Mint 18.3 Cinnamon Dual Boot Issues with Win7

[whazzupdoc]

Chris, I know you want to cut this off and summarize but I've just spent the last couple of hours dealing with the MiniGParted Bootable. I shut down, started to boot choices and selected the USB, Saved. When it comes up it just presents a blinking cursor on a blank screen. What am I doing wrong?

 

[wizardfromoz]

Just a holding post for now, have to do some chores and will be back in a couple of hours with a screenshot or two.

As they used to say in "Lost in Space" (perhaps appropriate for you and me?) - "Never fear, Smith is here".

Wiz

 

[wizardfromoz]

Back finally - let's clear up GParted a bit, then I'll get onto that Summary.

If any of the following is too tricky, that's cool, and we can revert to using GParted from one of your install sticks, 18.3 or 19.

I'll start at the end (works for me ) and the screenshots are from my rig, yours will differ, but have similarities, if you follow me.

SCREENSHOT 1 - ENTRY TO GPARTED LIVE

This is the sort of screen you will find, and the highlighted entry is where we enter.

How are you with Bluetooth, or with connecting a cable from your mobile phone (cell phone) to your computer?

If you can take a couple of pics of your Setup Utility options BIOS screens), that would be cool.

I'll show you a few of mine. With the B&W screens, I use the highlighted entry as a pointer, you may not be able to read the text, I'll call it "the white bar".

SCREENSHOT 2 - WIZARD'S 1-TIME-BOOT SETUP SCREEN (ACCESSED FROM MY F12 FUNCTION KEY)

Above the white bar - USB storage device is actually where I have to enter to get up GParted Live when it is plugged in. Even though my computer is UEFI, I have to use this Legacy (aka CSM - Compatibility Support Module, under Windows) (aka BIOS) option ... go figure

Down under UEFI Boot: we have some of my Linuxes, and my Western Digital My Book 4TB powered External HDD, connected by USB port. We'll see that again, soon.

SCREENSHOT 3 - SAME AS ABOVE, BUT WITH A LINUX INSTALL (LIVE USB) STICK INSERTED

If I don't have my Setup Utility set to boot from USB first, before the HDD, I go in via my one-time boot key F12, below the white bar (debian) is still my Western Digital, but below that is my Live stick, for, say your Linux Mint 18 or 19. And that is where I would enter to install or test Linux.

In Other Options: is BIOS setup (technically confusing, it covers BIOS and UEFI, but I won't go there), and that is where we are headed next

SCREENSHOT 4 - WIZ'S MAIN SETUP - FEATURES BOOT SEQUENCE

I can access this screen and its optional pages/tabs, from two directions (3 really, counting my Grub Menu, another time on that).

Using F12, through the black and white screen, I can choose Other Options: BIOS Setup, or at bootup, I can hit my F2 button. You likely have two (2) buttons as well, quite often they are F2, F10, F12, or Delete, and 2 will work in slightly different manners.

So I came in with it at Settings, and once I choose General - Boot Sequence, we see the grey part on the right.

There, I can choose between Legacy and UEFI to run under. If your Speccy info was correct (don't doubt you) you may not have any of the UEFI stuff above, OK?

Have a go and see if you can access that GParted Live stick, and if not, we can revert to using one of the sticks you used for Linux Mint 18 and 19.

Gotta 600 kilometre round road trip tomorrow, so back after a day to work on that Summary.

Cheers

Chris

 

[whazzupdoc]

Apparently I can't access it live. Also, I tried to get you a short of the Setup Util (f2) using my Huawei (Android) but I can't figure out how to the the shot from the Gallery back to this post. A bunch of things that I'm simply in the learning stage, Wiz. You've sure got a project!

By the way...have a safe trip and go with God's blessings all the way there and all the way back. I won't be going anywhere on this by myself.
Doc

 

[Bayou Bengal]

Apparently I can't access it live. Also, I tried to get you a short of the Setup Util (f2) using my Huawei (Android) but I can't figure out how to the the shot from the Gallery back to this post. A bunch of things that I'm simply in the learning stage, Wiz. You've sure got a project!

By the way...have a safe trip and go with God's blessings all the way there and all the way back. I won't be going anywhere on this by myself.
Doc

Hi Doc, and welcome to Linux.org! I can help you with your android phone. Connect it to your computer with the usb cable that came with the phone. When the computer opens a window with your phone there will be a series of choices. Select "View Files." Then find a folder that says "Camera", or perhaps "DCIM." The DCIM folder is the folder that will contain your photos. Once you have located the DCIM folder open it. Select all the pictures, CTRL+A, and copy to a location on your computer where you can find them.

Once you have these pictures copied to your computer it is best to upload them to a photo hosting site. I like Imjur.com. You can create an account for free. Once your photos are on a hosting site you can use a .img tag from the hosting site to display the pictures here.

Good luck!

 

[whazzupdoc]

Hi Doc, and welcome to Linux.org! I can help you with your android phone. Connect it to your computer with the usb cable that came with the phone. When the computer opens a window with your phone there will be a series of choices. Select "View Files." Then find a folder that says "Camera", or perhaps "DCIM." The DCIM folder is the folder that will contain your photos. Once you have located the DCIM folder open it. Select all the pictures, CTRL+A, and copy to a location on your computer where you can find them.

Once you have these pictures copied to your computer it is best to upload them to a photo hosting site. I like Imjur.com. You can create an account for free. Once your photos are on a hosting site you can use a .img tag from the hosting site to display the pictures here.

Good luck!

 

[whazzupdoc]

Hello Bayou...thanks. I've been trying everything you've said all a.m. and what I think I've learned is that my Huawei Ascend Mate 2 4G doesn't have a driver installed on either my Win7 desktop (dual boot w/Linux)...or on my 8yr old Toshiba C655-S5090 Notebook.

I realize that your suggestion to take pics and then to be able to move them the Huawei to either my notebook or the desktop should work easily. Right now there is no 'Camera' of DCIM folder (anywhere I see)...really frustrating. Also when I try to share by BlueTooth, I'm told there's no BlueTooth devices to share with. So???

 

[whazzupdoc]

Bayou...I realize I'm in way over my head but I keep trying. I downloaded a driver on my Huawei...plugged it into the Desktop. The MT2-L03 device showed in 'Computer' screen. I was given an option to bring in Pictures but then it couldn't find the pics (on my Linux) because this was all being done on Win7. So somehow I hooked this message up with my 'J' zip drive and found the driver I had downloaded but it's in zip format. Don't know what to do next.
Doc

 

[wizardfromoz]

I like Imjur.com

Just a heads up, BB's punched the wrong key, should be imgur.com for image hosting.

I've been using them over 4 years now, for Linux, and have over 1,000 images there, all free.

https://i.imgur.com/giFyaaN.png

You might recognise the pretty blue GParted Live one next to my cursor, Dick?

Wiz

 

[wizardfromoz]

.img tag from the hosting site to display the pictures here.

... and if you wish to use Imgur, I have an easier way of embedding here.

I'll run up a little video tomorrow and post it, been meaning to do so for ages, for our site itself.

Wiz
BTW thanks for the well wishes on the trip

Another night's good sleep and I'll be good again.

 

[wizardfromoz]

With the stuff from #44 onwards, I can carve those off to start a separate Thread so we don't run off-Topic

So back to

Have a go and see if you can access that GParted Live stick, and if not, we can revert to using one of the sticks you used for Linux Mint 18 and 19.

... my highlighting.

Dick, do you still have one or both of the Linux Mint install sticks?

If so, we can use GParted from there.

See you tomorrow, folks

Wiz

 

[whazzupdoc]

Hi Friend! Glad the trip went well for you!
I'm sitting here looking at a 16G Thumb drive with "Boot Rufus...Mint 18.3" taped onto it. I did it to install 18.3 and didn't want to lose it. I'll sit tight until you give me step-by-step so I don't screw up. Also I'll need to know which machine you want to work on. Remember that I've got 18.3 on the dual-boot of this desktop as well as the sole O/S on the Toshiba... and a reminder that there exists on the Toshiba that unused (but now partitioned) 500G internal.

I'm going now to take a look at this Imgur.com and see how I can use it...and more important to learn how to actually transfer photos from one device to another.
Doc

 

[whazzupdoc]

Here's a try from my Huawei. Is this what you asked for previously?

 

[wizardfromoz]

G'day Dick

If you can take a couple of pics of your Setup Utility options BIOS screens), that would be cool.

Yes, thanks, you are getting the hang of it

With Imgur, I have Posted at Forum Assistance, which you can find in Front Office by right-clicking Forums, and open in new Tab.

Or take a ride on this link - https://www.linux.org/forums/forum-assistance.140/

There, you will find my latest video offering, hope it helps

Back with more tomorrow, still playing catchup from a day lost with the roadtrip.

Wiz

 

[whazzupdoc]

Another comment...Imgur has a problem with my Huawei Ascend Mate2 vs. 4.3 (Android). Says it's not compatible. Is there a way around this?
Doc

 

[wizardfromoz]

Don't try to upload from your phone to imgur, just try it from your Pictures folder where you have the image stored.

Wiz

 

[whazzupdoc]

Which device, Wiz? Remember that most of my past computer activity was from the Win7 and I don't have a problem dealing with Pictures from there. Remember also that on the other side of that internal SSD is Linux which I haven't used very much. I've been trying to get as familiar as possible with Linux from the Toshiba. Reason is that this year we'll be traveling back to the States and I'll be taking the Toshiba/Linux with me.

So if I understand you right, the Album folder that my Huawei camera sends pictures to, really doesn't serve me for when you ask me to take a shot of something and upload it to you? If the problem is on the Toshiba and I do a screenshot (say during booting when none of the Linux photo taking/sharing software is operational, how do I do that without using the Huawei camera? And then how do I get the snapshot uploaded to you? Sorry...really confused. It's late here and maybe I need to take another whack at this tomorrow.
Thanks!
Doc

 

[wizardfromoz]

. It's late here and maybe I need to take another whack at this tomorrow.

That's a good idea. Let us know your current time zone too if it's not prying, I did not realise you were not Stateside.

Wiz

 

[whazzupdoc]

This is Central all year long.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Hey Doc

Just going back a long, long, way to your Post at #6 on Page 1 -

g) Installed a 1 TB Samsung internal SSD and the Mint 18.3 is installed on it

So do you want to stick with 18.3 on the other setup, or do you want to go 19.1?

I know you have the 18.3 stick still, and that would be easy.

Newest is not always best, and the point of LTS (Long Term Support) on a Distro is that it lasts for years.

Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, and follows the same support protocol.

We talk about EOL - End of Life - for when support runs out for a Distro. For example, in Windows, EOL for Windows XP was April 2014. EOL for Vista was April 2017.

With Linux Mint 18.3 that you have, it is based on Ubuntu's 16.04 LTS and its EOL is April 2021, over two (2) years away.

With Linux Mint 19.1, it is based on Ubuntu's 18.04 LTS, and its EOL is April 2023, over 4 years away.

So if you wish to continue to have the same Linux Mint on the "other" setup as you have currently, you are still as good as gold for over 2 years?

Let me know, and I will get cracking on a Summary and Action Plan.

Cheers

Chris