Booting From External USB HDD Automatically Issue

[cyberbobbert]

Hey Friends!

First, we LOVE the unit we have (GK3PLUS). It's a snappy, well-built unit.

Here is our use case and the issue we are having.

We are building a RetroGaming PC for a disabled family member who loves "retro games."

Here is the setup and the issue.

* We are going to use Batocera Linux
* We would have the system on a BOOTABLE HDD / SDD (USB3.0)
* Basically, when the EXTERNAL is present - boot directly from it.
* When the EXTERNAL drive is not present - boot to Windows.
* AND to do it automatically without going to F7 or BIOS
* Again, they are physically impaired, and we need it "simple."

Here is what we did and tried.

* We set the BIOS boot order to look at the USB HDD first
* We even set the UEFI priority to look for that bootable volume.
* When we set it, it worked perfectly on every shutdown and reboot.

BUT...

When we removed the drive and booted to Windows, and then after powering down, connected the external drive and powered up. The unit boots to WINDOWS, and the system seems to have IGNORED the boot order we set in BIOS.

And when I go into the BIOS, the boot order is still the same. HOWEVER, the UEFI priority switched back to WINDOWS BOOT MANAGER and NOT the external drive.

Bottom line? It seems when Windows 11 boots up, it changes the setup.

The AMI BIOS does not have a way to remove fast boot and or boot in "legacy" as many other BIOS do, and it seems to be something that WINDOWS BOOT MANAGER does to reset or ignore the bios settings.

Yes, we can get it to work where once we power up and hit F7, we get the boot menu and can select the Batocera to boot, and it works. But with this person's physical issue, doing that it very challenging and that is why we need to have the unit EASILY and "automatically" boot from the External when present without intervention.

I have tried looking at the forum and can't find a solid answer about this, and I would appreciate any and all help and guidance.

PS - We have tried Secure Boot on and off. AND even (with Secure Boot) made sure that the keys were in the MOK to register the drive with the bios as secure, etc, and it's STILL not working. Again, I'm not a total newb, so this is indeed stumping me, and never run into this before.

So again, any help is appreciated!