Q4OS Forum

bretsim

Member

Registered: 2021-11-21

Posts: 32

Q4os worked once, but never again

I installed q4os alongside windows 10 on an old Fujitsu laptop from the default installer. The version appears to be Andromeda.

The first boot after the restart worked fine, and I was able to set up the OS, install software etc and then successfully shutdown. It reminded me how much I liked q4os!

When I switched on the laptop again, it booted directly into Windows. I restarted, and this time a tiny message appeared briefly in the corner of the screen about how some file or other couldn't be found and it was falling back to the default loader.

That DebianBoot folder does not seem to exist on my system. The Grub cfg file includes a reference to this folder too, as the location for vmlinuz. Is this the issue?

There are two Andromeda entries in the BIOS boot menu, but neither seems to do anything. The install data, .disk files etc all seem to be in place.

Whenever I've used q4os alongside Windows before, I've always had a boot menu interrupting Windows bootup where I could choose whether to boot into Windows or q4os - but that was under windows 7. How can I get this for win 10? Or should I just give up on using q4os on this laptop?

Last edited by bretsim (2026-04-05 20:05)

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,114

Website

Re: Q4os worked once, but never again

... should I just give up on using q4os on this laptop?

No

The Grub cfg file includes a reference to this folder too, as the location for vmlinuz.

Is the full path /boot/grub/grub.cfg ?

We would need to get a debug information to be able to investigate the issue. Please attach the following logfile:
c:\users\<username>\appdata\local\temp\wubi-5.x-rev344.log
and
c:\Linux64\startup_log.txt

bretsim

Member

Registered: 2021-11-21

Posts: 32

Re: Q4os worked once, but never again

... should I just give up on using q4os on this laptop?

No

The Grub cfg file includes a reference to this folder too, as the location for vmlinuz.

Is the full path /boot/grub/grub.cfg ?

We would need to get a debug information to be able to investigate the issue. Please attach the following logfile:
c:\users\<username>\appdata\local\temp\wubi-5.x-rev344.log
and
c:\Linux64\startup_log.txt

The full path to the folder where both the Grub cfg file and vmlinuz live is
c:\linux64\debian14_5001\winboot\EFI

Startup.log

Wubi log

04-05 06:35 INFO   root: === wubi 6.x rev346 ===
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  root: Logfile is c:\users\user\appdata\local\temp\wubi-6.x-rev346.log
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  root: sys.argv = ['main.pyo', '--exefile="C:\\Users\\User\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\e757706c-730c-46fe-994b-b78f2379691b_q4os-winsetup-6.5-r2.zip.91b\\q4os-winsetup.exe"']
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: data_dir=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\data
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: ca_cert_file=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\data\cacert.pem
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: 7z=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\bin\7z.exe
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: startup_folder=C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Fetching basic info...
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: original_exe=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\e757706c-730c-46fe-994b-b78f2379691b_q4os-winsetup-6.5-r2.zip.91b\q4os-winsetup.exe
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: platform=win32
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: osname=nt
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: language=en_GB
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: encoding=cp1252
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: arch=amd64
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Parsing isolist=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\data\isolist.ini
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend:   Adding distro Q4OS Andromeda-i386
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend:   Adding distro Q4OS Andromeda-amd64
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: Fetching host info...
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: registry_key=Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows version=vista
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_version2=Windows 10 Enterprise
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_sp=None
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_build=19045
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: gmt=0
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: country=GB
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: timezone=Europe/London
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_username=User
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: user_full_name=User
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: user_directory=C:\Users\User
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_language_code=1033
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_language=English
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: processor_name=Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: bootloader=vista
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: system_drive=Drive(C: hd 54716.2148438 mb free ntfs)
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: drive=Drive(C: hd 54716.2148438 mb free ntfs)
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: EFI boot = True
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: uninstaller_path=None
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: previous_target_dir=None
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: previous_distro_name=None
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: keyboard_id=134809609
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: keyboard_layout=gb
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: keyboard_variant=
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: python locale=('en_GB', 'cp1252')
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: locale=en_GB.UTF-8
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: total_memory_mb=2047.99999905
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Searching for local ISOs
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Searching for local CDs
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  Distro:   checking whether C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp is a valid Q4OS Andromeda CD
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  Distro:     does not contain C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\install.386\install.bat
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  Distro:   checking whether C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp is a valid Q4OS Andromeda CD
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  Distro:     does not contain C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\install.amd\install.bat
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  root: Previous target dir: None
04-05 06:35 INFO   root: Running the installer...
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsFrontend: __init__...
04-05 06:35 DEBUG  WindowsFrontend: on_init...
04-05 06:35 INFO   WinuiPage: appname=wubi, localedir=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\translations, languages=['en_GB', 'en']
04-05 06:35 INFO   WinuiPage: appname=wubi, localedir=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\translations, languages=['en_GB', 'en']
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WinuiInstallationPage: target_drive=C:, installation_size=20000MB, distro_name=Q4OS Andromeda, language=en_GB, locale=en_GB.UTF-8, username=user
04-05 06:37 INFO   root: Received settings
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Searching for local CD
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  Distro:   checking whether C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp is a valid Q4OS Andromeda CD
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  Distro:     does not contain C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\install.amd\install.bat
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Searching for local ISO
04-05 06:37 INFO   WinuiPage: appname=wubi, localedir=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\translations, languages=['en_GB', 'en']
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: # Running tasklist...
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running select_target_dir...
04-05 06:37 INFO   WindowsBackend: Installing into C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished select_target_dir
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running prepare_srcfiles...
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: target hostdir: Linux64/Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: substituing in C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\winboot\wubildr.cfg : _dynsubst_host_wubidir_ >> Linux64/Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: substituing in C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\winboot\grub.firstboot.cfg : _dynsubst_host_wubidir_ >> Linux64/Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: substituing in C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\winboot\EFI\grub0efi.cfg : _dynsubst_host_wubidir_ >> Linux64/Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: substituing in C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\data\wubildr.cfg : _dynsubst_host_wubidir_ >> Linux64/Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: substituing in C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\data\wubildr-disk.cfg : _dynsubst_host_wubidir_ >> Linux64/Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: substituing in C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\data\menu.winboot : _dynsubst_host_wubidir_ >> Linux64/Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: substituing in C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\data\grub.firstboot.cfg : _dynsubst_host_wubidir_ >> Linux64/Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished prepare_srcfiles
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running create_dir_structure...
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Creating dir C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Creating dir C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\disks
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Creating dir C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\install
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Creating dir C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\install\boot
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Creating dir C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\disks\boot
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Creating dir C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\disks\boot\grub
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Creating dir C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\install\boot\grub
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished create_dir_structure
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running create_uninstaller...
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: Copying uninstaller C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\e757706c-730c-46fe-994b-b78f2379691b_q4os-winsetup-6.5-r2.zip.91b\q4os-winsetup.exe -> C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\uninstall-wubi.exe
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  registry: Setting registry key 2147483650 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001 UninstallString C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\uninstall-wubi.exe
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  registry: Setting registry key 2147483650 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001 InstallationDir C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  registry: Setting registry key 2147483650 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001 DisplayName Q4OS Andromeda
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  registry: Setting registry key 2147483650 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001 DisplayIcon C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\Q4OS Andromeda.ico
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  registry: Setting registry key 2147483650 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001 DisplayVersion 6.x-rev346
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  registry: Setting registry key 2147483650 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001 Publisher Q4OS Andromeda
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  registry: Setting registry key 2147483650 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001 URLInfoAbout https://q4os.org
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  registry: Setting registry key 2147483650 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001 HelpLink http://www.ubuntu.com/support
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished create_uninstaller
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running choose_disk_sizes...
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: total size=20000
  root=18334
  swap=1666
  home=0
  usr=0
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished choose_disk_sizes
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running create_preseed_diskimage...
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished create_preseed_diskimage
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running get_diskimage...
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: New task download
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ### Running download...
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  downloader: downloading https://github.com/q4osteam/q4os-install-media/releases/download/v6/q4os6b-x64-loop.img.xz > C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\disks\q4os6b-x64-loop.img.xz
04-05 06:37 ERROR  TaskList: [Errno 4] IOError: <urlopen error [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:727)>
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "\lib\wubi\backends\common\tasklist.py", line 197, in __call__
  File "\lib\wubi\backends\common\downloader.py", line 77, in download
  File "\lib\urlgrabber\grabber.py", line 927, in urlgrab
  File "\lib\urlgrabber\grabber.py", line 845, in _retry
  File "\lib\urlgrabber\grabber.py", line 913, in retryfunc
  File "\lib\urlgrabber\grabber.py", line 1001, in __init__
  File "\lib\urlgrabber\grabber.py", line 1072, in _do_open
  File "\lib\urlgrabber\grabber.py", line 1188, in _make_request
URLGrabError: [Errno 4] IOError: <urlopen error [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:727)>
04-05 06:37 ERROR  TaskList: Non fatal error [Errno 4] IOError: <urlopen error [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:727)> in task download
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ### Finished download
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: New task download
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  TaskList: ### Running download...
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  downloader: downloading https://github.com/q4osteam/q4os-install-media/releases/download/v6/q4os6b-x64-loop.img.xz > C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\disks\q4os6b-x64-loop.img.xz
04-05 06:37 DEBUG  downloader: Download start filename=C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\disks\q4os6b-x64-loop.img.xz, url=https://github.com/q4osteam/q4os-install-media/releases/download/v6/q4os6b-x64-loop.img.xz, basename=q4os6b-x64-loop.img.xz, length=1384254984, text=None
04-05 06:51 DEBUG  TaskList: ### Finished download
04-05 06:51 DEBUG  downloader: download finished (read 1384254984 bytes)
04-05 06:51 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished get_diskimage
04-05 06:51 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running extract_diskimage...
04-05 06:54 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished extract_diskimage
04-05 06:54 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running expand_diskimage...
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished expand_diskimage
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running create_swap_diskimage...
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished create_swap_diskimage
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running modify_bootloader...
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: New task modify_bcd
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: ### Running modify_bcd...
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: modify_bcd Drive(C: hd 54716.2148438 mb free ntfs)
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: EFI boot
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: EFI boot partition \Device\HarddiskVolume1
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: Temporary EFI drive H:
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: Copying EFI folder C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\winboot\EFI -> H:\EFI\DebianBoot
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: creating workaround1 folder H:\EFI\debian
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: grubcfg destination folder H:\EFI\DebianBoot
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: copying C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\winboot\EFI\grub0efi.cfg >> H:\EFI\DebianBoot\grub.cfg
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: efi_arch=x64
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  registry: Setting registry key 2147483650 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001 VistaBootDrive {c211fd29-b907-11ee-9008-84f4211a39fb}
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: ### Finished modify_bcd
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished modify_bootloader
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running diskimage_bootloader...
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: Copying C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\winboot -> C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\winboot
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished diskimage_bootloader
04-05 06:55 DEBUG  TaskList: # Finished tasklist
04-05 06:55 INFO   root: Almost finished installing
04-05 06:55 INFO   WinuiPage: appname=wubi, localedir=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pyl67C1.tmp\translations, languages=['en_GB', 'en']
04-05 06:59 INFO   root: Finished installation
04-05 06:59 INFO   root: Rebooting
04-05 06:59 DEBUG  TaskList: # Running tasklist...
04-05 06:59 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Running reboot...
04-05 06:59 DEBUG  TaskList: ## Finished reboot
04-05 06:59 DEBUG  TaskList: # Finished tasklist
04-05 06:59 DEBUG  root: application.quit
04-05 06:59 DEBUG  WindowsFrontend: frontend.quit
04-05 06:59 DEBUG  WindowsFrontend: frontend.on_quit
04-05 06:59 DEBUG  root: application.on_quit
04-05 06:59 INFO   root: sys.exit
04-05 18:07 INFO   root: === wubi 6.x rev346 ===
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  root: Logfile is c:\users\user\appdata\local\temp\wubi-6.x-rev346.log
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  root: sys.argv = ['main.pyo', '--exefile="C:\\Users\\User\\Downloads\\q4os-winsetup-6.5-r2\\q4os-winsetup.exe"']
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: data_dir=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pylACF8.tmp\data
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: ca_cert_file=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pylACF8.tmp\data\cacert.pem
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: 7z=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pylACF8.tmp\bin\7z.exe
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: startup_folder=C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Fetching basic info...
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: original_exe=C:\Users\User\Downloads\q4os-winsetup-6.5-r2\q4os-winsetup.exe
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: platform=win32
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: osname=nt
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: language=en_GB
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: encoding=cp1252
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: arch=amd64
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Parsing isolist=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pylACF8.tmp\data\isolist.ini
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend:   Adding distro Q4OS Andromeda-i386
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend:   Adding distro Q4OS Andromeda-amd64
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: Fetching host info...
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: registry_key=Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Wubi_Debian13_S001
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows version=vista
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_version2=Windows 10 Enterprise
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_sp=None
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_build=19045
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: gmt=0
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: country=GB
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: timezone=Europe/London
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_username=User
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: user_full_name=User
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: user_directory=C:\Users\User
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_language_code=1033
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: windows_language=English
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: processor_name=Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: bootloader=vista
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: system_drive=Drive(C: hd 38087.5429688 mb free ntfs)
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: drive=Drive(C: hd 38087.5429688 mb free ntfs)
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: EFI boot = True
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: uninstaller_path=C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001\uninstall-wubi.exe
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: previous_target_dir=C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: previous_distro_name=Q4OS Andromeda
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: keyboard_id=134809609
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: keyboard_layout=gb
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: keyboard_variant=
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: python locale=('en_GB', 'cp1252')
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: locale=en_GB.UTF-8
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsBackend: total_memory_mb=2047.99999905
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Searching for local ISOs
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  CommonBackend: Searching for local CDs
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  Distro:   checking whether C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pylACF8.tmp is a valid Q4OS Andromeda CD
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  Distro:     does not contain C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pylACF8.tmp\install.386\install.bat
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  Distro:   checking whether C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pylACF8.tmp is a valid Q4OS Andromeda CD
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  Distro:     does not contain C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pylACF8.tmp\install.amd\install.bat
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  root: Previous target dir: C:\Linux64\Debian13_S001
04-05 18:07 INFO   root: Already installed, running the uninstaller...
04-05 18:07 INFO   root: Running the uninstaller...
04-05 18:07 INFO   CommonBackend: This is the uninstaller running
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsFrontend: __init__...
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsFrontend: on_init...
04-05 18:07 INFO   WinuiPage: appname=wubi, localedir=C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\pylACF8.tmp\translations, languages=['en_GB', 'en']
04-05 18:07 INFO   WindowsFrontend: Operation cancelled
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsFrontend: frontend.quit
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  WindowsFrontend: frontend.on_quit
04-05 18:07 DEBUG  root: application.on_quit
04-05 18:07 INFO   root: sys.exit

06.59 was the first successful boot followed by a shutdown.
18.07 was either the second attempt that failed or when I reran the installer shortly thereafter to see if it gave me any options to fix the startup.

Last edited by bretsim (2026-04-05 22:50)

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,114

Website

Re: Q4os worked once, but never again

There are two Andromeda entries in the BIOS boot menu, but neither seems to do anything.

Please power on the PC, select the “Q4OS Andromeda Linux” boot entry, then carefully watch the screen, note exactly what it shows and post screenshots.

bretsim

Member

Registered: 2021-11-21

Posts: 32

Re: Q4os worked once, but never again

There are two Andromeda entries in the BIOS boot menu, but neither seems to do anything.

Please power on the PC, select the “Q4OS Andromeda Linux” boot entry, then carefully watch the screen, note exactly what it shows and post screenshots.

Just tried that. Forced the boot menu from the POST screen. Selected Q4OS Andromeda Linux. It booted straight to Windows without even an error message.

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,114

Website

Re: Q4os worked once, but never again

Try booting again, but tap the ArrowUp key repeatedly during the first 20 seconds of startup. If the system doesn’t boot, wait a few more seconds and then press the Enter key once, wait a few moments and see what happens. Post back the result.

We suspect a Grub boot menu table is present, but not displayed for some reason.

Last edited by q4osteam (2026-04-06 16:07)

bretsim

Member

Registered: 2021-11-21

Posts: 32

Re: Q4os worked once, but never again

Try booting again, but tap the ArrowUp key repeatedly during the first 20 seconds of startup. If the system doesn’t boot, wait a few more seconds and then press the Enter key once, wait a few moments and see what happens. Post back the result.

We suspect a Grub boot menu table is present, but not displayed for some reason.

Despite seeming like witchcraft, that actually did the trick. The regular UP keypresses produced some gobbledegook symbols but then it booted. I did press Enter, but not sure if that did it or I just wasn't being patient enough.

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,114

Website

Re: Q4os worked once, but never again

Thanks, that confirms the GRUB menu is hidden accidentally and the system boots into Windows after a 4-second timeout. You can configure it to boot directly into Linux instead, see: https://www.q4os.org/dqa014.html#tipsa

We may prepare a fixed Winsetup in a few days, would you be willing to test it to confirm whether it works fine on your hardware ?

Last edited by q4osteam (2026-04-06 21:24)

bretsim

Member

Registered: 2021-11-21

Posts: 32

Re: Q4os worked once, but never again

Thanks, that confirms the GRUB menu is hidden accidentally and the system boots into Windows after a 4-second timeout. You can configure it to boot directly into Linux instead, see: https://www.q4os.org/dqa014.html#tipsa

We may prepare a fixed Winsetup in a few days, would you be willing to test it to confirm whether it works fine on your hardware ?

Ordinarily I would say yes, but having a hidden OS actually makes Q4OS far more useful for this machine so I may keep it like this!

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,114

Website

Re: Q4os worked once, but never again

We are not able to reproduce this issue on our hardware, however it looks to be know Debian bug https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo … ug=1110446

... having a hidden OS actually makes Q4OS far more useful for this machine ...

Ok, we got it, just the magic of the unintended The standard behavior of Windows installer is to display Grub boot table on startup where you can select Windows or Q4OS with Windows as default on timeout 4 secs.

... having a hidden OS actually makes Q4OS far more useful for this machine ...

In anyway you can make the boot table hidden a proper intended way, changing configuration in /etc/default/grub, setting line "GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden" and running "sudo update-efigrub"

Try the following if you would want to help us narrow down the problem:
As a quick initial test, please boot into Linux and edit the file "/boot/efi/EFI/DebianBoot/grub.cfg". Locate the following line:

menuentry "Q4OS Andromeda Desktop" {

Then insert two lines directly above that line so it will look like this:

echo "Loading bootloader ..."
sleep 2

menuentry "Q4OS Andromeda Desktop" {

Reboot and post back the result.

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,114

Website

Re: Q4os worked once, but never again

@bretsim
We have updated the Winsetup with a patched version, so it should now work properly on your hardware. It would be really helpful if you could perform a fresh installation and let us know the results.

Additionally, you can hide the Grug boot menu by modifying the configuration file /etc/default/grub. Simply set the line: GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
Then run:
$ sudo update-efigrub