How to dual-boot Bionic and Mint 20.2 from HDD?

[kylerickards]

Hi all

Just a simple question really - is it possible to dual boot this on an internal HDD and if so how would I do it? I've been trying since about 3pm and I'm not getting far. I think both things are on there now but Dos4Grub seems to be loading up to the menu but then failing although for some reason both Mint and Puppy seem to be on SDA5 which I don't why as I only have one internal 250gb drive?

Thank you

[Feek]

Hello,
my way of "dual boot" is, that as boot device for puppy I use usb stick. On the usb stick is extlinux bootloader and puppy folders, each one only with vmlinuz and initrd.gz. The rest of the files (all puppy .sfs and savefolders) is booted from the puppy folders on harddrive. So the win7's bootloader on harddrive is untouched. To achieve this is easy: edit the bootloader's config file the right way.

[williams2]

is it possible to dual boot this on an internal HDD

Yes.

To install Puppy, just copy 4 or 5 files from the iso to the Mint partition.
That's it, Puppy is installed.
No need to partition, you already have a partition for Mint.
Puppy and Mint can share that partition without any conflict.

(to see the files in the iso file, you probably only need to click
or right click the iso file.)

You need a boot loader for Puppy, but you can just use Mint's boot loader.
No need to install another boot loader for Puppy.

You do need to add a couple of lines to the grub.cfg text file.

I don't boot using grub, I boot using syslinux on a usb flash drive.
The lines in my boot configuration file are:

Code: Select all

label b8
kernel vmlinuzb8
append initrd=initrdb8.gz pupsfs=sda4 pfix=ram

This will not work in your grub.cfg file, but the lines you need would be very similar.

Someone who does use grub2 will probably post and tell you exactly what you need to put in your grub.cfg file.

[kylerickards]

is it possible to dual boot this on an internal HDD

Yes.

To install Puppy, just copy 4 or 5 files from the iso to the Mint partition.
That's it, Puppy is installed.
No need to partition, you already have a partition for Mint.
Puppy and Mint can share that partition without any conflict.

(to see the files in the iso file, you probably only need to click
or right click the iso file.)

You need a boot loader for Puppy, but you can just use Mint's boot loader.
No need to install another boot loader for Puppy.

You do need to add a couple of lines to the grub.cfg text file.

I don't boot using grub, I boot using syslinux on a usb flash drive.
The lines in my boot configuration file are:

Code: Select all

label b8
kernel vmlinuzb8
append initrd=initrdb8.gz pupsfs=sda4 pfix=ram

This will not work in your grub.cfg file, but the lines you need would be very similar.

Someone who does use grub2 will probably post and tell you exactly what you need to put in your grub.cfg file.

Thanks Williams, I’m not quite why I’m stuck at the Grub loading screen created by puppy. Even Boot repair wasn’t helping me.

So if I just copy the files from the iso into the /home directory of my mint 20.2 plus sort the boot loader - that’s all I need to do? Everything should be there in that case? I’m so confused by it and I’ve been using Puppy for years

[kylerickards]

I don't need to reinstall Mint from scratch again do I? Boot repair doesn't seem to be letting me get back to boot normally so I can add Puppy

[williams2]

I'm not really sure what you started with or what you have done.

I was just making the point that to install Puppy, all you have to do is copy some of the files from the iso.
Probably, you would make a dir (folder) in the Mint partition, named something like fossapup or bionicpup and copy the files in the iso to that dir.

If you already have a boot loader installed, you don't need to install another boot loader.

@Clarity likes the idea of making a SuperGrub boot usb.
Then, if you copy the Puppy iso file to the usb drive, SuperGrub should find it and allow you to select to boot Puppy (and any other isos on the usb drive) from the grub menu.
I think it should find other Linux distros installed on your hard drive partitions, and add them to the boot menu.
I think it will also put MS Windows in the boot menu, if Windows is installed.
I think, i haven't used SuperGrub for a long time.

Myself, this laptop has not been repartioned, and I have not installed any bootloader on it.
I enabled legacy boot and disabled secure boot, in the bios.
I boot all my Puppys from a single usb flash drive.

I think you installed a boot loader from the Puppy iso, which wrote over the Mint boot loader.
I suspect it might be best to reinstall/repair Mint's boot loader using the live Mint installer.
It should be easy to install Puppy after Mint is working again.
and Windows, if Windows is installed.

[kylerickards]

Thank you - I just have an old laptop with a 250 drive in in that I installed Mint onto cleanly from DVD ROM and then booted with my BionicPup CD and installed that using Frugal but followed the prompts to install the Bootloader from within that set up. Before I started sorting Mint out I did use Gparted to wipe the drive but when I did notice that Mint and Puppy seem to to want to live on SDA5 but I don't know where 1/2/3/4 are?

[williams2]

I don't need to reinstall Mint from scratch again do I?

I think that SuperGrub can boot Mint, even if Mint's boot loader is not working.

I think you should be able to repair Mint's boot loader without having to reinstall Mint.

I'm not the best person to be helping you. It's been years since I installed a boot loader, or any other distro than Puppy, or repartitioned a drive. With Puppy, I don't need to.

[kylerickards]

Thank you, I will have a look in the morning as it's getting late and I think I will only make things worse if I carry on tonight

[williams2]

I did notice that Mint and Puppy seem to to want to live on SDA5 but I don't know where 1/2/3/4 are?

That sound like you have an extended partition, as opposed to a primary partition.

In Linux, 1/2/3/4 are primary partitions and 5+ are logical partitions in the extended partition.
If you have no primary partitions other than the extended partition, then logical partitions in the extended partition would be sda5, sda6, etc.

[williwaw]

although for some reason both Mint and Puppy seem to be on SDA5 which I don't why as I only have one internal 250gb drive?

Thank you

perhaps it would be easier if we knew more about your partitioning arrangement and the actual partition/location of /home

can you paste the output from running
fdisk -l (thats a small ell) in a terminal?

but Dos4Grub seems to be loading up to the menu but then failing

can you paste the contents of your menu.lst if in fact you have installed grub4dos. otherwise please id your boot screen title.

[Clarity]

This helpful video can help when we have a need to savage a disrupted boot process.

It uses the same ability to recover as is used by this technique for booting modern PUPs and DOGs. Thus, it shows how to use a strategy for booting our ISO files where it also extends to support boot recovery when it is affected by another OS's installation to our systems.

If you have already tested or have that USB, you are already ahead of the game. Recovery to booting is made quite a bit simpler.

Hope this info is helpful in any recovery need when other distros disrupt us.

[Grey]

I don't need to reinstall Mint from scratch again do I? Boot repair doesn't seem to be letting me get back to boot normally so I can add Puppy

Mint uses Grub2. Your hard drive is clearly not formatted in an optimal way.

Reinstall Mint again (in your case, the hard drive can probably be formatted). This will install it on sda1 and install Grub2. Copy the Puppy files to a folder on sda1, for example /puppylinux/bionicpup. Find the boot folder.

mint.png (34.23 KiB) Viewed 2773 times

Go to the /sda1/boot/grub/ folder and create a custom.cfg file in it.

mint_2.png (20.88 KiB) Viewed 2773 times

This file should have something like this (in your case, starting from menuentry "bionicpup64"):

Code: Select all

menuentry "fossapup64" --class fossapup {
	set root='(hd0,1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root ef0a7b97-f3a9-4d28-a1ac-34bf69207ec9
	linux /puppylinux/fossapup/vmlinuz root=UUID=ef0a7b97-f3a9-4d28-a1ac-34bf69207ec9 pdev1=sda1 psubdir=/puppylinux/fossapup psave=587792dd-a1cf-4ec1-af2e-1c70d6c81703:/puppylinux/fossapup/fossapup64save-main psubok=TRUE
	initrd /puppylinux/fossapup/initrd.gz
}

menuentry "bionicpup64" --class bionicpup {
	set root='(hd0,1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root ef0a7b97-f3a9-4d28-a1ac-34bf69207ec9
	linux /puppylinux/bionicpup/vmlinuz root=UUID=ef0a7b97-f3a9-4d28-a1ac-34bf69207ec9 pdev1=sda1 psubdir=/puppylinux/bionicpup psubok=TRUE
	initrd /puppylinux/bionicpup/initrd.gz
}

The UUID can be found from the blkid command in Mint or Puppy terminal. Run the sudo update-grub command in terminal (Mint).

Reboot. On boot, Grub will show a menu containing Mint and Puppy.

[shinobar]

@kylerickards, as Grey says, you need to re-install Mint with 'Erase Disk' option.
As for installing Puppy, you can manually do and write /boot/grub/custom.cfg. But there may be another problem.
Your Grub2 of Mint may not show the boot menu, that is 'hidden'. To show the boot menu, you need another work on Mint. I can tell you how to do if you want to.

But more easy way is using the frugalinstaller and the grub2config run on Live Puppy.
Download frugalinstaller-2.2 and grub2config-2.0.1 from http://shinobar.server-on.net/puppy/opt/

See the topic: viewtopic.php?f=155&t=3360

[kylerickards]

Apologies all, I didn't see that new replies had been posted

So I completely formatted the entire drive as though it was new and checked in gparted and got this with fdisk now @williwaw

Code: Select all

Disk /dev/sda: 232.91 GiB, 250059350016 bytes, 488397168 sectors
Disk model: WDC WD2500BEVT-2
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x5ace2fb3

Device     Boot   Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *       2048   1050623   1048576   512M  b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda2       1052670 488396799 487344130 232.4G  5 Extended
/dev/sda5       1052672 488396799 487344128 232.4G 83 Linux

Thank you Grey, Clarity and Shinobar - I am a bit confused - should I follow yours Grey or yours Shinobar for the simplest fix for what I am trying to achieve?

[williwaw]

So I completely formatted the entire drive as though it was new and checked in gparted and got this with fdisk

a complete reformat should have deleted your partitions. Not sure what you have redone on your drive, but perhaps a reinstall of mint, as per grey's post might be best.

I would use gparted to create a new partition table. (in the device dropdown at the top > create partition table > msdos

1. reinstall mint

grey proposes the manual method, and shinobar proposes the frugalpup method to 2. install puppy. For me, learning the manual method is as easy a learning how to run the installer app. either works equally well.

after puppy is installed, you can choose to edit your mint (grub2 boot loader) with a custom.cfg, or replace the mint bootloader with shinobars grub2config bootloader.
installing or configuring a bootloader is really a separate task from installing an os, (the installer in mint does both at the same time)

[kylerickards]

So I completely formatted the entire drive as though it was new and checked in gparted and got this with fdisk

a complete reformat should have deleted your partitions. Not sure what you have redone on your drive, but perhaps a reinstall of mint, as per grey's post might be best.

I would use gparted to create a new partition table. (in the device dropdown at the top > create partition table > msdos

1. reinstall mint

grey proposes the manual method, and shinobar proposes the frugalpup method to 2. install puppy. For me, learning the manual method is as easy a learning how to run the installer app. either works equally well.

after puppy is installed, you can choose to edit your mint (grub2 boot loader) with a custom.cfg, or replace the mint bootloader with shinobars grub2config bootloader.
installing or configuring a bootloader is really a separate task from installing an os, (the installer in mint does both at the same time)

But I did do a complete format? Booted with a live disk, ran gparted, made sure to delete all partitions and things, rebooted with the Mint disk and let the installer do it's structuring and it still did what I posted? Are we saying I need to do that again because it did take me hours last night? (It's not a very quick laptop in all honesty, just one I was trying to repurpose as I hate things being gotten rid of)

[bigpup]

a complete reformat should have deleted your partitions.

NO, formatting does nothing but format a PARTITION!
Only the partition you select to format.

The steps to setup a drive using Gparted.
Make a partition table.
Make partition(s)
Format the partition(s)

Mints installer program, may or may not, do all of this setup of partitions and format, of a drive.
Some Linux OS installs do.

To start clean at a known point.

Boot the Puppy version (Bionicpup) from a CD or USB install.
Run Gparted.
Make a partition table. (type msdos)
Make one partition out of all the unallocated space.
Format the partition ext4

Now install Mint by using the Mint installer.
It should install Mint, setup the partitions on the drive the way Mint wants them, place the parts of Mint in the partition(s), and install Mint's boot loader.

Now to understand where to place the Bionic frugal install.
Use Gparted to see what the drive now has for partitions on it.
It may now have one or several partitions.
If more than one partition.
Figure out what is the largest one in size.
That is the one to place the frugal install of Bionic on.

To do the manual way to do the frugal install of Bionic.
Make a directory named bionicpup on the large sized partition.
Copy the files from the Bionicpup iso into this directory.

Now you have to get a boot loader setup to have entries to boot Mint and Bionicpup.

Several ways have been suggest, but what is the best easy way to get a working boot loader.

After setting up the drive using Gparted.
Installing Mint.
Doing a manual frugal install of Bionicpup or use shinobar's frugalinstaller program, to do the frugal install.

I think I would try what shinobar suggested.
He is the developer of the grub2config-2.0.1 boot loader installer program to run in Puppy.

As for installing Puppy, you can manually do and write /boot/grub/custom.cfg. But there may be another problem.
Your Grub2 of Mint may not show the boot menu, that is 'hidden'. To show the boot menu, you need another work on Mint. I can tell you how to do if you want to.

But more easy way is using the frugalinstaller and the grub2config run on Live Puppy.
Download frugalinstaller-2.2 and grub2config-2.0.1 from http://shinobar.server-on.net/puppy/opt/

See the topic: viewtopic.php?f=155&t=3360

[shinobar]

@kylerickards
The sda5 partition seems a 'logical'. You can remove it and remake 'primary' partition as sda2, using GParted.
Putting it aside, the Mint is now running on your PC?
If so, no problem to continue next step, frugalinstaller and grub2config.

[williwaw]

@kylerickards
The sda5 partition seems a 'logical'. You can remove it and remake 'primary' partition as sda2, using GParted.
Putting it aside, the Mint is now running on your PC?
If so, no problem to continue next step, frugalinstaller and grub2config.

this.

sorry for the confusion kyle. when you mentioned you did the reformat, I did not realize you also reinstalled mint before creating the fdisk output you posted. I thought it was showing artifacts from before your gparted work.

the jump from sda2 to sda5 is explained by mints installer creating sda2 as an "extended" primary partition, to contain the "logical" sda5. (normally this is done if there is a need for more than 4 primary partitions.)

you need do nothing more about partitioning if the mint install was successful, as shinobar indicates.
make your puppy install, then replace your bootloader

for reference:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... ect=1&lq=1

https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... partitions

[kylerickards]

Thank you both - this has been very useful and I shall retain for future reference.

I have used @shinobar 's method for the install and bootloader and that has worked straight off so thank you. Ironically I am only keeping Mint on there to run IDJC for internet broadcasting (which amazingly for such a low powered machine does actually work) although it is difficult to see all of the screen so I may either connect to an external monitor for broadcasting or just simply use Puppy all the time. As I say this was a "spare" machine but I hate watching people throw equipment in the bin which is perfectly good enough to do what most people want, ie, write a document, check email etc.

Thank you anyway though, I have learned some stuff.

[mikeslr]

... Ironically I am only keeping Mint on there to run IDJC for internet broadcasting...

idjc is available via Bionicpup64's Puppy Package Manager from Ubuntu's Multiverse repo. But:

(a) The components are for Ubuntu Bionic Beaver and BionicPup may not have some 'infra-structure' components Ubuntu's devs assume to be present when identifying dependencies. That is not usually a problem. Once a binary is downloaded, you can file-browse to it, Right-Click it, Select ListDD and List Dynamic Dependencies will report what's missing -- just click the 'Missing Tab' on the bottom of the GUI. However,

IDJC & KNOWN dependencies.png (41.51 KiB) Viewed 2413 times

(b) As the screenshot reveals, idjc is a module of or built to make use of A python framework. ListDD doesn't work with python. And not all pythons are interchangeable.
Usually the way I construct applications is to download all known components into a named folder --e.g. idjc-- then, having installed PaDS, viewtopic.php?f=106&t=933-- Right-Click that folder, select Combine to SFS, and PaDS will extract the files from the components and re-assemble them into an SFS. That SFS can be SFS-Loaded. Starting it from a terminal and checking via LDD will reveal problems, missing components, assuming of course it didn't run OOTB.
But when python is involved, that won't work if your system has builtin or installed into a SaveFile python components which conflict with those of the SFS. Under Puppy's 'merge-file-systems', conflicting components in an SFS have lower priority and are ignored. What you have to do to test the new application is mount (Right-Click) the SFS, select View, then copy its files to another folder; dir2pet that folder and install the resulting pet.
Sometimes that will work if 'priority of files' was the only problem. But, if not, I don't know of any easy way to overcome python problems.
Still, you may be lucky. The above procedure takes longer to write about than to perform. In less than an hour you may have idjc running under Bionicpup64.
I'll let someone who actually knows how to use PKG-Cli, https://oldforum.puppylinux.com/viewtop ... 41#p985531 provide instructions. But it may be a better option than PPM + PaDS, especially when python is involved.

[kylerickards]

Thank you Mike. I have to be honest, I will have to read this a few times for it to sink in but please don’t think I am being rude.