How Can I Dual Boot Arch Linux and Linux Mint 18 on One Drive?
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TechWanderer42
I'm currently using Arch Linux on a not-so-great PC, but I'm really interested in switching to Linux Mint 18 instead, primarily because it works better with my older NVIDIA 9200M GS driver. I want to set things up for dual booting both Arch and Mint on the same drive. However, I messed up my hard drive before and I'm a bit worried about partitioning. Can anyone walk me through the process, and is it okay to share a /home directory between the two distros?
Answers
Are you looking to replace Arch or just install Mint alongside it? That'll help clarify how you should approach the installation process.
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You'll need to handle partitioning manually during the installations. Start with Arch and use half of the drive's space, then install Mint using the available free space. Since Arch is acting up, it might be best to shrink its partition with GParted during the Mint installation to create room for Mint.
TechWanderer42: I’m not great with partitioning—I messed it up before. I can’t seem to run GParted on my Mint live USB; something about it being an older version.
PartitionPro101: If you already have Arch installed, make sure the partition isn’t mounted when you try to resize it with GParted. That’s likely the issue.
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It's always good to have backups before making changes. Just check that you have your important files saved. Do you have copies stored somewhere safe?
TechWanderer42: Yeah, I made sure to back everything up to my phone.
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Why not just install the Cinnamon desktop environment on Arch instead? It could save you the trouble of dual booting! But if you really want to dual boot, just create a new partition for Mint. Ensure your EFI partition has enough space, then install Mint there. After that, configure Grub to auto-detect the new OS, or consider using rEFInd instead. If you have a separate /home partition, you could easily share it between both systems.
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TechWanderer42: I want to dual boot both Arch and Mint 18, mainly because of driver support. I'm also curious if sharing a /home folder would cause any issues.