1y ago

Linux Ubuntu Dual-booting horror

Any and all help would be so greatly appreciated. I've been battling with my laptop to be able to dual-boot Ubuntu Cinnamon and Windows 10 for about four days now. I've probably gone down five or six different rabbit-holes of troubleshooting, GRUB command-line fun, reinstalling and updating the BIOS, trying and failing to deal with VMX and locked NVram. As of now, my system boot-loops and fails to run Windows, but paradoxically I am able to get Ubuntu running, which is what I am using now.

I'll try to provide as much relevant information here as I can:

Device: HP ZBook 17, gen 6
Primary OS: Windows 10 Home
Linux distro: Ubuntu Cinnamon 23.10
Ubuntu location: /dev/sda3
grub-install --version = 2.12~rc1-10ubuntu4
boot-repair Boot-info summary: https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/rxZ3D5GtpP/
I'm more than happy to provide more information as it's requested.

As of now, I am unable to run Windows through the BIOS. If I run via the dedicated SSD as I normally do, it boot-loops, and if I try to go through any other drives it just tells me I need to install an OS. I am currently able to run Ubuntu, but only by going through the following process:

Startup menu
Boot configuration
Boot from EFI > Ubuntu > shimx64.efi

At this point, I am happy with two outcomes to this scenario:

I am able to run my laptop with Windows 10 as the primary OS, with the ability to dual-boot to Ubuntu Cinnamon 23.10.
Assuming option 1 is impossible/requires a Herculean amount of work to pull off from this state, I am willing to scrub Windows 10 from my laptop and move forward with Cinnamon as my daily driver, though I am rather inexperienced in it. I can learn to move forward as I need to and run a VM or WINE for any Windows-specific processes I still need to do. But I would rather keep this option as my dead man's switch.

32 comments

Sorry this isn’t an answer to the question, only a general reminder for whoever needs it to always create a disk image backup beforehand using Macrium Reflect or similar, so you can rollback nightmares like this.
- Listen to what this person has to say, you people! I ignored multiple recommendations across probably ten different webpages to create a backup disk and I could have walked a lot of this back and started over, at the very least. FWIW, I'm sure that whatever is going on now is not irreparably broken, but certainly I could have saved myself some headaches.
  
  Again, sorry I cannot offer a solution. I’m sure it can be fixed, I’ve just never had to figure it out.

- People aren't going to like this recommendation, but this is really the best way.
  
  Mainly because my Windows license is an OEM one that won't move to the "new hardware" :/
- I appreciate the elegance of your answer but it's a bit lacking in detail. Are you saying that I should go with the nuclear option when installing Linux and remove the old files? I might just remove my HDD in that case and install Linux into the dedicated SSD.

Did you turn secure boot on/off?
- I turned it off a while back.

Imo at this point you're better off just nuking everything (after you backed up your important files) and reinstalling with the following process:
Install windows, with the linux drive removed
Plug linux drive back and install ubuntu on it (make sure you select the right drive in the installer) If you do this ubuntu should automatically detect windows. If it doesn't you should still be able to boot into either one of them using your device's bios.
- I am going with this game plan, courtesy of ChatGPT 4. It aligns very nicely with my goals and the steps involved also seem to coincide nicely with the suggestions made in this thread. Gives me a path forward, which is really what I need now.
  Backup Personal Files:
  Access your Linux partition (A:).
  Mount the Windows SSD (C:) and HDD (F:) within Linux.
  Carefully check for any personal files on C: and copy them to F:. Verify that all important data is on F:.
  Create a Full Backup of F:
  Connect an external storage device with sufficient space.
  Create a full backup of your HDD (F:) to this external device. This is crucial to prevent data loss.
  Verify Backup Integrity:
  Ensure that the backup on the external storage is complete and the files are accessible.
  Prepare for OS Installation:
  Download the latest Linux Cinnamon 23.10 ISO.
  Create a bootable USB drive with this ISO using a tool like Rufus or Etcher.
  Remove HDD:
  Power down your PC.
  Physically remove the HDD (F:) to ensure it remains untouched during the OS installation.
  Boot from Linux USB Drive:
  Insert the bootable Linux USB drive.
  Access BIOS/UEFI and set the USB drive as the primary boot device.
  Install Linux Cinnamon on SSD:
  Proceed with the Linux installation on the SSD (formerly C:).
  During installation, select the option to format and use the entire SSD. This will erase Windows 10 and all data on it.
  Post-Installation Checks:
  After installation, boot into Linux Cinnamon.
  Check that all hardware components are recognized and functioning.
  Reinstall HDD:
  Power down your PC.
  Reinstall the HDD (F:).
  Mount and Access HDD in Linux:
  Boot into Linux.
  Mount the HDD (F:). You may need to install additional drivers or file system utilities depending on its format.
  Data Restoration or Access:
  If required, restore the personal files from the external backup to HDD (F:).
  Alternatively, if the HDD is accessible without issues, use it as is for storage.
  Install Necessary Software:
  Install any Linux-compatible software that you need.
  Final System Checks:
  Ensure everything is working as expected.
  Make any necessary adjustments in system settings, drivers, or configurations.
  Create a New System Backup:
  Once everything is set up, consider creating a new system image backup.
  
  You might not want to trust chatgpt with anything where accuracy and specificity are both essential to not brick a machine or lose data though. Especially since you can't check the sources it used. It did a decent job at getting the general workflow right, but even that's not a given. :/

It sounds like you have Windows in one disk and Ubuntu in another disk. Confirm this before proceeding.
Now if that's true, and what you said about dedicated windows ssd on a boot loop, it sounds like MRB needs fixing. I suggest you make yourself a windows 10 USB disk or disc. Run that and when it asks to install, you look for recovery. And try to run the fix boot and recover MRB.
Something like these 2 commands
Bootrec /fixboot
Bootrec /fixmrb
commands
- You are correct. Thank you for giving some options for processing on this path. I'm still deciding whether I want to continue trying the dual boot route, figuring out how to get VMX running, or just maining Linux and dealing with the learning curve. I do feel that my end plan, however long that would be, is to be using Linux as my primary OS anyway and there's no time like the present, but for all I know after sleeping on it I may decide that I still want a functional Windows in my laptop.

What was your starting point? Having Windows on the machine already and installing Ubuntu on top of it? (that would be commonly regarded as the 'correct' order) If not, and you can afford to scrap everything, that's what I'd go for. If yes, and it's Ubuntu that's messing up your dual boot, I'd see if Windows can be restored after removing Ubuntu, and then try a different distro (I'd go with Mint Cinnamon, it normally provides smooth install experience).
- I'm considering other options though I've enough Ubuntu so far. Fedora also looks nice. I'm a complete GNU/Linux novice but I can generally work around technical sides of programs relatively fine. I'm not sure why this issue is kicking my ass so much lol

You have an EFI bootloader, so your BIOS should be able to detect your Windows partition and just boot it off it's still in good working order. Go into your BIOS boot menu and see if you can boot to Windows from there as a first test.

I don't fully understand how you are going about your installation. Are you attempting to install Windows 10, and Ubuntu onto different partitions on one drive, or each on a separate drive? Are you wanting to use grub to boot the OS of choice, or to choose the boot device from the BIOS boot device menu? In what order did you initially install the OS's (Windows 10 first, then Ubuntu, or vice-versa)?
- Dedicated SSD (C:) has Windows on it.
  Internal HDD has F: (storage) and a partition for Ubuntu, which is the A: drive in Windows and /dev/sda3 in Linux.
  I was originally hoping to do it this way and be able to dual boot them, but the more I think about it the more I feel that just going straight to Linux and biting the bullet would be better in the long run, and I can flash Windows if I really need it.
  I was trying to get GRUB to act as boot loader but for the longest time I couldn't even get GRUB running, even with at least 5 different troubleshooting ideas. Then once it was running, I still couldn't get it to mount the EFI. Then I started getting the boot loop issues and Windows OS stopped working, but I figured out how to get Linux desktop running via shimx64.efi in the BIOS boot loader.
  This computer is natively a Win 10 machine, and I was trying to add Linux to it.
  
  I encourage you to read through this Archwiki page on dualbooting -- it has a lot of very helpful information on the topic.
  I was originally hoping to do it this way and be able to dual boot them, but the more I think about it the more I feel that just going straight to Linux and biting the bullet would be better in the long run, and I can flash Windows if I really need it.
  It is certainly possible to dual boot (in my experience, with the occasional headache that you may, or may not be willing to deal with) Windows and Linux, but yes, the most reliable installation would be one, or the other.
  I was trying to get GRUB to act as boot loader but for the longest time I couldn’t even get GRUB running, even with at least 5 different troubleshooting ideas
  Hrm, I'm not sure how you are going about your installation procedure. You mentioned that you are installing Ubuntu, but Ubuntu should come with Grub pre packaged. Installing Ubuntu really only requires clicking a couple buttons in the install wizard.
  but I figured out how to get Linux desktop running via shimx64.efi in the BIOS boot loader.
  Im not really familiar with shim, but, from what I understand, it's the loader for when you have secure boot enabled, but you should have that disabled.

32 comments