Q4OS Forum

magnus

Member

Registered: 2020-12-13

Posts: 3

The non volatile storage is about full

I have used thew Windows installation of Q4OS for some months and it works like a charm. Since a few days ago I get this message when starting the computer. "The non volatile storage is about full". and a prompt to hit F1 to make changes in BIOS menu. I am not aware what to change so I save and exit,  the boor continues and I can choose between either Windows 10 or Q4OS as usual. So far there are no other problems with running either Windows or Q4OS, but the error worries me..

I have googled this error and I noticed some people have run into this when dual booting windows and one or several Linux distos. Since Q¤OS has a unique installation and is not really a regular dual boot, I think it best I ask in this forum how I can resolve this error.

I have a Lenovo L430 with Intel Core 5.

Below is output both from sudo bootctl and  sudo efibootmgr -v

magnus@q4os-pc:~$ sudo bootctl
systemd-boot not installed in ESP.
System:
     Firmware: n/a (n/a)
  Secure Boot: disabled
   Setup Mode: user

Current Boot Loader:
      Product: n/a
     Features: ✗ Boot counting
               ✗ Menu timeout control
               ✗ One-shot menu timeout control
               ✗ Default entry control
               ✗ One-shot entry control
          ESP: n/a
         File: └─n/a

Available Boot Loaders on ESP:
          ESP: /boot/efi (/dev/disk/by-partuuid/718550a3-a3b9-48a4-95c5-7e8515355aa0)
         File: └─/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi

Boot Loaders Listed in EFI Variables:
        Title: Q4OS Centaurus
           ID: 0x0012
       Status: active, boot-order
    Partition: /dev/disk/by-partuuid/718550a3-a3b9-48a4-95c5-7e8515355aa0
         File: └─/EFI/debian/wubildr/shimx64.efi

        Title: Windows Boot Manager
           ID: 0x0000
       Status: active, boot-order
    Partition: /dev/disk/by-partuuid/718550a3-a3b9-48a4-95c5-7e8515355aa0
         File: └─/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi

0 entries, no entry could be determined as default.

magnus@q4os-pc:~$ sudo efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 0012
Timeout: 10 seconds
BootOrder: 0001,0002,0003,0004,0012,0000,0009,000A,000B,000C,000D,000E,0011,000F,0007,0008,0010
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager  HD(2,GPT,718550a3-a3b9-48a4-95c5-7e8515355aa0,0xfa000,0x32000)/File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...e................
Boot0001  Setup FvFile(721c8b66-426c-4e86-8e99-3457c46ab0b9)
Boot0002  Boot Menu     FvFile(126a762d-5758-4fca-8531-201a7f57f850)
Boot0003  Diagnostic Splash Screen      FvFile(a7d8d9a6-6ab0-4aeb-ad9d-163e59a7a380)
Boot0004  Lenovo Diagnostics    FvFile(3f7e615b-0d45-4f80-88dc-26b234958560)
Boot0005  Startup Interrupt Menu        FvFile(f46ee6f4-4785-43a3-923d-7f786c3c8479)
Boot0006  Rescue and Recovery   FvFile(665d3f60-ad3e-4cad-8e26-db46eee9f1b5)
Boot0007  Other CD      VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,aea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a35406)
Boot0008  Other HDD     VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f606)
Boot0009* USB CD        VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,86701296aa5a7848b66cd49dd3ba6a55)
Boot000A* USB FDD       VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,6ff015a28830b543a8b8641009461e49)
Boot000B* ATAPI CD0     VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,aea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a35401)
Boot000C* ATA HDD0      VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f600)
Boot000D* ATA HDD1      VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f602)
Boot000E* USB HDD       VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,33e821aaaf33bc4789bd419f88c50803)
Boot000F* ATAPI CD1     VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,aea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a35404)
Boot0010* ATA HDD2      VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f604)
Boot0011* PCI LAN       VenMsg(bc7838d2-0f82-4d60-8316-c068ee79d25b,78a84aaf2b2afc4ea79cf5cc8f3d3803)
Boot0012* Q4OS Centaurus        HD(2,GPT,718550a3-a3b9-48a4-95c5-7e8515355aa0,0xfa000,0x32000)/File(\EFI\debian\wubildr\shimx64.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.b.8.6.b.6.6.f.6.-.f.2.1.3.-.1.1.e.a.-.a.b.5.1.-.c.f.d.a.8.4.b.f.8.e.5.8.}...e................

I appreciate any help. Cheers!

Magnus

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 4,248

Website

Re: The non volatile storage is about full

The message does not have to be connected directly to Q4OS. Non-Volatile RAM is a part of the BIOS flash chip where you can store settings that won't get deleted even if you remove the CMOS/RTC battery.

Please see https://superuser.com/questions/1081537 … storage-is for resolution and post back.

You need to figure out what is taking up so much space in the UEFI variable NVRAM.

The Arch Linux wiki suggests deleting /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/dump-* files/variables if they exist, though it doesn't mention what creates those variables.

As discussed in chat, one approach would be to take a snapshot of the UEFI variables, flush them as proposed by the Lenovo firmware, reinstall Debian's EFI boot, take a snapshot again, wait for the UEFI variables to fill up again, and take one more snapshot. Then, you'll be able to compare the snapshots to see what changed and hopefully identify what is causing the problematic variable or variables to take so much space.