I did a clean install of Debian 11.4.0 first. The layout was as follows:
The first partition has a size of 550MB, mount point is EFI System Partition
(abbreviated by Debian as ESP
)
The second partition has a size of 500MB, mount point is /boot
The third partition is a LUKS-encrypted volume group of 31GB size. The volume group consists of two partitions: one has a size of 1GB and is mounted as swap area
while the second one has a size of 30GB and is mounted as /
Installation was successful.
I rebooted my machine.
Next, on the remaining free space of the SSD, I did a clean install of Fedora using the file called Fedora-LXQt-Live-x86_64-36-1.5.iso.
I used Blivet-GUI to partition the remaining free space as follows:
1GB that is LUKS-encrypted and mounted as swap
27GB that is LUKS-encrypted and mounted as /
When I clicked the Done button, the installer complained that I did not set the EFI partition. I donât know why it complained because I had created an ESP
during installation of Debian, didnât I? Couldnât Fedora make use of the Debianâs EFI partition since both of them are Linux distros? Canât Fedora and Debian co-exist peacefully?
In the end, I had to click on Debianâs created ESP
and mounted it as /boot/efi
(per Fedora installer).
I pressed the Done
button and the Fedora installer complained again. This time, my mea culpa was that I had failed to create a partition and mounted it as /boot
. It was obvious to me by then that Fedora could not live in harmony with Debian. Well, I clicked on Debianâs created /boot
partition and mounted it as /boot
(per Fedora installer). It complained again, telling me that I should create a new partition and mounted it as /boot
. I simply ignored the warning and pressed Done
.
Installation was successful and I rebooted my machine.
What I was not prepared for was that the Fedoraâs GRUB menu did not and does not contain an entry for me to boot into Debian. Why is that? To boot into Debian I need to access the UEFI BIOS and list Debian as the first to be booted. Similarly if I wish to boot into Fedora, I have to choose Fedora as the first item in the boot configuration within UEFI BIOS.
My purpose here is to learn from you guys how to include the names of both Linux distros in the GRUB menu for me to boot into either one of them easily. (compare my experience with the dual boot of Debian and Microsoft Windows: The GRUB menu of Debian lists Microsoft Windows as an entry. The same goes for the dual boot of Fedora and Microsoft Windows, again based on my personal experience.)
Thanks for reading this rather long post and I appreciate your help in this matter.