MX Linux Forum

i've already got windows installed on my hard disk and now i am about to install mx linux next to or in addition to it from a 21.3 live usb with xfce (mx welcome>install mx linux). the installation methods are 'normal installation (uses the whole drive)' and 'customise partitioning'. i chose 'customise partitioning'. on the next screen the current partitioning is displayed:
device size use as label format
nvme0n1 238,5 GB GPT
nvme0n1p1 100,0 MB ESP ESP leave blank-leave out (vfat)
nvme0n1p2 16,0 MB
nvme0n1p3 237,4 GB Acer ntfs
nvme0n1p4 1,0 GB Recovery ntfs
the rest of the fields are empty.
i am afraid of deleting or destroying the windows os. on which partition(s) is windows located and on which partition(s) should i install mx linux?
my above table has got mixed up (the spaces were deleted when i posted). how can i create a table within the input user interface?

Which version of Windows is preinstalled?

@j2mcgreg could you go into the mixed up table question? it is windows 11 home.

I think forum members often recommend to manage your window's partition sizes using windows.
Then decide what you want to do and open Gparted[>View>Device Information (my preference)] and resize the linux and other partitions (e.g. DATA) using Gparted. You can set boot and esp flags on your ESP partition in Gparted or during the installation. Caution, check and recheck each format or use for column (forget exactly) so that you do not use or format a partition that you want to retain, more applicable when installing over an existing linux installation.
Suggest, create a swap partition or file.
HTH

ink wrote: Wed May 24, 2023 12:25 pm @j2mcgreg could you go into the mixed up table question? it is windows 11 home.

You can't dual boot MX with an OEM install of Windows 11. Win 11 will only boot and run with Secure Boot and BitLocker enabled. On the other hand, you cannot install MX on a Bitlocker encrypted disk and MX will not boot with Secure Boot enabled. This means that your partition question is immaterial.

@j2mcgreg i am not sure whether i got that right. does this mean i cannot install mx linux on a drive with windows 11 already preinstalled, so it will work and i can select mx linux or windows from a boot menu? in other words, do i have to decide either to continue using windows on that drive or to install mx linux which means windows would be deleted or at least cannot boot any more?

This used to be simpler. In recent years some OEM's have made it very difficult, if not impossible, to run anything other than Windows 11 on a particular machine. So, you'll need to share more information with the forum and hope that someone has similar equipment. What brand? model? did the computer come with Windows 11 pre-installed? Can you access the UEFI settings and tell the system to turn off secure boot and enable Legacy booting, etc? Can you boot from a second drive while keeping the original drive setup with Win11?

Assuming you have equipment that will allow manipulating the boot settings, the standard procedure would be to open up some space by "shrinking" a volume inside of Windows using Disk Management. Then use Gparted, or similar, from the Live USB,to create a Linux partition for MX to use, and probably also a Linux Swap partition, in that unused space created by shrinking the Windows volume. Finally, run the MX Live USB and then run the Install routine, select to use existing partitions, and select the newly created Linux partitions. Allow the installer to run the boot manager routines into the ESP partition (already existing from the Windows install). Be prepared to fiddle with the boot settings or use a booter from a Live USB. Windows will make it difficult for MX to coexist. But sometimes it can be done. You may need to get some help from others who have done it on your equipment.

Seaken64

ink wrote: Wed May 24, 2023 1:46 pm @j2mcgreg i am not sure whether i got that right. does this mean i cannot install mx linux on a drive with windows 11 already preinstalled, so it will work and i can select mx linux or windows from a boot menu? in other words, do i have to decide either to continue using windows on that drive or to install mx linux which means windows would be deleted or at least cannot boot any more?

Yes.

Just kicking around some ideas in case you haven't thought about it ...

1). Because they paid the Microsoft secure boot fee you could install Fedora or Ubuntu next to Windows 11. Blasphemy, I know.

2). You could wipe Windows 11, install Windows 10, turn off secure boot and install MX LInux next to Windows 10.

3). I'm pretty sure you could do this, although somewhat inconvenient (my computer knowledge in general is greatly limited). You could turn off secure boot and install MX Linux on an external drive or create an MX Live USB with persistence. If you use MX more than Windows 11 set the UEFI/BIOS to boot one of those MX drives first. In MX set it so the Windows drive is not mounted automatically. Any time you want to run Window 11 go into the UEFI/BIOS and turn on secure boot, then make sure to start up (F12?) so that you can temporarily change the boot order to Windows 11 first. Next time you want to run MX turn off secure boot.

4). It may be possible to run MX Linux in a VM under a Windows 11 host (I don't know) or run Windows 11 in a VM and bypass TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot under an MX host. I don't know that either, but someone here may know or there are YouTube videos that seem to do that (not showing MX though).

Install MX-Linux in a VirtualBox virtual machine. It's like "Having your cake and eating it too." Or run from a live-usb.

ink wrote: Wed May 24, 2023 1:46 pm @j2mcgreg i am not sure whether i got that right. does this mean i cannot install mx linux on a drive with windows 11 already preinstalled, so it will work and i can select mx linux or windows from a boot menu? in other words, do i have to decide either to continue using windows on that drive or to install mx linux which means windows would be deleted or at least cannot boot any more?

Have you tried to disabled secure boot with UEFI/system setup? It may work within win win11-home, as bitlocker may not have been fully enabled, so disabling secure boot might work. Which would than allow you to install and boot MX
and also select winOS within the GRUB-menu.

summarizing your information i come to the conclusion, the combination of (u)efi and secure boot and windows 11 (oem) has not made a dual boot installation easier and it is at least tricky, if not impossible to install mx linux next to windows 11 (oem) already preinstalled. in any case it cannot be done 'by normal means' without having to bypass problems, the computer being inconvenient or using a vm.
i searched the (u)efi menu for relevant entries:
'Main' tab
Network Boot: [Disabled]
F12 Boot Menu: [Enabled] it was disabled by default. i enabled it in order to boot the mx linux live usb which was not possible with 'Disabled'. When starting the computer with 'Enabled' no temporary boot menu (F12) was displayed and i think two secure boot errors were shown for max. a second, so i could not read in full but it boots the live usb properly.
Fast Boot: [Enabled]
D2D Recovery: [Enabled]
'Security' tab
Secure Boot Mode: Standard #it is inactive and inaccessible
Erase all Secure Boot Setting: [Enter] #inactive and inaccessible
Select an UEFI file as trusted for executing: [Enter] #inactive and inaccessible
Restore Secure Boot to Factory Default: [Enter] #inactive and inaccessible
'Boot' tab
Boot Mode: [UEFI] #inactive and inaccessible
Secure Boot: [Enabled] #inactive and inaccessible
Boot priority order:
1. Windows Boot Manager #it is apparently active and accessible. by default it read: 1. Linpus lite 2. Windows Boot Manager ,i do not know why one entry was deleted. i did not do that. it must have been done automatically. perhaps because of changing 'F12 Boot Menu' to 'Enabled' (see above) or booting the live usb?
perhaps i am going to backup my hard disk with all partitions using a partitioning software and create a brand new mx linux installation on it. is it safe, i can restore windows 11 with such a backup in the future, so it works and boots and may i ask questions regarding backups with non-linux software in this discussion?

ink wrote: Thu May 25, 2023 8:15 am 'Security' tab
Secure Boot Mode: Standard #it is inactive and inaccessible

If not have done already - post QSI (Quick System Info) from LiveUSB.
And depending what UEFI system Software is in use,
you may need first to add a Admin password with UEFI systum and reboot again int UEF Setup,
in order to change secure boot.

These are the steps you have to follow in order to install MX on your machine:

First, in Windows 11
(1)You should follow these instructions to create a Win 11 install drive:
https://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php ... 036#p72603
(2) manually back up your documents, bookmarks, addressbook etc to an external drive that you can access later. Automatic back up apps designed for Windows will almost certainly not work in MX
(3) you should download the ISO of the version of MX that you want for your install. Then download and use Rufus to write the ISO using GPT partitioning to a USB drive.
(4) you need to log in to your Microsoft account and obtain your BitLocker encryption keys --> write them down or print them out
(5) you need to disable BitLocker and Fast Start Up

In your computer's bios
(1) create an Administrator password in order to allow you to access the bios's advanced controls
(2) disable Secure Boot. Note that on some bioses you will also have to delete / disable the Windows 11 Secure Boot keys. If disabling Bitlocker didn't work or you forgot to do it, you will need the BitLocker encryption keys you obtained earlier in order to proceed
(3) insert your MX install drive
(4) save/exit the bios and proceed to install MX
(5) since this is your first install, you should choose the "automatic install using entire disk" option in the installer routine

If you decide later that MX is not for you, you can reinstall Win 11 by re-enabling Secure Boot in the bios and booting with the Win 11 install drive you created earlier. Your Win 11 licence key is hard coded on to your motherboard and BitLocker and Fast Start Up will be recreated by Win 11.

@fehlix @j2mcgreg thank you very much for turning to me. yes. setting passwords as a prerequisite for making the entries become active and accessible and getting rid of secure boot. i hadn't thought of that. i'm going to check that. anyway, i think this is a good moment now to backup the hard disk because i'm a little afraid as one boot order entry was already automatically deleted and after all i've heard, yet, i expect the installation might get tricky, if possible, at all. i'd get back to this point in the discussion right after the backup. that's why i'd be glad if someone answered that:
how can i get the deleted boot entry back? @j2mcgreg '(1)You should follow these instructions to create a Win 11 install drive': are the chances of success to reinstall windows 11 in the future, so it boots and works greater if it's done with an install drive compared to restore a backup created by a partitioning software for windows of my whole hard disk with all partitions ? is it safe, i can reinstall windows 11, at all?

@ink
This is an MX Linunx forum and I am no expert on the Windows platform. The method I posted was what I used when I had to temporarily restore Win 11 on my HP 15 laptop because, at the time, it was too new for Linux. You should really post your question on re-installing on a Windows forum and cite the backup software you intend to use in order to get a definitive answer.

j2mcgreg wrote: Thu May 25, 2023 9:38 am These are the steps you have to follow in order to install MX on your machine:

... Note that on some bioses you will also have to delete / disable the Windows 11 Secure Boot keys. ...

Doing this will remove the ability to return to Secure Boot should the user ever install a signed Linux Kernel.

FullScale4Me wrote: Thu May 25, 2023 2:30 pm

j2mcgreg wrote: Thu May 25, 2023 9:38 am These are the steps you have to follow in order to install MX on your machine:

... Note that on some bioses you will also have to delete / disable the Windows 11 Secure Boot keys. ...

Doing this will remove the ability to return to Secure Boot should the user ever install a signed Linux Kernel.

True. Never-the-less, it it is the only choice on those machines if a user wants to install MX now.

j2mcgreg wrote: Thu May 25, 2023 9:38 am These are the steps you have to follow in order to install MX on your machine:

First, in Windows 11

(4) you need to log in to your Microsoft account and obtain your BitLocker encryption keys --> write them down or print them out
(5) you need to disable BitLocker and Fast Start Up

To Disable BitLocker

1) Create a Microsoft Online account if you do not already have one.
https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/signin/

2) Log into your Microsoft account and locate the BitLocker key:

Click 'Devices'
Click 'See Details'
Click 'BitLocker Data Protection'
Click 'Manage Recovery Keys'

Write it down, copy it to a safe location (NOT this PC!), and print it out.

3) Go to Settings in Windows and turn off BitLocker.

If installing MX in Dual Boot goes awry, you will need the key from step #2 in order to proceed.

You will also need the key if you try to disable Secure Boot before you turn off BitLocker.

Alternately the BitLocker key is stored in Active Directory and Azure (if you use it) in your user profile.

i give up. Thank you for your effort.

Thank You Bill Gates!