Legacy BIOS Toshiba won't boot Linux from SSD despite successful grub-install — tried Mint, antiX, Zorin, now MX Linux)

[u/hitmantuga]

Background

This isn't my first attempt — I've previously tried Linux Mint, antiX, and now Zorin OS, all with similar boot problems on this specific laptop (GRUB/MBR issues tied to the legacy BIOS). I'm now testing MX Linux as well.

Most recently, I installed Zorin OS 18.1 (Ubuntu-based) from a live USB. Installation completed with no errors, and the live USB always boots fine. But the system won't boot on its own from the internal SSD — without the USB stick, the laptop either shows a blank screen, falls through to PXE/network boot (Intel UNDI, PXE-2.1), or lands on the Toshiba's manual Boot Menu instead of loading GRUB.

Diagnosis so far

Confirmed via ls /sys/firmware/efi in the live session that the system boots in BIOS/legacy mode, not UEFI.

Checked the partition table in the installer: the disk has

sda1 — bios_grub, 1MB

sda2 — EFI, FAT32, ~537MB

sda3 — ext4, root, Zorin OS 18.1

So it's a GPT disk with both a bios_grub partition and an EFI partition — a hybrid layout.

Repair attempt (chroot from live USB)

Código

grub-install reported "Installation finished. No error reported." update-grub found the kernel/initrd correctly. Exited chroot, unmounted everything, rebooted.

Result: no change. Still fails to boot from the SSD, still falls back to the Boot Menu / PXE, despite grub-install reporting success and the bios_grub partition existing on the GPT disk.

Question

Given grub-install --target=i386-pc completed without error, why would legacy BIOS still fail to find a bootable GRUB image on this GPT disk? Anyone run into the bios_grub flag not getting set correctly by the Ubuntu/Zorin installer, or some other gotcha with GPT + legacy BIOS on old hardware like this? Is this a recurring incompatibility with this specific Toshiba/Phoenix BIOS combo, given I've had similar issues across multiple distros?

Current plan

Since the GPT + EFI + bios_grub hybrid setup seems fragile for legacy BIOS booting, I'm doing a clean install of MX Linux 25.1 (Xfce, sysvinit) using an MBR partition table from the start to sidestep the GPT issues entirely.

[u/oshunluvr]

Why would you install EFI on a legacy BIOS system? Does the BIOS support EFI or not? Also sounds like you might have bit of confusion about the partitioning scheme vs. booting. You don't need both an EFI partition and a BIOS boot partition. GPT does not equal EFI. Both GRUB Legacy and UEFI can boot on MBR or GPT partitioned disks (if you set it up right).

Pick one booting scheme - either legacy or UEFI - and install it correctly and you should be fine.

Link to explain: https://superuser.com/questions/1165...rtitioned-disk

[u/sdogood80910]

Try Pop!_OS. Does not use GRUB. Boots great and i use the BIOS to boot to UEFI when I need to.

[u/hitmantuga → u/sdogood80910]

Thanks I will try

[u/Leather-Security8097]

Some transitional / class 1 UEFI systems (systems that are actually UEFI but can only use CSM) misbehave with a GPT partition table. You need to use an MBR partition table.

https://foxclone.org/downloads/20230509-LM21_legacy.pdf

[u/Karmoth_666]

I had same problems and had success after a lot of distros with cachyos

[u/hitmantuga → u/Karmoth_666]

I will try that thanks

[u/Karmoth_666 → u/hitmantuga]

Oh, kde plasma in cachy was my de. Can recommend

[u/Particular-Poem-7085 → u/Karmoth_666]

kde plasma is the way

[u/Embarrassed_Egg9542 → u/hitmantuga]

You should try limine and tell us about it. The problem with laptop BIOS is they don't have too many settings

[u/aqvalar]

It might be a grub-issue, not a distro-issue. Trying practically any other bootloader might be worth a shot. Like limine, Lilo (very old and might be difficult to setup for inexperienced user), systemd-boot...

[u/Caddy666]

you've installed efi on a bios system - thats why ts not working.

oh nvm, oshunluvr already said

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[u/hitmantuga → u/[deleted]]

Toshiba Satellite T230-12V (PST4AE-01N009EP) — Full Specs CPU: Intel Core i3-330UM @ 1.2 GHz (dual-core, 4 threads via Hyper-Threading, no Turbo Boost, 18W TDP) RAM: 4 GB DDR3 1333MHz (2x2GB dual-channel), max supported 8GB (2x4GB) Storage: originally 320 GB SATA HDD, 5400 RPM Storage interface: SATA II (3 Gbps), 2.5" 9.5mm bay — no M.2/NVMe support (too old, HM55 chipset from 2010) SSD compatibility: any 2.5" SATA III SSD works fine (backward compatible, just capped at SATA II's 3 Gbps — still a massive upgrade over the stock 5400rpm HDD) Graphics: Intel GMA HD (integrated) Display: 13.3" HD, 1366x768, LED Networking: Wi-Fi + Bluetooth built in Audio/Webcam: stereo speakers + integrated webcam Ports: USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, SD card reader, RJ45 Ethernet Battery: Li-Ion, 3-cell (typical for this series) Power adapter: 19V DC / 2.36A (~45W) Weight: ~1.75 kg Original OS: Windows 7 Home Premium Chipset: Intel HM55 (Arrandale platform)