This is a bit of a long story so ill start from the begining.
I was trying to get into my BIOS to change some settings but I couldnt get in due to forgetting the password, so after some digging I decided to remove my CMOS battery for a few minutes to hopefully fix the problem. This didnt fix my problem but instead only gave me a new one. As of right now I am unable to boot into CachyOS at all.
Whenever I try normally (starting up computer, booting from grub) I get stuck on the “loading initial ramdisk” thing on startup. When I try booting from a snapshot, I get stuck in an “emergency mode” boot loop that gets me nowhere. When I try booting from usb (i believe its formatted correctly) It doesnt matter what option I select (besides UEFI and ram test), I get stuck on a black screen.
Note that secure boot is off, but whenever I turn it on, I get stuck with a “security boot fail screen”, then it tells me that “default boot device missing or boot failed”. After a few tries of this I get hit with the good ole “something has gone seriously wrong, import_mok_state failed, volume full”.
I am at a complete loss of what to do and any help would be appriciated.
My computer is a Acer Nitro AN515-54, any other hardware details I am unable to get at this time due to being totally locked out.
As I said before secure boot is off, and I am now able to get into my BIOS after fiddling around with it.
So after cmos reset, shut down pc then unplug and hold down power button for 4-10secs, plug back in pc(see if it will boot ) if not double check bios settings ahci, fastboot off, secure boot off. Set tpm to either enabled/disabled or auto(try them all)
Secure and fast boot are off, fiddled around with the tpm and doesnt seem to have done anything. Regular boot method is still stuck and booting from USB still gives me a black screen.
Shut down completely (hold power button 10+ seconds if needed).
Unplug the charger.
Use the battery reset pinhole on the bottom of the laptop (small hole, usually near the vents or under a cover). Push a paperclip or pin in for 30–60 seconds.
Remove the main battery if you can open the bottom panel easily (a few screws).
Hold the power button for 30–60 seconds (discharges residual power).
Wait 5–10 minutes.
Reassemble, plug in charger (no battery if removed), and power on while spamming F2 for BIOS or F12 for boot menu.
This resets the Embedded Controller (EC) and often fixes black screen / no USB detection after CMOS
You’re now completely locked out, no installed system and no USB boot (likely black screen after Acer logo). This is a classic post-CMOS reset issue on the Acer Nitro AN515-54
The way you reset cmos was prob incorrect the 1st time.
I cant find the battery reset pinhole, I’ve looked just about everywhere on the outside of my laptop but im not seeing it. I even checked under the rubber grip things on the bottom, but no luck. Would I be able to find the pinhole on the motherboard itself? Im comfortable opening up the laptop if I have to.
The battery reset pinhole on the Acer Nitro 5 AN515-54 is located under the bottom cover, near the center of the chassis adjacent to the main battery connector or RAM slots. It is a small, ~1mm depression often labeled “RESET” or marked with a battery icon, which requires removing the lower case panel to access.
Fixed my unable to boot from usb issue, had to change SATA mode to AHCI (can bring up option by hitting ctrl+s i believe). Im going to try chroot now, wish me luck, because im gonna need it!