More assistance sought with multibooting

[Jeffrey Lapinski]

With assistance of @wizardfromoz I now am able to dual boot Manjaro 17.1.2 GNOME on my SSD and LM19 Cinnamon on the HDD! I would now like to install a few more distros on my. I'd like to have Manjaro or LM19 xcfe, a solid distro w/ KDE (preferably Manjaro or Antergos or possibly KsOS) and possibly one more distro on my SSD. Here is my current partition scheme:

[jlap4@jlap4-vbp-gn ~]$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for jlap4:
Disk /dev/sda: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 9E8E3CA7-4C1F-4A20-BF7F-B5029D187592

Device          Start        End   Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sda1        2048  199999487 199997440 95.4G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda2   199999488  200585215    585728  286M Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3   200585216  259178495  58593280   28G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda4   259178496  290428927  31250432 14.9G Linux swap
/dev/sda5  1724028928 1928828927 204800000 97.7G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda6  1519228928 1724028927 204800000 97.7G Linux filesystem

Partition table entries are not in disk order.


Disk /dev/sdb: 238.5 GiB, 256060514304 bytes, 500118192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 5505A335-5356-4E1F-9D0D-339CC756AD8D

Device         Start       End   Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sdb1       4097    618497    614401   300M EFI System
/dev/sdb2     618498 464223331 463604834 221.1G Linux filesystem
/dev/sdb3  464223332 500103449  35880118  17.1G Linux swap

and here is my system information

[jlap4@jlap4-vbp-gn ~]$ inxi -Fxs
System:
  Host: jlap4-vbp-gn Kernel: 4.18.7-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
  v: 8.2.1 Desktop: Gnome 3.28.3 Distro: Manjaro Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: X705UDR v: 1.0
  serial: <root required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X705UDR v: 1.0 serial: <root required>
  UEFI: American Megatrends v: X705UDR.306 date: 11/27/2017
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 39.0 Wh condition: 38.9/42.1 Wh (93%)
  model: ASUSTeK ASUS Battery status: Not charging
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0
  model: Logitech M720 Triathlon Multi-Device Mouse
  charge: 100% (should be ignored) status: Discharging
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-8550U bits: 64 type: MT MCP
  arch: Kaby Lake rev: A L2 cache: 8192 KiB
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 31880
  Speed: 700 MHz min/max: 400/4000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 778 2: 751
  3: 744 4: 703 5: 704 6: 703 7: 704 8: 747
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107M [GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile] driver: N/A
  bus ID: 01:00.0
  Display: x11 server: N/A driver: N/A resolution: <xdpyinfo missing>
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel UHD Graphics 620 (Kabylake GT2)
  v: 4.5 Mesa 18.1.8 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
  bus ID: 00:1f.3
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.18.7-1-MANJARO
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
  driver: r8168 v: 8.045.08-NAPI port: d000 bus ID: 02:00
  IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: 4c:ed:fb:01:fa:f1
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8822BE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi adapter driver: r8822be
  v: kernel port: c000 bus ID: 03:00
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: 80:c5:f2:05:e9:31
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.14 TiB used: 34.51 GiB (2.9%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST1000LM035-1RK172 size: 931.51 GiB
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Micron model: 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN size: 238.47 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 216.59 GiB used: 34.50 GiB (15.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb2
  ID-2: swap-1 size: 17.11 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sdb3
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 36.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 329 Uptime: 1h 08m Memory: 15.55 GiB used: 1.99 GiB (12.8%)
  Init: systemd Compilers: gcc: 8.2.1 Shell: bash v: 4.4.23 inxi: 3.0.21

I am looking for suggestions and guidance on how to properly partition the SSD as well as suggestions on what distros to multiboot with. I am not married to any of the suggestions I gave earlier in the post.

 

[Frank Wiles]

Interested to see how this turns out. I dual booted Zorin ultimate and Ubuntu 18.04 then attempted to set up LM19 Cinnamon. the only option I got was to erase and install linux mint.

 

[Jeffrey Lapinski]

So far it works for me once we took care of the kernel panic when booting Manjaro. I want to add a few additional distros to the SSD. I'm interested in how it turns out as well!

 

[atanere]

then attempted to set up LM19 Cinnamon. the only option I got was to erase and install linux mint

Where it says "erase and install Mint" at the top of the partitioning menu, down at the bottom of the same menu it offers to do "Something else"... this allows for manual partitioning. I've never seen this option not present, and it should have allowed for you to make Mint a third OS on your system. If you had not previously prepared some free space for Mint, you should also be able to resize one of your other partitions at this stage to make room for Mint.

Cheers

 

[wizardfromoz]

I've never seen this option not present, and it should have allowed for you to make Mint a third OS on your system. If you had not previously prepared some free space for Mint, you should also be able to resize one of your other partitions at this stage to make room for Mint.

That is so. From the time that I put a second Distro on a machine, I am using "Something Else" to take control. That applies to all the Debian-based Distros (Ubuntu, Linux Mint and many more) that use Ubuntu's Ubiquity Installer. With some Families and Distros, the option will be called "Manual Partitioning" or something similar.

Occasionally (I think KDE may be one of the culprits), you have to guess to scroll down because only 2 options are shown at the top of your partitioning state of the nation.

With Ubiquity, there will be a small + and - sign near left, perhaps grayed out initially. Once you choose a partition to resize for your new Distro, you can choose Edit and change the figures to suit. If there is a large enough quantity of Unallocated Space, choose it and the +- buttons go solid and you can choose the size.

Wiz

 

[wizardfromoz]

I am looking for suggestions and guidance on how to properly partition the SSD as well as suggestions on what distros to multiboot with. I am not married to any of the suggestions I gave earlier in the post.

Not a prayer from me, Rambunctious One!

You can do the homework yourself, but I will give you and The Viewers (particularly new ones) a headstart.

CHOOSING A NUMBER OF DISTROS TO TRY

Make distrowatch.com your friend. As well as its front page, which speaks for itself with new releases, where to get them, hashsum checking, and other, it has two good pages titled "Page Hit Rankings" which is here https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity and if you click the header and dropdown menu at News/Opinions/Reviews, you can choose Visitor Ratings & Reviews, which gives some brief amateur reviews on some of the Distros. Very illuminating.

I read from the top to the bottom, and get ideas. And they are all current. Bonus.

NOW WHAT? TRY ONE AT A TIME?

Nope. Well yes, you can only try one at a time, but you can burn and boot dozens!

Multisystem is a French product I have been using for maybe 4 years.

The following is a valid option, whether you choose to multiboot, multi-multi-boot, or just want to find the one Distro of hundreds on offer, to hang your hat and call home.

Here's some pix of one I am just setting up, it's a 32 GB stick, but if you choose your Distros carefully, you can make use of 8GB or 16GB just as well, for four (4) to eight (8) Distros to try.

SCREENSHOT 1 - MULTISYSTEM WHEN LAUNCHED FROM MY PANEL

You have to click to highlight, and then confirm to proceed.

SCREENSHOT 2 - MULTISYSTEM LIST OF MY DISTROS, BLANK IF EMPTY SO FAR

Window can't be resized, scrollbars bottom and right to view.

Five Distro .iso's on there currently are :

• Anarchy (Arch-based)
• Linux Mint 19 Xfce
• Manjaro KDE
• Ubuntu 18.04.1 MATE and
• Manjaro Deepin

French presence shown by "Mio" used/free - I have used about 8GiB and about 20 GiB is still available, cool

SCREENSHOT 3 - EYEBALLING MULTISYSTEM

Clicking the eyeball on the left takes us to a further series of options represented by icons and aided by smart tips.

It is also where you can remove a Distro you no longer want to use/try and redeem the space for another.

Just right of my cursor there, like a micro-disk with a pencil, is Persistence. You can add Persistence to a Distro you might want to use more than once and save changes and settings and applications added, for future use. Persistence is limited to 4 GB (MSDOS file limit, these USB sticks have to be formatted to FAT32), except under special circumstances.

Only the Ubuntu-Mint style Distros are supported but that could change.

SCREENSHOT 4 - REBOOTED AND PLACED USB FIRST IN THE BOOT SEQUENCE (one-off or permanently)

You can see I have tweaked a couple of settings in Multisystem to make my Grub Menu more human-readable, handy with Manjaro, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, &c where there are multiple desktops and community spins/editions.

Default is 30 seconds to boot but can be changed, so choose the one you want and you are launched into a standard Live USB session, to try or install

SCREENSHOT 5 - NOT SUPPORTED YET

In this case, I have deliberately chosen a newer, obscure, perhaps, Distro, only to find that it is not yet supported by Multisystem. And see popup at right.

Once you add Multisystem to your system, you will get updates as part of your update schedule, and more and more Distros are added all the time, plus they have the ability to burn and use Rescue options such as Hiren's Rescue, Tux Rescue and others.

You can view their site (go armed with a French dictionary or use Google Translate ) at

http://liveusb.info/

There is a script available to run Multisystem on a number of Families that support same.

For Debian-based Users, you can add it to your toolkit with the following, at Terminal

sudo apt-add-repository 'deb http://liveusb.info/multisystem/depot all main'
wget -q -O - http://liveusb.info/multisystem/depot/multisystem.asc | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install multisystem

Enjoy your Linux and

Avagudweegend

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

Edit - added BTW

BTW - Multisystem is currently available for use under Linux only, but that may change.

 

[Jeffrey Lapinski]

I am familiar w/ https://distrowatch.com/ it's a great site with great resources! Thanks for the tip on multisystem, I downloaded it and plan to try it this weekend (if time allows). Might I toss out a few more questions with regard to multibooting? I think I read that you personally multiboot Debian, Arch, and RPM based distros from the same machine? Am I able to share one /home partition between distros? I am assuming that each distro needs its own /boot and I know each needs its own "/" partitions.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Hi Mate gotta fly for a while.

On separate Home partition, re-read Stan's comments at #4 here

https://www.linux.org/threads/quest...g-sdd-after-os-is-installed.19701/#post-58436

There is a page here by Mint, but I find it deficient in that it assumes you are only going to use Mint and not multiboot with other Families

https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/partitioning.html

On /boot - no, each Distro is installed with its own /boot under which is contained /grub and associated files and folders. /boot as a standalone partition is virtually obsolete.

Read here

https://askubuntu.com/questions/6490/is-a-boot-partition-necessary-anymore

and a small quote from it

If you don't use LVM, root volume encryption, software RAID, etc., and otherwise just have your root volume on a plain-jane filesystem with no intermediate layers, then you don't need it.

Really, the most important files in booting are the kernel image (vmlinuz) and the initramfs image (initrd.img). If both of those (and the GRUB configuration files) are accessible by GRUB with no special handling, then a separate /boot volume is not necessary.

I'll have more when I get back.

Wizard
BTW

Revisit your screenshot at https://www.linux.org/threads/quest...after-os-is-installed.19701/page-4#post-58650 ... and that 100GB Data is the type of thing I use for Home! Timeshift covers all the rest!

 

[Jeffrey Lapinski]

Hi Mate gotta fly for a while.

On separate Home partition, re-read Stan's comments at #4 here

https://www.linux.org/threads/quest...g-sdd-after-os-is-installed.19701/#post-58436

There is a page here by Mint, but I find it deficient in that it assumes you are only going to use Mint and not multiboot with other Families

https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/partitioning.html

On /boot - no, each Distro is installed with its own /boot under which is contained /grub and associated files and folders. /boot as a standalone partition is virtually obsolete.

Read here

https://askubuntu.com/questions/6490/is-a-boot-partition-necessary-anymore

and a small quote from it



I'll have more when I get back.

Wizard
BTW

Revisit your screenshot at https://www.linux.org/threads/quest...after-os-is-installed.19701/page-4#post-58650 ... and that 100GB Data is the type of thing I use for Home! Timeshift covers all the rest!

Thank you for all of your help!! Safe travels!

 

[Jeffrey Lapinski]

And on you having more when you return, good!! I’m sure I will have crashed my system four times over by then!!

 

[Jeffrey Lapinski]

https://medium.com/@manujarvinen/setting-up-a-multi-boot-of-5-linux-distributions-ca1fcf8d502

I found this guide for multi-multi booting

 

[wizardfromoz]

You're out of my comfort zone there, Jeffrey, but I will read it when I can,

rEFInd is the official name, and it was developed by Rod Smith of rodsbooks.com about 6 - 7 years ago. Any questions on it should likely be directed to his site.

I have not used it, prefer to stay with Grub.

Cheers

Wiz

 

[Jeffrey Lapinski]

You're out of my comfort zone there, Jeffrey, but I will read it when I can,

rEFInd is the official name, and it was developed by Rod Smith of rodsbooks.com about 6 - 7 years ago. Any questions on it should likely be directed to his site.

I have not used it, prefer to stay with Grub.

Cheers

Wiz

No worries, just wanted to see if you were familiar with it. Besides, I am in backtrack mode! I need to get my system functional again before I can continue to m-m boot project!

 

[wizardfromoz]

Have a look at the following snaps, you may need to scroll. It is like a newspaper puzzle, "Spot 10 differences"

JEFFREY'S HARD DRIVE

JEFFREY'S SOLID STATE DRIVE

This is not a quiz for the sake of it, but rather so that both you and The Viewers can understand better about multi-multi-booting.

I'll provide some of my own pics afterwards, but for now, be aware, before you get ahead, that the Hard Drive needs nuking and starting again.

It is not a huge expenditure in time, but an investment in the future, for stability.

Cheers

Wizard

 

[Jeffrey Lapinski]

That is what I expected (needing to nuke the drives). Do you suggest a new thread?

 

[Jeffrey Lapinski]

The boot partitions are different? I noticed that earlier. The boot partition on the SSD if fat32 /boot/efi while the boot partition on the HDD is /boot and is formatted in ext4.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Regrets, Mate , I missed your last two Posts here until now.

The boot partition on the SSD if fat32 /boot/efi while the boot partition on the HDD is /boot and is formatted in ext4.

Yes, the HDD was being set up for disaster. That was not really an ESP at all, just the right size. I commented on it at the time, as not being usual or typical, but did not follow up further, my bad

Anyway, onward and upward

Wiz

 

[Jeffrey Lapinski]

Yes, when I reviewed the thread I noticed that you made note of the HDD being "not usual" but I also didn't ask further.

Let's keep moving! Based on your earlier recommendations I am going to move on with adding Ubuntu MATE to the HDD (based on your recommendations to get the most updated version of GParted).

 

[wizardfromoz]

...(based on your recommendations to get the most updated version of GParted).

Ubuntu MATE I feel is a good choice for anyone to get to know, but it would not matter if it was GNOME DE, they have the same GParted with the Bionic Beaver.

I will clarify the GParted reference likely in your "Ground Up" Thread, but it is actually to do with a set of utilities known as e2fsprogs, upon which GParted relies heavily.

See you

Wiz