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So I grabbed Odin today, checked the checksum post download and used etcher to flash it on a usb drive. I booted from the flashdrive and eOS started in live mode, so far so good. I was able to click through the whole installation process without any issues. At the end it tells me to either shutdown or reboot and if I do nothing he counts down for a reboot. After that reboot I am being flashed 2 or 3 times for about 1 sec the following.

Failed to open \EFI\BOOT\{white rectangular char with a black questionmark in it} - Invalid Parameter
Failed to load image \EFI\BOOT\{white rectangular char with a black questionmark in it} - Invalid Parameter
start_image() returned Invalid Parameter

I am using a Dell XPS 13 9380 from 2019. Any ideas on how to fix this or what the issue might be?

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3 Answers 3

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This is being tracked upstream here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/shim/+bug/1937115

It's affecting Dell users trying to install Linux from live images using a specific version of the shim/shim-signed packages (see the proposed bug fix at https://github.com/rhboot/shim/pull/393), and that includes elementary 6. We can only wait.

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  • I don’t really know what the github thing does bird I am able to install Ubuntu 20.04. I thought eOS6 builds on top of that. Or is the issue related to the “special” eOS/popOS installer that differs from the ubuntu one? Can I alternatively somehow install Ubuntu and replace the package sources with eOS sources and install everything manually? I want eOS6 :(
    – Jita
    Aug 11, 2021 at 1:54
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    The current Ubuntu 20.04 installer image (.2) works, but they do mention the next one won't unless they fix it (bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/shim/+bug/1937115/comments/41). I imagine eOS is based on 20.04 + updates, hence it contains the problematic shim package. Unless you're comfortable with building the live image yourself, I wouldn't attempt a fix.
    – cynic
    Aug 11, 2021 at 2:23
  • Also, you may want to look at elementaryos.stackexchange.com/questions/28295/…, using the workaround (manually adding the boot option in the firmware setup) I was able to boot the live image.
    – cynic
    Aug 11, 2021 at 2:57
  • I can boot the USB stick into live mode. After the install I can not boot the freshly installed system and get the above error.
    – Jita
    Aug 11, 2021 at 11:32
  • The workaround from the other question may still work for you. Basically, you need to create a boot option in the BIOS yourself, with its contents the same as the original elementary boot option, except pointing to grubx64.efi instead of bootx64.efi.
    – cynic
    Aug 11, 2021 at 12:44
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elementary is tracking this here: https://github.com/elementary/triage/issues/74

And there's a workaround:

Downloading an Ubuntu 20.04.2 iso and copying the EFI folder from it to the elementary media (overwriting the original EFI files) seems to work as a workaround.

I will try this workaround myself, as I am also affected by this problem.

UPDATE: A new image has been released with a correction for this problem. Get it at elementary.io

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  • Please check back in and keep us posted if it worked for you. I couldn’t figure it out. The stick is either read-only. Or if you copy the iso contents manually not booting properly. At leas I didn’t manage to make it work.
    – Jita
    Aug 11, 2021 at 19:01
  • @Jita it worked. You need to create a GPT partition table on the stick, add a FAT32 partition, mount it and copy the contents of the elementary iso into it. When that's done, delete the /EFI directory from the stick, mount the Ubuntu 20.04.2 iso and copy its /EFI directory to replace the one you just deleted. See this: github.com/elementary/triage/issues/74#issuecomment-896709835
    – Douglas Silva
    Aug 11, 2021 at 19:37
  • I did that, and now when the stick boots. It tells me it can’t grub theme.txt. Then I get a grub boot menu where I can select “try or install elementary os” when I do so it boots into the stick or at least tries to because it doesn’t get me to the installer. I get the error “Unable to find a medium container a live file system” and then “Attempt interactive netboot from a URL?” I select “no” and then I’m in “BusyBox v1.30.1” built-in-shell (ash) and get the prompt “(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live file system”
    – Jita
    Aug 11, 2021 at 19:53
  • I formatted the stick with gparted, added a gpt partition table, formated to FAT32 again, then set its flags to boot. And copied the extracted contents of the odin iso file. Then I deleted /EFI/boot/ contents and replaced its contents with the contents of the same folder of the 20.04.2.0 ubuntu iso
    – Jita
    Aug 11, 2021 at 20:00
  • I don't know whether this will make a difference, but you don't need to set any flags. If I'm not mistaken, that's only necessary for legacy MBR booting. Oh, and another thing, did you notice that elementary has a directory named /EFI/boot while Ubuntu has /EFI/BOOT? I used the latter on my elementary stick. So, in short, you replace everything inside /EFI, including the boot directory. Give it a try.
    – Douglas Silva
    Aug 11, 2021 at 21:05
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You can go into the Dell BIOS (F2 in my case) and then under boot options you can manually add a UEFI entry to boot off BOOTx64.EFI which is in EFI/boot folder of the USB stick. That worked for me.

Note: Beta 2 didn't have this issues, so it must have been that shim change as per the previous commentary.

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1
  • I can boot the USB stick into live mode. After the install I can not boot the freshly installed system and get the above error.
    – Jita
    Aug 11, 2021 at 11:32

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