[Boot Mint to an Acer SOLVED] Installing 19 but not found

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WesternSlope
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[Boot Mint to an Acer SOLVED] Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

Recently I had a drive go down. I had Mint 19 installed and after putting the new drive in and reinstalling Windows and 19. I couldn't find where Mint was. There was no grub. I went (F12 to the boot menu) and found two grub64efi's neither would boot 19. How do I remove both? I think therein BIOS, but don't know.
Thanks
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AndyMH
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by AndyMH »

Try boot repair:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair
Note - I've used it on MBR installs, but not UEFI.

Other thoughts - when you did the re-install, you did install windows first didn't you ? :)
Thinkcentre M720Q - LM21.3 cinnamon, 4 x T430 - LM21.3 cinnamon, Homebrew desktop i5-8400+GTX1080 Cinnamon 19.0
WesternSlope
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

Thank you AndyMH . I have installed Win 10 first three times now and then Mint 19.3 also. I ran the Boot-Repair and it did find 19.3 and said it fixed it. Before shutting down to try it I wanted to get all of the info, setup and my email to mail it to me just in case. Hopefully shutdown and reboot with the grub. Right now I'm running with the stick.
Thanks again
Last edited by WesternSlope on Tue May 28, 2019 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
WesternSlope
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

The Boot-Repair didn't work Andy. Gonna try another. Called Resca-Tux. What do I have to lose?
Thanks

The Resca-Tux didn't work either. I didn't understand it at all. I still have the 2 grub64efi's at the boot menu and would like to get rid of them but again I think they have something to do with the BIOS. Help please... :D
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AndyMH
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by AndyMH »

Given that this is a re-install, I'd be tempted to boot from the mint installation usb and:
  • In gparted create a new GPT partition table - this to wipe the drive.
  • Create a new 500MB EFI partition, format fat32, flags esp and boot.
  • Install windows - once installed, turn off fast boot.
  • Install mint.
If this doesn't work, I don't know what will :(
Thinkcentre M720Q - LM21.3 cinnamon, 4 x T430 - LM21.3 cinnamon, Homebrew desktop i5-8400+GTX1080 Cinnamon 19.0
jp734

Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by jp734 »

What do you mean by "I couldn't find where Mint was"?
  • Can you boot Windows?
  • What does "sudo blkid" tell you? (run on terminal after booting from a live flash drive or dvd)
WesternSlope
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

Running the os-prober I get:

mint@mint:~$ sudo os-prober
/dev/sda2@/efi/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi:Windows Boot Manager:Windows:efi
/dev/sda5:Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa (19.1):LinuxMint:linux

So it's there, but not to get there. I'm going to try everything I can before I use gparted. This has been more or less fun, but annoying.
Thanks for all of your help.
jp734

Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by jp734 »

Okay. Good, at least we can see the partition. Now try mounting the hard drive and check it has all the files/folders especially /boot/grub. Few questions: 1.) Can you boot to Windows; 2.)What happens when you reboot and don't do anything (don't press any keys)?
WesternSlope
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

jp734 wrote: Tue May 28, 2019 4:08 pm What do you mean by "I couldn't find where Mint was"?
  • Can you boot Windows?
  • What does "sudo blkid" tell you? (run on terminal after booting from a live flash drive or dvd)
Yes I can boot Windows.
Here's the blkid:

Code: Select all

mint@mint:~$ sudo blkid
/dev/sda1: LABEL="Recovery" UUID="929E73999E737517" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="8a4adece-c731-4dc1-b9d6-ebcd7dd2bcd0"
/dev/sda2: UUID="0C76-1F6A" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="EFI system partition" PARTUUID="0f82763c-580b-425d-99a3-7366e4fb9c9b"
/dev/sda4: UUID="ECF47A34F47A015E" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="09080c27-1398-4351-9756-0dde5c3ae4a3"
/dev/sda5: UUID="9c9fe48d-4515-48db-bed9-e3fb60d1f539" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="176b1d19-92ca-4942-a417-9ab8f2c0b5fc"
/dev/sdc1: LABEL="LINUX MINT" UUID="0292-DC30" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="016de261-01"
/dev/loop0: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/sdd1: LABEL="LINUX MINT" UUID="1BF4-1058" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="00168e6a-01"
/dev/sda3: PARTLABEL="Microsoft reserved partition" PARTUUID="5b171d16-3e76-4771-aabe-754ecee7207a"
/dev/sdb: PTUUID="e8614290-c754-493d-befc-a485b1ecf979" PTTYPE="gpt"
mint@mint:~$

Thanks
WesternSlope
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

jp734 wrote: Tue May 28, 2019 4:24 pm Okay. Good, at least we can see the partition. Now try mounting the hard drive and check it has all the files/folders especially /boot/grub. Few questions: 1.) Can you boot to Windows; 2.)What happens when you reboot and don't do anything (don't press any keys)?
Yes on the booting Windows. It boots right back to Windows. I wouldn't know how to mount the drive from Windows.
jp734

Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by jp734 »

Is secure boot enabled in BIOS? Try disabling it and see if it will boot linux. PC booting right back to Windows directly without grub popping up tells me it's UEFI issue (could be wrong).

You will have to use a live copy of Mint to be able to mount your linux partition and check
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

If you think the UEFI is an issue, how do I fix it? Secure boot is disabled.
Thanks
WesternSlope
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

AndyMH wrote: Tue May 28, 2019 3:07 pm Given that this is a re-install, I'd be tempted to boot from the mint installation USB and:
  • In gparted create a new GPT partition table - this to wipe the drive.
  • Create a new 500MB EFI partition, format fat32, flags esp and boot.
  • Install windows - once installed, turn off fast boot.
  • Install mint.
If this doesn't work, I don't know what will :(
Ok, Andy. I have gotten rid of every system on the drives and reinstalled Win 10. I was thinking that I have a SSD that I brought to life a few days ago. Could that be the problem with not finding Mint? Also. Can I install Mint on the SSD? If, so how do I do it within the install "Do Something Else", or is that how I'd start the install? Is the SSD where I can do the gparted stuff? If so how?
Thanks
jp734

Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by jp734 »

Wow! This is the first I've heard a computer with "secure boot" disabled and Windows 10 boots but not linux. Usually it's the other way around.

Anyways, this is what I do when installing Windows and Linux on the same hard drive:
1. BACKUP.....In my case, I CLONE so I don't have to keep installing programs and configure my system
2. Boot using live media
3. Start GParted and shrink Windows
4. Partition/Format remaining space
5. Start installation
6. When I get to "partition and format" section of installation, I choose "do something else". Assign partition for "/", "home", etc...
7. Finish installation and install Grub
8. Reboot

NOTE: If during installation, you are asked if you have a system with UEFI, I would answer "NO" since you have Windows working with secure boot disabled.
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AndyMH
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by AndyMH »

Assuming that win installed in UEFI mode - Before installing win10 did you create an EFI partition or is there one present? If you didn't I would expect mint to complain if you try to install about its absence (lubuntu wouldn't install and complained until I created an EFI partition).

Having re-installed win10, it will have taken up all the space on the drive. So before you install mint, in windows, shrink the win C: partition to give space for mint - how much is your choice, but suggest at least 30G, more if you want /home on the same SSD - so as much as you can. If windows won't shrink as much as you want turn off fast boot (search google on hiberfil.sys) and turn off virtual memory (think it sticks a file at the end of the win partition), you can turn it back on when finished. Alternatively, use gparted on the mint installation media to shrink the win partition.

Leave the space created unallocated.

Install mint - can't remember all the details under 'something else', but you want to use all the unallocated space for mint, or if you are creating separate / and /home partitions, create an ext4 partition of around 20G - 30G for / and whatever is left for /home. If you only have a single drive you don't need to worry about grub (the bootloader), if more than one then make sure grub goes on the SSD which would normally be sda.

You mentioned an SSD, is this in addition to the main drive or replacing it? Unlikely that it has been the cause of your problems. If in addition, yes you can install mint to it - and it will give you more space. It will probably be sdb - you can check with gparted. You want to put grub on sda (where win is - the main drive). If grub ends up on sdb, the only way to boot mint will be to hit F12 (on my laptop, your's might be different) on start to bring up the BIOS boot menu and select the drive mint is on. This is how my test laptop works - sda = ssd with win10 and lubuntu, sdb = hdd for backup, sdc = ssd with mint. When I installed mint I pulled out sda so grub installed on sdc.
Thinkcentre M720Q - LM21.3 cinnamon, 4 x T430 - LM21.3 cinnamon, Homebrew desktop i5-8400+GTX1080 Cinnamon 19.0
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

jp734 wrote: Wed May 29, 2019 7:53 am Wow! This is the first I've heard a computer with "secure boot" disabled and Windows 10 boots but not linux. Usually it's the other way around.

Anyways, this is what I do when installing Windows and Linux on the same hard drive:
1. BACKUP.....In my case, I CLONE so I don't have to keep installing programs and configure my system
2. Boot using live media
3. Start GParted and shrink Windows
4. Partition/Format remaining space
5. Start installation
6. When I get to "partition and format" section of installation, I choose "do something else". Assign partition for "/", "home", etc...
7. Finish installation and install Grub
8. Reboot

NOTE: If during installation, you are asked if you have a system with UEFI, I would answer "NO" since you have Windows working with secure boot disabled.
I had Mint on my last drive, so it's in the BIOS where the problem lies. I remember when I installed Mint the first time it was a hassle and that's why the secure boot was disabled. I use to choose "do something else". Assign partition for "/ (the mount), Home and Swap ". Then the coders of Mint made automatic. I have an Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM a system that eats Mint (I think that's why the BM at the end of the model) :shock: . It definitely does not like it. Since my last post, I tried to install Mint only. The system ate it. It took the usual twenty to thirty minutes to install. When I shut down an brought it back up, it wanted a system disk to boot from, or something like that. Meaning to me Mint had moved on to the ghosted land never to be seen. Mint is there, but I can't pull it out to show it's mysterious face. Like I say it was a bear to install the first time. I did find the grub64efi was an install that went bad. I got a uefi editor to what see the extra grub64efi's were about. I had two of them deleted them and reboot from the boot screen and one was back. That's how I found there was an install, but I couldn't boot it. Anyway, until I re-find the answer to put Mint on the Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM I'm SOL.
I thank all of you for the help and is very much appreciated!
P.S. Off to find the ghostbuster for the Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM...
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by AndyMH »

Is there any way in BIOS you can set it for legacy (MBR) boot instead of UEFI - might be easier with that?
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

Yes, there is I can set it for legacy (MBR) boot instead of UEFI. I'll give it a try.
Thanks, Andy.

UPDATE: I tried the legacy a tried, but when it came back up it came up with a black screen saying again to insert a system disk. I guess another Acer problem.
Thanks
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Re: Installing 19 but not found

Post by WesternSlope »

To all, that's interested if any. I found the old link on how to search and boot Mint on an Acer (I think, any Acer).
https://itsfoss.com/no-bootable-device-found-ubuntu/
I knew it was out there and it works great plus I can boot to Mint or Windows.
Thanks, to all that helped.
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Re: [BOOT MINT TO AN ACER SOLVED] Installing 19 but not found

Post by AndyMH »

It seems that Acer can be particularly troublesome when it comes to linux. I'm just glad I'm a thinkpad user :D
Thinkcentre M720Q - LM21.3 cinnamon, 4 x T430 - LM21.3 cinnamon, Homebrew desktop i5-8400+GTX1080 Cinnamon 19.0
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