Question Linux on a USB or VM?

[manly]

I thought GRUB was installed along with mint, but it is something I need to install afterwards?

So after I've installed mint on my new disk and let all drives stay in, will it then still boot to Windows, as it is the primary bootloader? or is it depending on which drive I choose in the BIOS?

Or will Windows boot manager identify the mint installation, so I really don't need GRUB?

The Mint installer will also install Grub2 at the end of setup; sorry for the confusion. I was distinguishing between the copying of the actual OS code, vs Grub2 installation.

IF you install Grub2 onto NVMe1, it will replace the main bootloader. It will automatically generate a menu with an entry to boot Win11. By default it would boot Linux, but that could be changed so that it would automatically boot up Win11.

IF you go with the original plan to install Grub2 onto NVMe2, this leaves you with two bootloaders that point to one ESP. I think that will work, but seems a bit quirky? (Or you could create an ESP on the second disk, also quirky IMO.)

If I understand correctly, with UEFI it's possible to not have Grub2 at all, but I've never done this and I'm not sure that I'd try.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1495204/dual-boot-with-windows-without-grub-bootloader

Sorry there a few different ways of doing this. There is one "normal" way, but if your objective is to strictly leave the Windows disk unchanged, then there are alternatives.

 

[biostud]

The Mint installer will also install Grub2 at the end of setup; sorry for the confusion. I was distinguishing between the copying of the actual OS code, vs Grub2 installation.

IF you install Grub2 onto NVMe1, it will replace the main bootloader. It will automatically generate a menu with an entry to boot Win11. By default it would boot Linux, but that could be changed so that it would automatically boot up Win11.

IF you go with the original plan to install Grub2 onto NVMe2, this leaves you with two bootloaders that point to one ESP. I think that will work, but seems a bit quirky? (Or you could create an ESP on the second disk, also quirky IMO.)

If I understand correctly, with UEFI it's possible to not have Grub2 at all, but I've never done this and I'm not sure that I'd try.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1495204/dual-boot-with-windows-without-grub-bootloader

Sorry there a few different ways of doing this. There is one "normal" way, but if your objective is to strictly leave the Windows disk unchanged, then there are alternatives.

I don't mind using GRUB, if everything works, and no boot loader gets corrupted in the process

 

[manly]

I don't mind using GRUB, if everything works, and no boot loader gets corrupted in the process

I've used Linux for almost 30 years, so I'm a little biased. I like KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) so I would use one bootloader: Grub2 on the first disk.
You can set Win11 as default if that works better for your family.

One aside, GRUB may not display well for 4K HiDPI configs. This page has a solution:

How to scale GRUB menu on 4K displays

Tutorial showing how to scale the GRUB bootloader menu on displays with HD/UHD resolutions

www.dedoimedo.com

 

[biostud]

I've used Linux for almost 30 years, so I'm a little biased. I like KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) so I would use one bootloader: Grub2 on the first disk.
You can set Win11 as default if that works better for your family.

One aside, GRUB may not display well for 4K HiDPI configs. This page has a solution:

How to scale GRUB menu on 4K displays

Tutorial showing how to scale the GRUB bootloader menu on displays with HD/UHD resolutions

www.dedoimedo.com

I've installed my SN7100 and made the bootable USB, so I should be ready to go.

The only thing currently nagging me is reports of Windows wrecking GRUB during major updates, making booting of both OS impossible. Even though it should be fixed, it might be broken once again.

Microsoft Fixes Windows Update That Broke GRUB in Dual-Boot Systems

Microsoft finally fixed the GRUB boot issue on dual-boot systems nine months after a Windows update caused widespread Linux boot failures.

linuxiac.com

 

[mikeymikec]

I've installed my SN7100 and made the bootable USB, so I should be ready to go.

The only thing currently nagging me is reports of Windows wrecking GRUB during major updates, making booting of both OS impossible. Even though it should be fixed, it might be broken once again.

Microsoft Fixes Windows Update That Broke GRUB in Dual-Boot Systems

Microsoft finally fixed the GRUB boot issue on dual-boot systems nine months after a Windows update caused widespread Linux boot failures.

linuxiac.com

I had secure boot disabled so this issue never affected me.

If Microsoft does something like this again, I would read up on disabling Windows Update entirely. Win11 is little more than a game OS for me now, so if it can't behave itself then it's going to need a firm hand.

 

[biostud]

I had secure boot disabled so this issue never affected me.

If Microsoft does something like this again, I would read up on disabling Windows Update entirely. Win11 is little more than a game OS for me now, so if it can't behave itself then it's going to need a firm hand.

Yeah, my kids use my computer as well for gaming. Unfortunately I have update OCD, if I know there's an update I must install it

 

[mikeymikec]

Yeah, my kids use my computer as well for gaming. Unfortunately I have update OCD, if I know there's an update I must install it

Maybe you can work that all out to your heart's content in Mint because on the default settings it's completely optional

 

[manly]

I've installed my SN7100 and made the bootable USB, so I should be ready to go.

The only thing currently nagging me is reports of Windows wrecking GRUB during major updates, making booting of both OS impossible. Even though it should be fixed, it might be broken once again.

Microsoft Fixes Windows Update That Broke GRUB in Dual-Boot Systems

Microsoft finally fixed the GRUB boot issue on dual-boot systems nine months after a Windows update caused widespread Linux boot failures.

linuxiac.com

Oh FFS took them 9 months to fix the bug? LOL

I'll admit, if Windows overwrites GRUB (which AFAICT rarely happens), it can be a bit obscure to fix. Some Linux live disks have something like a "repair GRUB" option, but this isn't quite as simple as it sounds. Because you have to understand what the setup was to correctly fix it. If only you could ask ChatGPT to fix it.

Along a similar line, IF you wanted to install Grub2 onto SN7100 completely separately from the existing disk, here's how you would create a new ESP. But I've never done this before, and I'd have to study it to understand what's going on (it requires a sequence of commands).

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxquestions/comments/yijvbj/comment/iulpwu8

 

[mikeymikec]

Linux Mint has a repair GRUB option which is what I used to resurrect my Linux setup after migrating machines and discovering that the boot info was on the Windows drive I had wiped to install Win11 on. Repairing GRUB worked for me without any fuss.

 

[biostud]

Linux Mint has a repair GRUB option which is what I used to resurrect my Linux setup after migrating machines and discovering that the boot info was on the Windows drive I had wiped to install Win11 on. Repairing GRUB worked for me without any fuss.

That's what I wanted to hear. As far as I understand if everything goes really bad, I can always create a USB with mint with the repair tool, and should be able to fix it.

Repairing Linux Mint Boots with the Boot Repair Tool – TheLinuxCode

Have you ever powered on your Linux Mint desktop only to be confronted with cryptic errors instead of your familiar login screen? Or perhaps Mint boots, but immediately crashes due to issues with system files or hardware drivers. These failed boots can be caused by: Corrupted bootloader installs...

thelinuxcode.com

 

[biostud]

Also I think of splitting the new drive in a 1TB mint partition and 1TB data (NTFS or should I use another if it's used both for win11 and mint?)