Dual Boot Before I Install Questions - Windows 10 PC with multiple drives

[DMLinux]

I am getting ready to install MX-21.1_KDE_x64 on my PC which currently has 4 drives. I will add a 2nd NVMe drive for MXLinux so that it does not change the Windows installation.

Will I have any problems with MX supporting this many drives that are all NTFS? I hope to be able to set it up so that the Windows 10 drive is not mounted by default. MX will only have to contend with the tree data drives. I use one SSD for my music only, and a second SSD for genealogy only. The third data drive is an HDD with four partitions, one of which I also do not want to mount by default. I want to set up the Linux boot drive with a small /home partition and the data drives as /home/sda, /home/sdb and /home/sdc#.

Will the MX installer give me an opportunity to do that during the installation, or do I need to edit fstab later?

I have an external eSATA drive that I turn on intermittently data backups. I would like to use that for backing the Linux /home partition (I use Macrium Reflect Free which will image an ext4 partition). What do I need to do to prevent problems when that drive is powered off? I have no clue how Linux behaves when a drive listed in fstab is not detected at boot.

I did find https://linuxhint.com/write-edit-etc-fstab/ and https://linuxconfig.org/how-fstab-works ... e-on-linux and https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Fstab but did not see anything about eSATA during my first quick look. I will read the through when I have the new drive installed and am ready to punch the power button.

Last question (I hope)...Will the MX Installer give me an opportunity to have Grub on the Linux boot drive instead of the Windows boot drive? I will set the Boot sequence putting the Linux drive above the Windows drive in the Bios before I install. I would prefer using the Bios boot menu to select which OS I boot, but I have never been able to find a way to get that menu to appear every time without having to press a function key, and have not been able to get help from Asus for that.

I have always used separate drives and partitions to keep my data off the boot drive, and I am very close to obsessive-compulsive about backups.

Thank you for your help! I have done some of this before (10+ years ago) but do not remember much of what I did then.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.10.0-13-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/antiX/vmlinuz quiet splasht nosplash 
  lang=en_US kbd=us tz=America/Chicago 
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.20.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM 
  Distro: MX-21.1_KDE_x64 Wildflower April 9  2022 
  base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: ROG STRIX B365-F GAMING v: Rev X.0x 
  serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 2201 date: 04/15/2021 
CPU:
  Info: Quad Core model: Intel Core i3-9100 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Kaby Lake note: check family: 6 model-id: 9E (158) 
  stepping: B (11) microcode: D6 cache: L2: 6 MiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 
  bogomips: 28800 
  Speed: 3584 MHz min/max: 800/4200 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3584 
  2: 1919 3: 2024 4: 2868 
  Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported 
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion 
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled 
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
  Type: spec_store_bypass 
  mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
  Type: spectre_v1 
  mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, 
  STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode 
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CoffeeLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630] 
  vendor: ASUSTeK 8th Gen Core Processor Gaussian Mixture Model 
  driver: i915 v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:3e91 
  class-ID: 0300 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: 
  loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0 screens: 1 
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2") 
  s-diag: 582mm (22.9") 
  Monitor-1: HDMI-2 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 102 
  size: 476x268mm (18.7x10.6") diag: 546mm (21.5") 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 630 (CFL GT2) 
  v: 4.6 Mesa 21.2.5 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 200 Series PCH HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a2f0 
  class-ID: 0403 
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.10.0-13-amd64 running: yes 
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: yes 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: ASUSTeK driver: e1000e 
  v: kernel port: f040 bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15b8 class-ID: 0200 
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Broadcom BCM20702A0 Bluetooth 4.0 type: USB driver: btusb 
  v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-13.4:4 chip-ID: 0a5c:21e8 class-ID: fe01 
  serial: <filter> 
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> 
  bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.1 sub-v: 220e hci-v: 4.1 rev: 16e4 
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:8 sco-mtu: 64:1 link-policy: rswitch sniff 
  link-mode: slave accept 
  service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.36 TiB used: 2.3 GiB (0.1%) 
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital 
  model: WDS500G3XHC-00SJG0 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B 
  logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> 
  rev: 102000WD temp: 38.9 C scheme: MBR 
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital 
  model: WD1003FZEX-00K3CA0 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: 
  physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 7200 
  serial: <filter> rev: 1A01 scheme: GPT 
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital 
  model: WDS500G2B0A size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B 
  logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 90WD 
  scheme: GPT 
  ID-4: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Western Digital 
  model: WDS500G2B0A size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B 
  logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 90WD 
  scheme: GPT 
  ID-5: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 type: USB vendor: SanDisk 
  model: USB 3.2Gen1 size: 28.65 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B 
  logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 1.00 scheme: MBR 
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure? 
  ID-6: /dev/sde maj-min: 8:64 type: USB model: General USB Flash Disk 
  size: 57.62 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: SSD 
  serial: <filter> rev: 1100 scheme: MBR 
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure? 
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found. 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: 27.8 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  Packages: note: see --pkg apt: 2348 lib: 1303 flatpak: 0 
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
  1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
  1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
  2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
  1: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
  2: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bullseye ahs
Info:
  Processes: 216 Uptime: 1m wakeups: 2 Memory: 31.22 GiB 
  used: 1.23 GiB (3.9%) Init: SysVinit v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 10.2.1 alt: 10 Shell: bash 
  default: Bash v: 5.1.4 running-in: quick-system-info-mx inxi: 3.3.06 
Boot Mode: UEFI

[Huckleberry Finn]

Will I have any problems with MX supporting this many drives that are all NTFS?

No problems with Ntfs, you can use them as always, as Data partitions (like almost everyone does as the simplest way to access data from either Linux and Windows , as a common point bw. them)

... set it up so that the Windows 10 drive is not mounted by default.

It's already like that, all other partitions, (no matter ntfs, ext4 etc.) are not mounted till you do that manually (... click it to open when using the file manager or with a command within a terminal ...) or set it that way later with fstab etc..

...Will the MX installer give me an opportunity to do that during the installation, or do I need to edit fstab later?

Later with fstab (either manually or simply with "Disk Manager" from Menu)

...Will the MX Installer give me an opportunity to have Grub on the Linux boot drive instead of the Windows boot drive?..

Sure. You just click the cells under "Use For" column and select what to use that partition: root (where MX will be installed), and others if you want them as separate partitions, like boot, home ).. You can prepare small (not too small :) ) partitions beforehand, even ESP with both flags boot (and) esp .

[Huckleberry Finn]

... Also , though this was not what you asked: Before the installation, full upgrade would be better, as the installer itself also will be the latest version.. Just (after everything's ready about partitioning with GParted etc..) run MX Updater, let it do all the upgrades, once it finishes click the install icon. (And if it asks whether to carry the changes to installation, answer Yes ).

As always:

• Disable "Secure Boot" in Bios (as it prevents most open source drivers),

• Disable "Fast Startup" in Windows (as it keeps devices engaged for it doesn't really shutdown)

• And, Ahci is recommended (especially for SSDs) as "sata mode" in Bios. If it's currently not Ahci : before changing that, open Regedit in Windows and make 2 simple changes there (to not make Windows unbootable).

[towwire]

There is one other you need to think about and that is how you computer see's time. Windows see's time as 'local' unless you set it up to UTC/GMT while Linux see's time as UTC/GMT which you can change when you are installing MX.

[DMLinux]

There is one other you need to think about and that is how you computer see's time. Windows see's time as 'local' unless you set it up to UTC/GMT while Linux see's time as UTC/GMT which you can change when you are installing MX.

I learned that the hard way using the Live USB one time. I forgot to change the time at the Grub menu, so I set it is System Settings. I was surprised when I booted back into Windows and found it 5 hours ahead of time!

[DMLinux]

... Also , though this was not what you asked: Before the installation, full upgrade would be better, as the installer itself also will be the latest version.. Just (after everything's ready about partitioning with GParted etc..) run MX Updater, let it do all the upgrades, once it finishes click the install icon. (And if it asks whether to carry the changes to installation, answer Yes ).

As always:

• Disable "Secure Boot" in Bios (as it prevents most open source drivers),

• Disable "Fast Startup" in Windows (as it keeps devices engaged for it doesn't really shutdown)

• And, Ahci is recommended (especially for SSDs) as "sata mode" in Bios. If it's currently not Ahci : before changing that, open Regedit in Windows and make 2 simple changes there (to not make Windows unbootable).

I did not realize I could run an update with a Live USB and have it stick to do the installation. That is a cool trick!

I don't think it shows in the Quick System Info in my first post, but this PC does not have a TPM, so no Secure Boot. And the Windows boot drive is MBR while the other three drives are GPT. I have Fast Startup disabled.

I am pretty sure that AHCI is enabled. I had a problem with another distro not detecting the NVMe drive, and I think checking AHCI enabled was part of the trouble shooting I did for that. I will recheck to be sure.

The only reason I am keeping Windows is because I need Family Tree Maker to sync my Ancestry.com tree for offline use. It would so nice if Ancestry would let GRAMPS sync........

[Huckleberry Finn]

Or, just make a simple change in Regedit : https://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php ... 56#p686356

[DMLinux]

... Also , though this was not what you asked: Before the installation, full upgrade would be better, as the installer itself also will be the latest version.. Just (after everything's ready about partitioning with GParted etc..) run MX Updater, let it do all the upgrades, once it finishes click the install icon. (And if it asks whether to carry the changes to installation, answer Yes ).

As always:

<SNIP>

• And, Ahci is recommended (especially for SSDs) as "sata mode" in Bios. If it's currently not Ahci : before changing that, open Regedit in Windows and make 2 simple changes there (to not make Windows unbootable).

For the benefit of anyone who might be unsure about AHCI status, a quick easy way to find out is to look at that drive controllers in Device Manager:

Go to Control Panel, or click Search, type "device manager" (without the quotation marks), then click the arrow ">" beside IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller. If you see "AHCI", it is enabled.


If I understand the details at https://phisonblog.com/ahci-vs-nvme-the ... of-ssds-2/ correctly, AHCI is not an issue for hard drives with the old 40-pin IDE ribbon cable connector, ans AHCI is not an issue for NVMe drives, which use the M.2 connector attached to either the motherboard or a PCIe card. Also, note that modern laptops that have NVMe drives may not show an IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller in Device Manager.

[DMLinux]

There is one other you need to think about and that is how you computer see's time. Windows see's time as 'local' unless you set it up to UTC/GMT while Linux see's time as UTC/GMT which you can change when you are installing MX.

I learned that the hard way using the Live USB one time. I forgot to change the time at the Grub menu, so I set it in System Settings. I was surprised when I booted back into Windows and found it 5 hours ahead of time!

Earlier tonight I installed MX on my PC. I think this issue is something that needs to be either in the MX User Manual or the Wiki and maybe a FAQ somewhere. Getting the Linux and Windows clocks cooperating with each other are not settings that have obvious paths to the correct options. Having a printed how-to would have been a big help.

[handy]

When I have both Windows & Linux/BSD on the same machine, I always put GRUB on a NON-Windows drive. That makes it impossible for MS to stuff it up (in any of the variety of ways that they have found to do that).
I've been doing it this way without a problem since 2005.