Linux Mint 17.1 Won't Boot after BIOS Upgrade

Question

I have an Acer Aspire E5-573G with Windows 10 installed in UEFI mode and Linux Mint 17.1 installed in Legacy mode.

Recently I upgraded the BIOS to the latest version available in the Acer support page. After that, I can't boot to Linux Mint, GRUB shows up but Mint won't boot. Booting up in recovery mode, the process went stuck with the following error:

[0.158892] pci 0000:00:14.0: can't find IRQ for PCI INT A; probably buggy MP table

After that, the boot process freezes and the only thing showing is a blinking cursor. I really have no idea what happened here. I figured that maybe I can boot into a live USB and retrieve the data inside the Mint partition, and just reinstall it afterwards. But apparently even a live Linux Mint USB won't boot.

Can anyone please explain what is happening there, and if there's any way to fix this? If there's any material I should post just let me know. Thank you in advance! :)

Answer 1

At the time of this post, 1.25 is the latest version. You need to downgrade to 1.15.

The process is detailed here: http://community.acer.com/t5/E-and-M-Series/Acer-Aspire-e5-573g-You-can-not-install-any-one-Linux/m-p/386281/highlight/true#M3080

Here it is in case that link goes down:

Go to: http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers

Search by Product Model:

Aspire E5-573G

Select the right OS and download a bios. In my case I downloaded 1.15.

Run the ZRT_115.exe.

It will fail.

But before you close the installer, go to C:\Users\name\AppData\Local\Temp\

Search for a folder (random letters).tmp

There should be a H2OFFT-W.exe and zrt.rd file in there.

Just copy this folder and close the failing install.

In that copied folder, edit the platform.ini file.

Before:

[BIOSVersionFormat]
;[nb4-version] + 
BIOSVFEnable=1
VersionFormat=XN.NN

After:

[BIOSVersionFormat]
;[nb4-version] + 
BIOSVFEnable=1
VersionFormat=XN.DD

The VersionFormat value now has 'XN.DD' instead of 'XN.NN'.

This will ignore the fact that 1.25 -> 1.15 is a downgrade.

Prepare for a reboot. I.E. close unnecessary applications. Because it'll happen automatically after running the installer.

Run H2OFFT-W.exe.

Upon reboot, you'll see a bios installing progress bar.

After that is done, press F2 during startup to get to bios. The version should now be 1.15.

Answer 2

Upgrading to version 1.37 of the BIOS works too, now that it's out (instead of downgrading). Tested on Ubuntu 12.04, 14.04, 16.04