[TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1/10 Computer

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tocino

Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by tocino »

Thanks for this. I spent hours trying to get Mint 17.1 dual booting on an Asus X200MA laptop (mainly because the slow boot time :)) and this tutorial did the trick.

I believe what made the difference was disabling the "Fast Startup" in Windows and then the full shutdown. Before that each time the Mint installer would get to the page where it would say "No OS detected" and selecting "Something else" would not enable to "Continue" button, so I was stuck. Unfortunately I had gone through several reboots trying various BIOS setting combos so I can't say for sure what I had been doing wrong before. So thanks again - just following these steps got me quickly up and running and now I'm dual-booting Mint and Windows 8.1

Here is the ixpi output:

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System:    Host: Lappy-X200MA Kernel: 3.13.0-37-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) 
           Desktop: N/A Distro: Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca
Machine:   System: ASUSTeK (portable) product: X200MA version: 1.0
           Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X200MA version: 1.0 Bios: American Megatrends version: X200MA.504 date: 11/13/2014
CPU:       Dual core Intel Celeron CPU N2815 (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 7466 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 931.00 MHz 2: 798.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel ValleyView Gen7 bus-ID: 00:02.0 
           X.org: 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) tty size: 148x37 Advanced Data: N/A for root 
Audio:     Card: Intel ValleyView High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-37-generic
Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller 
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: e000 bus-ID: 03:00.2
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (1.1% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: HGST_HTS545050A7 size: 500.1GB temp: 39C 
Partition: ID: / size: 20G used: 4.9G (27%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 89G used: 446M (1%) fs: ext4 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 6280.0C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 150 Uptime: 1:09 Memory: 613.0/3840.5MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4 
gold_finger

Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by gold_finger »

@tocino,

Glad tutorial helped. Thanks for describing what was causing your initial problems and thanks for posting the specs of your system. That will probably come in handy for others to see.
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by Spearmint2 »

The biggest of these is that the presence of a single non-0xEE partition causes Windows to treat a disk as MBR,...
Unless it's on a UEFI motherboard? Or even when on an UEFI motherboard?
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by Spearmint2 »

I believe what made the difference was disabling the "Fast Startup" in Windows and then the full shutdown.
"FAST BOOT" is really the same as "Hibernate". Since Windows 8 the way to do a fully cold boot is to use the Restart on it. Not only for installing linux is fast boot a problem, windows 8 users have had numerous problems on some updates that in past versions required a full reboot, but since it was using "fast boot" it instead was about the same as a "warm boot" and either the update didn't work, or crapped the system in some manner. The CNET windows 8 forum is full of people experiencing that. I don't use w8, but if I did, I'd use restart after each update, just to be sure it was a full reboot and a new hibernate file "fast boot" was created AFTER windows had installed the updates. Thankfully, except for kernel updates, all Linux updates are done live and need no restart.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window ... ure-works/
All things go better with Mint. Mint julep, mint jelly, mint gum, candy mints, pillow mints, peppermint, chocolate mints, spearmint,....
lmintnewb2

Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by lmintnewb2 »

^Thanks Spearmint for bringing that infobit up fellow nixer. Hadn't even considered that, sheesh way to go M$, yet again ... shooting their own userbase in the foot ? Arghhhhh ...

@OP ... am glad to see people sharing info about this. Generally only post things I've confirmed as working firsthand but hey, more than a few success stories that validate this tute works as expected. Totally agree with you about R Smith, guy did not take GPT-UEFI or secure boot lying down. Have come across him helping out open source users all over the place with related problems. My hats off to him for all the time/effort and info. Also glad to see this topic isn't a nightmare I was dreading it'd be for gnu/Linux users.

Now just some random junk found out about fast boot. In win8.1, will find it in Control Panel, System and Security, Power Options and there's a link underneath it that saying "change what the power buttons do", click on it, takes people to yet another screen and has a link for "Change settings that are currently unavailable", click and can find the check box to disable/enable fast boot here.

Interesting to note though, it doesn't show up on a win8.1 install if hibernate is disabled. Which it is on my laptop, just a preference ... I don't use hibernation on this.

Now comes a question about fast boot, was hoping someone could definitively answer. Supposedly when someone selects shutdown with the following method, hold down the Super(window$) key + press X key and a menu pops up, win8.1 will do a full shutdown whether fast boot is enabled or not. Just another preference but that keyboard shortcut above and the menu it'll pop up is really useful and use it often. Anyone know whether true shutdown via this method is fact or urban legend ?

Could re-enable hibernation, re-enable fast boot and see if there's any noticeable diff in startup times, am just too lazy to go through all that and would appreciate someone in the know letting the rest of us know for sure.
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by Spearmint2 »

Now comes a question about fast boot, was hoping someone could definitively answer. Supposedly when someone selects shutdown with the following method, hold down the Super(window$) key + press X key and a menu pops up, win8.1 will do a full shutdown whether fast boot is enabled or not. Just another preference but that keyboard shortcut above and the menu it'll pop up is really useful and use it often. Anyone know whether true shutdown via this method is fact or urban legend ?

Could re-enable hibernation, re-enable fast boot and see if there's any noticeable diff in startup times, am just too lazy to go through all that and would appreciate someone in the know letting the rest of us know for sure.
That windows 8 question is best asked here.

I personally don't use it, so don't know.
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by srs5694 »

tocino wrote:I believe what made the difference was disabling the "Fast Startup" in Windows and then the full shutdown. Before that each time the Mint installer would get to the page where it would say "No OS detected" and selecting "Something else" would not enable to "Continue" button, so I was stuck.
That's plausible, although it would still be a bug in the Mint installer (or perhaps in filesystem drivers). As others have said, the Windows "fast startup" feature is really suspend-to-disk, which leaves filesystems (including the ESP) in an inconsistent state. Such a state will negatively impact Linux operations, potentially including problems such as you describe. This isn't to say that "fast startup" was definitely the cause of your problems, but it's plausible that it was.
spearmint wrote:
srs5694 wrote:The biggest of these is that the presence of a single non-0xEE partition causes Windows to treat a disk as MBR,...
Unless it's on a UEFI motherboard? Or even when on an UEFI motherboard?
On any firmware; once an OS boots, the OS is responsible for interpreting what it sees on the disk. I suppose an OS might vary what it does depending on its boot mode, but AFAIK no OS does this.
HumaNort

Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by HumaNort »

Hey Dude,


Thank you so much helped me out no end installing. I was having a problem booting mint 17.1 due to putting the 32 bit version on the USB (its for the laptop not the desktop :oops: ). So If you are restarting windows 8 with the shift held down and no use device it could be because its the 32 bit version of mint.

Here is the details of the PC its a acer Revo RL80 i3 with 8gb RAM the rest follows

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System:    Host: Humanort-Revo-Mint Kernel: 3.13.0-37-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) 
           Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca
Machine:   Mobo: Acer model: Revo RL80 version: 1.0 Bios: American Megatrends version: P11-A2 date: 11/14/2012
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3-2377M CPU (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 5986.1 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 800.00 MHz 2: 800.00 MHz 3: 800.00 MHz 4: 800.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Sandybridge Mobile GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1: Intel 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2: Hewlett-Packard driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 03f0:e107
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-37-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel 82579V Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e ver: 2.3.2-k port: f080 bus-ID: 00:19.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 750.2GB (0.6% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD7500BPVT size: 750.2GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 20G used: 4.5G (24%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 12G used: 54M (1%) fs: ext4 
           ID: swap-1 size: 8.59GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: 27.8C 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 173 Uptime: 5 min Memory: 596.8/7805.9MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4
Again Thank you great tut
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by hughparker1 »

I have new laptop, DELL Inspiron 15 3543 (3000 Series) 5th Generation Intel Core i5-5200U Processor
Video Card: Intel HD Graphics 5500

I just installed Linux Mint 17.1 XFCE 64-bit alongside windows 8.1 by following the excellent instructions by gold_finger

I disabled fast startup and removed battery on connected power cable only. I only disabled "Secure Boot" for the installation then enabled it afterwards. I left UEFI enabled and had no problems.

I liked the turtorial because it gave lots of advice and checks along the way to ensure success. so thanks gold_finger, you have created a great tutorial here.

here is output from inxi -Fxz:

Code: Select all

inspiron@DELL-INSPIRON-3543 ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: DELL-INSPIRON-3543 Kernel: 3.13.0-37-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.11.6 (Gtk 2.24.23) Distro: Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca
Machine:   System: Dell (portable) product: Inspiron 3543 version: A03
           Mobo: Dell model: 0X4RD7 version: A00 Bios: Dell version: A03 date: 02/04/2015
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i5-5200U CPU (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8779.48 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 500.00 MHz 2: 500.00 MHz 3: 2000.00 MHz 4: 600.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Broadwell-U Integrated Graphics bus-ID: 00:02.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1366x768@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Broadwell GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2: Intel Broadwell-U Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:03.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-37-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller 
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: e000 bus-ID: 07:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM43142 802.11b/g/n driver: wl bus-ID: 06:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1000.2GB (0.5% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: ST1000LM024_HN size: 1000.2GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 48G used: 5.0G (11%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 8.10GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 50.0C mobo: 27.8C 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 183 Uptime: 9 min Memory: 482.7/7897.2MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4 
inspiron@DELL-INSPIRON-3543 ~ $
ajcardiac

Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by ajcardiac »

Code: Select all

System:    Host: adrian-Custom Kernel: 3.13.0-37-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) 
           Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca
Machine:   Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M5A97 EVO R2.0 version: Rev 1.xx Bios: American Megatrends version: 2103 date: 11/06/2013
CPU:       Hexa core AMD FX-6300 Six-Core (-MCP-) cache: 12288 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm) bmips: 42142 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 1400.00 MHz 2: 1400.00 MHz 3: 1400.00 MHz 4: 1400.00 MHz 5: 1400.00 MHz 6: 1400.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GT200 [GeForce GTX 280] bus-ID: 01:00.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau) Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: GeForce GTX 280/PCIe/SSE2 GLX Version: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 331.113 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
           Card-2: Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 046d:082d
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-37-generic
Network:   Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller 
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: d000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 2000.4GB (0.3% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: ST2000DX001 size: 2000.4GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 19G used: 5.0G (29%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 69G used: 113M (1%) fs: ext4 
           ID: swap-1 size: 12.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 18.5C mobo: N/A gpu: 0.0:53C 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 185 Uptime: 10 min Memory: 777.2/7886.1MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4 
Many thanks for posting this Tutorial.

After having installed LM17.1 32-bit on two ageing Vista machines in triple-boot on MBR disk(s) I felt confident enough to try on my GPT/UEFI primary rig.
I disabled Secure Boot and Fast Startup in the Asus UEFI BIOS.

The install went well, but I messed up the boot scheme by trying to reclaim the bootloader to Windows - which didn't work and advice suggests it won't.
I couldn't update GRUB2 via the live DVD, so I re-installed, edited GRUB 2 to default to Windows with a 5-sec timeout.

I haven't noticed any appreciable slow-down in start-up or shutdown with Win8.1/Win10IP.
jpbourgon

Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by jpbourgon »

Hello,

I have an HP Envy with Windows 8.1.
Great instructions. I followed carefully and successfully installed Mint. However, my computer boots directly into Windows and I have to restart, access the UEFI setup and boot menu, and select Ubuntu (and for some reason it lists about 10 of the same option for Ubuntu) to start Linux Mint. Is there a better way or a way that I can simply have the option to choose between Mint or Windows upon startup? That would be really helpful!

Thank you!
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by Spearmint2 »

This is tutorial, should ask in separate thread. I suspect you installed the 32 bit Mint using Legacy Mode for the UEFI motherboard?
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by srs5694 »

jpbourgon wrote:I have an HP Envy with Windows 8.1.
Great instructions. I followed carefully and successfully installed Mint. However, my computer boots directly into Windows and I have to restart, access the UEFI setup and boot menu, and select Ubuntu (and for some reason it lists about 10 of the same option for Ubuntu) to start Linux Mint. Is there a better way or a way that I can simply have the option to choose between Mint or Windows upon startup? That would be really helpful!
spearmint wrote:I suspect you installed the 32 bit Mint using Legacy Mode for the UEFI motherboard?
No, a 32-bit legacy-mode installation would show up in the EFI's boot manager as an option to boot from a disk, not as an "ubuntu" option. The "ubuntu" option is created when installing GRUB in EFI mode from Ubuntu (or Ubuntu derivatives, including Mint); it cannot appear with an "ubuntu" label in BIOS/CSM/legacy mode. (OTOH, if the jpbourgon's report of an "Ubuntu" option is imprecise and that's not the actual label, it could be that a BIOS/CSM/legacy-mode install is the cause.)

The problem is most likely that some HPs have broken EFIs that refuse to boot anything but the Windows boot loader (by filename; they don't care about the contents of the program file). I recommend:
  1. Update the EFI. It's conceivable that HP has a fixed EFI available for download from their site. (It will probably be listed as a "BIOS update" on HP's site.)
  2. If that doesn't fix the problem and if the computer is new enough, return it to the store for a refund; it's defective. Buy something else instead. Be sure to write to HP to tell them why you returned the computer. Too many manufacturers have been shipping EFIs with this defect for too long, and they're doing so because nobody is complaining.
  3. If you can't return the computer, apply an ugly hack of a workaround: Rename your boot loaders in such a way that the firmware launches GRUB (or whatever you like) in place of the Microsoft boot loader. The Boot Repair utility can do this semi-automatically, but you need to activate an option to back up and rename the Windows boot loader from its Advanced options set.
Responsive

Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by Responsive »

Fck this is way too hard.
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by Spearmint2 »

Responsive wrote:Fck this is way too hard.
Try installing windows 8 from scratch on an UEFI-BIOS motherboard.

If interested in running Linux, instead install to a USB flashdrive. You can get 32 GB USB3 direct from factory for $15, which is what I do. I know this works OK. You can do full install to it, or create it as a LIVE USB.

Here's a GParted of it as a LIVE USB, with a very small first FAT partition which some older BIOS seem to need or won't boot from it. It uses a separate partition for "persistence" instead of using a file which would be limited to 4 GB under FAT32 in which the LIVE version must be installed.
gparted.png
Linux17USBdriveFULLversion.png
If you need help with it, start an extra thread. The above avoids bothering with your main hard drive, especially if new W8 system. I find the LIVE works faster on slower flash media since it's a compressed install there's less to read from the flash and CPU is quite fast to expand into the RAM. It cross boots more systems typically than fully install. It also leaves more room for file storage. UnetBootin for creating LIVE and run Install on booted DVD to create a regular install on USB flashdrive, your choice. Making persistent partition is special step you'd need help with, not part of Unetbootin.
All things go better with Mint. Mint julep, mint jelly, mint gum, candy mints, pillow mints, peppermint, chocolate mints, spearmint,....
Responsive

Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by Responsive »

I have been installign it to a USB flash drive. Still doesnt work.
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by srs5694 »

Spearmint2 wrote:
Responsive wrote:Fck this is way too hard.
If interested in running Linux, instead install to a USB flashdrive.
Another good option is to install in a virtual machine (VirtualBox, VMware, or the like). This eliminates all dual-boot hassles and risks. I'm not sure of VMware's options, but with VirtualBox, you can install in either BIOS mode or EFI mode, no matter what the computer's real firmware. (A caveat, though: VirtualBox "forgets" boot loader settings made by efibootmgr in Linux, so if you do an EFI-mode boot, you'll need to set an alternative name -- specifically EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi.) At the very least, using a virtual machine for an EFI-mode installation can give you enough experience to help out when you install on "bare metal." Be aware, though, that because of system-to-system differences, you'll still find differences between a virtual machine and real hardware.
donsmouse1973

Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by donsmouse1973 »

System: Host: Samsung-Home Kernel: 3.13.0-37-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2)
Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca
Machine: System: SAMSUNG product: P500A2D version: CAAAAAAA
Mobo: SAMSUNG model: DP500A2D-K01UB version: SEC_SW__1234567890ABCD
Bios: American Megatrends version: P08KRM.060.130812.JJ date: 08/12/2013
CPU: Dual core Intel Core i3-3220T CPU (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 11175
Clock Speeds: 1: 1600.00 MHz 2: 2800.00 MHz 3: 2800.00 MHz 4: 1600.00 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0
X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Ivybridge Desktop GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-37-generic
Network: Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k bus-ID: 03:00.0
IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Card-3: Atheros usb-ID: 0cf3:3004
IF: N/A state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (1.1% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: ST500LM012_HN size: 500.1GB
Partition: ID: / size: 19G used: 5.2G (30%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 195G used: 84M (1%) fs: ext4
ID: swap-1 size: 16.38GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
RAID: No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: 27.8C
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 167 Uptime: 25 min Memory: 996.1/7873.2MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.4 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4


This tutorail worked perfect thank you!!!!! 8)
brennanhm

Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by brennanhm »

Thank you kindly for this splendid tutorial! I would like to add my experience to the thread.

I have a Dell XPS 12 laptop with a 256GB SSD that came pre-installed with Windows 8 Pro.

From within Win8, I did not have to defrag the Windows partition before resizing it. Windows offered 100GB, but I opted for only 50GB.

I booted Mint from a USB stick, created three new partitions using GParted, and started the installer. I was concerned when it reported "no detected operating systems were found". I thought that if I continued, Mint may not detect Windows and the dual boot would not work. After verifying that I had disabled "Secure Boot" in the BIOS settings and "Fast Boot" in Windows 8, I decided to proceed anyways with the "do something else" option. A couple of times the continue button was greyed out. To fix that, I rebooted into Windows, re-enabled Fast Boot, shutdown, rebooted and disabled Fast Boot, and shutdown again.

I formatted the three new partitions and selected mount points as the tutorial suggested. In my case, the EFI boot partition was on sda1. Near the end of the installation, I received the following error:

"The 'grub-efi-amd64-signed' package failed to install into /target/. Without the GRUB boot loader, the installed system will not boot."

I couldn't find any posts about that error on the Linux Mint forums, but some results turned up in the Ubuntu forums. There seemed to be a consensus that failed network connectivity was the likely cause. I do recall a WIFI disconnect error during the installation, so I restarted and tried again, this time monitoring the network connection throughout the installation.

Thankfully it worked the second time around and the laptop is able to dual boot into Mint and Windows now. :D
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bbaker6212
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Re: [TUTORIAL] Installing Mint on a Windows 8/8.1 Computer

Post by bbaker6212 »

Working..>>

System: Host: LenovoN580 Kernel: 3.16.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2)
Desktop: Cinnamon 2.6.11 Distro: Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela
Machine: System: LENOVO product: 20182 version: Lenovo IdeaPad N580
Mobo: LENOVO model: INVALID version: 31900003WIN8 STD MLT Bios: LENOVO version: 5ECN91WW(V8.03) date: 09/04/2012
CPU: Dual core Intel Pentium CPU B960 (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3) bmips: 8779.2
Clock Speeds: 1: 847.171 MHz 2: 970.234 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0
X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1366x768@60.0hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Sandybridge Mobile GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card-1: Intel 7 Series/C210 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
Card-2: Texas Instruments Audio Codec driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 003-003
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.16.0-38-generic
Network: Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) driver: ath9k bus-ID: 02:00.0
IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx port: 2000 bus-ID: 01:00.0
IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 320.1GB (1.6% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD3200BPVT size: 320.1GB
Partition: ID: / size: 19G used: 4.6G (27%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 53G used: 114M (1%) fs: ext4
RAID: No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 171 Uptime: 27 min Memory: 873.4/3816.2MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2
Client: Shell (bash 4.3.11) inxi: 1.9.17
Linux Mint XFCE 21.1 , Windows 11, Pop!_OS 22.04 Acer Aspire 5 A515-57 (linux-probe), Core i5-1235U, 16GB RAM
Lenovo Ideapad 330S-15IKB (linux-probe), Core i5-8250U, 20GB RAM
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