ewig
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Post by ewig on Nov 30, 2023 16:02:29 GMT
Greetings! I'm new to Linux, decided to try out Bodhi without completly getting rid of Windows for now, and since I will inevitably make mistakes I've decided to ask some questions first. I am using Lenovo y410 Ideapad with 4 GB RAM with Windows 10 as a primary OS, the parted tells me that my partition table is in MSDos. I have made a live USB with Rufus following the instructions. I then reboot the system, open BIOS, change Legacy to UEFI and boot the live USB. When I open the Bodhi Installation it doesn't recognize that I have Widows and at step 5 "Installation type" gives me only two options - "Erase disk and install Bodhi" and "Something else". I choose "Something else", make a new partition from an unallocated space into a new / ext4 partition and when I press "Install Now" it tells me this: "No EFI System Partition was found. This system will likely not be able to boot successfully, and the installation process may fail. Please go back and add an EFI System Partition, or continue at your own risk." So my questions are: 1. Do I need to actually change to UEFI if I want to keep Windows? I've read that it's possible to install Ubuntu in Legacy mode and that way it would be easier for dual boot. Is it possible to install Bodhi in Legacy mode and if yes, will it be beneficial for my situation? 2. Is it necessary to create ESP and what other partitions do I need to make manually in that case? I have 40GB of free space, I've read I need to make at least three partitions - /, /boot and /home, but how much space does each one require?  |
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enigma9o7
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Post by enigma9o7 on Nov 30, 2023 20:01:03 GMT
1. Bodhi will work in legacy mode or UEFI mode. I would suggest keep it in legacy mode since windows already working that way and don't wanna mess with it, and hopefully bodhi will automatically give you the option to keep windows then.
2. Not if you use legacy/bios boot.
You don't need to create three partitions for bodhi. One partition for everything is fine and simplest. Just use defaults.
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Post by makar0va on Dec 1, 2023 13:40:39 GMT
Better make a backup first, as you'll probably run into serious trouble. The problem starts with partitioning. Windows in MBR mode makes three partitions. The only one that it will allow you to resize is the middle one. However, all three Windows partitions should be next to each other, without a "hole." The next problem might arise from the Windows shutdown behavior because Windows uses hybrid shutdown, not shutdown. This might cause data loss or even damage the Windows installation if you try to mount the Windows partitions and move data around. In addition to modifying the energy settings, you also have to think of the bootloader, as Grub doesn't neccessarily show Windows anymore, and Windows tends to rewrite the MBR latest on the next upgrade. The good news is that you can still boot Linux, but you have to reconfigure BCD. The simplest way is to do with neosmart.net/EasyBCD/ |
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enigma9o7
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Post by enigma9o7 on Dec 1, 2023 21:31:55 GMT
ewig, a couple other things.
1. I'm assuming you wanna put bodhi on sda4? The installer doesn't want a formatted partition, it wants unformatted space, to be able to automatically set up dual boot for you. So assuming I'm right about you wanting to use sda4 (and nothing on it important), remove that partition before installing bodhi.
2. With bodhi 7, you have to change a setting after installing bodhi to get other operating systems into the grub boot menu, enabling the OS_PROBER. (Actually, disable disabling it!)
To do so gotta edit /etc/default/grub and make sure "GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false" is set and not commented, then `sudo update-grub`. You could do so with the following 3 commands: sudo sed -i '/DISABLE_OS_PROBER/d' /etc/default/grub # delete the old line no matter how its set or commented
sudo sed -i -e '$aDISABLE_OS_PROBER=false' /etc/default/grub # add new line at the end
sudo update-grub
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ewig
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Post by ewig on Dec 2, 2023 8:55:51 GMT
>Windows tends to rewrite the MBR latest on the next upgrade Thank you, makar0va, I will take this into consideration! My Windows copy is not activated, I assume it will not upgrade anyway) |
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ewig
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Post by ewig on Dec 2, 2023 8:58:53 GMT
ewig, a couple other things.
Thanks for the help, enigma9o7! I'll try installing in legacy mode with all the tips you've mentioned |
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ewig
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Post by ewig on Dec 2, 2023 9:29:40 GMT
 I have attempted the Legacy install and at the very last step (after selecting the Install alongside Windows option) I get this error and the installer freezes - pressing either Go Back or Continue does nothing :/ I have tried previously to select both options to - unmount other partitions and not to, but in both cases this shows up. There are no Windows applications running right now, I am using a standard Bodhi live environment booted from a USB stick |
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Post by makar0va on Dec 2, 2023 9:52:01 GMT
It is important that you check your starting point very carefully. A clean Windows installation may look different from the OEM preinstalled Windows, and Windows installations may also have different layouts depending on their age and state (upgraded or not, and from which version to which other). Windows UEFI clean installs are easy to modify.  Windows CSM clean installation is not easy to modify. In MBR mode, you can have a maximum of 4 primary partitions, or 3 and more logical partitions. Windows will use 3 primary partitions for itself, and the only one you can shrink is the middle one (C:).  image linkHowever, this would create a hole between the Windows system partition (C:) and the (hidden) recovery partition, and you'd likely end up with a broken Windows that can't perform offline antivirus scanning or recovery. All Windows partitions must be together. There is another possible problem. Over time, Windows has needed to expand these hidden partitions, and it used to simply create a new one automatically. However, on a system where Linux occupies the fourth primary partition, Windows wouldn't be able to create another one if it needed to. This could cause the upgrade to fail. |
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Post by makar0va on Dec 2, 2023 10:03:39 GMT
View AttachmentI have attempted the Legacy install and at the very last step (after selecting the Install alongside Windows option) I get this error and the installer freezes - pressing either Go Back or Continue does nothing :/ I have tried previously to select both options to - unmount other partitions and not to, but in both cases this shows up. There are no Windows applications running right now, I am using a standard Bodhi live environment booted from a USB stick Of course it failed, and you're lucky you didn't destroy your Windows. The cause is hybrid shutdown and the need to change the power settings (shutdown behavior). You always want to shrink the existing Windows partitions only through the Windows GUI only. If I'm right, you can speak German (ewig == eternal). You might want to check out deskmodder (.de) on how to change shutdown behavior and partitions from the Windows GUI.
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ewig
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Post by ewig on Dec 2, 2023 10:25:35 GMT
View AttachmentI have attempted the Legacy install and at the very last step (after selecting the Install alongside Windows option) I get this error and the installer freezes - pressing either Go Back or Continue does nothing :/ I have tried previously to select both options to - unmount other partitions and not to, but in both cases this shows up. There are no Windows applications running right now, I am using a standard Bodhi live environment booted from a USB stick Of course it failed, and you're lucky you didn't destroy your Windows. The cause is hybrid shutdown and the need to change the power settings (shutdown behavior). You always want to shrink the existing Windows partitions only through the Windows GUI only. If I'm right, you can speak German (ewig == eternal). You might want to check out deskmodder (.de) on how to change shutdown behavior and partitions from the Windows GUI.
OK, I'll try changing the Windows shutdown behavior; I have shrinked the partition from Windows disk manager prior to installation. My user name is in German, but I don't really speak German :ь Thank you for pointing this out! |
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ewig
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Post by ewig on Dec 2, 2023 10:35:10 GMT
It is important that you check your starting point very carefully. A clean Windows installation may look different from the OEM preinstalled Windows, and Windows installations may also have different layouts depending on their age and state (upgraded or not, and from which version to which other). Windows UEFI clean installs are easy to modify. Windows CSM clean installation is not easy to modify. In MBR mode, you can have a maximum of 4 primary partitions, or 3 and more logical partitions. Windows will use 3 primary partitions for itself, and the only one you can shrink is the middle one (C:). image linkHowever, this would create a hole between the Windows system partition (C:) and the (hidden) recovery partition, and you'd likely end up with a broken Windows that can't perform offline antivirus scanning or recovery. All Windows partitions must be together. There is another possible problem. Over time, Windows has needed to expand these hidden partitions, and it used to simply create a new one automatically. However, on a system where Linux occupies the fourth primary partition, Windows wouldn't be able to create another one if it needed to. This could cause the upgrade to fail. So there is no way to reliably have a dual boot of Win10 and Bodhi in Legacy in my case? I can reinstall Win10 in UEFI, would you think that will be the best option to try the dual boot setup? |
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Post by makar0va on Dec 2, 2023 11:11:43 GMT
So there is no way to reliably have a dual boot of Win10 and Bodhi in Legacy in my case? Partitions can be copied and moved, repaired if needed, etc. It could be done if one knows what one is doing. 
Basically, this is what you want to end up with when you dual-boot Windows and Linux. (if MBR layout)  Three primary partitions are for Windows, 1st and 3rd Windows will be as large as needed. Linux root goes into an extended (logical) partition (/). Shared is for data that should be accessed by both operating systems, so you can hide Windows partitions from Linux, as you should, to avoid accidentally writing to the Windows partition. In my example, I did this on a 50 GB drive, so you can add a 0 to all three partition sizes for a 512 GB drive. |
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Post by makar0va on Dec 2, 2023 11:21:18 GMT
OK, I'll try changing the Windows shutdown behavior; I have shrinked the partition from Windows disk manager prior to installation. I HAVE NOT CHECKED the quality of the translation service!
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enigma9o7
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Post by enigma9o7 on Dec 2, 2023 22:08:41 GMT
View AttachmentI have attempted the Legacy install and at the very last step (after selecting the Install alongside Windows option) I get this error and the installer freezes - pressing either Go Back or Continue does nothing :/ I have tried previously to select both options to - unmount other partitions and not to, but in both cases this shows up. There are no Windows applications running right now, I am using a standard Bodhi live environment booted from a USB stick
Weird. Never seen that error myself, this should have worked fine. Did you try browsing the windows file system from live, before running the installer? That would have mounted it... although unsure why installer wouldn't be able to unmount in that case.
One thing worth trying would be boot windows and do a full shut down, not the hibernation-mode shutdown it normally uses. I dunno if that will affect the installer or not, but it can't hurt. Normally if windows is hibernated like that, you can only mount windows partitions read-only.... to be able to mount them read/write you have to do full shutdown.
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enigma9o7
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Post by enigma9o7 on Dec 2, 2023 22:11:56 GMT
Of course it failed, and you're lucky you didn't destroy your Windows. What are you talking about? First your spam at the beginning of the thread, now this nonsense.
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