Help Install another distro

Goodness gracious me, I am SO rusty on using BIOS/Legacy, this has been a good refresher.

I'll tell you where I am up to, currently, and what is my plan/suggestions.

First, bear in mind something that I say to many, many people at Beginner/Intermediate level -

YOU are the driver behind the wheel to the vehicle that is your Computer. YOU make the decisions, and YOU bear some responsibility for the outcomes. I (and people here of like mind) may be the Driving Instructor, but I/we are not the Driving Examiner. We do not pass or fail you on a test, but we hope you find a favourable outcome. :)

I am writing this during a Live Install of your Linux Mint 19.3 'Tricia' Xfce, and break off and then resume after its successful completion.

Bear in mind that I already have this Distro in my stable and active, but this one I am installing in a fashion that more closely represents your environment.

PREPARATORY STEPS

These are my steps, and not an exercise that you need to follow.

My broad setup on this Dell rig is
  • Internal 2 TB SATA hard drive /dev/sda
  • Internal 256 GB SSD /dev/sdb
  • External 4 TB Western Digital MyBook powered to mains drive, USB 3.0 connected
All typically run on UEFI/GPT, which is the most efficient and flexible format for running Linux and also multi-booting.
  1. First of all, I took a full Timeshift snapshot, saved to the storage partition I use for snapshots.
  2. I have then taken the Home Folder of my existing install of Tricia, on /dev/sda14, and migrated it to a HOME Partition /dev/sda41 on the same Drive. Differs a little from yours done as a time-saving measure - allows me to disconnect the external WD for the install. With 68 Linux Distros running (24 of them on /dev/sdc), I can save 35% of the time expended by a process called os-prober (searches for operating systems) and reconfiguration of Grub that runs hand in hand with an install. More than 35% likely, as /dev/sdc is the slowest of the 3 drives, being connected through USB 3.0.
  3. Following a reboot, I have established that the new setup for the distro works.
  4. I have then booted into a Distro on /dev/sda hard drive, and used GParted to blow away the 11 Distros I had had on the SSD (all available for replacement through Timeshift at a later date), and reformatted the SSD to a combination of BIOS (Legacy) and GPT similar to how you have yours.
  5. I have then installed a clean Tricia Xfce on the cleared /dev/sdb1 on the SSD and as part of the install (using Something Else in the installer) pointing it to /dev/sda41 for HOME. The install completed fine following a reboot, and the dedicated Home partition restored my previous settings. Being a fresh install underlying, there were a small number of user-installed apps I have to reinstall (but I won't be keeping this for long) and the resulting desktop looks like this
  6. j1bQ9z6.png
  7. You can see a couple of blank spots in my Panel where Apps need to be replaced, and even some for which the Panel icons remain need to be reinstalled, in order for them to be launched from the Panel, eg GIMP and others. But for the most part, it is an effective way to safeguarding your Settings and not having to go through the full rigmarole again. If you choose to adopt this approach, I can outline a way to determine a list in advance, of user-installed apps, so you are not left short.


Wiz
 
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Next Post I will provide more pictures, and at least one short video.

Wiz
 
OK, in a nutshell (well, big nutshell), what I advocate is this.

1. Read https://superuser.com/questions/133...o-boot-linux-from-a-gpt-disk-on-a-bios-system

2. If you think that has merit, use your Software Manager to identify apps you have installed, yourself, since install - mine looks like this (2 shots)


bQxKbKG.png


Maf0oMv.png


and we can go from there. It will involve changing your SSD to UEFI-GPT then installing a fresh install of either Tricia Xfce or even the newest Ulyssa Xfce, and in doing so, point the install to your existing Home partition on the 4TB.

Gotta fly

Wiz
 
OK, in a nutshell (well, big nutshell), what I advocate is this.

1. Read https://superuser.com/questions/133...o-boot-linux-from-a-gpt-disk-on-a-bios-system

2. If you think that has merit, use your Software Manager to identify apps you have installed, yourself, since install - mine looks like this (2 shots)


bQxKbKG.png


Maf0oMv.png


and we can go from there. It will involve changing your SSD to UEFI-GPT then installing a fresh install of either Tricia Xfce or even the newest Ulyssa Xfce, and in doing so, point the install to your existing Home partition on the 4TB.

Gotta fly

Wiz
Hi @wizardfromoz ,
I've been busy dealing with a move and dealing with a crash on my old box running suse 15.2.
I'm looking forward to trying to fix that box. I'm also reading more about UEFI and trying to understand WHY I should convert. I'm not convinced right now on major advantages to using UEFI boot.

Cheers,
Gary
 
Excuse me,i'm Not Sure what Happens,by deinstalling a Linux-distribution.i suggest,that the grub-boot-loader ist Not deleted?Last Time i choose a Windows-Boot-stick to get in Windows.
Why do you want both distribution?1 ist Not enough?
 

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