hello people, I’m fairly new to linux and am hoping for a few ideas as to how to fix my PC please…
I just repartitioned my drive to install a few systems to find my preferences etc.
I’ve put several Linux O’s, (Solus, Fedora, Open Suse) then installed Open Mandriva last… but upon rebooting, all the other few Systems are NOT listed at boot up.
Thanks heaps in advance for any help !
Hello people, as yet, I’ve seen NO replies to my request for help and it’s been suggested to me, that my first post/question was vague and without clarity ? Sorry for my vagueness !
At the Beginning of my drive is Win 7, than I created /boot in the 3rd Primary, Then an Extended Partition in the fourth Primary, then several ‘ext 4’ Partitions into which I began installing a Few Linux O’S with the hope of toying with a Multi boot system for awhile.
Before asking for help, I tried re-installing grub etc, with no success.
Are the type of Linux systems that I’ve attempted to use alongside Fedora NOT compatible with each other in regards how they boot etc ?
Multi booting is usually a pain. Grub only recognizing the last distro you installed is a common problem.
Other people might be able to tell you how to fix grub, but it’s too complicated for me so the way I solve this is to install rEFInd. I wrote a mini guide a while back… here you go.
If you have a decent UEFI boot menu, it is far the simplest to use that to select your next system to boot. rEFInd can be useful for compensating for a bad UEFI implementation.
Hello PG, and thanks heaps for your reply !
please excuse my Naivety regards these matters… i just looked thru settings (Via Gparted) and my PC is partitioned in ‘msdos’… is this a problem for fedora ? if it’s unfixable, and i must delete windows 7 and start from scratch, then that’s cool too ?
Ultimately, i’d prefer to set up a multi boot system… is that workable with Fedora ? is ,so should Fedora be the last OS to be installed ? does that work best ?
Thanks a Lot !
You can certainly install Fedora on a disk like this, but it may make multi-booting more awkward and it prevents some multi-boot options (like having multiple EFI partitions and using the boot menu to select them.)
If you were starting from scratch in 2025, you probably wouldn’t set the disk up this way, you’d partition it using GPT instead.
However, I don’t want to jump directly to “your only option is to wipe Windows and start from scratch”. People with more experience than me might be able to suggest a way of multi-booting from your current setup.
Windows is not at all flexible, and when your disk is forematted in msdos mode, it also means that it is booted in classic BIOS boot mode. That also raise the question if your computer is UEFI capable at all.
Fedora can still be installed in non-UEFI mode, and you don’t have a choice here as long as you need/want to keep Windows 7 on the system. You will also depend on grub2 to provide the multiboot capability, that has been well tested in the past.
Hello Villy and Thanks HEAPS for your help in this matter !!
In regards Windows~ I certainly do NOT need it and haven’t used it for ages, but kept it there when i’d begun multi booting with Linux a few years ago. if I have to delete Win, then re-format the entire disc, (if doing that makes Fedora installation easier) then so be it…
So, do you know~ If I do wish to use Multi boot with Fedora as one Partition and a couple of other Linux O’S… which will be compatible ??
Okay i hear you… I’ve much to learn regards Linux, Thanks again Villy for your time and help ! Much Appreciated… I’ll close this chat soon, re-format the disc and get it sorted.
so the way I solve this is to install rEFInd. I wrote a mini guide a while back…