Help with unusual? Linux install

ProblemChild

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First off i'm a total novice so you will likely lose me with jargon and anything overly technical but if you're happy to do a bit of hand-holding then i should get there, eventually :)

I'm looking at trying out Linux Mint and after some trouble i finally got to the install page but i'm unsure of how to proceed.
I've read a few articles and watched a few videos but they all seem to be pretty much the same:

person has Windows on their 1 hard drive, they want to free up space on said hard drive & put Linux on there too.

Well that's not me.

For this there's 3 drives involved (there's actually 4 in my PC but 1 is totally a storage drive).

Drive 1) a 256GB SSD which has Windows 7 installed on it.
Drive 2) a 2TB SSHD which also has Windows 7 installed on it.
Drive 3) a 2TB HDD which i have partitioned off within [drive 1] Windows to create a [256GB] partition for Linux to go on. The remainder of the 2TB is used as storage for drive 1 (photos, videos etc).

Now i know - why do you have Windows 7 installed on 2 drives when you can have 2 user accounts on 1 drive. That's how i've had it for around 8-9 years now.

So i'm currently on a dual boot setup and looking to triple boot with Linux.




On the install screen i get 2 options -
1) Install Linux alongside Windows
2) "something else".

I've seen guides saying i should pick both (obviously not at the same time). Most opt for the something else.
What i don't want is Linux on the same physical drive as my Windows installs.

As I appreciate my setup is a little unusual, i'm just wondering how i should proceed with this install as i don't want to mess my PC up.
 


G'day ProblemChild, and Welcome to Linux.org

We have a Moderator here @wizardfromoz ....who is currently absent until sometime late today or perhaps tomorrow.....he will be able to help you. Multibooting is his thing.

The fact that I have attached his name here will ensure that he sees your post.

Be patient for just a while
 
Install Linux alongside Windows is what I did then it will ask what drive to use.
fat 32 file
I made a drive letter (x:)
ext 4
then in the other box type /
then proceed to the next step.

I followed this link it helped a bunch
 
Last edited:
Yeah right, thanks guys ... I'd turn Rob into something but he already looks like he's been made a prompt, and who else would run the site? As for Brian, his bark is worse than his bite. :)

(Wizard appears in a puff of smoke, grumbling)

G'day @ProblemChild and welcome to linux.org :p

I manipulated Time to get back today, but that is probably tomorrow for you, so go figure.

Mate in one of your Windows 7's, slip into Start and type

msinfo32

and enter, give us the specs for your rig from the System Summary page, you may have to scroll a little or go fullscreen to get the max specs, then Windows Snipping Tool saves by default as .png and upload/attach that to here.

Mine for Windows 10 looks like this


R7eTY8o.png


SCREENSHOT 1 - WIZ'S RIG SPECS EX-THE DOZER 10

What's on mine that is not on yours (came in around 8 I think) is BIOS mode, which says UEFI or Legacy (BIOS).

If you don't know which you are on sing out and I'll explain where to find it.

Also from Start and typing

Disk Management

(I think you have already been here to resize) can you give us something like mine - two (2) follow and I'll explain


N1mIPu1.png


SCREENSHOT 2 - WIZ'S BASIC DISK MANAGEMENT EX-DOZER 10

You can scrap that mini-pane at the right, or go fullscreen again, want to see Disk 0 (zero), Disk 1, Disk 2 &c if they exist. (have everything pluggable plugged in)


2nd pic

fJrqJAp.png


SCREENSHOT 3 - WIZ'S DISK PROPERTIES EX-DOZER 10

Here, I am focussed on the bottom part of the window where the blue and black headers differentiate between partitions in use and Unallocated Space.

The popup is also important. It is from going to the squarish space at left - mine says Disk 0 Basic 1863.02 GB Online - right-clicking that. Choose Properties and then Volumes.

This will tell us whether your formatting system is GPT or MS-DOS.

Let us know for each disk except USB sticks.

In my case, my Dell has /dev/sda (Drive 0) 2TB SATA (internal), and /dev/sdb (Drive 1) is my 256 GB SSD (internal).

But if I scrolled down there we would also see

/dev/sdc (Disk 2) - which is my 4 TB Western Digital My Book.

So see how you go with that stuff.

Perhaps prep your friend the same way, but do him/her in a different Thread or better, get him/her to join and ask, and say what a wonderful bunch of people we are ... OK lie a little.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
@xXNORDXx - Hi Tobey, spotted your green and gold Tux penguin whilst typing the above. :)

Your input will likely be good for the OP's friend, and perhaps himself.

I am a methodical (read PITA) bastard, and always want to first establish rig details to better advise which Linux, and also to establish

BIOS-MBR

or

UEFI-GPT

because the Member may be restricted via the "4 Partition Limit" that M$ have imposed on less sophisticated rigs.

Cheers

Chris
 
Whoa thanks for the replies guys.

Right, just so we can get a feel for each other and you can gauge my stupidity level, things like...

I made a drive letter (x:)
ext 4
then in the other box type /
has me like whoa, wtf?? But thanks for the link i'll take a look :)

Anyway i can manage some screenshots. Hope these help...

msinfo32.PNG


Disk Management.PNG


Disk 0: 256GB SSD Windows 7
Disk 1: Storage (for videos, pictures etc) drive that is used for Disk 0. The Unallocated space is for Linux.
Disk 2: Also storage for Disk 0.
Disk 3: 2TB SSHD which Windows 7 is also installed on (G:). The (H:) is storage for that drive (G:) for videos, photos etc.

Volumes 3.PNG

Volumes.PNG


Volumes 4.PNG

Volumes 5.PNG



If i've done anything wrong or just plain old missed something then let me know and i'll try again.

Hopefully this helps?
 
Thanks for the input, @ProblemChild :), I have deleted the other Thread and moved this from Mint to here.

All of your Drives are running on MBR (Master Boot Record) 's partitioning structure, as distinct from GPT, the GUID Partitioning Table. This means your are restricted to a maximum of four (4) Primary Partitions to one physical drive, a limit imposed by MS-DOS, not Linux. GPT can support up to 128 partitions. You can read about it here if you wish

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowtoPartition/PartitioningBasics

So Disk 1 is definitely where you want to place Linux, as it has the least partitions.

When you have chosen a Linux to install, the Installers can vary from Family to Family of Linux. Suppose you choose Ubuntu or Linux Mint (or others from the Debian-derivatives), it wll likely be Ubiquity that is used, authored by Ubuntu.

The last option in its install method screen will be "Something Else", other installers may say "Manual Partitioning" or simply "other", that is the one you choose.

You can either prepare the partitions yourself beforehand, using GParted, either from the install stick or on a GParted Live stick, or else have the partitioning part of the install process do it for you.

I would advise against trying to set up the partitions using Windows Disk Management, it is unreliable with Linux.

My rig is basically all UEFI-GPT, but I have taken the 2TB internal drive that accompanies the 256GB SSD, and changed it to MBR to run experiments, and to teach from.

My setup there looks as below

9zvibul.png

SCREENSHOT 1 - WIZARD'S MBR DRIVE

By or before partitioning device sda4 you may make an Extended Drive, and then under that are the Logical Drives.

I don't use Swap, my choice.

See if you follow, and ask questions before trying anything.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
All of your Drives are running on MBR (Master Boot Record) 's partitioning structure, as distinct from GPT, the GUID Partitioning Table.
Goes over my head i'm afraid. Seriously, i'm a dummy with this :) I don't mind admitting. I'm just interested in learning & trying
This means your are restricted to a maximum of four (4) Primary Partitions to one physical drive,
Ah now this i can understand. lol. I don't think that'll be much of a problem for me as i think the most partitions i'll have on a drive is 2 or since sometimes there's that hidden partition that Windows writes, so maybe 3 if that is counted.

So Disk 1 is definitely where you want to place Linux, as it has the least partitions.
Suits me perfectly as that's exactly where i want to install it.

When you have chosen a Linux to install, the Installers can vary from Family to Family of Linux. Suppose you choose Ubuntu or Linux Mint (or others from the Debian-derivatives), it wll likely be Ubiquity that is used, authored by Ubuntu.
I'm looking to try Linux Mint 19.1 Cinnamon. ZorinOS was my second choice but i think i'll be trying Mint. I'm not really a fan of Ubuntu to be honest, or at least the look of it from the off.

The last option in its install method screen will be "Something Else", that is the one you choose.
Thank you :)

You can either prepare the partitions yourself beforehand, using GParted, either from the install stick or on a GParted Live stick, or else have the partitioning part of the install process do it for you.

I would advise against trying to set up the partitions using Windows Disk Management, it is unreliable with Linux.
Ok this is where i come with another question...

What i did within Windows (7) was to open up disk management and "shrink volume" on my Disk 1 so that it freed up 256GB of unallocated space. After this i did nothing. I didn't format it in any format or anything like that.

Will this not work then? Do i need to do something else?


By or before partitioning device sda4 you may make an Extended Drive, and then under that are the Logical Drives.

I don't use Swap, my choice.
I'm not sure what swap is but when i've seen in videos people going the "Something Else" route they seem to create 3 things, one of which is swap. Do i need to do any of those 3 creations or can i just select the partition that i created and simply install to that, as is?
 

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