How to dual boot Linux Mint Debian 201204 on Windows 7 ? [Solved]

Followed these instructions on: http://helpsite.org/linux-mint-debian-edition/ and installed LinuxMint Debian 201204 on a second partition previously created on Windows 7 but it erased my OS and data.

It would appear that those instructions need to be updated but i've searched hi and lo to no avail.

linux debian linuxmint

asked May 09 '12 at 08:58

danielson
46●5●8●12

edited May 16 '12 at 16:35

considering that i have never had a problem installing linux alongside windows, i suspect you have either selected the wrong partition, or misunderstood what you did. either way, the question cannot be answered definitively unless you provide more details of precisely what happened.

(May 15 '12 at 04:05) conspiritech

7 Answers:

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1	If it erased your Windows OS then you have to reinstall Windows. The option to dual boot after creating a partition, it says "use free space" while installing Mint. answered May 09 '12 at 10:52 phototypo 866●10●16●29

I don't think the instructions are at fault. Clearly you installed the Linux on the same partition as the Windows. You must ensure that you identify the correct partition. You can't always rely on assigned Drive letters so make sure there's a distinguishable difference (like size) between the partitions to avoid confusion.

answered May 09 '12 at 12:05

Cornelia Cornflake
880●2●3●16

0	I'm going to give it another shot and follow Phototype's advice. This time I've created a partition without formatting it (usually NTFS right?). answered May 09 '12 at 13:14 danielson 46●5●8●12 tell us how it goes :) (May 09 '12 at 14:48) phototypo

Folks, i'm still struggling to get this one right.

During the LinuxMint Debian installation process this window shows up (prior to GParted): https://www.dropbox.com/s/egnsc0v2g1ca1cl/lm%20debian.jpg

As you can see, there's unallocated room available which is not formatted to NFTS. Why is it that the first two are set at dev/sda1/NTFS and dev/sda2/NTFS instead of going directly to the unallocated part? Is it because i have to modify them manually? If so, how to?

answered May 13 '12 at 21:12

danielson
46●5●8●12

edited May 14 '12 at 09:04

Unallocated means just what it says. It cannot be accessed. You need a lesson in partition management, like this one .....

http://www.howtogeek.com/101862/how-to-manage-partitions-on-windows-without-downloading-any-other-software/

(May 14 '12 at 12:06) Cornelia Cornflake

Somebody had posted (in a forum) that i should not NFTS that partition. Dat i can do! What next? Won't LM Debian still erase my primary C?

(May 14 '12 at 13:07) danielson

The instructions on the Linux Mint website are fine, they just do not include a previously installed OS in the screenshots. Starting in the unallocated space create your new partitions as the instructions direct you to. You will be starting with sda3 though as sda1 and sda2 are already occupied with your Windows install.

Creating a separate /boot partition isn't really necessary. If you don't do this a boot directory will be created in the / partition. Booting won't be as fast, but it will hardly be noticeable and won't affect the way the machine runs. It is absolutely necessary to create a separate /swap partition and advisable to create a separate /home partition. Once the the partitions are made, you can close Gparted, format and assign the mount points with the installer to /home, / ,and /boot if you did make a boot partition. /swap does not need to be assigned a mount point.

so you should end up with this:

/dev/sda1 ntfs Windows bootloader
/dev/sda2 ntfs Windows 7
/dev/sda3 ext4 /
/dev/sda4 swap
/dev/sda5 ext4 /home
unallocated

Here I assumed that the 2nd unallocated space you have will just be for extra storage. You could format this as ext4 and mount it in, say, /home/storage but if you do this Windows will be unable to read it. You could format it to ntfs and just call it storage. I'm not sure if it will just mount at boot in this case, but if it doesn't you could create an entry for it in /etc/fstab. This file is what tells linux what to mount at boot.

At any rate at this point you will be ready for the install. Just don't tell Gparted to do anything with sda1 or sda2 to avoid over-writing your Windows installation.

answered May 14 '12 at 15:54

AlanStryder
2.0k●8●20●42

edited May 14 '12 at 16:29

Thanks Alan for your precious input! I'll try to follow up on it later on tonight. I presume that the GRUB part will go into dev/sda (least i hope it does!). Also, i don't know why i got two "unallocated" partitions when i had only created one! Anyway, i had formatted them to NTFS prior to your post.

(May 14 '12 at 19:53) danielson

Yeah, grub should be put on /dev/sda. This will install it to that disk's MBR.

If you wanted to combine the 2 unallocated partitions, simply remove them before adding your linux partitions and use the extra space for /home. You can do this with gparted.

For the linux partitions that you are formatting remember NOT to use NTFS; use ext4. And don't do anything at all with the existing Windows partitions.

(May 14 '12 at 21:51) AlanStryder

On my last try last night, when i clicked on /dev/sda3 (which now had all of the unallocated and assigned space of 236,775 now in NTFS except for a tiny 2); clicking on this section to partition with GParted showed me a window with 465,780 (which is basically all of my hard disk!).

When i saw that, i simply exited from GParted and was then unable to boot Windows 7 (sheesh!)

Back to square one!

answered May 15 '12 at 04:17

danielson
46●5●8●12

the most common thing i have seen is for (not being able to boot windows) GRUB to be broken. I used to use ubuntu discs to fix that, but now they dont have the option anymore, so i use rescatux (http://www.supergrubdisk.org/rescatux/) and use the 'repair GRUB' option after booting. that will* (hopefully) make windows bootable again as well as any (most) linux distros that have been installed. GRUB is the boot manager, which handles the transition from BIOS to kernel/OS. not sure if that is correct to your machine, but it is the best i can do.

(May 15 '12 at 04:28) conspiritech

Fixes Windows MBR? Hum! That's interesting! Meaning, if i uninstall Linux it clean up leftover GRUB too?

Anyway, fortunately for me, i have a basic copy of my OS so i'm back to "normal".

WUBI is so much more easier but i figured i give this LM Debian a shot. It's turning out to be a nightmare for a poor ol' non-geek like me.

(May 15 '12 at 06:23) danielson

I did it! It works!

Followed instructions on this page and it was just what i had hoped for! http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2011/04/23/how-to-dual-boot-linux-mint-debian-edition-and-windows-7/ Phew! What a work out!

As posted elsewhere, we need rain here in Arkansas!

answered May 16 '12 at 16:31

danielson
46●5●8●12

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