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Howard Enos dd8e45de80 sync: auto-sync from ACG-TECH03L at 2026-04-17 11:44:31

Author: Howard Enos
Machine: ACG-TECH03L
Timestamp: 2026-04-17 11:44:31

2026-04-17 11:44:33 -07:00

2.4 KiB

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Chef JD laptop — "no boot device" repair

Date: 2026-04-17 Technician: Howard Enos User: JD Martin (Chef, Cascades of Tucson) Machine: Acer laptop (JD's workstation) Symptom: Laptop reports "no boot device detected" at power-on.

Diagnosis

Pulled the internal drive and connected via USB-SATA adapter (appeared as E:). Drive hardware was healthy; GPT partition layout intact (MSR + 100 MB ESP + 222 GB Windows + 1 GB Recovery). Windows install at E:\Windows was fully intact.

Root cause: The EFI System Partition's \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\ directory was empty. UEFI firmware expects bootmgfw.efi and the BCD at that path; without them, firmware cannot find a boot loader and reports "no boot device." A stray copy of the Microsoft boot files existed under \EFI\OEM\Boot\ but UEFI does not boot from that path. Fallback \EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi was present but the firmware's NVRAM boot entry pointed at the Microsoft path specifically.

Repair steps

Mounted the ESP to drive letter S: (elevated).
Ran: bcdboot E:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI
- Result: "Boot files successfully created."
- Rebuilt \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\ with bootmgfw.efi (3.0 MB), bootmgr.efi, memtest.efi, SecureBootRecovery.efi, BCD, language packs, fonts, resources.
Verified BCD with bcdedit /store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /enum all:
- {bootmgr} → \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
- {default} "Windows 11" → E:\Windows\system32\winload.efi
Unmounted S:, reinstalled drive in laptop.

Secondary issue

On first boot attempt, firmware reported "invalid signature detected — check Secure Boot." The Acer's Secure Boot database did not trust the restored bootmgfw.efi signature (either custom-mode keys or a DBX revocation state mismatch).

Resolution: Secure Boot disabled in BIOS → system booted normally into Windows.

Outstanding / recommended follow-up

Secure Boot is currently OFF. Recommend re-enabling after next Windows Update cycle, which should refresh the firmware's Secure Boot DBX and signing trust. Procedure: a. Let Windows Update run to completion (reboots included). b. Enter BIOS (F2) → Security → Secure Boot → Enabled. c. If "invalid signature" returns: BIOS → Security → "Erase all Secure Boot Settings" → "Restore Factory Default Keys" → Secure Boot Enabled → Save.
No data loss; user profile, installed apps, and files unaffected.

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