Did my download and am installing on a Dell Optiplex 990. Plenty of hard drive space. I did the install with the Nvidia drivers and all seemed to go well. Upon reboot, i get a "ME is in recovery state" and it boots to Windows 10. I did a little research and was told to update the BIOS from the Dell site and I did. Still the same. What can i do?
The first thing I would try is replacing the CMOS battery.
If that is the CR 2032 coin battery on the mother board, I did that.
Some other info that may be helpful:
BIOS is A11
Manufacture date: 3.1.2012
Boot Sequence is Legacy: USB, DVD, ST3500413AS, Onboard NIC
If I choose UEFI it has no boot option, if i click on add a boot option it tells me "File System not Found"
I do not use Dell (I used to work for 'em), so I am at the mercy of searching too:
You might try the A18 BIOS flash, remove the CMOS and let the caps drain for about 20 minutes. Then reinsert the battery and test booting.
I took out the coin battery ( I assume that is what you call CMOS) for over half an hour. I also assume it had to be done with the computer off, not running. Reinserted the battery and rebooted and it still gave me the "ME is in recovery state". Then went online to Dell/support and found out that my computer could be supported until Windows XP. It seems it was never intended for Windows 10. Oh well, I had upgraded to Windows 10 longtime ago. Searched for all BIOS available for a machine on Windows 10 and was given 2 options A03 and A24. Downloaded and upgraded with A24. It boots back up without the "ME is in recovery state" alert. Perfectly into Windows. BUT I have Zorin OS 16 Pro installed and it is supposed to ask which OS I want to work with. What do I do now?
Aravisian, I thank you for all your help thus far. And patience.
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You can try booting into the Live USB of Zorin OS. Then use Boot repair for Zorin:
Not sure what to tell you. Still having issues. The link you gave me on GRUB2 is a little over my head. Ran boot repair a couple of time trying different settings. Currently when it boots it says:
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent
error: no such device: a9f56045-d30a-4174-8a25-59b3b6ee9036.
error: unknown file system.
Entering rescue mode...
grub rescue>
Am lost.... help?
Are Windows and Linux on separate Drives?
At this point, when I boot, I no longer get:
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent
All it says is:
error: no such device: a9f56045-d30a-4174-8a25-59b3b6ee9036.
error: unknown file system.
Entering rescue mode...
grub rescue>
And it does not boot to Windows or to Zorin.
I don't know how to look at the drives from DOS so I boot Zorin from the USB and hit "Try Zorin", from there I can see the drives under "Other Locations". It seems that Zorin is on a different drive..... Here is what it says if i am reading this right:
Computer: 4.1GB / 4.1 GB Available
499 GB volume: 346.8 GB/ 499.2 GB available /dev/sda1
New Boy: 692.2 GB/1.5TB available dev/sdb1
538 MB Volume: 536.8 MB / 536.9 MB available /dev/sdb3
1.5 TB Volume: 1.4 TB / 1.5 TB available /dev/sdb4
If i read this right, the 499 volume is my C: drive and I can see windows file folders in it.
New Boy I know is what i call the D: Drive or second hard drive
I suppose the 538 MB is the thumb drive I am using to boot the Zorin from
The 1.5 TB Volume is where i see folders that i assume are the Zorin folders. And this has to be the second drive.....
Is this helpful?
I would think the 538mb volume sdb3 would be the EFI partition. That is very small for the USB drive.
/dev/sdb1 through 4 look like partitions all on what you refer to as D drive or NewBoy.
Logically, the EFI partition should be on /dev/sda as that appears to be your primary drive.
Agreed:Logically, the EFI partition should be on /dev/sda as that appears to be your primary drive.
So how do I fix this so that the computer boots and asks which OS do i want to use? Windows or Zorin?
When I installed Zorin I remember it asking me if i wanted to change partition size between Windows and Zorin and I moved the slider so that there would be equal space for each.
UEFI/GPT-based hard drive partitions | Microsoft Docs.
I would recommend re-creating your EFI partition on the Primary drive.
I suspect that the installation of Zorin on a Secondary drive while the primary drive was connected is what created this issue.
Hello Aravisian:
I was starting to suspect the same but I really do not have the experience you have in this and did not want to make matters worse. I did completely remove the second Hard Drive, Did another boot repair from the USB and finally got the computer to boot us to Windows again. Then a reinstall of Zorin, which worked. After ensuring i could reboot to Windows and Zorin, I reinstalled the second hard drive. Apparently, everything is working. I will need to get a partition software to clean up the partitions on the second drive and all should be fine. Thanks so much for all your help!
Interestingly, your solution is the same I would have done in your shoes. So you may have more experience than you think. 
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