Dual boot Win 7 and Linux Mint 11

[cork]

I've read through some of the threads here, and gone to some of the links listed in them, and others, and I was considering adding a second hard drive, and setting the Linux Mint 11 on it.
I'm new to Linux, so it sounded like Mint 11 or Ubuntu were easiest to learn for beginners.
I followed the links posted here, to the step by step setup for dual booting to both OS, and it sounds pretty straight forward.
My concern is, I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit currently running. Is it compatible with Mint 11? or does it need to be if I'm setting Mint up on the second hard drive?
Thanks
cork

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by cork I've read through some of the threads here, and gone to some of the links listed in them, and others, and I was considering adding a second hard drive, and setting the Linux Mint 11 on it. I'm new to Linux, so it sounded like Mint 11 or Ubuntu were easiest to learn for beginners. I followed the links posted here, to the step by step setup for dual booting to both OS, and it sounds pretty straight forward. My concern is, I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit currently running. Is it compatible with Mint 11? or does it need to be if I'm setting Mint up on the second hard drive? Thanks cork

Windows will not even know mint is there, so feel free to instal any distro you want. I am currently running windows 7 and Linux Mint Debian Edition, but my setup before that was windows 7 and Mint 11. Just make sure you format and instal on the correct hard drive when you get started, if your unsure then just shut down and unplug the sata cord from the HDD with windows on it until you get mint installed.

[cork]

Thanks birddog! I appreciate the input, I'll get it done this weekend.

[cork]

Got another question,
I went to the website to download the ISO for Mint 11, and saw Mint 12 is also available. I downloaded both and burned them to DVD's.

I was reading an instruction PDF for the Mint 12 install, and it said 50 gig HDD was recommended for a working install, and 20 gig for just trying it out. The second HDD I installed for purposes of the Linux install is a 20 gig, 18+ gig available.

When looking through the instructions for Dual-Boot Mint 11 and Win 7, and manually partitioning the space needed, it didn't seem like it required near that much storage. I could be wrong about that, have to re-review.

Since I am new to Linux, and trying it out for the first time, and didn't necessarily want to buy a new HDD for now:
Do you think the 18+ will OK for Mint 12?
Or should I just start with the Mint 11? Or is that kind of small for it also?

And another question, if I may. On the dual boot instructions for Mint 11, it says the setup for on a single HDD or separate HDD are the same, to do the 3) Special setup and do 4 partitions. If I'm installing to a lone HDD, why wouldn't I just let it do method 2) Wipe and install on spare drive without manually doing the partitions?

Sorry for the lengthy questions, and thanks in advance for the help.

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by cork Got another question, I went to the website to download the ISO for Mint 11, and saw Mint 12 is also available. I downloaded both and burned them to DVD's. I was reading an instruction PDF for the Mint 12 install, and it said 50 gig HDD was recommended for a working install, and 20 gig for just trying it out. The second HDD I installed for purposes of the Linux install is a 20 gig, 18+ gig available. When looking through the instructions for Dual-Boot Mint 11 and Win 7, and manually partitioning the space needed, it didn't seem like it required near that much storage. I could be wrong about that, have to re-review. Since I am new to Linux, and trying it out for the first time, and didn't necessarily want to buy a new HDD for now: Do you think the 18+ will OK for Mint 12? Or should I just start with the Mint 11? Or is that kind of small for it also? And another question, if I may. On the dual boot instructions for Mint 11, it says the setup for on a single HDD or separate HDD are the same, to do the 3) Special setup and do 4 partitions. If I'm installing to a lone HDD, why wouldn't I just let it do method 2) Wipe and install on spare drive without manually doing the partitions? Sorry for the lengthy questions, and thanks in advance for the help.

I think you will be fine with your 20GB HDD, I have installed mint 12 fully on an 8 gig flash drive with 2 GB's being /home and had no problems running it on the computer. Just make sure you leave enough space in / (roughly 10-12GB) since you have 18GB available. The mint team says for mint 11 go no smaller with / than 4.7GB, however I would only go that small if you were installing on 10gb or less space. How much ram do you have in your system? That will let me know how large of a swap partition you need.

The reason you do a custom install instead of wipe and install automatically is that when you do it custom you set up a /boot where the boot instructions are stored, a swap partition works like system ram, / where linux is installed to and all updates are stored here, and a /home where all your personal data will be stored. The wipe and instal does not give you a /home partition, instead it stores everything in /, the reason this is a bad idea is when you decide you want to upgrade linux you have to wipe and reinstall. That means you would have to go back up every bit of personal data by hand. However if you have a /boot partition you can just go to backup and recovery manager and tell it to backup /boot to a different HDD, then wipe and reinstall and then go to backup and recovery manager again and recover you /boot backup, you now have all your personal data back and in the same place you left it.

Answer a couple of questions for me. Are you installing 64 or 32 bit? How much ram does your computer have?

[cork]

Just make sure you leave enough space in / (roughly 10-12GB) since you have 18GB available. The mint team says for mint 11 go no smaller with / than 4.7GB, however I would only go that small if you were installing on 10gb or less space. How much ram do you have in your system? That will let me know how large of a swap partition you need.

Thanks for the info birddog_61.

Saturday night I decided to try and install Mint 11 on the drive. This is what I allocated and where:
/boot 300 MB
swap 2000 MB
/ 5000 MB
/home remainder of the HDD (12 gig approx)

Answer a couple of questions for me. Are you installing 64 or 32 bit? How much ram does your computer have?

I installed the 64 bit version, and my computer has 8 gig ram.

All seemed to go well during the setup. But when I try to boot into Mint, I get the GRUB screen, I choose the top option "Linux Mint 11" and after about a minute or two, I get a pop-up that reads:
There is a problem with the configuration server
(/usr/lib/libconf2-4/gconf-sanity-check-2 exited with status 256)

There is a "close" button that I click, and it takes me to the screen where I put my password in. In the upper right corner there is a box that says:
Install problem. The configuration defaults for GNOME Power Manager have not been installed correctly. Please contact your computer administrator.

If I enter my password, it takes me back to the screen that says... problem with configuration server....
So I restart and go to Win 7
I haven't a clue what all that means.
I have downloaded and made disks for the 32 bit version and Mint 12 also. Just chose the 64 bit version because my win7 is 64 bit.
Thanks again, cork

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by cork Thanks for the info birddog_61. Saturday night I decided to try and install Mint 11 on the drive. This is what I allocated and where: /boot 300 MB swap 2000 MB / 5000 MB /home remainder of the HDD (12 gig approx) I installed the 64 bit version, and my computer has 8 gig ram. All seemed to go well during the setup. But when I try to boot into Mint, I get the GRUB screen, I choose the top option "Linux Mint 11" and after about a minute or two, I get a pop-up that reads: There is a problem with the configuration server (/usr/lib/libconf2-4/gconf-sanity-check-2 exited with status 256) There is a "close" button that I click, and it takes me to the screen where I put my password in. In the upper right corner there is a box that says: Install problem. The configuration defaults for GNOME Power Manager have not been installed correctly. Please contact your computer administrator. If I enter my password, it takes me back to the screen that says... problem with configuration server.... So I restart and go to Win 7 I haven't a clue what all that means. I have downloaded and made disks for the 32 bit version and Mint 12 also. Just chose the 64 bit version because my win7 is 64 bit. Thanks again, cork

Ok after viewing multiple bug reports it seems the best solution to your problem is to just reinstall. When you do reinstall format the HDD again and set your partitions up a little different, I would recommend this.

/boot 300 MB
Swap 256 KB
/ 8000 MB
/home the rest (roughly 11 gig)

The reason for the tiny swap partition is you have 8 GB or ram, so really there is no need for a swap file when you have plenty of ram free. However Linux does not like there not being some sort of swap file, so instead of not making one at all and causing linux to look for it constantly, just make a very small one. I bumped the / partition up because mint can take up almost 5 gig with just the dvd install and current updates. This will allow you to instal new programs such as Wine and play around with them without having to worry about space to much.

Which bootloader are you wanting to use? I let windows control the MBR because windows is a lot more picky and it does sometimes write to the MBR which would cause problems if you instal GRUB there. So I installed GRUB to /boot and then restarted. I then had to boot into windows 7 and download EasyBCD (free) and add a new entry for mint in windows 7 boot menu. I then set it so windows 7 was the default boot meaning that if my computer restarts it will automatically boot into windows after 30 sec of asking which OS you want to load.
Dual-boot Linux Mint 11 and Windows 7

[glc]

Another way to do it to avoid bootloader issues is disconnect the Windows drive and install Linux on the other drive. Then you can reconnect the Windows drive and use the bios to select the boot drive. My Asus motherboard lets me press F8 at startup to choose the boot device.

[cork]

Ok after viewing multiple bug reports it seems the best solution to your problem is to just reinstall. When you do reinstall format the HDD again and set your partitions up a little different, I would recommend this. /boot 300 MB Swap 256 KB / 8000 MB /home the rest (roughly 11 gig)

OK birddog_61, I'll do that. I probably won't have much time to get to it until Saturday though, but I'll keep you posted.

Which bootloader are you wanting to use? I let windows control the MBR because windows is a lot more picky and it does sometimes write to the MBR which would cause problems if you instal GRUB there. So I installed GRUB to /boot and then restarted. I then had to boot into windows 7 and download EasyBCD (free) and add a new entry for mint in windows 7 boot menu. I then set it so windows 7 was the default boot meaning that if my computer restarts it will automatically boot into windows after 30 sec of asking which OS you want to load. Dual-boot Linux Mint 11 and Windows 7

I followed the instructions on installation through the same link you listed. I also installed GRUB to /boot. I also did all the steps you did with the EasyBCD, with one exception. Instead of going to windows automatically after 30 sec, I'm having it wait until I choose which OS I want. When I redo it, I may go back to the 30 auto.

Another way to do it to avoid bootloader issues is disconnect the Windows drive and install Linux on the other drive. Then you can reconnect the Windows drive and use the bios to select the boot drive. My Asus motherboard lets me press F8 at startup to choose the boot device.

glc, I also have an Asus with that option. But if I set up in the bios to boot to the Mint drive first, will I still have the option of going to windows instead after restart? Now that I think about it, the option of going to windows is in the Mint GRUB menu at startup. Is that right?

Thanks both for the input!

[cork]

And... If I change the bios to boot to the Mint drive, do I need to undo the changes that were made through EasyBCD?

[jdeb]

I swap hard drives on my test rig. I use this adapter and have small hard drives (either SSD's or 2.5 notebook drives, that I swap out. Then I do not have to dual boot anything. great for imaging as well. It's cheap but it works. The pic shows a fan in the back but it is a fake one, kind of dumb but the unit works great. It was a no brainer for me being that I have so many flippin sata hard drives (used) laying around.

Newegg.com - KINGWIN KF-252-BK 2.5" / 3.5" Internal Tray-Less Hot Swap Rack

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by jdeb I swap hard drives on my test rig. I use this adapter and have small hard drives (either SSD's or 2.5 notebook drives, that I swap out. Then I do not have to dual boot anything. great for imaging as well. It's cheap but it works. The pic shows a fan in the back but it is a fake one, kind of dumb but the unit works great. It was a no brainer for me being that I have so many flippin sata hard drives (used) laying around. Newegg.com - KINGWIN KF-252-BK 2.5" / 3.5" Internal Tray-Less Hot Swap Rack

The top of my case has 2 of those.

http://www.hitechlegion.com/images/s...v9_blacx/9.jpg

[jdeb]

Very nice... What case is that?

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by cork OK birddog_61, I'll do that. I probably won't have much time to get to it until Saturday though, but I'll keep you posted. I followed the instructions on installation through the same link you listed. I also installed GRUB to /boot. I also did all the steps you did with the EasyBCD, with one exception. Instead of going to windows automatically after 30 sec, I'm having it wait until I choose which OS I want. When I redo it, I may go back to the 30 auto. Thanks both for the input!

Ya please let me know how it goes, and your welcome.

[cork]

Ya please let me know how it goes, and your welcome.

OK, I'm on Mint 11. Just reformatted and changed the Swap partition to 256 MB, as you suggested birddog (wouldn't let me do KB's) and things are working fine. Time to start learning it.
Many thanks to all who helped!

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by cork OK, I'm on Mint 11. Just reformatted and changed the Swap partition to 256 MB, as you suggested birddog (wouldn't let me do KB's) and things are working fine. Time to start learning it. Many thanks to all who helped!

Your very welcome, and it really is fun learning how to customize and run linux. I was exactly where you are about 2 months ago, I installed my first dual boot knowing next to nothing about linux.

[cork]

OK, been working in it a little. I had an issue with my old Laserjet 6P connected with a USB to parallel adapted, but got it straightened out through reading another persons issue with the same printer in Linux Mint Forums.
One thing that seems odd though, it takes a long time to boot to the sign on screen in Mint. It gets to the ( I believe it's the GRUB) screen OK. But from there to the sign on, it seems like about 3 minutes. Haven't timed it, but I've got time to walk away, grab something from the fridge, chat with the wife for a sec, and still wait a bit. Once I'm on, it's fast as can be.
Now it is an older IDE HDD, but it's a 7200 RPM.
Does a long boot like that sound normal?
Thanks
cork

[jdeb]

That is a long time. Might be time to run hard drive diagnostics. You could download and the burn the ultimate boot cd.

Ultimate Boot CD - Download the UBCD

[cork]

Will do jdeb, THANKS.
cork

[birddog_61]

You can also run the disk diagnostics built into mint and see what it shows up. Just go to the disk utility and tell it run benchmark, it will show you the drives performance as well as bad sectors and such.

[cork]

That also sounds like a good idea birddog_61. I believe it was taken out of an old computer my wife had. May have had an issue when I replaced it. I'll check it out.
Thanks!
cork

[cork]

Been over a year it looks like since I've been on this thread, perhaps I should start a new one. Let me know if so.

First of all, I did something I rarely like to do, which is get into a project I'm unsure about without getting some advice here first. But I did.
It's been a rough year, so I haven't messed with Mint much on this computer, but have tried out mint 14 lately on an old clunker I've got and was going to put it on here.
In a hurry, I booted to the DVD and installed Mint 14 over the previous version of Mint (without disconnecting the windows 7 drive). Now, when I reboot the computer, it starts in a Gnu Grub window, asking me which system I would like to boot into, and lists both Mint versions and windows 7.
If I choose mint 14, it boots to mint 14.
If I choose windows 7, it boots to the screen that asks me if I want to boot to mint 11 or windows 7. If I choose 7 or let it default to 7, it boots to 7.
So it all actually works... but it's obviously not right and will probably have issues later.

Here's my objectives:
It would be to do as glc suggested

Another way to do it to avoid bootloader issues is disconnect the Windows drive and install Linux on the other drive. Then you can reconnect the Windows drive and use the bios to select the boot drive. My Asus motherboard lets me press F8 at startup to choose the boot device.

In other word, return my C:/ drive back to original boot state (no options),
and I'll do a clean install of Mint with the 7 drive disconnected.

If someone would be kind enough to give me the step be step, or put me to a link that tells me how to do this, it would be much appreciated.
I do have EasyBCD installed and was used in the original setup.

Thanks,
cork

[cork]

In a hurry, I booted to the DVD and installed Mint 14 over the previous version of Mint (without disconnecting the windows 7 drive). Now, when I reboot the computer, it starts in a Gnu Grub window, asking me which system I would like to boot into, and lists both Mint versions and windows 7.

Sorry, It does'nt list both versions, just Mint 14 in the top 2, something else in the 3rd spot, and windows 7 at the bottom. The rest is correct.

[jdeb]

Everything is correct from what I read. Keep in mind, grub is still looking at your old mint install because you did not have a total understanding of installing and partition management. I would suggest you read up on those topics. I can give you a step by step but it is not going to help you.

GRUB 2 bootloader - Full tutorial

Linux Partitioning Scheme Suggestions | eHow.com

[cork]

Thanks for the links jdeb.
I've got 7 booting back normally now.
Lesson learned.
Thanks again!