[SOLVED] Mint installation with triple boot. Still to happen

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ElStellino
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[SOLVED] Mint installation with triple boot. Still to happen

Post by ElStellino »

Hello all,

This is my first post, I tried to read in this forum and tried to find a similar situation, but I couldn't find anything that answered to my questions, so here I am.

I just saw yesterday how neat Mint is, and after having tried for a week Fedora 17 I decided to have a go with Mint on my computer, which currently runs Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8 Consumer Preview(*) and Fedora 17 64 bit.
However, I have some issues created by the Fedora install.



Loader
The Loader displays only "Fedora", and "Windows 8 (loader)". If I select Windows 8, the computer will reboot and display the Windows 8 loader, with the option of Windows 7 and Windows 8 (but not Fedora). Also, from file manager in Windows I cannot see the Fedora partitions, I think it's related.
With the new Mint install I would want to avoid all this. I would like whichever boot loader to start and to display all 3 operating systems. And Mint to behave like Windows 7 behaves with regard to Window 8 (and vice versa) How can I avoid what is happening now?
(*) Windows 8 Consumer Preview is due to expire on January, hence I'd prefer not to have its booter.



Partitions
Which kind of partitions do I need? This is the map of my Hard disk 0, well, the only hard disk in the computer:

Image

Being all the partitions after the Windows 8 one all destined to Fedora.
Can I simply wipe off Fedora deleting the last 4 partitions and leaving unallocated space for the Mint install to decide what needs to be done?
Or would this just mess up the whole machine as it will try to point to a no longer existent OS?




The actual process. I used to install Fedora a 1Gb USB key, and would like to do the same with Mint (at least to try it live). How should I delete whatever is on the key at the moment? Would a simple format of the USB device work?
***Well, I'll just try, I guess it's the most sensible thing to do****

Thanks a lot in advance for the abundant answers (I hope) :lol:
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Linux Mint 21.1 – Cinnamon-64

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bigj231

Re: Mint installation with triple boot. Still to happen

Post by bigj231 »

Firstly, You should be able to put Linux Mint into the 64GB of free space. I've run it on a 10GB drive before without issue. If you do decide to wipe your Fedora partitions, then it should install fine as well.

Second: The reason that your loader only shows Windows 8 and not Windows 7 is most likely that the Windows 7 partition is served by the Windows 8 bootloader. If you search Google for what you want to do. The second result is this Ubuntu forums thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1922704. I don't see a reason why you couldn't quad-boot with both Windows OS's, Fedora, and Mint.

On to partitioning. Since you have free space on your drive, let Mint decide how to do the partitions. If you want to do custom partitions, then just use the manual partition option during install. I would recommend EXT4, and leave the swap space from Fedora intact.

Finally the USB key. If you want to use the same 1GB key to install Mint, then just format it before you put Mint onto it. I would recommend either UNetbootin or the Linux Live startup disk creator to make a Live USB. You could do it manually, but these work fine. I prefer the Linux Live creator myself, but it really makes no difference. You can get it here: http://www.linuxliveusb.com/.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask. There are plenty of people here that are willing to help.
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Re: Mint installation with triple boot. Still to happen

Post by ElStellino »

Hi Josh, many thanks for your reply.

1 - I will then try to wipe the Fedora partitions and to leave them as free unallocated space for Mint.
2 - No, I didn't see that ubuntuforums link. It points me to other very interesting links that should explain quite well what I need to know. Many thanks! I have been looking for something similar since yesterday!

3 - I honestly just want to leave to Mint all the unallocated space (90Gb or something like that), as I don't need free unallocated sections of my HD... I don't have any clue of how much these necessary partitions have to be big, and wouldn't want to mess up things (like I think I did with Fedora)
Yes, I used EXT4 as I searched in google when I installed Fedora and it seemed at the moment the best one for Linux.

4 - Thanks for the link to Linux Live USB! I have the one for Fedora (I think in Windows 8, now I'm in W7) but I believe it was pointing only to Fedora files (but I may be wrong).

I think you pretty much answered with competence to everything, thanks a lot!
Luca
Linux Mint 21.1 – Cinnamon-64

Hardware, since 2009 – still rocking:
MB - ASRock H55DE3
Core i3 530 2.93Ghz 
4Gb DDR3 Ram Dual Channel
And there’s a new entry!
Acer laptop
Intel© Core™ i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz × 2
6GB RAM
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ElStellino
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Re: Mint installation with triple boot. Still to happen

Post by ElStellino »

I have an update:

I am in the live version of Mint, and trying to install. I am sure that there is somewhere on th enet the answer to my question, but I don't seem to find it. Really sorry about it. I just find people in my previous situation and no solution. Two bootloaders in sequence if they want to start one of the Windows OS's.

I have been prompted the following window:
Image

Now, the options are clearly 2:

Install Linux Mint alongside Windows 8
Fine, but what about the Windows 7 partition? I understand this is the automatic installation that will decide how big the partitions have to be, and this is what I want. But I don't want to lose Windows 7, I need to work with it.

Something else
This is what I did with Fedora, it's exactly the same step. I found it really confusionary as I don't seem to find online any instructions of what does what, but I find just *for expert users*. I don't consider my self expert, but this may be the choice I have to take. But then? I want to avoid the two bootloaders, just one is what I am after; displaying Win 7, Win 8 and Linux.

How can I achieve this, please?
Whould following step by step these instructions get me there? Because as far as I remember that's what I did with Fedora and didn't work..
http://www.zimbio.com/Ubuntu+Linux/arti ... untu+11+10
Linux Mint 21.1 – Cinnamon-64

Hardware, since 2009 – still rocking:
MB - ASRock H55DE3
Core i3 530 2.93Ghz 
4Gb DDR3 Ram Dual Channel
And there’s a new entry!
Acer laptop
Intel© Core™ i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz × 2
6GB RAM
bigj231

Re: Mint installation with triple boot. Still to happen

Post by bigj231 »

Sorry I haven't responded sooner. I've been a bit busy with personal stuff.
If you select install alongside Windows 8, it won't erase anything from the disc, so Windows 7 will be there as well. Again, I prefer manual partitioning so that I can see what's going on. If you do that, then don't delete anything, but just make the necessary partitions. I usually do "/", "/home", and swap. Don't forget to format "/" and "/home" to your preferred file system. I like EXT4 on my SSD, and I haven't had problems with it on regular drives either.
In the older version of GRUB, you could just point the bootloader to the correct partition of your windows installs. for example, say that Windows 7 was on the first partition, you would use something like "chainloader +1 hd0,0" I don't recall the correct syntax, as I haven't used it for quite some time. Once you get Mint installed, you can work out the issues with the bootloader. Just make sure to back up any files before you modify them.

I found another link that might help with the windows bootloaders. Follow the instructions and then update GRUB. http://superuser.com/questions/448707/h ... crosoft-bo

Good luck with getting your system working.
EDIT: If you follow the instruction in that link, you might have to reinstall GRUB. Not very difficult, but just something to be aware of. I've never messed with the windows boot loaders on a dual-boot machine.
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ElStellino
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Re: Mint installation with triple boot. Still to happen

Post by ElStellino »

bigj231 wrote:Sorry I haven't responded sooner. I've been a bit busy with personal stuff.
If you select install alongside Windows 8, it won't erase anything from the disc, so Windows 7 will be there as well. Again, I prefer manual partitioning so that I can see what's going on. If you do that, then don't delete anything, but just make the necessary partitions. I usually do "/", "/home", and swap. Don't forget to format "/" and "/home" to your preferred file system. I like EXT4 on my SSD, and I haven't had problems with it on regular drives either.
In the older version of GRUB, you could just point the bootloader to the correct partition of your windows installs. for example, say that Windows 7 was on the first partition, you would use something like "chainloader +1 hd0,0" I don't recall the correct syntax, as I haven't used it for quite some time. Once you get Mint installed, you can work out the issues with the bootloader. Just make sure to back up any files before you modify them.

I found another link that might help with the windows bootloaders. Follow the instructions and then update GRUB. http://superuser.com/questions/448707/h ... crosoft-bo

Good luck with getting your system working.
EDIT: If you follow the instruction in that link, you might have to reinstall GRUB. Not very difficult, but just something to be aware of. I've never messed with the windows boot loaders on a dual-boot machine.
Time has passed, and I missed somehow this reply.
It then installed and I ended up again with two bootloaders. Honestly I have migrated to Linux almost completely so the issue is less important. However, now that I found this post I will try to solve the problem, many thanks for replying and sorry if I didn't respond sooner!
EDIT: And actually... soon Windows 8 will expire, I am running the consumer preview that will stop working on the 14th of January, iirc. What if I simply delete the Windows 8 partition and reinstall the Windows 7 bootloader? At this point, will GRUB be able to handle that?

My procedure to start Win 7 is: GRUB->Windows 8 Bootloader->selecting Windows 7-> reboot ->GRUB-> selecting Windows 8 bootloader. And only then Windows 7 starts.
To start Windows 8: GRUB->Windows 8 Bootloader->selecting Windows 8
To start Linux: GRUB->Linux Mint

What I would like is
To start Windows 7: GRUB->Windows 7 Bootloader
To start Linux: GRUB->Linux Mint
Linux Mint 21.1 – Cinnamon-64

Hardware, since 2009 – still rocking:
MB - ASRock H55DE3
Core i3 530 2.93Ghz 
4Gb DDR3 Ram Dual Channel
And there’s a new entry!
Acer laptop
Intel© Core™ i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz × 2
6GB RAM
bigj231

Re: Mint installation with triple boot. Still to happen

Post by bigj231 »

You should be able to do that. You will probably need to update GRUB after reinstalling the Windows 7 bootloader. It's quite simple really.

Code: Select all

sudo update-grub
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