Some install questions [SOLVED]

[Bryan88]

I'm writing this on a Lenovo ideapad 130-15IKB, model name 81H7 that I bought literally this afternoon. I downloaded and burned a LM 19.1 usb which I am using at the moment. Everything seems to be working (touchpad, wireless, sound and video) but I have a few questions before I take the plunge.
Before I booted the live disc I was able to disable the secure boot and enable legacy booting (my Puppy Linux usb worked with no touchpad and wireless though, but that is not an issue right now) My question is, I believe LM 19 CAN work with UEFI, secure boot ect, but does that mean it MUST, or should I leave those features disabled?
Secondly, although I have used GParted before, I would rather just let the installer do it's thing (Erase disc and install Linux). Will it get rid of all the Windows partitions?
The wireless is working, but would I be better off using an ethernet cable, or even doing an "unconnected" install and then updating at first boot? With regard to this, I downloaded all the multimedia codecs in order to test everything, but I'm assuming when I shut down they will be lost, should I download them again before installing, or do it at first boot.
Lastly, I read about a few issues with 19.1 installations, have these been fixed or would I be safer going 19, and then upgrading (don't really feel like making another usb)
Apologies for the long post and questions, but I don't want to brick a laptop before it's a day old. I do know that I don't want to use Windows 10 though.
Thanks very much.

[deepakdeshp]

Are you looking for dual boot?
If you choose whole disk option during the installation,the Windows will be wiped out. To install with Windows use along with other os option so that the remaining portion apart from Windows will be used for Mint. Installation of 19.1 should be ok.There shouldn't be any problems.

http://landoflinux.com/mint_installation_guide.html

[AndyMH]

Since it is brand new I would backup all the existing partitions before you start - if you have a fault and need to take it back under warranty!

LM 19 does do UEFI, you need to disable secure boot, don't know if you could do legacy if you wanted but I'd stick with what's there and let mint sort it out.

You might want to think about putting /home on a separate partition. If you go down this road you need to select 'something else' during installation. Your root (/) partition need be no more than 25G.

Wireless or hardwired don't matter but I would connect during install so that mint can download the third party stuff.

Although I'm running LM19.0 you should be fine with 19.1.

[Bryan88]

Thanks guys. I don't think I will go with a dual boot. My other laptop and recently deceased desktop are both dual boot and work perfectly, so no horror stories, but to be honest I hardly ever use Windows.
AndyMH, I did make a Windows recovery usb, if that's what you are talking about ( I chose the full version which apparently can reinstall Windows). According to the salesman there is no guarantee on software anyway, so he reckoned that installing another OS wouldn't affect my guarantee. Could be that he was just trying to make a sale though, hopefully I will never have to test that.
I have heard about the separate Home partition but always been a bit scared, I may give it a bash this time. I'm assuming the installer will do a swap partition if its needed? Thanks again.

[kevin987]

Mint 19.1 won't create a swap partition. It uses the new "swap file" process instead. You can still add one of course.

I typically don't create separate partitons for my OS. If you just erased the whole drive putting everything on one partition, you should only have that one partition with a new install of 19.1

You can always create a couple of smaller partitions, like 50GB each to test other distos, which is something I do. That way you can test other operating systems from time to time and still have your main distro of choice. You would want a swap partition if you were to test other OS that's not Mint 19.

[Bryan88]

Thanks. I would like to keep the install as neat as possible, so will probably just have one partition. On my other laptop I do find it a bit of a pain having to look through multiple drives to find stuff. Normally if I want to try another distro I just create a live disc. I have never had a machine capable of using VM's, but might try that at a later date (4gb ram?)

[kevin987]

If you have 4 GB of RAM then you'll be fine.

[Bryan88]

Thanks

[hcentaur13]

Be sure to get what you really likes!

Since yeahrs there are 2 incompatible methods to boot up:
1. MSDOS, known as compatibili method
2. UEFI, lets miss all the limits compatibility method has.

MSDOS or compatibility mode:
only 1 os can be bootable without some tricks and limits; the only boiotloader resides in track0 0, sector 0 of the device, named MBR.
disk and partition size is limited to 2 TB.
number of partitions is limited to 4. A trick, named logical drives, allows more

UEFI mode:
an own partition in FAT32 is reserved for bootmanagers. Each operationg system requires its own directory for its boot manager.
Size of device: unlimitet
Size and number of partitions: unlimited
requires a new format of partition table, named GPT. This is incompatible to MSDOS.

Mainboard manufacturer declares that in future versions of theyr BIOS the will skip compatibility mode in theyr BIOS! There will be only left UEFI.

Currently it is your choice to use compatibility or UEFI mode. As they are both incompatible together it is on you to install either or the other for all operating systems on that computer. Never ever mix them up as that will result in problems on dayly use.

windows can only see and boot windows!
Linux can see and boot any installed operationg system using grub. In compatibility mode you have to replace the MBR with grub to get any installed system bootable. In UEFI it is a good idea to have grub as default entry. Because grub gives you the chouice to boot windows as alternative too when windows is installed.

Each installation system gives you the choice to select to boot in compatibility or UEFI mode. This selection defines in which medhod the installed system will boot up. So you must boot the installer in compatibility or UEFRI mode to get the installed system to boot right.

In BIOS in BOOT you can see the installer medium 2 times:
- UEFI
- without UEFI
That defines the different modes the installer itself boots and which mode the installed system will get by the installer. iT IS your CHOICE to select the right one. The automatic may fail!

[Bryan88]

Thank you for the reply, but now I'm confused and worried. Just to be sure we are talking about the same thing, is the compatibility mode the same as legacy? Ideally I would like to just install Mint and be done with it, I can't see myself wanting to install other OS's, except Windows if the whole Mint installation goes wrong and I am forced to. In which case I assume it would be a format and reinstall and Windows would install it's own bootloader again?
My only reason for choosing legacy/compatibility mode was that I may want to try out live discs from time to time. I got the impression that EUFI mode will not allow this. As I said, the intention will be to test/check out other distro's, I don't ever intend installing anything besides Mint.

[Bryan88]

A quick update. I went back into the bios and selected EUFI. The Mint usb still boots, only difference being that this time I got a GRUB menu, whereas before the usb booted straight up. Secure boot is still disabled. Do you think it would be better to stick with EUFI? Thanks

[Moem]

Both OSses should be installed in the same mode. If your Windows install is installed in UEFI mode, which seems likely, you should also install Mint while booted in UEFI mode.

[Bryan88]

I went ahead and installed in UEFI mode, as that seems the way of the future, and everything seemed to go ok. Even my ancient HP laser printer works!
Thanks everybody for the help.