Installing Julia (Main) and LMDE 64 bit together: SOLVED

[Meteor]

I'm sure that they'll make a very nice couple. I also see that there are some very lengthy "discussions" regarding installing them together. I've read through them but am no further ahead and am not willing to try it, yet. Julia is my prime OS and resides all by herself on my 100GB hard drive. I downloaded the latests LiveDVD of LMDE and have been looking it over. Impressive, especially since LMDE is (to be) a "rolling release".

I've search through the forums to see if anyone has made up a HOW-TO specifically to join Julia and LMDE together on a single hard drive just as they come off their DVDs. I would like to do that and feel that to do so easily, a simple (if possible) step-by-step set of instructions would be great.

User "seely" seems to have a good handle on doing this. He is having or has had a very lengthy exchange of forum messages (under LMDE) regarding this. Can this be simplified into a point-form method or into short paragraphs that a user, not overly familiar with running two Mints together can install?

If interested, Julia runs on a Gateway "64-bit Powerhouse" (according to the label on the keyboard) laptop of undetermined age (but probably has seen it's 6th or 7th birthday -- I purchased it "refurbished" in 2006 or 2007) with 1 GB of memory. Nothing has been added or taken away from it since. It's still working very well.

Doing the dual install, dual-boot thing will be a challenge, especially with LMDE but I am willing to try it. All my data is backed-up via dual saves -- HDD and flash drives. If something goes amiss due to me, I can start over with very little inconvenience but I'd rather just put the OS's together and see which one becomes #1. I've used GParted but unfortunately did not make a separate /home partition...

Your assistance will be appreciated.

Meteor,
Canada, eh...

[seeley]

Hi Meteor!
Very interesting. Could you please give us some more information. Let's start with:

Code: Select all

sudo fdisk -l

and

Code: Select all

parted - l print

and, if Mint is on your hard disk, please post the output of "findGrub" from my help.
seeley

[Meteor]

Thank you for acknowledging my query, seeley. I can provide two out of your three of your points:

sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0005eee1

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 1298 10417152 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 1298 12162 87266305 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 1298 11881 85008384 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 11881 12162 2256896 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdc: 2080 MB, 2080374784 bytes
16 heads, 32 sectors/track, 7936 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 512 * 512 = 262144 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0671c007

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 1 7936 2031600 e W95 FAT16 (LBA)


*********************************

sudo parted -l print
Model: ATA HTS541010G9AT00 (scsi) (Hard Drive)
Disk /dev/sda: 100GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 10.7GB 10.7GB primary ext4 boot
2 10.7GB 100GB 89.4GB extended
5 10.7GB 97.7GB 87.0GB logical ext4
6 97.7GB 100GB 2311MB logical linux-swap(v1)

However, "findgrub" just gives me 500 +/- lines of "permission denied". I found your link and typed in "grub>", and the the two "-f" searches getting only a continuous string of "permission denied" or various words to that effect. Obviously, I'm missing something quite obvious that isn't obvious to me...

Although one should never assume, I'm going to assume that since Julia Main is all that's on my system, grub only points to her... This will become a learning experience in using the Terminal for me, it seems.

I appreciate your taking the time to assist.

Meteor

[seeley]

Hi Meteor!
Did you copy the 4 lines of "findGrub" in the Terminal (as root of course)? It never failed!
I must study your outputs, but yet a question:
If you are quite agreeable to cooperation we can use this thread as a guidance.
To lighten the installation (for all of us) you should attach some screenshots.
The first screen capture could be GParted (only this time enlarged - to see as much details as possible - and "Grab the current window");
later on you can choose "Select area to grab" - without enlarging (to save space).
seeley

[seeley]

Hi!
How "old" is your Mint installation? I'm asking this, because you should consider to make a fresh installation (after having created partitions with GParted). If you don't have many data and personal settings, it would be a good idea to create an own home partition for Julia.
To partition I recommend a new version of GP [0.7] - LMDE has it, Julia does not.
In any case you must edit your partitions, e.g. with LMDE live / GP.
But I must know what your partitions sda1 and sda5 are for. (A swap partition is easy to delete and create again.)
My day is ending; I will be back tomorrow at about 16.00 - 17.00 UTC.
seeley

[Meteor]

Sorry for the delay. I now have the "4" lines from "findgrub" as follows"

cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg

#

# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE

#

# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates

# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub

#



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then

set have_grubenv=true

load_env

fi

set default="0"

if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then

set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"

save_env saved_entry

set prev_saved_entry=

save_env prev_saved_entry

set boot_once=true

fi



function savedefault {

if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then

saved_entry="${chosen}"

save_env saved_entry

fi

}



function recordfail {

set recordfail=1

if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi

}



function load_video {

insmod vbe

insmod vga

}



insmod part_msdos

insmod ext2

set root='(hd0,msdos1)'

search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 5ab1792d-3295-4c69-b361-f1a58b9fbdf1

if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then

set gfxmode=640x480

load_video

insmod gfxterm

fi

terminal_output gfxterm

insmod part_msdos

insmod ext2

set root='(hd0,msdos1)'

search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 5ab1792d-3295-4c69-b361-f1a58b9fbdf1

set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale

set lang=en

insmod gettext

if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then

set timeout=-1

else

set timeout=10

fi

### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

set menu_color_normal=white/black

set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray

### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###

insmod part_msdos

insmod ext2

set root='(hd0,msdos1)'

search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 5ab1792d-3295-4c69-b361-f1a58b9fbdf1

insmod png

if background_image /boot/grub/linuxmint.png ; then

set color_normal=white/black

set color_highlight=white/light-gray

else

set menu_color_normal=white/black

set menu_color_highlight=white/light-gray

fi

### END /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

menuentry 'Linux Mint 10 64-bit, 2.6.35-22-generic (/dev/sda1)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {

recordfail

insmod part_msdos

insmod ext2

set root='(hd0,msdos1)'

search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 5ab1792d-3295-4c69-b361-f1a58b9fbdf1

linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=5ab1792d-3295-4c69-b361-f1a58b9fbdf1 ro quiet splash

initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic

}

menuentry 'Linux Mint 10 64-bit, 2.6.35-22-generic (/dev/sda1) -- recovery mode' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {

recordfail

insmod part_msdos

insmod ext2

set root='(hd0,msdos1)'

search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 5ab1792d-3295-4c69-b361-f1a58b9fbdf1

echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'

linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=5ab1792d-3295-4c69-b361-f1a58b9fbdf1 ro single

echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'

initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic

}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###

### END /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {

insmod part_msdos

insmod ext2

set root='(hd0,msdos1)'

search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 5ab1792d-3295-4c69-b361-f1a58b9fbdf1

linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin

}

menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {

insmod part_msdos

insmod ext2

set root='(hd0,msdos1)'

search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 5ab1792d-3295-4c69-b361-f1a58b9fbdf1

linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8

}

### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

if [ "x${timeout}" != "x-1" ]; then

if keystatus; then

if keystatus --shift; then

set timeout=-1

else

set timeout=0

fi

else

if sleep --interruptible 3 ; then

set timeout=0

fi

fi

fi

### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the

# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change

# the 'exec tail' line above.

### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###



### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then

source $prefix/custom.cfg;

fi

### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###


\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////

cat /etc/default/grub

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update

# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.



GRUB_DEFAULT=0

GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0

GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true

GRUB_TIMEOUT=10

GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""



# 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-pc only)

#GRUB_TERMINAL=console



# The resolution used on graphical terminal

# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE

# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'

#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480



# 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_LINUX_RECOVERY="true"



# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start

#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"


\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////

gksudo gedit /etc/default/gru
(nothing happened with this request/command...)

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////

sudo update-grub

Generating grub.cfg ...

Found Debian background: linuxmint.png

Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic

Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic

Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin

done


\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////
05.02.11 - end

Interesting to look at... That's the text files copied to OOo Writer and then pasted back into this message. Untouched by hands, human or otherwise.

For your other points, it is OK to use this thread as to guide others.

I've never had occasion to make any screen shots. I believe there is a programme included with Julia that will do so and make them. They'll be posted later today (noon, Saturday now in Canada, mountain time). I used GParted that came with Julia. Will download and install a newer version or use the one from the LMDE LiveDVD.

I installed Julia about ten days ago to replace Mint 9 Xfce that I was trying out. Xfce didn't impress me or I am just too use to Gnome. Julia 64 was a fresh install. I assume (though one should never "assume"...) that she simply over-wrote Isadora.

If I need to reinstall Julia, that is no real problem. I feel that I should have a separate /home that I missed doing. I see there are many, many, many discussions regarding separating home or just doing a "simple" install. I will, then, divide up the hard drive to leave space for LMDE.

Meteor

[seeley]

Hi!
First: It will take some minutes to read your complete post, but there is a misunderstanding: "findGrub" is a name I gave the following command (found on the German Ubuntuusers forum), please copy it in a Terminal and post the output (you will find that "findGrub" in my help, too - chapter III G).

Code: Select all

sudo fdisk -l 2>/dev/null | egrep "Disk /|/dev/" | sed "s#^/dev/#Part /dev/#" | awk '{print $2}' | sed 's/://' | xargs -n1 -IX sudo sh -c "hexdump -v -s 0x80 -n  2 -e '2/1 \"%x\" \"\\n\"' X | xargs -n1 -IY sh -c \"case  \"Y\" in '48b4') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.96 ;; 'aa75' | '5272') echo X: GRUB Legacy ;; '7c3c') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.97 or higher ;; *) echo X: No GRUB Y ;; esac\""

2. After having read your complete post, I will edit my post (or answer again).
seeley

[seeley]

Hi!
There are a lot of comments I will make, so I answer in a new reply.
1.

gksudo gedit /etc/default/gru
(nothing happened with this request/command...)

The command is:

Code: Select all

gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub

- grub!
But we don't need it at the moment.
2.

it is OK to use this thread as to guide others

Thank you!
3. Screenshots:
[Gnome] Accessories/ Take Screenshot or [KDE] Graphics/ KSnapshot
4.

GParted that came with Julia

...is not the latest one; LMDE has GP 0.7 and PartedMagic too!
I prefer PM - once used you never will miss it (it has many useful tools!); I recommend to burn an image, or better (faster!) create a live USB PM.
(Of course it is possible to burn a GP live.)
5. If you did not make many changes, e.g. personal settings, I suggest to make a fresh installation, that means:
i) Partition with GP 0.7 live
ii) install Linux1 (Julia)
iii) install Linux2 (LMDE)
seeley

[Meteor]

Here is the output of the proper "findgrub" command. I did see it but it didn't seem, to me, to be part of the command.

sudo fdisk -l 2>/dev/null | egrep "Disk /|/dev/" | sed "s#^/dev/#Part /dev/#" | awk '{print $2}' | sed 's/://' | xargs -n1 -IX sudo sh -c "hexdump -v -s 0x80 -n 2 -e '2/1 \"%x\" \"\\n\"' X | xargs -n1 -IY sh -c \"case \"Y\" in '48b4') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.96 ;; 'aa75' | '5272') echo X: GRUB Legacy ;; '7c3c') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.97 or higher ;; *) echo X: No GRUB Y ;; esac\""
/dev/sda: GRUB 2 v1.97 or higher
/dev/sda1: No GRUB 00
/dev/sda2: No GRUB 00
/dev/sda5: No GRUB 00
/dev/sda6: No GRUB 00
/dev/sdc: No GRUB 105b
/dev/sdc1: No GRUB 6616

The output seems rather negative with all the "No" shown, however, it does tell you something.

I haven't tried Parted Magic as GParted was just available. I'll have a look at it to see how it works. I realize that the installer in LMDE is different than the one in Julia. From reading the forum, it doesn't appear to cause too much of a fuss. LMDE's is just different in some way, shape, form or manner...

Meteor

[seeley]

Hi!
1. The output is okay - as I supposed: GRUB"2" was installed into the MBR of the hd (one Linux, one Grub); sdc1 is formatted with fat16.
2. The two installer are different (LMDE allows you to make all steps and quit after the last one - contrary to Julia); so you can try the LMDE installer without writing to disk (that's a very good idea - well known in openSUSE since years) - see my HOWTO. The Julia installer starts formatting after having chosen the partitions and simultaneously you have to type username,... (no good idea!).
3. You must decide:
a) which Linux first?
b) how many partitions?
c) the sizes of the 2 home partitions - equal?
You should create 5 partitions: rootJulia, homeJulia, rootLMDE, homeLMDE and swap,
Please have a look at my help, IV. Disk Partitioning..........Explanation using an example........> reply6
If you have questions concerning partitioning- don't hesitate to ask!
seeley

Edit:
I forgot: Size of swap: old standard: 1.5 * RAM, if you use "suspend to disk"; and one swap partition is enough for Julia and LMDE.

[seeley]

Hi!
Same message: I must quit now, I'm back tomorrow afternoon.
Some ideas concerning sizes:
root partitions: 8 - 10 GB, home partitions: 30 -40 GB, swap partition: ~ 3 GB, and you should consider to spare ~ 10 GB at the end of the extended partition (I do that e.g., to install another Linux to really test it), but of course it is not necessary.
You can create at most 3 primary partitions and 1 extended partition as container for logical partitions.
Example 1: root Linux1, swap and home Linux1 as primary, extended partition with 2 logical partitions: root Linux2, home Linux2 (primary swap partition can be activated without problem for Linux2).
seeley

[seeley]

Hi!
Here is an example (what GP could show after partitioning): Example 2

Screenshot-9.png (13.86 KiB) Viewed 1482 times

seeley

[seeley]

Hi!
I must quit now and therefore add 3 screenshots.
If you want to delete your partitions, you should start deleting the last logical partition, sda6, then sda5, sda2, sda1.
To create a partition: left click on the unallocated space -> Partition/ New.
After having created the extended partition, you have to apply to create logical partitions. (You can't create all partitions with 1 step.)
[ If you want 10 GiB, you have to type as new size 10240. ]

ScreenshotM1.png (29.58 KiB) Viewed 1463 times

ScreenshotM2.png (29.1 KiB) Viewed 1463 times

ScreenshotM3.png (19.99 KiB) Viewed 1463 times

seeley

PS: I have hardware problems and don't know what will happen.

[seeley]

Hi Meteor!
As I wrote in my last edit, I have a problem with my notebook.
I will guide you, but we must start today.
I suppose tomorrow is the last day to use my laptop, and then I will be offline for ??
seeley

[Meteor]

Seeley:

Have been tied up with work, traffic and winter weather (lotsa snow, eh!) and haven't had the chance to get back to working with my system. I can hold off for a bit since things got busy here (surprisingly). Judging by the forum here, your notebook has been working overtime and decided to "retire"...

Will check back later in the week and report on progress. Off to the bus. Temperature with windchill this morning is -26C. Hope you're in a milder climate.

Meteor

[seeley]

Hi Meteor!
Creating partitions with the latest GParted (0.7) should be no problem - you can compare it with my examples and if it differs, you again can partition. Create all partitions (e.g. Example 2).
Then install Mint1 (Grub into MBR = sda), reboot an see what happens; if there is a problem, maybe you have to set a boot flag (with GP live ) on sda1.
If you can't boot, "findGrub" from GP live, maybe you have to repair or install grub (see my help).
If you succeeded, install Mint2 with Grub not in sda, but in sda5 (Ex.2), reboot, maybe set flag on sda5 (Ex.2),...
I hope for you that everything works well!
seeley

[seeley]

Hi!
I forgot to mention: after the second installation and rebooting to Mint1 you must run

Code: Select all

sudo update-grub

->
normally all distributions the are shown in the Terminal and after the next reboot the Grub Menu should show them too.
I'm sorry to say, that both notebooks are making such troubles that I decided to take my holiday and afterwards decide to buy a new or used laptop.
seeley

[Meteor]

seeley, Have a good vacation and success in replacing your laptop/notebook(s). Hopefully your vacation is, unless you are a fan of winter, set for a sunny, warm locale. We are at a "balmy" +5C today with a very strong "breeze" making it feel a lot colder.

To update this "chat", I am now considering running only one version of Mint and that will be LMDE. I've not really been a fan of the twice-yearly re-installs so having a "rolling" version that should be relatively stable for a couple of years will be, for my use, great. I've used the LiveDVD of LMDE 201012 on and off for the past couple of weeks and find that it does everything I need it to do (as a LIveDVD).

It appears that Julia (Main) will be retired. She is, at this time, "aging" quickly and is approaching retirement...

This coming weekend should provide the opportunity to install LMDE...

Meteor

[seeley]

Hi Meteor!
Thank you for your nice feedback!
My vacation will be in the south of Europe and I will run on the beach each second day; air: 15 - 20 degree Celcius, water 16.
After that I must decide what computer I buy.
Hoping you don't have further problems!
This post is my last one before vacation.
seeley