
 
sudo cp /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/shimx64.efi \
        /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
 
sudo cp /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi \
        /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/grubx64.efi

Verify the files were copied:

ls -lh /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/
# EXPECT: bootmgfw.efi  grubx64.efi

Step 7 — Unmount and restart

sudo umount /mnt/sys/firmware/efi/efivars
sudo umount /mnt/sys
sudo umount /mnt/proc
sudo umount /mnt/dev
sudo umount /mnt/run
sudo umount /mnt/boot/efi
sudo umount /mnt
 
sudo reboot

Remove the USB drive when the screen goes dark. The laptop should boot into GRUB → Ubuntu.

Step 8 — Clean up stale EFI entries (after first successful boot)

Once inside Ubuntu, remove any leftover/duplicate EFI entries written by the installer:

efibootmgr

Identify entries that are redundant (typically Boot0002, Boot0003 — installer artefacts). Delete them:

sudo efibootmgr -b 0002 -B
sudo efibootmgr -b 0003 -B

Verify final state:

efibootmgr
# EXPECT: Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager  -> \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
# This entry now loads Ubuntu shim — the label is cosmetic only.

Part D — Post-install SSH setup on the installed system

The Ubuntu 24.04 Desktop install does NOT include openssh-server by default. To enable SSH on the freshly installed system:

curl -sL https://tinyurl.com/2xhc9la6 | sudo bash

This is the same bootstrap script used in the live USB step. It installs openssh-server, enables it at startup, and sets up key-based auth. After running, SSH from the Windows workstation works immediately.

Why the Microsoft Boot path trick works

InsydeH20 on Acer F5-573G has a hardcoded fallback boot path: the firmware reads NVRAM BootOrder but silently ignores it if the preferred entries are absent or unrecognised. Instead it always falls through to \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi — the path of the Windows Boot Manager.

By placing shimx64.efi (Ubuntu’s Secure Boot shim, signed by Microsoft) at that path, the BIOS loads it without complaints. The shim verifies the Ubuntu GRUB signature and hands off control. From that point the boot sequence is normal Ubuntu: shim → GRUB → kernel.

Secure Boot remains enabled throughout — shimx64.efi carries a valid Microsoft certificate. No Secure Boot bypass is required.

Escalation / error reporting

If Ubuntu does not boot after completing Part C:

Boot the live USB again and re-run Step 3 verification — confirm the EFI files are in \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\.
Check BIOS settings: enter BIOS (F2 at Acer logo), navigate to Boot tab, confirm UEFI boot order. If “Windows Boot Manager” is not first, move it to the top.
If EFI filesystem is missing entirely (GRUB install failed at Step 5), the EFI partition may be unmounted or wrong — repeat from Step 3 with lsblk -f to identify the correct partition.
If grub-install reports errors about EFI variables, confirm efivarfs is mounted:
```
mount | grep efivars
```
Re-run sudo mount -t efivarfs efivarfs /mnt/sys/firmware/efi/efivars if missing.

Prevention

After any kernel update that regenerates GRUB: verify that \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi still points to the Ubuntu shim. GRUB updates do not overwrite the Microsoft path, but a full grub-install (e.g., from system-repair tools) might regenerate only \EFI\ubuntu\. Re-run Step 6 if in doubt.
Do NOT run sudo efibootmgr -B against Boot0000 (Windows Boot Manager label) — that entry is the only one the BIOS will use; deleting it makes the laptop unbootable until Part C is re-run from a live USB.
Document any BIOS firmware update: a newer InsydeH20 version might fix or break the EFI fallback behaviour. Test boot after any BIOS update and re-apply the Microsoft path fix if needed.

p24-infra Docs

Explorer

acer-f5573g-ubuntu-2404-install