Hi folks,

I have a problem, a big problem. I have posted a thread over at the Debian forums, but I’m unfortunately in a hurry (my workstation is bricked) so I’m going to cross-post it here (Skullgrid@lemmy.world kindly redirected me to this community for help).

I’m going to paste the text from the Debian help thread below, hopefully someone has an idea how I can pull myself out of this mess.

Quite a bit has happened, so I’ll give you a short version with what I think is essential information, and if you need other details please do ask.

Essentially, I tried getting the nvidia driver on a fresh Trixie install using this tutorial (https://fostips.com/install-nvidia-driver-in-debian-13/). I reached the part where it says “After reinstalled the driver, restart your computer.”, that’s when the terminal turned blue and told me with big centered text that the free driver (?) was already installed and it’s conflicting with the new one I am trying to install, but I just need to reboot in order to solve the conflict. So I rebooted and I was greeted by the following prompt.

This goes nowhere, it never boots into Debian. Thinking I had broken Debian, I thought to myself, no big deal, Debian had an issue anyways (see https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?p=827488), I’ll try another random distro (Bazzite) see if it helps. But after installing Bazzite over Trixie, I got the following prompts at boot :

(this one is a bit blurry, it says “Verification failed: (0x1A) Security Violation”)

If I go for “Continue boot” it just cycles over and over again on these prompts. And I don’t know what to make of the other choices here.

I can see it’s related to the operation I did with the nvidia driver, but I don’t understand how the problem wasn’t solved by wiping my drive with another distro ? twice… now I have tried with Nobara as well, only to get the same prompts. How can I solve this issue ? my computer is bricked and I really hope that’s fixable. Anyone has a clue ?

Like I said, don’t hesitate to ask if there’s something I haven’t said…

Cheers,

  • Skullgrid@lemmy.world
    2·
    10 days ago

    reposting my previous comment to help troubleshooters :

    you done fucked up the secure boot settings I think. I am in no way qualified to help you.

    I don’t even understand how you can install a different OS. Work off a live USB if you even can.

    As far as I understand this is the bit you fucked up. btw, the images in the debian forum post just show “filename1.jpg” as text and don’t display. post on !/c/linux4noobs@programming.dev

    Step 2: Enroll MOK key for Secure Boot

Debian updates its kernel (minor versions) regularly for security updates and fixes. Without re-building kernel modules every time, DKMS is used, which however needs be signed for secure boot using a machine owner key (MOK).

1. First, run the command below to check if Debian was installed with UEFI boot by running the command below in terminal:

ls /sys/firmware/efi

The command tells to list the /sys/firmware/efi directory content. If it says “No such file or directory”, then you have Debian installed as legacy boot.

2. Next, run command to check if secure boot enabled:

sudo mokutil --sb-state

If both UEFI and secure boot enabled (as the screenshot below shows you), then you need to run commands below one by one to create and enroll MOK key.

3. First, run the command below to manually generate a mok key.

sudo dkms generate_mok

Run sudo apt install dkms if the dkms command not found, and set a password for the key.

4. Next, run command to import the key:

sudo mokutil --import /var/lib/dkms/mok.pub

5. Finally, reboot your computer. At next boot, it should pop-up a screen (see the screenshot below), asking to perform MOK menagement.

There, just choose to Enroll MOK -> continue -> confirm -> enter password (you set when creating the key) -> reboot.

After enabled non-free repository and enrolled MOK key, you may then run the commands below to install NVIDIA driver.

First, install the kernel headers for DKMS:

sudo apt install linux-headers-$(dpkg --print-architecture)
    • Hadriscus@jlai.luOP
      1·
      10 days ago

      The install process for Bazzite and Nobara seemed to go without a hitch, made me think I was out of the woods…

      • Skullgrid@lemmy.world
        1·
        10 days ago

        I think you need to enroll the mok key. I hope you remember the password you set when going through those steps.

        NB : I have no fucking idea on secure boot.

        • Hadriscus@jlai.luOP
          1·
          10 days ago

          Ok, I will look this up and try to understand what it means. I do remember the pass I set, it’s just my regular password. But not sure where to type it, because when I choose “enroll key from disk” it opens a file browser where I can navigate between my disks, then into the file systems… but I don’t know what I am looking for

            • Hadriscus@jlai.luOP
              1·
              10 days ago

              yes, this is what I tried to find after going back through the tutorial steps. But this file path is the Linux filesystem right? I wiped the Debian earlier this afternoon (to try Bazzite, then Nobara), I imagine this file has been wiped with it?

              • Skullgrid@lemmy.world
                1·
                10 days ago

                Oh god no. I think you’re fucked. Wait for someone who knows what the hell is going on and rephrase your problem as a secure boot issue

                • Hadriscus@jlai.luOP
                  1·
                  10 days ago

                  Mh, sounds like a bad omen… If I had to replace a part (hardware) to get it working, which one would it be?

                  • Skullgrid@lemmy.world
                    1·
                    10 days ago

                    I have no idea where the data for secure boot lives, other people have recommended you disable it to resolve this issue. I assume you can re-enable it afterwards if you get out of this jam. Ask the others. I’m curious about where this thread is going to go, and how you’re going to fix this.