HP Omen Transcend 14 UEFI Bootloader Lock-In Makes Dual Boot Unusable

[Infraviored]

Hello HP Community,

I’m using the HP Omen Transcend 14 and generally love the device — the performance, screen, and portability are fantastic. But I’m extremely frustrated with the UEFI firmware behavior when dual-booting.

I have Ubuntu and Windows installed. GRUB is correctly installed and works fine when I manually select the entry. However, the firmware does not allow to set it as boot option - it ALWAYS boots Windows Boot Manager. There is no option to make GRUB the default.
Even though the entry IS THERE:

The only reliable workaround is to overwrite the Windows bootloader with GRUB (e.g., replacing bootmgfw.efi), then chainload the real Windows bootloader from within GRUB to allow ubuntu AND windows. This trick works — until Windows updates or runs startup repair, which undoes the change and breaks GRUB again.

I then have to manually fix it every time.

As a developer who needs both systems daily, this is disruptive and unacceptable. This behavior feels like intentional lock-in, not a technical limitation. The system is capable of booting other EFI entries — it just refuses to let the user control the default.

I’m asking HP to release a firmware update that:

• Respects EFI boot order set by the user (via efibootmgr or firmware UI)

• Stops forcing Windows Boot Manager as default after every boot/update

• Supports persistent custom boot entries like GRUB

This is a basic expectation for UEFI firmware. Without it, dual-booting on an otherwise great laptop becomes a constant fight.

[tk_srq]

@Infraviored,

This person reports in the very last part of the post below that an execution of the bcdedit command line makes the system to boot from the Grub bootloader which provides an option to choose Windows or Ubuntu on bootup.

How To Fix Linux (grub) not booting after Firmware update (B... - HP Support Community - 9324762

See this thread on the Ubuntu forum.  The author ran the aforementioned command line, but it didn't work. Someone provided in-depth troubleshooting. Note that another forum member pHeLiOn claims that he solved the problem.

Cannot access Ubuntu 18.04 in dual boot, because system boots straight to Windows 10 - Ask Ubuntu

Also, folks report online that disabling secure boot in the BIOS solves the problem, so you may try this first. But disabling secure boot may trigger BitLocker recovery key screen on restart. You may need to disable BitLocker or get a recovery key from your Microsoft account beforehand.

A while ago, I gathered some information about how to boot from Ubuntu over Windows for someone, but he decided to eliminate Windows. Now I'm providing you with the info that I got

If you still have the problem after trying the above-mentioned methods, the Ubuntu forum will be your friend (I don't think you can expect any help from HP).