Always show "one-time boot override" menu when powering on device

Framework Desktop
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I have a Framework Desktop pre-ordered and plan to dual boot the device with Windows 11 and Linux (not yet decided which distro).

I like the idea of using separate physical M.2 2280 drives to host each operating system and relying on the BIOS to manage the boot menu, from the basic research I have done so far this seems the most reliable method of ensuring that all security features will function as expected.

I was wondering if anyone knew how to force the “one-time boot override” menu to show on each boot, instead of having to hit F12 repeatedly following power up.

For reference, Framework have published a BIOS guide here: BIOS guide

Thanks!

1 Like
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You don’t need to go to F12 to select which OS to boot.

Install SSD for Windows and install Windows on it.

THEN install SSD for Linux and install desired flavour of Linux.
The install process will recognise that there is also a windows install in the machine and add it to the GRUB menu. Then when it reboots you get a menu with Linux as the default but one of the options is Windows. You may need to set a timeout for the GRUB menu, I can’t recall if it did that automatically, I set mine at 3 seconds. On reboot it will then display the menu and that is enough time for you to hit the down arrow at least once (which stops the timeout) and keep going down to the Windows selection. Hit ENTER and Windows will now boot.

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Small addition to response written by Alan_Pearce:

  • you can adjust GRUB timeout to your liking or turn it completely off, so at every boot you will get a menu waiting for you to choose an OS you want to use;
  • there is also an option called “GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT” that makes your last choice a new default (after booting a Windows next boot will be a Windows one; if you will start a Linux, it becomes a default for next boot).
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I don’t know about the desktop, but on my FW16 I only have to press F12 once.
You just wait for some text to appear in the top left of the display and press at that moment.

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Thanks for replying!

@Alan_Pearce, @Krzysztof_K:

Thanks for your input.

What I want to do is:

  • install Windows 11 and make use of Secure Boot and BitLocker,
  • install Linux and use Secure Boot and Full Disk Encryption.

I found guides for how to achieve this, for example:

From my initial research it seems as though using separate physical drives and relying on the BIOS boot menu may be a quicker and more reliable method of dual booting while enabling these security features.

This post was made by somebody trying to achieve a similar setup:
https://superuser.com/questions/1646668/dual-boot-windows-and-linux-on-separate-physical-drives

I need to understand if enabling Secure Boot and completing the MOK management tasks when using separate physical drives will interfere with the Windows boot process, but from initial research I do not believe that is the case (?).

I also need to ensure that both BitLocker and Full Drive Encryption will function together, but I also believe this should be OK when working on separate drives (and should be easier to configure).

@James3:

Thanks! It is good to know that the menu is easy to access, I just wondered if there was a method to always show the boot options.

If not, hitting F12 would be fine.

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It is probably the best method as then any updates to Windows doesn’t screw up the Linux boot process as has been reported by folk who have both on one disk.

And just for the record I have LUKS on my Linux partition but no encryption on my Windows disk.