Help: need simple install of 18.3 over existing Mint 13 (dual boot)

[Eduardo103]

NOTE: This is a complete rewrite of the OP, as the OP was not completely expressed, and led to much confusion. The rewrite is complete and much clearer, and thus I hope will be of use to the many who have been with Mint 13, esp. dual boot, for the past years, and finally decided it's time to upgrade to 18.3, not an easy task for many of us.

We need specifics - not generalities - as to what to do with EACH partition found by "Install" and "Something Else", and of course the question of which "Device for boot loader installation" should be chosen. The problem is now expressed clearly here, as follows, and new answers will take up on 12/15...

Let's Start Again

Basis:
1. Dual boot system with Windows 7 residing on laptop's internal drive, Mint 13 residing on external drive.
2. A Sandisk 32gb USB drive was prepared with bootable Mint 18.3.
3. After booting and choosing to “Install Mint” and “Something Else”, this is what "install" finds:

For the internal drive (Windows)
sda1 ntfs 1572mb, 201mb used Windows 7 (loader)
sda2 ntfs 419331mb, unknown Windows 7 (loader)
sda5 ntfs 314571, 16976 used
sda4 ntfs 14676, 14054 used, Windows Recovery Environmnt (loader)

The Sandisk 31.5gb USB) with bootable Mint 18.3
sdb

For the external Seagate 1tb:
sdc1 ext4 499mb, 169mb used
sdc5 ext4 19998mb, 7864 used Linux Mint 13
sdc6 ext4 399999mb, 29235mb
sdc7 swap 3999mb
sdc3 ntfs 575703mb

Choices to be made:

As you know, I am now given several choices for each of the above partitions for the internal and external. These are:
1. to change size of partition
2. to format
3. what to use as (eg ext4, ntfs, do not use, etc.)

This last (3) includes these choices for each partition:
do not use
ext4
ext3
ext2
btrfs
JFS
XFS
FAT16
FAT32
swap
physical volume for encryption
The existing ntfs partitions also give the choice to use as “NFTS”

First question:
Please be specific as to what I need do for EACH partition listed above. Nothing at all? "Format"? "Change" and to what?

Last Choice:
The last choice I need make before installation is “Device for boot loader installation”. My possible choices given here are:
sda (internal drive) 750gb
sda1 Windows 7 (loader)
sda2 Windows 7 (loader)
sda5
sdb Sandisk 31.5gb (USB)
sdc (external Seagate) 1tb
sdc1 Linux Mint 13
sdc6
sdc3

Last question: which "device for boot loader installation" should be chosen?

Goals:
Ideally I want to retain my dual boot capability, to retain my Windows internal drive (sda) and information, to retain all my programs and information, and home currently on my external drive (sdc). I have saved backups to an ntfs partition on the internal Windows, that I assume I can restore to 18.3, once it is installed over the old Mint 13.



_________________________________________________________________________

Addenda:

Before I began this process, Gparted showed the following for my internal Win 7 and external Mint 13...

Internal 750gb drive (Windows):

/dev/sda1 ntfs System 1.46 GiB, 500.25 MiB used, 999.75 MiB unused, flag boot diag
/dev/sda2 ntfs TI106321W0B 390.53 GiB
/dev/sda3 extended 292.97 GiB, flag lba
/dev/sda5 ntfs New Volume 292.97 GiB, 15.81 GiB used, 277.16 GiB unused
/dev/sda4 ntfs HDRECOVERY 13.67 GiB, 13.09 GiB used, 593.88 MiB unused, flag hidden

External 1tb drive (Mint 13):

/dev/sdc1 ext4 /boot 476.00 MiB, 207.03 MiB used, 267.97 MiB unused, flag boot
/dev/sdc2 extended 394.88 GiB
/dev/sdc5 ext4 / 18.62 GiB, 7.98 GiB used, 10.64 GiB unused
/dev/sdc6 ext4 /home 372.53 GiB, 46.85 GiB used, 325.68 GiB unused
/dev/sdc7 linux-swap 3.72 GiB
/dev/sdc3 ntfs /media/44C5FA78489654FB 536.17 GiB, 28.39 GiB used, 507.77 GiB unused

[Ozo]

Photos, click on them of course for a much clearer image.
I think what you want is to clone the hard drive which I can not help with but you can start by watching some Youtube videos on that. There are numerous threads already on this forum regarding that. There may even be a tutorial here regarding that.

Also, there are videos on how to replace the hard drive in many specific laptops. Solid state drives are reasonably priced too and very very fast. 120 GB ssd @ $50, 60 GB ssd @ $35

[Eduardo103]

Ozo, you are the man! Thank you for posting my pics.

I rewrote them for those, like me, with fading eyesight:

To help out readers, here's what my Gparted screenshots showed:

Internal drive (Windows):

/dev/sda1 ntfs System 1.46 GiB, 500.25 MiB used, 999.75 MiB unused, flag boot diag
/dev/sda2 ntfs TI106321W0B 390.53 GiB
/dev/sda3 extended 292.97 GiB, flag lba
/dev/sda5 ntfs New Volume 292.97 GiB, 15.81 GiB used, 277.16 GiB unused
/dev/sda4 ntfs HDRECOVERY 13.67 GiB, 13.09 GiB used, 593.88 MiB unused, flag hidden

External drive (Mint 13):

/dev/sdb1 ext4 /boot 476.00 MiB, 207.03 MiB used, 267.97 MiB unused, flag boot
/dev/sdb2 extended 394.88 GiB
/dev/sdb5 ext4 / 18.62 GiB, 7.98 GiB used, 10.64 GiB unused
/dev/sdb6 ext 4 /home 372.53 GiB, 46.85 GiB used, 325.68 GiB unused
/dev/sdb7 linux-swap 3.72 GiB
/dev/sdb3 ntfs /media/44C5FA78489654FB 536.17 GiB, 28.39 GiB used, 507.77 GiB unused

Thanks again Ozo for posting my actual Gparted screenshot, above...

[Ozo]

Glad to assist. One more thing regarding the ssd replacement on your Satellite model 655 that I was touting. It is extremely easy as seen in this video. You will be amazed at how fast Mint loads from a USB flash drive coupled with an ssd.

If you click on the photos then enlarge they are very clear. Hit F11 for an even better view.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt_xaMsGt88

[michael louwe]

@ Eduardo103, .......

...

.
[1.] Plug in the Live LM 18.3 DVD/USB-stick and boot from it through BIOS setup's Boot menu. Do a test-drive of LM.
[2.] Plug in the 1TB external USB HDD.
[3.] Click 'Install LM'. Ensure that you do not touch the internal HDD = /sda during manual partitioning.
[4.] Must use the manual "Something else" install method. Delete all the LM 13 partitions to create a new free space. Click on the free space and partition the free space accordingly, eg a / or Root partition of about 50GB, a Swap partition of about 1.5X RAM size at the "end of this space", and a large Home partition for your data storage. ....
... viewtopic.php?f=42&t=122276 (manual partitioning Tutorial for Legacy BIOS mode and ms-dos disks)
[5.] Ensure that the "Device for boot loader installation" is the external USB HDD, eg /sdb.
[6.] After installation has completed, click 'Continue Testing' and then Shutdown. Unplug the Live LM DVD/USB-stick.
[7.] Start the computer and go into BIOS setup by pressing the required F-key. Go into the Boot menu to select the external USB HDD as the first boot device. Then exit BIOS setup to boot into LM 18.3 that is on the 1TB external USB HDD.

P S - ms-dos/MBR disks are limited to 4 Primary partitions and 2TB in size.

[Eduardo103]

[1.] Plug in the Live LM 18.3 DVD/USB-stick and boot from it through BIOS setup's Boot menu. Do a test-drive of LM.
[2.] Plug in the 1TB external USB HDD.
[3.] Click 'Install LM'. Ensure that you do not touch the internal HDD = /sda during manual partitioning.
[4.] Must use the manual "Something else" install method. Delete all the LM 13 partitions to create a new free space. Click on the free space and partition the free space accordingly, eg a / or Root partition of about 50GB, a Swap partition of about 1.5X RAM size at the "end of this space", and a large Home partition for your data storage. ....
... viewtopic.php?f=42&t=122276 (manual partitioning Tutorial for Legacy BIOS mode and ms-dos disks)
[5.] Ensure that the "Device for boot loader installation" is the external USB HDD, eg /sdb.
[6.] After installation has completed, click 'Continue Testing' and then Shutdown. Unplug the Live LM DVD/USB-stick.
[7.] Start the computer and go into BIOS setup by pressing the required F-key. Go into the Boot menu to select the external USB HDD as the first boot device. Then exit BIOS setup to boot into LM 18.3 that is on the 1TB external USB HDD.

P S - ms-dos/MBR disks are limited to 4 Primary partitions and 2TB in size.

Thanks... a bit hard for my aging brain to quickly comprehend, but your link to ... viewtopic.php?f=42&t=122276 ... is a good one and I'm studying it, so I can better understand your helpful post. Once I understand (and try this on a cloned external I made) will report back soon, hopefully as solved. Since I wish to maintain all my old data, etc., it seems the relevent part of that link is:

Yes you could do that, using the manual partition option in the installer the next time you install. Instead of following the guide above and creating new partitions, you would click the "Change" button for each existing partition. For the root partition, you would set the mount point again to / and select to format it to the filesystem type of your choice (ext4 is current recommendation as a default). Same for the home partition, you would set the mount point again to /home but not select to format it. And lastly same for the swap partition, though swap doesn't have a format option. That way you install a new release, but keep your existing files in /home.

Downside of that approach is that preferences files and folders (generally hidden in your home folder, press Ctrl+H in your file manager to see them) might cause problems with the new release. This happens sometimes, with problems ranging from one application having problems starting until you clean its preferences, or (though rarely) having problems logging in successfully. It should generally work fine from one release to a next so I'm just putting this here as full disclosure, but if you skip releases the chance of running into such problems increases. As always, before your install a new release, make a backup of your important files!

For my current system (listed above), it would seem I would choose format this existing one:
/dev/sdb1 ext4 /boot 476.00 MiB, 207.03 MiB used, 267.97 MiB unused, flag boot
Apparently I would set the mount point, but not format, this existing one:
/dev/sdb6 ext 4 /home 372.53 GiB, 46.85 GiB used, 325.68 GiB unused

Not sure, but I'll boot my USB and see what I get, what decisions I'm faced with, and get back to you all...

[Sgthawker]

For my current system (listed above), it would seem I would choose format this existing one:
/dev/sdb1 ext4 /boot 476.00 MiB, 207.03 MiB used, 267.97 MiB unused, flag boot
Apparently I would set the mount point, but not format, this existing one:
/dev/sdb6 ext 4 /home 372.53 GiB, 46.85 GiB used, 325.68 GiB unused

Not sure, but I'll boot my USB and see what I get, what decisions I'm faced with, and get back to you all...

Make sure you have backed up your data!
Just select / and format it for 18.3,
select /home DON'T format it,
select swap,
select media DON'T format it,
and select dev/sdb for boot.

That should do it.

[Eduardo103]

To be clear, this is how far I've gotten before pulling the trigger and installing:

1. Booted from bootable 18.3 on USB (sdc)
2. Started "install Mint"
3. Got "installation detects mounted partitions. Do you want to unmount? My answer: NO
4. Screen then shows the following partitions only, with boxes to "format". My internal Windows drive is "sda". For my Linux drive (sdb), it shows:

http://rumproject.com/images/screenshotbootloader.jpg

/dev/sdb1 ext 4 499mb 169mb
/dev/sdb5 ext4 19998mb 801mb Linux Mint 13
/dev/sdb6 ext 4 399999mb 29219mb
/dev/sdb7 swap 3999mb unknown
/dev/sdb3 ntfs 575703mb unknown

All of these have a box to check or not for "format".
Also given two possible boxes to check or not for "New Partition" and/or "Revert"
For "Device for Bootloader Installation" I selected my external Linux drive, sdb.

Addenda:
FWIW my Gparted showed my sdb (external Linux drive) as:

/dev/sdb1 ext4 /boot 476.00 MiB, 207.03 MiB used, 267.97 MiB unused, flag boot
/dev/sdb2 extended 394.88 GiB
/dev/sdb5 ext4 / 18.62 GiB, 7.98 GiB used, 10.64 GiB unused
/dev/sdb6 ext 4 /home 372.53 GiB, 46.85 GiB used, 325.68 GiB unused
/dev/sdb7 linux-swap 3.72 GiB
/dev/sdb3 ntfs /media/44C5FA78489654FB 536.17 GiB, 28.39 GiB used, 507.77 GiB unused

This would imply that:
sdb1 is my boot partition
sdb2 is extended space
sdb5 would appear to be the home for Mint 13 (per the USB install, top of page)
sdb6 is my "home"
sdb7 is swap
sdb3 is ntfs used for storage

Earlier I was advised to:

Just select / and format it for 18.3,
select /home DON'T format it,
select swap,
select media DON'T format it,
and select dev/sdb for boot.

From this it appears all I need to do is:
select sdb1, set as ext 4, and "/" and format
select sdb6 (was home), set as ext 4, and "/home", do not format
select sdb7 (was swap) set as swap, do not format
select dev/sdb (my external former linux drive) as "drive for bootloader installation"

I note that sdb2 and sdb 5 are not listed by the install program. Do I need to add them? I also note that sdb3 IS shown by the install program. But the instructions just above do not address these three partitions (sdb2, sdb5 and sdb3). Sorry, but I'm completely confused.

Again, all I want to do is to replace the current Mint 13 with 18.3, but leaving my /home, programs and data intact. However I do have backups on my internal (sda) Windows drive and perhaps I could rely on a restoral. How best should I proceed?

[Sgthawker]

If you check the link at the top, I see no way to "select" any partition, although I do see boxes that can be checked to format. Based on my Gparted shown just above, it would seem to indicate that sdb1 is a boot partition and sdb5 is where Mint 13 resides and that these are the only two that should be formatted? [/i]

Highlight the partition in question.
Below the box are three buttons, +, -, and change.
Hit change, and a popup shows the options to choose the partition and options.

[Eduardo103]

Hi Sgt.... sorry but you replied just as I was changing my last post, just before yours. Please do re-review it as I now know how to select and change, but am unclear as to which partitions I should change, to what, and whether to format. I also note that not all of the partitions I show on Gparted show up on the USB install program.

[Eduardo103]

First of all, my apologies for an earlier post in which my OP was not fully stated, and thus led to confusion. Not this time! Here we go...

Basis:
Older Toshiba Satellite 655 laptop, came with and still has Windows 7 on internal 750gb drive
Have run dual boot for years, successfully, using external Seagate 1tb drive.

Gparted screenshots of my working system show (with remarks):

Internal drive (Windows)
/dev/sda1 ntfs System 1.46 GiB, 500.25 MiB used, 999.75 MiB unused, flag boot diag
/dev/sda2 ntfs TI106321W0B 390.53 GiB
/dev/sda3 extended 292.97 GiB, flag lba
/dev/sda5 ntfs New Volume 292.97 GiB, 15.81 GiB used, 277.16 GiB unused
/dev/sda4 ntfs HDRECOVERY 13.67 GiB, 13.09 GiB used, 593.88 MiB unused, flag hidden


External Seagate drive (Mint 13)
/dev/sdb1 ext4 /boot 476.00 MiB, 207.03 MiB used, 267.97 MiB unused, flag boot
/dev/sdb2 extended 394.88 GiB
/dev/sdb5 ext4 / 18.62 GiB, 7.98 GiB used, 10.64 GiB unused
/dev/sdb6 ext 4 /home 372.53 GiB, 46.85 GiB used, 325.68 GiB unused
/dev/sdb7 linux-swap 3.72 GiB
/dev/sdb3 ntfs /media/44C5FA78489654FB 536.17 GiB, 28.39 GiB used, 507.77 GiB unused

Next: USB prepared with 18.3:

I prepared a Sandisk 32gb USB drive with bootable Mint 18.3. After booting and choosing to “Install Mint” and “Something Else”, I get:

(Please notice that since I booted from the USB, the USB is now drive b, and my external (normally b) is now drive c.)

For the internal drive (Windows)
sda1 ntfs 1572mb, 201mb used Windows 7 (loader)
sda2 ntfs 419331mb, unknown Windows 7 (loader)
sda5 ntfs 314571, 16976 used
sda4 ntfs 14676, 14054 used, Windows Recovery Environmnt (loader)

For the external Seagate 1tb:
sdc1 ext4 499mb, 169mb used
sdc5 ext4 19998mb, 7864 used Linux Mint 13
sdc6 ext4 399999mb, 29235mb
sdc7 swap 3999mb
sdc3 ntfs 575703mb

And sdb (is the Sandisk 31.5gb USB) with bootable Mint 18.3

Last Steps Before Install

As you know, I am now given several choices for each of the above partitions for the internal and external. These are:
1. to change size of partition
2. to format
3. and to use as (various choice)

This last (#3) includes these choices for each partition:
do not use
ext4
ext3
ext2
btrfs
JFS
XFS
FAT16
FAT32
swap
physical volume for encryption
The existing ntfs partitions also give the choice to use as “NFTS”

Goals:
I do not want to change or mess with the internal Windows drive – sda – as this is where I keep all my backups and other important windows and other information. I want to retain my dual boot ability. And I think I DO want to retain my external Linux drive partitions (sdc on the Install Mint listing), but just to replace my Mint 13 with the new 18.3 from the Sandisk USB.

My Assumptions
My assumptions are that I need do nothing to my sda, or perhaps choose “do not use” for all the sda partitions, and to NOT format them. I have no idea what choices to make for the sdc external drive (Linux) partitions. I assume I have to make choices on all the listed partitions (sd1-5-6-7-3).

Last Choice:
The last choice I need make before installation is “Device for boot loader installation”. My possible choices given here are:
sda (internal drive) 750gb
sda1 Windows 7 (loader)
sda2 Windows 7 (loader)
sda5
sdb Sandisk 31.5gb (USB)
sdc (external Seagate) 1tb
sdc1 Linux Mint 13
sdc6
sdc3


Would some kind and knowlegeable soul please advise me of what choices I need make for all the partitions shown by the install program, including the final choice, which drive or partition to choose as the "Device for boot loader installation"?

Thanks. I now understand all the possible choices, and hope that this complete statement will be of use to others....

[Spearmint2]

In simplest terms. Since you have a /home partition, all you should need to do is install version 18 into the /dev/sdb5 partition. Everything in the /home should remain much the same, although some configuration files will (hopefully) ask to be overwritten.

[Eduardo103]

In simplest terms. Since you have a /home partition, all you should need to do is install version 18 into the /dev/sdb5 partition. Everything in the /home should remain much the same, although some configuration files will (hopefully) ask to be overwritten.

Thanks, but I included all the choices I must make, so again, my question is:

Please advise me of what choices I need make for all the partitions shown by the install program, including the final choice, which drive or partition to choose as the "Device for boot loader installation"?

Please refer to my last long post, just above, which lists all the partitions made available to me by "Install" - on drive a (internal Windows) and on drive c (external Linux). I also have to choose the device for boot loader installation. One earlier poster stated I needed to "change" all partitions, format some, not others, add "/" and "/home" where needed. Can you please address all the things I need change and to what? Or which to do nothing to, etc.

Thanks...

[Spearmint2]

You already have /boot on sdb1 partition, so that's where you'd tell it to install the bootloader. The OS is to be installed to sdb5. That's about all there is to it.

[Eduardo103]

You already have /boot on sdb1 partition, so that's where you'd tell it to install the bootloader. The OS is to be installed to sdb5. That's about all there is to it.

And exactly and specifically how would I achieve those? Do I "change" those partitions and to what? Do I format them or not? Do I set them up as ext4 or one of the other choices? What changes if any must I perform with the other partitions? Do I choose "do not use for any of the sda partitions? And what device do I choose for boot installation? And so on. I asked for specifics and this is the second time this poster has provided generalities.

BTW, if you read my entire post, you'd know that after booting from my USB, "install" now calls those partitions sdc1 and sdc5 (on the external Linux drive), not sdb1 or 5. "Install" then now calls my bootable 18.3 USB as drive sdb (no sdb1 or 5 shown on it). If you cannot provide specifics, you are doing more harm than good on this thread, but thanks for trying.

[Spearmint2]

I'm out of thread if you're going to be snippy and sniping. Try some youtube videos. Bye.

[Eduardo103]

I'm out of thread if you're going to be snippy and sniping. Try some youtube videos. Bye.

Thank you, much appreciated. Be well.

FWIW, there are more than a few folks - who although they once managed to install a dual boot system (in my case with two drives) - who have not had to upgrade Mint 13 for some years, and for whom short term memory is the first to go. Not to mention that preserving that dual boot system, and all the Windows and Linux data and programs accumulated is MUCH more challenging than a clean new install.

We need specifics - not generalities - as to what to do with EACH partition found by "Install" and "Something Else", and of course the question of which "Device for boot loader installation" should be chosen. In the interest of clarity, readers should ignore all of the above (there are error by me and by some responders),

Let's Start Again

Basis:
1. Dual boot system with Windows 7 residing on laptop's internal drive, Mint 13 residing on external drive.
2. A Sandisk 32gb USB drive was prepared with bootable Mint 18.3.
3. After booting and choosing to “Install Mint” and “Something Else”, this is what "install" finds:

For the internal drive (Windows)
sda1 ntfs 1572mb, 201mb used Windows 7 (loader)
sda2 ntfs 419331mb, unknown Windows 7 (loader)
sda5 ntfs 314571, 16976 used
sda4 ntfs 14676, 14054 used, Windows Recovery Environmnt (loader)

The Sandisk 31.5gb USB) with bootable Mint 18.3
sdb

For the external Seagate 1tb:
sdc1 ext4 499mb, 169mb used
sdc5 ext4 19998mb, 7864 used Linux Mint 13
sdc6 ext4 399999mb, 29235mb
sdc7 swap 3999mb
sdc3 ntfs 575703mb

Choices to be made:

As you know, I am now given several choices for each of the above partitions for the internal and external. These are:
1. to change size of partition
2. to format
3. what to use as (eg ext4, ntfs, do not use, etc.)

This last (3) includes these choices for each partition:
do not use
ext4
ext3
ext2
btrfs
JFS
XFS
FAT16
FAT32
swap
physical volume for encryption
The existing ntfs partitions also give the choice to use as “NFTS”

First question:
Please be specific as to what I need do for EACH partition listed above. Nothing at all? "Format"? "Change" and to what?

Last Choice:
The last choice I need make before installation is “Device for boot loader installation”. My possible choices given here are:
sda (internal drive) 750gb
sda1 Windows 7 (loader)
sda2 Windows 7 (loader)
sda5
sdb Sandisk 31.5gb (USB)
sdc (external Seagate) 1tb
sdc1 Linux Mint 13
sdc6
sdc3

Last question: which "device for boot loader installation" should be chosen?

Goals:
Ideally I want to retain my dual boot capability, to retain my Windows internal drive (sda) and information, to retain all my programs and information, and home currently on my external drive (sdc). I have saved backups to an ntfs partition on the internal Windows, that I assume I can restore to 18.3, once it is installed over the old Mint 13.



_________________________________________________________________________

Addenda:

Before I began this process, Gparted showed the following for my internal Win 7 and external Mint 13...

Internal 750gb drive (Windows):

/dev/sda1 ntfs System 1.46 GiB, 500.25 MiB used, 999.75 MiB unused, flag boot diag
/dev/sda2 ntfs TI106321W0B 390.53 GiB
/dev/sda3 extended 292.97 GiB, flag lba
/dev/sda5 ntfs New Volume 292.97 GiB, 15.81 GiB used, 277.16 GiB unused
/dev/sda4 ntfs HDRECOVERY 13.67 GiB, 13.09 GiB used, 593.88 MiB unused, flag hidden

External 1tb drive (Mint 13):

/dev/sdc1 ext4 /boot 476.00 MiB, 207.03 MiB used, 267.97 MiB unused, flag boot
/dev/sdc2 extended 394.88 GiB
/dev/sdc5 ext4 / 18.62 GiB, 7.98 GiB used, 10.64 GiB unused
/dev/sdc6 ext4 /home 372.53 GiB, 46.85 GiB used, 325.68 GiB unused
/dev/sdc7 linux-swap 3.72 GiB
/dev/sdc3 ntfs /media/44C5FA78489654FB 536.17 GiB, 28.39 GiB used, 507.77 GiB unused