EFIBOOTMGR application does not report all boot targets - Lenovo System x3650 M5 (5462)

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H212009

Symptom

In a system running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3 x86_64, the efibootmgr application fails to return the correct output, which would be a list of boot devices for the system.

An example of correct output is:

The output observed in this case is:

Affected configurations

The system can be any of the following Lenovo servers:

• System x3650 M5, type 5462, any model

This tip is not software specific.

This tip is not option specific.

The following system BIOS or UEFI level is affected:      

• UEFI 1.0.1

The system has the symptom described above.

Solution

This behavior is corrected by updating to the same Lenovo System x3650 M5 UEFI level on both primary and backup UEFI banks.

The file is available by selecting the appropriate Product Group, type of System, Product name, Product machine type, and Operating system on IBM Support's Fix Central web page, at the following URL:

http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

Workaround

The effect of the efibootmgr application not functioning properly is that the user cannot use it to alter the system's boot order.

However, the user can alter the system's boot order using the Advanced Settings Utility (ASU), which does report the current boot order correctly and does permit the user to alter it.

An example of usage follows:

In order to change the same system to boot from the network, issue the following command:

Additional information

The incorrect output of the efibootmgr application means that the user is unable to use it to view and alter the boot device order of the system. The Advanced Settings Utility provides an alternate method of performing these same tasks.

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