After successfully installing 3 OS partitions on a multi-boot laptop with the 4th OS destroyed the GRUB multi-boot menu

Thanks, captain, I looked at your refind posts. I'll take care of this later today.

wizard, I will truly miss your absence. I might take the plunge without you and do some serious partition magic while you're gone. I can always undo. I'm not afraid to do what sp331yi suggested (see post #73).

Thanks to you all for guiding me through! I am learning a lot and getting more confidence.
 


makes more sense to do as wiz suggested. Delete /dev/sda5 on wards. But first to have rEFInd on a usb would help and one decent Live OS on a stick maybe Mint Cinnamon from which we can use gparted to clean up and consolidate
 
captain, I have been trying to understand rEFInd, and booting with a live USB. Do you put rEFInd and the Linux iso on the same USB, or do you have to separate them? I guess I'm confused about the physical method used. If you could explain that to me, it would be very helpful. Thanks.
 
rEFInd is a tool to boot windows or Linux on an uefi computer; basically a rescue tool.

keep them separate , So only use dd for the rEFInd img file to a usb all by itself .We can use it to get any os up including Windows if grub goes bad. So when you have done a dd of the rEFInd img file to a usb, boot from that usb and you should get a spash screen of icons of available os's it can boot. Also i want to see if you are able to boot this usb with csm mode off and on
 
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I did a big boo-boo with dd. Yep. I had my backup USB inserted, and I was going to install the Debian iso on it. So I hit enter, then I realized what I had done. Well, I thought I might as well try out Debian on the live USB I just created. I tried it and liked it.

But then I had to undo what I had done. That USB represents years of work, on many different projects of mine. Luckily, I only lost a few days of work, because I had installed all the data on another partition, the antiX partition. So it was all there, and I could see it from the SparkyLinux partition. But it took me forever to get the USB to back up everything. Things work a little differently on Sparky, my backup script needed some adjustments, and I had to run it as root, instead of just a regular user, like on the other distros where I ran that script.

So anyway, that's what I've been doing for the last couple of days. Except for a few entries which were only on the backup USB, I have it all back again. Whew!

I will have to recover mentally before I get back into Ventoy. Now what was I trying to do? Oh, yeah. Multi-boot. OK, I'll see you guys tomorrow.

I hope wizard's shoulder is feeling better.
 
And your suggestion saved my butt, captain. Thanks so much! I was able to restore the crucial file I was working on. Now I can get on with my life.
 
So what's the thinking on moving forward ?
I think Wiz was thinking delete from /dev/sda5 tidy up and install Linux os of choice ?or too early after event.must say you are learning Linux like on some sort of accelerated course!
 
I've been looking at the posts Len on this thread it's been quite a ride.Chris should be back soon hopefully ! Could be a good point to just wait
 
Thanks Andy, had a couple of Spammers to hammer and then headed straight here.

I am back for the foreseeable future now, and have not been idle. I installed antiX 19.2, and also installed Sparky Linux Game Over (same as Len's), as I considered it likely that my installation of Sparky Linux by itself (MATE DE) might differ considerably from Len's environment. I was proven right in doing so, as Sparky Linux Game Over proved problematic, even with my experience.

I have downloaded KDE Neon but not yet installed it.

I am of the opinion we could all use a rest from this Thread for the moment, but that is not to say that I have given up on helping Len get a working system.

Len, as I often say, YOU are the driver behind the wheel that is the vehicle that is your computer. The choices are YOURS, and ultimately, the responsibilities of being a safe and efficient driver also lie with you.

We're getting up on 6 pages and 3 weeks with this, but I could do with your State of the Nation on whether you actually have a Linux installed and working (not just on USB stick), a Grub Menu, and a Windows working still.

We have also been remiss, all of us, but mostly me, in not asking for a list of specs for your computer, and I am also interested in the BIOS Setup Utility details, name, version and date.

You can either get that from the System Summary in the utility itself, or you can get it from a working Linux environment using a command known as

dmidecode

To use that from Sparky, antiX or KDE Neon, at Terminal type and enter

Code:
sudo dmidecode -t 0

# that's a Zero at end

To give us your specs for the computer, you can use

Code:
inxi -Fxz

I'll be back with a lot more on my tomorrow, but Len, copy and paste the text from Terminal to here, rather than photograph it, I'll explain more tomorrow.

Cheers

Wiz
 
Thanks captain and wizard for working with me on this. I am honored to be working with you guys.

wizard, here's the output you requested.

Code:
neon@neon:~$ sudo dmidecode -t 0
# dmidecode 3.1
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.7 present.

Wrong DMI structures length: 2488 bytes announced, only 2413 bytes available.
Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 24 bytes
BIOS Information
        Vendor: TOSHIBA
        Version: 1.50
        Release Date: 12/02/2013
        Address: 0xF0000
        Runtime Size: 64 kB
        ROM Size: 4096 kB
        Characteristics:
                PCI is supported
                BIOS is upgradeable
                BIOS shadowing is allowed
                Boot from CD is supported
                Selectable boot is supported
                BIOS ROM is socketed
                EDD is supported
                5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                3.5"/720 kB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
                8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h)
                Serial services are supported (int 14h)
                Printer services are supported (int 17h)
                ACPI is supported
                USB legacy is supported
                BIOS boot specification is supported
                Targeted content distribution is supported
                UEFI is supported
        BIOS Revision: 1.50
        Firmware Revision: 1.50

Invalid entry length (0). DMI table is broken! Stop.

neon@neon:~$

As you can see, I happen to be working from a live version of KDE Neon.

Code:
neon@neon:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: neon Kernel: 5.4.0-42-generic x86_64 bits: 64 gcc: 7.5.0 Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.19.4 (Qt 5.14.2)
           Distro: KDE neon User Edition 5.19
Machine:   Device: laptop System: TOSHIBA product: Satellite E45t-A v: PSUB2U-00K00P serial: N/A
           Mobo: TOSHIBA model: ZRMAA v: 1.00 serial: N/A BIOS: TOSHIBA v: 1.50 date: 12/02/2013
Battery    BAT1: charge: 4.5 Wh 33.0% condition: 13.6/50.7 Wh (27%) model: TOSHIBA PABAS0241231 status: Charging
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i5-4200U (-MT-MCP-) arch: Haswell rev.1 cache: 3072 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 9178
           clock speeds: max: 2600 MHz 1: 1161 MHz 2: 1676 MHz 3: 2277 MHz 4: 1792 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 ) drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: [email protected]
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4400 (HSW GT2)
           version: 4.5 Mesa 20.0.8 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 8 Series HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 Intel Haswell-ULT HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:03.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k5.4.0-42-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Intel Wireless 7260 driver: iwlwifi bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1063.4GB (1.5% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: HGST_HTS721010A9 size: 1000.2GB temp: 0C
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: TOSHIBA_THNSNX03 size: 32.0GB temp: 0C
           ID-3: USB /dev/sdc model: Cruzer_Glide_3.0 size: 31.2GB temp: 0C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 3.9G used: 227M (6%) fs: overlay dev: N/A
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 10.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda8
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 48.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 189 Uptime: 12 min Memory: 1015.7/7874.8MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: N/A
           Client: Shell (bash 4.4.201) inxi: 2.3.56

I wanted to post a picture of my gparted screen to show you the current setup. I had to delete some partitions to make room for my SparkyLinux partition, which I was filling up. Anyway, I now have a working SparkyLinux and a working antiX, as well as a couple of non-working Debian partitions. I can't remember exactly what it looks like, but I'll reboot into antiX and post the results here. Later.
 
And a picture of my current Boot screen.

It will be awhile before I can get back to this. But I wanted to post the current situation for you boys.

Thanks! Later.
 

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I have kissed Windows goodbye. You may find remnants of it here and there, but I don't miss it at all.

I have had some problems getting things printed. I can't get either antiX or SparkyLinux to print wirelessly. I had to go to my wife's Windows computer yesterday to get some stuff printed. Hurt my pride to do it!

But KDS Neon did print wirelessly, and it was just a live boot, it wasn't even installed! I'm getting things hammered out, little by little, on my little Toshiba laptop. Fun!
 
That's good news, Len, and thanks for the info.

I particularly like the look of that boot screen with the Grub Menu, that is promising. :)

It will be awhile before I can get back to this.

Take your time, we'll be around, and we have plenty of things to do to keep out of/get up to, mischief. ;)

I'll set up printing on my antiX, SparkyGameOver, and KDE Neon, and see if it gives me any leads.

If you install KDE Neon, it has a very scantily equipped Office section - you'll likely need to install LibreOffice or other, but we can cover that in a separate Thread on eg KDE Neon, Things to do Post-Install.

Enjoy your Linux

Wiz
 

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