[SOLVED] Recommendations for installation and storage

[sinkingslowly53]

Hi,
At the moment I have a dual boot using 2 SATA SSDs, one with Windows 11 and the other with mint 22.
I also have a SATA HDD for general storage and downloads.

After various trials and tribulations the dual boot appears to be doing what I expect and all is sweetness and light.

As a present I am considering getting a 2TB NVME SSD but I would like people's thoughts on how to configure the drives.
To partition the NVME and try to copy mint and Windows might be a bit risky for a beginner like me but it seems wasteful to use the NVME speed just for additional storage.

Does anyone have advise on the best configuration and how to do it for a beginner?

[scjet45]

Please post the output of "LANG=C inxi -FJdoprxxxz", as described in my Sig (below), so that we can better see your existing system info, as well as the layout of both your present (dual-booting) sata SSD drives including the Unmounted windows partitions.?
-aka, it's better than guessing.
thanks.

[sinkingslowly53]

As requested

Code: Select all

dad@upstairs:~$ LANG=C inxi -FJdoprxxxz
System:
  Kernel: 6.8.0-45-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.0
    clocksource: tsc
  Desktop: Cinnamon v: 6.2.9 tk: GTK v: 3.24.41 wm: Muffin v: 6.2.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.30.0 Distro: Linux Mint 22 Wilma base: Ubuntu 24.04 noble
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI (MS-7E26) v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: American
    Megatrends LLC. v: 1.F0 date: 07/26/2024
CPU:
  Info: 6-core model: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X bits: 64 type: MT MCP smt: enabled
    arch: Zen 4 rev: 2 cache: L1: 384 KiB L2: 6 MiB L3: 32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 545 min/max: 545/5453 cores: 1: 545 2: 545 3: 545 4: 545
    5: 545 6: 545 7: 545 8: 545 9: 545 10: 545 11: 545 12: 545 bogomips: 112800
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP107 [GeForce GTX 1050 Ti] vendor: Gigabyte driver: nvidia
    v: 550.107.02 arch: Pascal pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 ports:
    active: none off: HDMI-A-1 empty: DP-1,DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1c82 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: AMD Raphael vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: amdgpu v: kernel
    arch: RDNA-2 pcie: speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: none empty: DP-2,
    DP-3, DP-4, HDMI-A-2, Writeback-1 bus-ID: 0f:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:164e
    class-ID: 0300 temp: 42.0 C
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6 driver: X:
    loaded: amdgpu,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa dri: radeonsi
    gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 92 s-size: 530x301mm (20.87x11.85")
    s-diag: 610mm (24")
  Monitor-1: HDMI-0 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 92
    size: 531x299mm (20.91x11.77") diag: 609mm (23.99") modes: N/A
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0
    drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: radeonsi device: 3 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia
    surfaceless: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia inactive: wayland,device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 550.107.02
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio vendor: Gigabyte
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fb9 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Rembrandt Radeon High Definition Audio
    vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: speed: 16 GT/s
    lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0f:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:1640 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: AMD Family 17h/19h HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 0f:00.6 chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.8.0-45-generic status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.5 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169
    v: kernel pcie: speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 0b:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8125 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp11s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: MEDIATEK MT7922 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter
    driver: mt7921e v: kernel pcie: speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 0c:00.0
    chip-ID: 14c3:0616 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp12s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: MediaTek Wireless_Device driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-7:5 chip-ID: 0e8d:0616 class-ID: e001
    serial: <filter>
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.2
    lmp-v: 11 sub-v: 2206 hci-v: 11 rev: 2416 class-ID: 7c0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.75 TiB used: 18.16 GiB (0.6%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM001-1ER164 size: 1.82 TiB
    speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> fw-rev: HP51
    scheme: MBR
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: SanDisk model: SD8SB8U512G1122 size: 476.94 GiB
    speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 2000 scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: SanDisk model: SD8SB8U512G1122 size: 476.94 GiB
    speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0000 scheme: GPT
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 467.89 GiB used: 18.15 GiB (3.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 7.1 MiB (1.4%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdb1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    file: /swapfile
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda1 size: 884.14 GiB fs: ntfs
  ID-2: /dev/sda2 size: 978.87 GiB fs: ntfs
  ID-3: /dev/sdc1 size: 100 MiB fs: vfat
  ID-4: /dev/sdc2 size: 16 MiB fs: <superuser required>
  ID-5: /dev/sdc3 size: 476.07 GiB fs: ntfs
  ID-6: /dev/sdc4 size: 775 MiB fs: ntfs
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 12 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 1-5:2 info: ASMedia ASM1074 High-Speed hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 174c:2074 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-5.1:4 info: MosArt Wireless Keyboard/Mouse
    type: keyboard,mouse driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 062a:4101 class-ID: 0301
  Hub-3: 1-5.4:6 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-4: 1-5.4.4:7 info: Huasheng USB2.0 HUB ports: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 214b:7250 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 1-5.4.4.1:8 info: Huasheng USB2.0 HUB ports: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 214b:7250 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-5.4.4.1.1:9 info: Zhixinjie NEJE Device
    type: abstract (modem),CDC-data driver: cdc_acm interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 3c2e:5740 class-ID: 0a00
    serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 1-6:3 info: Micro Star MYSTIC LIGHT type: HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1
    power: 500mA chip-ID: 0db0:0076 class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-3: 1-7:5 info: MediaTek Wireless_Device type: bluetooth
    driver: btusb interfaces: 3 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 0e8d:0616 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Hub-6: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 5 rev: 3.1 speed: 20 Gb/s
    lanes: 2 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-7: 2-5:2 info: ASMedia ASM1074 SuperSpeed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0
    speed: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 power: 8mA chip-ID: 174c:3074 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-8: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-2:2 info: Elan Micro Optical Mouse type: mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s lanes: 1
    power: 100mA chip-ID: 04f3:0210 class-ID: 0301
  Hub-9: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s
    lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-10: 5-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-11: 6-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s
    lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-12: 7-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 1 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-13: 8-0:1 info: Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub ports: N/A rev: 3.0
    speed: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 48.5 C mobo: 36.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
  GPU: device: nvidia screen: :0.0 temp: 47 C fan: 0% device: amdgpu
    temp: 43.0 C
Repos:
  Packages: 2087 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2072 pm: flatpak pkgs: 15
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
    1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com wilma main upstream import backport
    2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble main restricted universe multiverse
    3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates main restricted universe multiverse
    4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble-security main restricted universe multiverse
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB note: est. available: 30.46 GiB used: 2.31 GiB (7.6%)
  Processes: 350 Power: uptime: 4h 19m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform Init: systemd v: 255 target: graphical (5)
    default: graphical
  Compilers: gcc: 13.2.0 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.21 running-in: gnome-terminal
    inxi: 3.3.34
dad@upstairs:~$ 

[mikeflan]

Warning - my advice may not be the best advice. Wait for better advice.
I would unplug the windows drive, install LM fresh to the NVME, and after LM is running great plug in the windows drive. Then boot to LM and run os-prober in a terminal. If it sees windows run sudo update-grub in the terminal. Then reboot into both systems.

Some more reference material.
Install windows after LM:
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=301934
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=246414
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=204298
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=263637

[linux-rox]

What you have in mind can be done, but it's not beginner-grade stuff. You'll have to research and/or inquire elsewhere for the Windows side. For Mint, you can use GParted to copy the system partition from one drive to another, then reinstall Grub so that's the one which gets booted. Before you do any of that, create a rEFInd flash drive, so you can boot both Windows and Mint from "outside" while working on Grub. Also, you need to remove the old SSD or change the UUID of the old system partition (GParted can do this); otherwise, fstab will be hopelessly confused and boot will fail.

[sinkingslowly53]

Is it not possible/advisable to use something like foxclone or clonezilla to clone each SSD into it's own partition on the NVME and then change the bios to boot from the NVME?

[linux-rox]

The task can be done, many ways. You asked for "how to do it for a beginner." It's the other way around. You need to educate yourself out of beginner status if you want to tackle an advanced topic. There are many articles on how to migrate both Windows and Linux. Do some research.

[AndyMH]

Is it not possible/advisable to use something like foxclone or clonezilla to clone each SSD into it's own partition on the NVME and then change the bios to boot from the NVME?

No, that's not how they work. I'm the dev for foxclone. Whenever you clone one drive to another it overwrites what was there before so you can't clone two drives into one drive.

It is relatively straightforward to do it with gparted - you can copy/paste partitions from one drive to another. It will do win as well. Tricky bits - you need to assign new UUIDs to the partitions on the old drives (you can't have duplicate system partitions with the same UUID, it won't boot) and copying over the bootloaders.

My personal choice for your 2TB drive would be to use it for backup and nothing else. That's what I do, main system drive 1TB nvme, backup drive 2TB nvme and used for timeshift, backintime and foxclone.

[scjet45]

You're been given 3 excellent choices above, thus far, (with links):
1./ (quick n easy), taking only 10 minutes to fully install LM22 on an empty nvme drive, ..., as @mikeflan mentioned above...
Or,
2./ a more detailed way of accomplishing this but with potentially more time needed, (for any beginner), and some deeper knowledge of linux required, as @linux-rox mentioned, and again with "links" provided, which is fine.
Or,
3./ some lucrative @AndyMH suggestions as well.

(lol, I wish I was that lucky, when I needed it.)

Anyway, Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is your choice of course.

[sinkingslowly53]

Thank you for all the replies, I appreciate the help.

I describe myself as a beginner because that is my own assessment of my knowledge concerning Linux and dual boot setups.
Part of developing knowledge involves asking questions and receiving informative answers that can be trusted.

So, again, thanks to everyone.

[linux-rox]

Nothing wrong with asking questions. You're supposed to do some research first, though. It's even in the rules. Good luck.