I'm planning to dual-boot three Linux distros—Zorin, Fedora, and Batocera—alongside Windows on my Sandisk 240GB SSD. Windows is on a separate NVMe SSD. I'm mainly looking to experiment with Zorin and Fedora, but I want to keep Batocera for gaming sessions with my friends. Right now, I have Zorin set up but need advice on how to create partitions for all three Linux distros while keeping enough space for each. Any tips on how to set this up correctly?
5 Answers
Hey, we have some helpful installation tips in our wiki! Just remember, always install while connected to ethernet and remove the boot media after installation!
Honestly, with a 256GB SSD filled with just one distro, I wouldn't recommend installing all four systems on a single SSD—it might get tight! If you're just exploring Linux, consider using a Ventoy stick to create live USBs for each distro. It lets you boot from each without cluttering your SSD.
Looks like you're heading for trouble trying to juggle all this! But hey, if having both Zorin and Fedora is what you want, you do you! Just a heads up—I’d suggest leaving at least 8GB for Batocera since that needs to be on the SSD directly.
Haha, I get it! The struggle is real when you just want to try them all out for fun!
You might want to pick one distro as your main installation and use a virtual machine for the others if you're experimenting. It’s way less risky that way!
Good call! I'm just uncertain which one to keep as my main—I'll try them all out and decide, except for Batocera, which definitely needs to stay on the SSD.
Installing Fedora and Zorin is straightforward. You can create a single EFI partition, plus separate root partitions for each. Just a heads up, Batocera doesn't play well with dual-booting, so I'd suggest installing it first and then resizing its SHARE partition to clear out space for Zorin and Fedora.
I hear you! But I keep my installations organized in their own partitions, plus I've got 3TB of space elsewhere, so I'm a bit more flexible.