tutorial for dual boot install on 2 hard disks?

[jabongzki]

is there a tutorial about how to install linux mint in a dual boot environment on two hard drives ?

[AndyMH]

https://itsfoss.com/guide-install-linux ... t-windows/
A starter, it is installing on the same drive as win, instructions the same for two drives except create your linux partitions on the second drive and point the installer at them after selecting 'something else'.

Are you booting in legacy or UEFI mode, slightly more complicated if UEFI if you want both drives to be capable of booting independently (I would)?

[jabongzki]

i will be booting in uefi.
pls. also tell me what i need to turn off/on in bios and in windows.

[AndyMH]

Before you start - what to do in BIOS and win - in BIOS turn off secure boot, in win turn off fast boot/start (google hiberfil.sys). With fast boot on, your win partition(s) will be read-only to linux. I always disable auto-updates in win as well.

Installing mint...

Simplest solution is to disconnect the win drive before installing mint. If not possible then...

I always install mint with the 'something else' option and partition the drive beforehand with gparted. For uefi you will need to create an EFI partition on the drive = size 100MB, format fat32, flags esp & boot. Then create as many ext4 partitions as you want, i.e. one partition for the simplest install, two if you want a separate /home partition. If you go for a separate home partition make your / partition 30-35GB and use the rest of the drive for /home.

BEFORE you install, in gparted disable the esp & boot flags in your EFI partition on your win drive - this stops the mint installer putting grub (the linux bootloader) in it*. After you have installed mint, enable these flags again.

Install with 'something else', the next screen enables you to point at the partitions you created and tell the installer what to use them for. At the bottom of that screen is a drop down asking where to put the bootloader - make sure your second (mint) drive is selected (you select the drive not a partition).

The installer should put an 'ubuntu' entry at the top of the BIOS boot list, if not then move it to the top so it is the first OS to boot. When you boot you should get a grub menu giving you the choice of mint or win. If not, open a terminal and sudo update-grub, you should then get the choice next time you boot.

* which is what it would do by default. That would mean you would be dependent on the win drive to boot mint. Installing grub to your mint drive means that your win drive could fail and you would still be able to boot mint.

[henderson_bay329]

I am installing today on a legacy WXP>W7 system, HP dc5750 with dual drives. Before I started, I set the boot flag on the /dev/sdb1, knowing no better. LM installed without error, but the system booted directly into W7 - no GRUB menu. Then, I saw AndyMH's post of today ^^.

BEFORE you install, in gparted disable the esp & boot flags in your EFI partition on your win drive - this stops the mint installer putting grub (the linux bootloader) in it*. After you have installed mint, enable these flags again.

This is a "Legacy IDE" msdos system, so no EFI. I rebooted (cold) from the installation USB, then into gparted, deleted and re-made the 3 partitions I had wanted (root, home, swap) set boot flag on /dev/sdb, removed the boot flag on /dev/sda (W7 drive), and, without a reboot, installed LM - again apparently successfully. Before I shut down the install, I went back into gparted to set the boot flag on /dev/sda (W7). For no particular reason, I decided to verify the boot flag on the LM drive, /dev/sdb, as still set. It was NOT. I set it again, then shutdown to perform another cold boot. So, on the boot, both disks had the boot flag set. This time, I got the GRUB menu, which I did not respond to, and the system booted to LM. Installed all updates, re-booted, again GRUB menu showed but I allowed it to boot to default=LM. Then configured security, shut down, and successfully cold-booted via GRUB into W7.

Thanks for the help, all!

[jabongzki]

are disabling fast boot and fast startup in windows the same?
i have disabled fast startup thinking they are the same. should i turn it back on and just deal with fast boot??
as an aside, you know, i think i have much faster loading times with windows fast startup off.

in bios, i have secure boot and fast boot. should i disable both?

you wrote... "For uefi you will need to create an EFI partition on the drive = size 100MB, format fat32, flags esp & boot."
are these options on gparted as well? i am familiar with size 100MB, format fat32, but flags esp & boot seem greek to me.

you also wrote... "Then create as many ext4 partitions as you want, i.e. one partition for the simplest install, two if you want a separate /home partition. If you go for a separate home partition make your / partition 30-35GB and use the rest of the drive for /home."

what about swap? do i need swap? i only have 4gb memory. if i need swap , where do i put it? is it root, swap then home?? i see youtube videos do it like that. also should the partitions be primary or logical?

[AndyMH]

are disabling fast boot and fast startup in windows the same?

Not sure, don't have that option in any of my BIOS. If you have a setting in BIOS disable it and also disable it in windows. If you don't then windows never really shuts down and any ntfs partitions, e.g. C: will be locked and read-only to linux.

flags esp & boot seem greek to me.

When you have created the partition right click on it and think it is 'manage flags'

A swap partition is optional, from LM19 onwards mint will use a swap file by default. If you hibernate (I don't) you need a swap partition, size = your RAM.

[jabongzki]

Not sure, don't have that option in any of my BIOS. If you have a setting in BIOS disable it and also disable it in windows. If you don't then windows never really shuts down and any ntfs partitions, e.g. C: will be locked and read-only to linux.

can someone pls. tell me exactly what to disable? in my bios, i have both fast boot and secure boot, what should i disable? should i disable both?
i don't want to install mint and then face the fact that i have a broken windows install and possibly a mint install too.

also, should the partitions be primary or logical? or just accept the defaults?

[AndyMH]

can someone pls. tell me exactly what to disable? in my bios, i have both fast boot and secure boot, what should i disable? should i disable both?

Disable both, and then check in win that fast start is disabled (google hiberfil.sys).

also, should the partitions be primary or logical? or just accept the defaults?

You have said that you are booting in UEFI mode, so your drive should be formatted with a GPT partition table. There are no logical partitions on a GPT format drive, it is only applicable to drives with a legacy partition table.

If you accept the defaults - implies that you have selected the 'install alongside' option during installation with the win drive connected. Unless you disconnect your win drive, this will put the linux bootloader in the first EFI partition it finds, likely to be the win drive, maybe not what you want. Hence my suggestions in my earlier post.

[henderson_bay329]

in my bios, i have both fast boot and secure boot, what should i disable? should i disable both?

Hopefully, a point of clarification: during installation, I had to disable "fast boot" in my BIOS, then tell BIOS to display all the POST output (=Power On System Tests - memory and/or disk checks) in order to get enough time during the boot-up to hit the appropriate F-key to get to boot-device selection. Getting that selection up before the system began starting Windows was problematic until I did that. So I think a "Fast Boot" option just lets the boot sequence go on without any interrupts to display output (that's at least how my system works).

I did not find a "Secure Boot" option in my (older than dirt) BIOS, and I shouldn't on my "msdos" format "Legacy IDE" system.

[jabongzki]

AndyMH, you wrote,

BEFORE you install, in gparted disable the esp & boot flags in your EFI partition on your win drive - this stops the mint installer putting grub (the linux bootloader) in it*. After you have installed mint, enable these flags again.

so , how do i enable these AFTER i have installed mint? do i boot again with gparted or how?

[AndyMH]

so , how do i enable these AFTER i have installed mint? do i boot again with gparted or how?

After you have installed mint but BEFORE you reboot, run gparted on the mint install media and enable the esp and boot flags on the EFI partition on your main system (win) drive. You right click on the partition and 'manage flags'.

[ZakGordon]

I have a hardware and software dual-boot on 2 disc build guide here:

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=309344

It is specific to Win 7 + Linux Mint but could easily be adapted for non Win 7 builds. The point is to keep your OS on separate disks and how to make that work and function with as little pain as possible. So scroll down to the second half od the guide for the OS install parts.

[jabongzki]

After you have installed mint but BEFORE you reboot, run gparted on the mint install media and enable the esp and boot flags on the EFI partition on your main system (win) drive. You right click on the partition and 'manage flags'.

after i have installed mint, there will be a message saying... restart or continue testing, right? obviously, i will click on continue testing. and then what?

[AndyMH]

after i have installed mint, there will be a message saying... restart or continue testing, right? obviously, i will click on continue testing. and then what?

as I already said:

run gparted on the mint install media and enable the esp and boot flags on the EFI partition on your main system (win) drive.

[jabongzki]

as I already said:
run gparted on the mint install media and enable the esp and boot flags on the EFI partition on your main system (win) drive.

you mean, click on "continue testing", find gparted and run it on the win drive?

[AndyMH]

Yes, you will find gparted on the admin menu in mint.

[jabongzki]

what if i was using a legacy bios for my windows install after all, would these instructions be the same?

[AndyMH]

No

[jabongzki]

how do we install LM as a legacy bios install?