I recently had a disaster with my old Mint version falling out of support, so I went ahead and installed the latest Mint alongside Windows 10. Unfortunately, this seems to have messed up GRUB, and now nothing will boot. I believe Mint might have installed in UEFI mode, while my old setup used MBR. Does that make sense?
I've decided to go with a clean and fresh install of both operating systems this time, and to fully embrace UEFI. However, I'm hitting a wall trying to get the dual boot with GRUB set up correctly. GRUB is just not working, and I can't seem to boot into Mint at all; its option isn't appearing in the BIOS.
I've tried a bunch of BIOS changes, like toggling Secure Boot and Legacy support, and I've gone through countless reinstallation attempts – my USB sticks can't take much more! I've been stuck on this for three days now.
My usual method is to install Windows first, then add Linux on a new partition. Mint installs without a hitch and GRUB appears during the installation, but after that, it just disappears, with Windows Boot Loader taking over. At this point, I can see my Mint partition in Disk Management in Windows, but it won't mount. Each time I launch the Mint installer, it recognizes that Mint is already installed.
From my Mint installation USB, efibootmgr shows that both Windows and the Mint USB are EFI devices, but not the partition where Mint is installed. What else can I try to fix this?
4 Answers
It sounds like you're encountering issues primarily due to the EFI system partition. It's crucial to have one properly set up on your disk to store bootloaders. If Windows takes over as the default bootloader, GRUB won’t show up unless you manually add it. You might find that GRUB is still installed; it just isn't configured to load because of how Windows installs itself into the boot sequence.
Check out the Arch wiki on dual-booting with Windows; it has great info on UEFI setups. Remember, UEFI handles things differently compared to MBR, which can be a bit tricky at first.
Make sure you're booting your installation USB in the correct mode! Sometimes, a USB will show up twice – once for UEFI and once for Legacy. If you install the OS in one mode and boot into the other, it can lead to all sorts of boot loader issues. Also, your target drive needs to have a GPT partition for UEFI. Just ensure the bios is set to UEFI ONLY mode before starting the install.
I get your frustration; UEFI can be a steep learning curve if you're used to MBR. You mentioned considering going back to MBR – keep in mind that UEFI can provide benefits such as faster boot times and better management of partitions. If you do decide to stick with UEFI, make sure to familiarize yourself with the installation and bootloader management. You might find it advantageous in the long run, but it may require some patience.
For many users, particularly on older systems, UEFI can be a bit buggy. An option is to use an application like rEFInd which can also replace your default boot manager. This can help to prevent Windows from taking over every time. Install rEFInd on your EFI partition and it should help you navigate between Windows and Linux much more smoothly!
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