How to change boot options permanently (Win 10 not being default)?

Kinimod said:

I am trying to have my computer boot Linux by default, from an external hard drive, while my internal drive has Windows 10 on it. Unfortunately I cannot get it to work: Windows 10 boots automatically at every restart and cold start.

Steps I've taken so far:
The boot order I want is set and saved in BIOS. There's no uEFI on my computer.
Windows 10 fast startup option is disabled. I also disabled the hibernation option just in case.

Still, I can only get Linux to boot by going into BIOS every time and selecting the (already selected) external hard drive again. When I then try to mount the internal (Win 10) disk from within Linux, I get an error saying it cannot be mounted because Windows 10 is still using it.

Any ideas how to solve this and give full boot control back to BIOS?

I have no understanding on booting with external and internal hard drives at the same time.
So, I cannot be sure if this will apply...............................
In the search bar, type msconfig > press Enter > click Boot tab at the top > top box should have win 10 and Linux listed. Yes ?
if yes, click the Linux > click set as default > under Timeout, set the time to 30 > OK when done.

Is this method applicable to you ?

Mark Phelps said:

The problem is with FastStartup disabled, it still depends on HOW you shut down Win10. If you select Restart, it ignores the FastStartup setting and hibernates, anyway. You must select Shut Down.

If you disable hibernation in your power profile, you're saying that it will hibernate anyway?

Mark Phelps said:

The problem is with FastStartup disabled, it still depends on HOW you shut down Win10. If you select Restart, it ignores the FastStartup setting and hibernates, anyway. You must select Shut Down.

Mark, I get the same behavior on restart and shutdown.

davidhk said:

In the search bar, type msconfig > press Enter > click Boot tab at the top > top box should have win 10 and Linux listed. Yes ?

Is this method applicable to you ?

Unfortunately not. Only Windows 10 is listed.

mike s said:

If you disable hibernation in your power profile, you're saying that it will hibernate anyway?

It looks that way. I can positively confirm that hibernation and fast startup are disabled. The boot behavior and the "cannot mount" message in Linux suggest that Windows is in a hibernated state anyway.

Kinimod said:

Unfortunately not. Only Windows 10 is listed.

Did you set the Timeout to 30 (seconds ) ?

Kinimod said:

No, cause only Windows 10 was listed in the first step already.

The reason I asked you to set it at 30 sec is to give the system a chance to list both OSes so that you would have a chance to choose which one to run.
Humour me. Set it at 30 sec > click OK when done > restart computer......................

davidhk said:

The reason I asked you to set it at 30 sec is to give the system a chance to list both OSes so that you would have a chance to choose which one to run.
Humour me. Set it at 30 sec > click OK when done > restart computer......................

I didn't pay attention to the Timeout field, I just checked and it was already set to 30 seconds by default. Can't work though if Linux isn't recognized as an option, right? I'm not sure if getting it listed from within Windows is possible because Windows doesn't support the ext4 file system that my Linux installation is on.

Will it boot from the external drive if you disconnect the drive Windows is installed on? I think it's something in the bios. You could try a bios update if one is available for your computer. Use caution though. A failed bios update can make your computer useless.