Dual Boot 17.3 and 19.0

[boxereighty]

I have been using a stand alone Mint17.3 Cinnamon installation on my Optiplex7010 I5 computer for over a year with no problems. Now I want to set up a dual boot with Mint 19 Cinnamon to make a slow transition to that system. There are lots of tutorials on dual booting with another Windows system but that is not my goal. I can find very little info on dual booting with earlier Mint versions. I have installed dual boot with Mint and OSX in two Macbooks so I understand the process.

All my documents are on a 256Gb USB drive for portability so wiping that data is not an issue. I'm currently only using 13% of the 500Gb hard drive on this computer so space is not an issue for my plan. I just do not want to damage my Mint 17.3 OS while installing 19, preventing me from reverting to it before the 19.0 is fully operational with the functionality I've installed on 17.3 over the year. A step by step tutorial to accomplish this would be appreciated, hopefully to share the Home file, but that isn't a requirement. I read one article that mentioned this but it was not a step by step instruction that I could follow from start to finish. A point out to such instruction, if available, would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance. Boxereighty

[foxtreat]

although im Certain a shared home folder is not possible

its really easy to dual boot different versions in case you want that

just download the linux mint version 19 ISO from the website

using mint 17.3 press the start menu
search for USB image writer

plug in your USB

select the ISO you downloaded,then select your usb,press start and enter your password
wait for it to finish

after that shut down your PC
and open your bios
most commonly you need to spam F9 or ESC button while booting to open the boot options menu
which button you need to press depends of your manufacturer,either google it or just experiment

select your usb,it should contain its manufacturer and size as a name
anything that does not contain these in its name: Ubuntu,HDD,network or CD

then it should boot from the usb,press enter if prompted for anything
then double click on the Install linux mint icon on the desktop


follow the tutorial untill it asks you how/where to install
there will be a option to select to install Along side linux mint17.3(it might say ubuntu,its the same)

just select it,then adjust the sliders to set how much memmory you want for both operating systems

thats it,its simple


you will find that there is little to no difference between 19 and 17.3
mostly bug fixes and new features,id highly advise you to just use a full clean install of linux mint 19 if you have all your files on a external drive
good luck!

[boxereighty]

I have the 19.0 ISO on a bootable media and have used it successfully as a live boot on the computer where I will install it. However I did not see an option to "boot next to the existing mint system" when I selected "Install". The only thing close was "something else" with no mention of the already installed system. I do not wish to disrupt my current 17.3 system in any way. If that is my only option I will just continue with 17.3 until it expires then spend a week re-establishing all the functionality I've built into 17.3.

Boxereighty

[kukamuumuka]

although im Certain a shared home folder is not possible

Not true, just use different username.

[String]

Disclaimer: Always make sure you have a backup of everything before attempting to do anything. Use TimeShift, save all your data, etc. Do what you gotta do.

Create the LM19 bootable USB.

Boot from the USB live image.

Make sure you have enough FREE DISK SPACE. You may use gparted (available in the USB live image environment) to manage/organize your drive partitions first before starting the installation wizard. Be very careful and don't proceed if you're not sure about something.

Initiate the LM19 installation wizard.

Choose the manual option.

Create the partitions that LM19 will use:

• root (/)
• home (/home)
• swap area

I assume you only have one drive. Just make sure that the new GRUB points to the same drive where Mint 17 is installed.

Click "Install Now".

The GRUB menu should list both upon boot up.

[kukamuumuka]

I have the 19.0 ISO on a bootable media and have used it successfully as a live boot on the computer where I will install it. However I did not see an option to "boot next to the existing mint system" when I selected "Install". The only thing close was "something else" with no mention of the already installed system.

"something else" is good option - resize some partition and make a new partition for Mint 19. When installing, do NOT format /home and / of Mint 17.

[boxereighty]

It seems like Grub is not seeing the current Mint 17.3 system while running the install menu. Your right, there is only one drive on this computer. Would it be helpful to use GParted to establish a separate, empty, partition first? Space on the internal drive is not an issue with over 400Gb of free space but it only has the one main partition in addition to the boot partition that were installed when 17.3 was installed. There is no unallocated space on the drive now.

[kukamuumuka]

It seems like Grub is not seeing the current Mint 17.3 system while running the install menu. Your right, there is only one drive on this computer. Would it be helpful to use GParted to establish a separate, empty, partition first? Space on the internal drive is not an issue with over 400Gb of free space but it only has the one main partition in addition to the boot partition that were installed when 17.3 was installed. There is no unallocated space on the drive now.

What are the results for the next questions?

Code: Select all

sudo parted -l

Code: Select all

inxi -po

Code: Select all

sudo os-prober

[boxereighty]

I will resize the current partition and provide some unallocated disk space as I close up tonight and proceed with the install as you describe above when I restart in the morning. I think I was missing that basic step. I don't anticipate any problems. Thanks for the info. I'll get back with the results, one way or the other then.

[boxereighty]

sudo parted -l:
Error: /dev/mapper/veracrypt1_0: unrecognised disk label

Error: /dev/mapper/veracrypt1_1: unrecognised disk label

Model: Linux device-mapper (linear) (dm)
Disk /dev/mapper/mint--vg-swap_1: 8502MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: loop

Number Start End Size File system Flags
1 0.00B 8502MB 8502MB linux-swap(v1)


Model: Linux device-mapper (linear) (dm)
Disk /dev/mapper/mint--vg-root: 491GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: loop

Number Start End Size File system Flags
1 0.00B 491GB 491GB ext4


inxi -po:

Partition: ID-1: / size: 451G used: 35G (9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0
ID-2: /boot size: 236M used: 51M (23%) fs: ext2 dev: /dev/sda1
ID-3: /media/bcsmith/1AF1-0643 size: 120G used: 102G (86%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdb
ID-4: /media/veracrypt1 size: 3.0G used: 2.4G (79%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/dm-4
ID-5: swap-1 size: 8.50GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-1
Unmounted: ID-1: /dev/sda5 size: 499.85G label: N/A uuid: N/A
ID-2: /dev/dm-2 size: 3.22G label: N/A uuid: N/A
ID-3: /dev/dm-3 size: 3.22G label: N/A uuid: N/A

sudo os-prober: NO RESPONSE

Please disregard the veracrypt drives reflected above. They will not be mounted and are not part of the drive when I'm doing the installation.

[kukamuumuka]

You have a LVM filesystem, so better to forget dualboot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_V ... er_(Linux)
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LVM

[boxereighty]

OK, in that case I'll forget this project and use 17.3 until it fails to function. I have no reason to stop work to fully install a new system. I have no reason to replace 17.3 except the upcoming end of support.