I've been trying to set up a dual boot system on my Lenovo ThinkCentre M78, but I'm running into some trouble. I have Windows 10 on one drive and just installed Linux Mint 22 on a second drive. After disconnecting the Windows drive to install Linux, I reconnected it but now I can only boot into one or the other by changing the boot order in the BIOS. Unfortunately, the BIOS isn't very user-friendly like my Dell laptop's. Is there a way to keep Linux as the primary boot option while still being able to access a menu to choose between Linux and Windows without having to fiddle around in the BIOS each time? If anyone has a step-by-step guide or tutorial to help me out, I'd really appreciate it!
4 Answers
I usually keep both drives connected when installing Linux to avoid this issue. Disconnecting the Windows drive can lead to Grub not recognizing it at all. If you reinstall with both drives connected, it should automatically detect Windows and set up the Grub menu properly.
Just to clarify, the menu you're looking for is the Grub menu, which is usually created during the installation process. If Windows was unplugged, it might not have added it to the menu. Ideally, if you reinstall Mint with the Windows drive plugged in, the installer should detect it and add it to Grub automatically. If that's not working for you, maybe consider shrinking the Windows partition and installing Mint alongside it.
I tried installing Mint with the Windows drive connected, and I still didn’t get a boot menu. It might have set up Grub for Mint only. I suggest checking out some community tutorials or forums; they often have updated methods.
It sounds like you're hitting a common issue. If you need to enable compatibility mode (CSM) to boot into Windows, it might be because Windows is installed in Legacy mode while Mint is installed in EFI mode. A straightforward fix would be to reinstall Mint in Legacy mode while keeping CSM enabled. Just make sure to use MBR as the partitioning scheme instead of GPT and install Grub to the Master Boot Record of the Linux drive. This should help Grub detect Windows and allow you to select it from the menu!
That's a solid method! I recommend trying that if you're still having trouble. It often makes the process smoother.
It took several attempts for me, but I recreated my bootable flash drive with the MBR scheme, used GParted to create the required partitions, and chose the ‘something else’ option during installation. After some troubleshooting, I managed to get the Grub menu to show up, and now it defaults to Mint. So it's definitely doable!