[SOLVED] Install seemed to work and UBUNTU now a reboot option ?

[bill_steamshovel]

Hello,

Well I think I just installed v18.3 Linux Mint Sylvia

The install process said it had installed succesfully. Nothing strange happened during the install - seemed to be fairly routine messages defining what it was doing.

I don't get any choices when I boot up - goes straight to windows.

When I then go to system settings and to tell it to boot off the USB there is a new option that wasn't there before :

UBUNTU -new option - this implies some sort of limited success ? but this simply executes a normal windows startup ...
EFI USB Device - this boots off the USB
Internal Hard DIsk or Solid State DIsk - this performs a normal windows boot

F12 has no effect upon any of the bootups.

The L drive (100GB main Linux) and M drive (8GB swap space) both show up on the file explorer but they show up as 0 size and if I try to open them with a mouseclick windows says it must format them first because unknown file types

I can still startup by running off the usb stick

Every time I boot now I get a brief message saying "M repairing M drive" which is the 8GB swap space

Can I simply run the whole install again or do I have to do some sort of cleaning up procedure first ?

Bill

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mint@mint ~ $ inxi -Fzdx
System: Host: mint Kernel: 4.10.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.6 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3)
	Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine: System: HP (portable) product: HP Pavilion x360 Convertible v: Type1ProductConfigId
	Mobo: HP model: 81A9 v: 57.53 Bios: Insyde v: F.23 date: 12/28/2016
CPU: Dual core Intel Core i5-7200U (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB
	flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 10848
	clock speeds: max: 3100 MHz 1: 598 MHz 2: 588 MHz 3: 582 MHz
	4: 582 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel Device 5916 bus-ID: 00:02.0
	Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
	Resolution: 1366x768@60.06hz
	GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 620 (Kabylake GT2)
	GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.0.7 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card Intel Device 9d71 driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
	Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.10.0-38-generic
Network: Card: Intel Device 24fb driver: iwlwifi bus-ID: 01:00.0
	IF: wlo1 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 1015.7GB (0.8% used)
	ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD10SPCX size: 1000.2GB temp: 36C
	ID-2: /dev/mmcblk0 model: N/A size: 15.9GB
	ID-3: /dev/sdc model: Name n/a size: 15.5GB temp: 0C
	Optical: No optical drives detected.
	Partition: ID-1: swap-1 size: 8.39GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda4
	RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 39.0C mobo: 38.0C
	Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 214 Uptime: 1 min Memory: 557.4/3822.7MB
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35
mint@mint ~ $

[gm10]

I don't get any choices when I boot up - goes straight to windows.

That's normal. You need to set the boot order. You can do it from within Windows or Linux, but it's easiest to just do it from within your UEFI (BIOS) under the boot options there. Set it to boot Ubuntu, which means it will boot the GRUB2 boot loader which then allows you to boot either Linux or Windows.

[bill_steamshovel]

Thanks gm10

Did some googling found the UEFI boot order under system configuration accessed it by hitting escape on startup then F10

Current list written out below - UBUNTU not an option here yet it is an option under the restart system screen.

OS Boot Manager
USB DIskette on Key / USB Hard DIsc
USB CD/DVD ROM Drive
! Network Adaptor

Do I simply put OS Boot Manager to the bottom of the list ?

2:30am here and am off to bed will respond to any replies tomorrow.

Regards and thanks

Bill

[gm10]

Should look something like this (google image search to the rescue):

Change the order in that little popup list (F5/F6).

Alternatively, from within windows you should be able to do something like this from an administrative console:
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\ubuntu\grubx64.efi

Last but not least, from within the Linux (live USB) you can run

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efibootmgr

Which in my case outputs:

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BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0001,0003,0000
Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager
Boot0001* ubuntu
Boot0003* UEFI OS

You can then set the boot order yourself like this:

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sudo efibootmgr -o 1,3,0

except you use the numbers the command did output on your device (you can drop leading zeroes).

Remember, you only need to do one of the above. I think doing it directly in the UEFI BIOS is the safest way to do it.

[michael louwe]

@ bill_steamshovel, .......

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As per this link provided to you earlier by Pierre ... viewtopic.php?f=42&t=163126 (Tutorial for dual-booting UEFI computers), the "Device for boot loader installation" should be the Windows EFI System Partition or Windows Boot Manager = /sda1 = a fat32 partition, and not /sda or the internal hard-drive which is only correct for dual-booting Legacy BIOS computers.
....... This may be why LM cannot be booted after the install, ie the Grub.efi bootloader was incorrectly installed.

To correct the faulty installation, the simpler method for you is to reinstall LM by using the manual "Something else" install method, delete all the Linux partitions(by clicking - ) to create a new free-space and then manually install LM on this free-space. Ensure that the "Device for boot loader installation" is installed to the correct place. ...
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=122276 (manual partitioning Tutorial for Legacy BIOS mode and MBR/ms-dos disks)[can be used as a partitioning guide for UEFI mode install]

The harder method is to manually install the Grub.efi bootloader on the Windows EFI System Partition or Windows Boot Manager = no need to reinstall LM. ... https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/6
....... The other harder method is to use the automatic Boot Repair tool. ... viewtopic.php?f=46&t=207529

[bill_steamshovel]

Thanks for the suggestions ...... Gotta admit am started to get a bit daunted by the mess that I have made and the danger of making things worse by further errors.

Is there another way out of this ........ something a bit simpler for a newb ..... i.e

Delete or format the partitions with Windows disk manager then

Run the installation again and do it properly this time ?

Am a bit concerned about installing into free space as suggested above , if I did that would I have to mount the free space into the root or is it automatically in the root ? If its possible to install into free space then why do we make partitions to install into in the first place ............ and I gotta admit I dont really know what I'm talking about here.

Bill

[michael louwe]

@ bill_steamshovel, .......

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Have a look also at these links ... https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... ct/windows
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... nt-install
https://www.tecmint.com/install-linux-m ... uefi-mode/ (note step 17 - if Win 8.x/10 could not boot, <sudo update-grub>)

Ensure that Secure Boot, Fast Boot and CSM(or Legacy BIOS) are disabled in BIOS Setup, Fast Startup is disabled in Win 10/8.1(>Control Panel >Power options) and the Live LM media(DVD or USB-stick) is booted in UEFI mode from the Boot Menu in BIOS Setup.

For the manual "Something else" install method in UEFI/GPT mode, create as Primary partitions for Root(/), Home and Swap, ie no need to use Logical partitions, because GPT disks are limited to 128 Primary partitions whereas MBR/ms-dos disks for Legacy BIOS mode install are limited to 4 Primary partitions and 2TB in size.

The Windows Disk Management tool cannot be used to delete the Linux partitions(= ext4 file system) because Windows cannot read or detect Linux files or partitions. The tool can only read Windows files/partitions(= ntfs, fat32). This is also why Linux has to be installed after Windows in a dual-boot system.
....... The free-space that will created by deleting the non-working installed Linux partitions is just to restore the about 100GB of disk space which you had earlier allocated for the install of LM by using the Windows Disk Management tool.
.......The internal hard-drive and all its partitions are unmounted during the installation of LM on the drive, ie only the Live LM USB/DVD is mounted or running or active. Otherwise, the internal hard-drive cannot be partitioned for an OS install, either as single-boot or dual-boot. We use the Live LM USB/DVD to mount the internal hard-drive when we want to access the drive, eg to read its files(= read document files, watch movie files, listen to music files or to transfer/backup the files).

In your case, the LM reinstall steps are roughly as follow ...
1. Run the Live LM USB/DVD and then use the manual "Something else" install method.

2. To delete the Linux Root(/) and Swap partitions, click on the partitions, click - and click OK. After the deletions, a new free-space will be created. Remember to only click on the free-space and not to click on the Windows(ntfs) partitions or let them be touched by your manual partitioning steps.

3. Click on the newly created free-space(= will be repeated 3 times for the 3 partitions) to manually partition it by creating Primary partitions for Root(/), Swap and Home, ie no need to use Logical partitions. The Swap partition(= about 1.5X RAM size) should be located at the "end of this space" because it is seldom accessed by the Linux system. The Root or System partition should be at least 30GB in size.

4. Ensure that the "Device for boot loader installation" is the Windows EFI System Partition or Windows Boot Manager = /sda1.
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P S - If you so choose, you can revert to Windows by using the GParted program from the Live LM USB/DVD to delete the non-working Linux partitions, reformat them to ntfs and merge it back to Windows.

[darsh]

This happened to me, but automatically fixed itself after I restarted my computer again.

[bill_steamshovel]

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions.

Got the install finished this afternoon. Ironically, I think I learned a heap from my mistakes and your suggestions and that learning wouldn't have happened if I'd done it right the first time. Thanks again.

Am able to run Linux Mint now by starting in windows and then rebooting off the stored version of Ubuntu - don't need the USB any more.

I will gradually get the system to boot straight into Linux ....... despite installing GRUB into Windows Boot Manager I don't get an option to start in Linux off a cold boot ....... I will now investigate further changing the order of things in the UEFI bootlist gizmo as suggested above.

Its such a luxury not having to keep booting off the USB any more. Will slowly plod along and shouldn't need much more help on installation issues.

Have downloaded the users manual and will now train my brain to make the leap from WIndows 10 to Linux Mint. Should be fascinating.

This post my first from Mint running on its own without USB.

Next task set up some friendly shortcuts for my wife to use and then my way through the "what to do after installing mint" documents & tutorials.

Regards
Bill

[michael louwe]

@ bill_steamshovel, .......

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If you want a Grub Menu where you can boot either LM 19 or Win 10, while running LM 19.0, go to the Terminal and do a sudo update-grub. Reboot.

Bear in mind that Win 10's forced auto-updates/upgrades will often bork the Grub bootloader in a dual-booted system, requiring a reinstall of Grub.efi. This is because a Win 10 inplace upgrade to a newer version every 6 months actually means a new install of Win 10 and in a dual-boot system, the last OS installed will take over control of the boot process through chain-loading = after a Win 10 inplace upgrade, Win 10 will take over control of booting. But because Win 10 cannot read Linux files/partitions, Win 10 upgrades will result in LM 19.0 becoming unbootable = LM 19's Grub.efi has to be reinstalled on the Windows EFI System Partition(ESP).
....... This recurring problem cannot continue for long because too many reinstall of the Windows and Linux bootloaders on the Windows ESP(= only about 200MB in size) will soon fill up the ESP to capacity = bootloaders can no longer be reinstalled = the boot problem likely becomes unfixable = reinstall both OS or delete the ESP, recreate it as fat32/2000MB and manually reinstall the Windows Boot Manager and Grub.efi on it.

Because of this, tech-geeks prefer to keep both OS and its bootloaders on separate drives, eg ...
1. use 2 different computers or
2. use 2 internal hard-drives(= for desktops) or
3. keep Win 10 on the internal hard-drive and install LM 19 on an external USB hard-drive or
4. install LM on a virtual machine(eg VMWare or VirtualBox) or
5. run a Live LM 19 USB 3.0 Flash-drive with Persistent Storage.
....... 2 and 3 can be done more easily in Legacy BIOS/MBR(ms-dos) mode install, instead of in UEFI mode.