Installing Mint on an HP Desktop

[jumiclads]

My PC boots straight into windows 8 after installing Mint. No Grub boot menu comes up at all.

I have Windows 8 and Mint Mate 14 64bit installed

Any help. Thanks

[remoulder]

Mint 14 is not yet released, post problems with RC as requested at http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2205

[jumiclads]

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to install any type of Linux on the HP h8-1375ea desktop. I have tried quite a few but cannot get past the boot menu. It will only boot into Windows or none at all and have to do a system restore with disks.

Here are the specs

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/aa/en/ho/WF06b/12454-12454-3329740-64546-64546-5258496-5281259.html?dnr=1

[srs5694]

Chances are you're running into some sort of EFI issue (or possibly Secure Boot, if your system comes with Windows 8 rather than the Windows 7 that the specifications page mentions). It's impossible to say precisely what's happening or how to get around it based on your limited description, though. Please post more details, such as which "boot menu" you mean (on the installation media, after installation, or something else; whether this is a firmware boot menu or a GRUB boot menu) and what type of failure you get when you try to "get past" it (system hang, reboot, error message, etc.).

[jumiclads]

My PC came with Windows 7 pre-installed but I upgraded to Windows 8 last week. Tried to install Mint and it installed ok and then when I reboot I get no menu to choose between Mint and Windows 8. (The error messages I got were something else so ignore that bit).

I did a clean install back to Windows 7 and then tried again with Mint but got the same result. I cannot get past this because there are no options to choose. I just get a message saying that the boot section is missing or corrupt. So in go the Windows 7 restore disks and now I am back where I started. It's a full days work getting it back with all my software and settings to sort out.

I would really like a go with the Linux Mint installed and not just off the dvd.

I am going to do a new install using the windows installer. So here goes. Using Linux Mint 13 - 64 bit

Installer running ok, got to modify_bcd and still installing but not moving bar along anymore. Disc activity stopped. Hard drive still active so something must be happening. Still on modify_bcd after about 4 minutes and install bar is at about 2/3's. Nothing changed for around 6 minutes and then got message ejecting dvd and installer bar shot to end. Reboot window open.

I will reboot now to see the result. I will be back.

Right, I am back

I got the Windows Boot Manger screen
Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause . To fix the problem use your Windows Disk to perform a system repair.

File: \linuxmint\winboot\wubildr.mbr
Status: 0xc0000098
Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.
Pressed Enter to continue
Windows boot manage showing a choice of Windows 7 or Linux Mint. Chose Mint and got the same result as above. Next time I chose Windows 7 and PC boots into Windows as normal.


Thanks

[keghn]

Are you booting a live usb, or a dvd to do this install. Or are you installing from Mint
onto you computer while running windows 8? Like are you using
A windows OS installer?
I used A Mint 13 amd 64 maya mata from http://distrowatch.com.
I down loaded it and put it on a usb thumb drive, or you can burn it
on to a dvd.
Then I changed my bios to boot off the usb, or dvd.
Shut computer down and reboot.

i have done 20+ install, mostly linux operating system in my life. some are good
and other buggy crashers.
I have not used window to install another linux for past 10 years,
and that was when "partition magic" and "system commander" were king
installer at the time.

[Oscar799]

Threads merged

[jumiclads]

I have made a dvd and tried booting directly off the dvd and doing a run alongside windows install, replace everything install, but the latest I am trying as I said is installing through Windows. All installs have the same result. I checked the file sysytem and can confirm that File: \linuxmint\winboot\wubildr.mbr is in there.

[srs5694]

First, the mention of "wubildr.mbr" suggests you're doing a WUBI install, which is a way to install Ubuntu (or Mint) in a disk image inside a Windows partition rather than repartitioning the disk. This is convenient, but trouble-prone. I don't follow WUBI all that closely, but my impression is that it doesn't work at all on EFI-based computers, which I suspect you've got.

So, backing up, you need to determine if Windows is booting in BIOS/legacy mode or in EFI mode. To do that, download and run the Boot Info Script in a Linux live CD. It should produce a file called RESULTS.txt. Post it here inside code tags or post a download link to the file. That will tell us about your disk's partitioning and boot mode.

Doing additional installations without understanding what's going on is a waste of time. (I suppose you might get lucky with a random change, but it's better to understand the problem and fix it.) Chances are, though, you'll need to repartition your disk and do a "real" (non-WUBI) installation in the end.

[jumiclads]

At the moment I have just finished re-installing Windows 8. I will try what you say but would I be best doing a real non-WUBI installation in the first place. If so where can I find a good tutorial that shows exactly what to do.