Linux @lemmy.ml RBG @discuss.tchncs.de 2 wk. ago

Dual boot Fedora Kinoite and Windows 10

I have been planning to install Kinoite on my laptop, dual booting with Windows.

However depending on what I read online, it is either not possible, not recommended, tricky to setup or it is just a matter of setting partitions up before installing Kinoite. Broad range of opinions and no good "tutorial" how to do it.

Anyone having direct experience with that?

14 comments

Most exhaustive write-up on dual-booting Fedora Atomic and Windows 10 that I've found.

FWIW, I've done it and my system works as you'd expect.
- Awesome, that is exactly the type of first hand experience and description I was looking for! Thanks!
  
  Is there anything to be expected when updating the system to a new version? Maybe you haven't done that yet...
  
  Thanks!
  
  It has been my pleasure 😊.
  
  Is there anything to be expected when updating the system to a new version?
  
  The write-up found above ensures that the two systems don't share any space within the same drive. Therefore, there's nothing to worry about.
  
  For example, I've upgraded Fedora from 39 to 40 about two months ago without any troubles. Heck, I'm on Bluefin's :latest. So, the update to 40 happened automatically in the background without notifying me. So, with the very next reboot I suddenly found myself on 40 😅. I probably wouldn't even have noticed any difference were it not that some GNOME extensions didn't work right away. Otherwise, it was a perfectly smooth update.
Most stable for me was 2 OS drives 1 storage, sorry it'll have to be Windows file system.

I'd recommend getting into your bios and disabling features that push windows as it won't give you the choice to also take the Windows OS drive out of primary.

Install windows first on one OS drive, then Linux on the other.

rEFInd used to be the bootloader I used and stopped windows messing about with the boot.

What's the need for Windows? Is it something you can virtualise?
- "Need" for windows is just my wife who uses the same laptop. VM might be an idea but it will still be "different" and she is not very technical. So yeah, it has to be dual boot for the beginning, so I might in the end just go for a different distro that is easier to set this up with.
- I highly recommend the same. Fedora on one, Windows on one, and a shared NTFS drive. There are a couple of Windows ‘features’ to disable, like fast boot, that don’t play nice with the storage drive.
It's difficult if you have disk encryption on the same drive that you want to install Kinoite. Otherwise, its just a matter of setting drive partitions.
- No encryption as far as I am aware of, unless its standard in windows 10 and I don't know about it. I have experience with partitioning, so I'll have a think if this is worth trying or not.
  
  Have already backed up important windows files anyway.
So basically ostree deploy fails if you have an existing populated ESP (EFI System Partition), so you’ll have to partition manually atm (in my case, I just made another ESP on the same disk). Other than that, I haven’t run into any problems with Win11 + Fedora on the same disk, mostly because I don’t boot into windows.

You can read about the issue here: https://github.com/fedora-silverblue/issue-tracker/issues/284

Here’s the docs on manual partitioning: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora-silverblue/installation/#manual-partition

It’s definitely a pain. One of many papercuts you’ll find with an “emerging” desktop edition on a distro already known to push new stuff before the Linux ecosystem is ready.

Just be sure to make a backup of your windows data in a separate disk, keep boot drives for normal fedora (in case this ends up being too difficult), windows (in case you give up), and Fedora Kinoite (because duh), and ffs, don’t trust ChatGPT with your sensitive data on your main PC :)
- Thanks! I have seen those links but haven't had time to read them fully yet, they looked like just discussing around the issue to me, not solving it. But I will have a closer look again, thanks for highlighting those.

From chat gpt

Here are the steps to dual boot Fedora Kinoite and Windows 11: Preparation

Backup Data: Ensure you have backups of all important data from your Windows system.
Create Live USBs: Create a bootable USB drive for both Windows 11 and Fedora Kinoite using tools like Rufus or Etcher.

Install Windows 11

Boot from Windows USB: Insert the Windows 11 USB drive and boot from it.
Install Windows 11: Follow the installation prompts. When prompted, create a partition for Windows, leaving some unallocated space for Fedora Kinoite.
Complete Installation: Finish the installation and set up Windows 11.

Install Fedora Kinoite

Boot from Fedora USB: Insert the Fedora Kinoite USB drive and boot from it.
Start Installation: Begin the installation process and choose the option to install alongside Windows.
Partitioning:
    Select the unallocated space created earlier.
    Create the necessary partitions for Fedora (usually root / and swap).
Install Fedora: Complete the installation process.

Configure Boot Loader

Set Default Bootloader: Fedora will install GRUB as the bootloader. It should automatically detect Windows 11 and add it to the boot menu.
Verify Entries: After installation, reboot the system. You should see the GRUB menu with options to boot into Fedora or Windows.
Set Default Boot Option (Optional): If you want to change the default boot option, edit the GRUB configuration.

Post-Installation

Update Systems: Boot into both operating systems and ensure they are fully updated.
Install Drivers: Make sure all necessary drivers are installed for both Windows and Fedora.
Test Dual Boot: Reboot several times and test both operating systems to ensure the dual-boot setup works seamlessly.

Troubleshooting

Missing GRUB Menu: If the GRUB menu doesn’t appear, you might need to repair the bootloader using a Fedora live USB.
Windows Boot Issues: If Windows doesn’t boot, you may need to use the Windows recovery options to repair the Windows bootloader and then reinstall GRUB.

Following these steps will help you set up a dual-boot system with Fedora Kinoite and Windows 11.

You're brave trusting a llm with that kind of task
- It’s not brave, it’s just outright wrong. As in, wrong to use in this situation, and the LLM itself is wrong.

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