Error: NVram is locked (Zorin not found in efibootmgr)

Weird idk what happened there with my last post - anyway, yeah you don't need to change anything for Unetbootin.

This is the same process I used before that isn't working. Formatted FAT32 USB written using Unetbootin.

Hmm.. Do you have any CSM settings in BIOS? That was kind of a precursor to Secure Boot; another headache in itself lol .. Look for that and see what it is set to..

Nothing like that. I've wasted enough time trying to make buggy software work. Thanks anyway.

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The firmware is EFI-compatible, and is set in EFI-mode for this live-session.

Also from your log - if you're writing with Unetbootin it's not going to work after all. You'll need to use Rufus or Etcher to get an EFI bootable. Also you could just extract the .ISO file to the root of an NTFS formatted USB. But, do have that from the log so actually - I was wrong! But, won't work unless you write in an EFI bootable.. (edit) or, enable CSM / Legacy settings in BIOS and proceed with your MBR installed Zorin OS - it just sounds like a mismatch of BIOS and boot format to me. Pretty common though, nothing to take to heart.

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Did you try it with the portable Version of Rufus? Another Tool that I know beneath Balena Etcher is YUMI. It haven't the fanciest UI but should work.

I finally got BalenEtcher to work and made a new install drive with a new download of ZOS and I get the same error. No boot drive detected.
There are no CSM / Legacy settings and no option in Etcher to change the format.
They sell Zorin OS as a savior of older computers yet clearly haven't addressed the requirements for older computers to make it work, and won't help unless we pay first. I'm not paying for software only to find out I still can't use it.

So you have purchased Pro of Zorin? If so you can get help directly from Team Zorin by filling out a Support Request here:

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@swarfendor437 I don't believe the Pro version was purchased from an earlier post:

I know, this can be very frustrating - but, sounds like a BIOS setting either enabled or disabled preventing boot. Or, possibly a different device selected for the first boot device other than the HDD/SSD which won't have a bootloader and throw the 'no boot device' error.

Are you able to enter BIOS and see your boot device order? Just make sure that your HDD/SSD is in the first spot..

This forum has been providing help from the moment you first posted.

Any of us can understand "Bleeping Computer" frustrations. It induces rage like being cut off on the highway.
And in just the same way, understanding the primal base of rage so you control it instead of it controlling you is how we turn problems into solutions. It is how we safely protect our investments and ourselves.

Is your drive set to AHCI or to RAID? You can find these settings in your BIOS Settings.

You may have overlapping partitions if the primary partition was placed within the extended partition.
If you can boot the LiveUSB of Zorin OS, select Try Zorin, then run Gparted and show a screenshot of your partitions.

MBR (Legacy) also operates differently than EFI. MBR only allows up to four bootable partitions. We need to look at what you have on that disk.

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Looked right over that, good catch for sure ..

@BLAlley Are you able to take pictures of your BIOS settings with your phone or other device and upload them? As many of the screens / settings as you can get.. We're all kind of flying blind here, heh..

I set the boot device as the USB stick to install. When done it (once) said to remove the USB and press Enter to restart. It says nothing about resetting the boot drive even though I tried it both ways, letting it default to the second since the USB was removed, and changing it to boot from the HDD.
I even tried resetting the CMOS since it keeps giving the NVRAM locked error.

If there is a partition problem it was caused by Zorin since it's a brand new drive that has never had anything on it, including Windows.

Then this likely eliminates the possibility of a partition error. Can you post the screenshot requested?


I have changed the thread title to reflect the nature of the problem you are trying to solve.

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In which way - through the 'reset all settings' option in BIOS? That could just reset all the settings to defaults, keeping the NVRam status..

Most desktops, definitely the older ones, have a CMOS jumper.. have you tried resetting with this jumper instead? With the machine off: move the jumper to the 'reset' position, power the machine on for a few seconds - it may even beep at you, no worries - power off, then replace the jumper back to the nominal position and proceed to test booting again.. but, just one way to clear.. This may not work, it may work - only one way to know :+1:

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I did both. Reset to default settings and then used the jumper.

Alright - I do see RAID settings. Try changing that to AHCI..

Don't normally see this one a lot, but when it does come up, I usually tend to forget about that one - definite good catch @Aravisian

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Change it and install Zorin again?

Just change to AHCI and reboot - should go right through..