[SOLVED] GRUB_TIMEOUT is being ignored

ovi · 2026-08-07 22:15:07

I dualboot Devuan with Windows 11. I want to increase the GRUB_TIMEOUT from default 5 sec. to 10 sec.
But it doesn't make any effect, is still 5 sec.

$ cat /etc/default/grub
# If you change this file or any /etc/default/grub.d/*.cfg file,
# run 'update-grub' afterwards to update /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in these files, see:
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT="0"
GRUB_TIMEOUT="10"
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="`( . /etc/os-release && echo ${NAME} )`"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# If your computer has multiple operating systems installed, then you
# probably want to run os-prober. However, if your computer is a host
# for guest OSes installed via LVM or raw disk devices, running
# os-prober can cause damage to those guest OSes as it mounts
# filesystems to look for things.
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER="false"

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal
#GRUB_TERMINAL="console"

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE/GOP/UGA
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `videoinfo'
GRUB_GFXMODE="1920x1080"

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID="true"

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

GRUB_THEME="/boot/grub/themes/gigabyte/theme.txt"

I did:

$ sudo update-grub

to update the /boot/grub/grub.cfg

And is strange because if I look into /boot/grub/grub.cfg it seems the timeout is set to 10 sec.

if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ] ; then
  set timeout=30
else
  if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then
    set timeout_style=menu
    set timeout=10
  # Fallback normal timeout code in case the timeout_style feature is
  # unavailable.
  else
    set timeout=10
  fi
fi

I also installed grub-customizer and installed a theme, but is the same. Is still 5 secs, even also the grub-customizer shows that the timeout is set to 10 seconds.

RedGreen925 · 2026-08-08 00:48:07

You are lucky I would love that for my install. God damn thing always defaults to the 30 seconds in the file for me. I have this to get the 5 seconds I want.

root@9600k:~# cat bin/fix_timeout_grub.sh 
#!/bin/bash

# A script to fix the 30 second timeout Devuan defaults to with grub.

sed -i "s/timeout=30/timeout=5/g" /boot/grub/grub.cfg

It must be done after any update-grub has been run or it goes back to the old behaviour. Edit the file after any update has been done to get what you want, at least this is how it works for me.

rolfie · 2026-08-08 08:24:01

Strange behaviour.

My first suspect would be the grub-customizer. This package can be a system killer app. The customizer replaces grub configs with an own version and only by a complete new installation you may get rid of the effetcs.
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c … s.html#ID7

My default setting on Excalibur without any specials reacts to my 8s setting.

When looking at what you did, yours:

GRUB_DEFAULT="0"
GRUB_TIMEOUT="10"

Mine:

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT=8

Last edited by rolfie (2026-08-08 08:30:51)

ovi · 2026-08-08 11:00:09

I just found something interesting. So, I reinstalled my system (anyway I have replaced my old GPU card) and just after Devuan was installed, on the first boot, without doing anything else I have set the timeout to 20 seconds:

 cat /etc/default/grub
# If you change this file or any /etc/default/grub.d/*.cfg file,
# run 'update-grub' afterwards to update /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in these files, see:
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT=20
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`( . /etc/os-release && echo ${NAME} )`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# If your computer has multiple operating systems installed, then you
# probably want to run os-prober. However, if your computer is a host
# for guest OSes installed via LVM or raw disk devices, running
# os-prober can cause damage to those guest OSes as it mounts
# filesystems to look for things.
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false

And after rebooting the real timeout was not 20 seconds but 15 seconds!!!. So, when I tried first time setting to 10 seconds, if I follow same logic then 5 seconds was correct. But this happens on Dualboot with Windows.
I have changed also on my laptop, where I run only Devuan, to 8 seconds and that 8 seconds were respected as configured.

I don't know why is like this on Dual-boot with Windows. Maybe is by design? Is not first time when I dual boot with windows, but I can't remember that behavior.

I used in the past grub-customizer and didn't have any issues. But indeed, it doesn't add any real benefit and maybe can be problematic in some cases. I didn't know. Thanks for the info!

Last edited by ovi (2026-08-08 11:00:49)

ovi · 2026-08-08 11:36:07

I think is the GPU that takes some seconds to switch modes, signal over HDMI/DisplayPort. So the true value of 20 secs is respected.
If I unplug one of my monitors, it doesn't show me anything, no boot menu, a blank screen until I found that Devuan is started. I have a new GPU: AMD RX 9060 XT, 16GB. I didn't have such issues with my old AMD 4GB card. So, if I have my both monitors switched on I have the boot menu. I'll leave like this, and maybe I will found out a reason sometime.

rolfie · Yesterday 10:28:19

Well, there is one more effect we did not mention so far: modern GPUs and LED/LCD screens typically take a few seconds before they display a clear picture when waking up from power save mode and switching resolutions. Have a look at the grub screen, you should see a countdown in the bottom.

On my system set to 8s it is at 5s or lower when I get to see this screen.

greenjeans · Yesterday 14:55:57

Well, there is one more effect we did not mention so far: modern GPUs and LED/LCD screens typically take a few seconds before they display a clear picture when waking up from power save mode and switching resolutions.

For sure, in my wallpaper app I had to use a couple of short sleeps in the script to give a little time for things to catch up.

ovi · Yesterday 17:02:53

Yeah, seems to be true regarding GPUs and LED/LCD screens. On laptop displays can be seen exactly the countdown, there is no lag in between. On my desktop with labwc configured with swayidle it takes couple of second to wake up from power save mode. I have 2 modern monitors (Lenovo Legion 24 and HP Z24n G3) and the HP usually takes about 5-6 seconds to wake-up, and sometimes is annoying. Not sure, but Wayland might also be to blame. libs wlroots are now on 0.18 on repos, but meanwhile they released 0.2 which might have some improvements in this direction. On my Laptop(a HP, 8 years old), with same software configuration, waking up the laptop's display from power save mode is almost instant. Not sure with a monitor connected, I have to try.

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#1 2026-08-07 22:15:07

[SOLVED] GRUB_TIMEOUT is being ignored

#2 2026-08-08 00:48:07

Re: [SOLVED] GRUB_TIMEOUT is being ignored

#3 2026-08-08 08:24:01

Re: [SOLVED] GRUB_TIMEOUT is being ignored

#4 2026-08-08 11:00:09

Re: [SOLVED] GRUB_TIMEOUT is being ignored

#5 2026-08-08 11:36:07

Re: [SOLVED] GRUB_TIMEOUT is being ignored

#6 Yesterday 10:28:19

Re: [SOLVED] GRUB_TIMEOUT is being ignored

#7 Yesterday 14:55:57

Re: [SOLVED] GRUB_TIMEOUT is being ignored

#8 Yesterday 17:02:53

Re: [SOLVED] GRUB_TIMEOUT is being ignored

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