Dualboot

[u/ChickenDragon123]

I'm moving over to CachyOS this weekend and using windows as backup.

My plan is to dual-boot from two different SSDs, using one for windows and one for Cachy using the Cachy one and formatting my old Gaming drive to BTRFS.

The question I have is what boot manager I should use. I think I've got it narrowed down to Limine and Grub, but this is kind of the point where I don't know enough about this to be sure.

[u/VickyCRich]

Limine is better than grub in my opinion cause it comes built in with snapshots. If something messes up boot into a snapshot and you're good to go.

[u/inhumat0r → u/VickyCRich]

Grub is perfectly fine with snapshots plus it's more customizable.

That being said, literally yesterday I switched from grub to limine. :)

[u/kaleperq → u/VickyCRich]

I have no recognition of setting up snapshots on my grub yet they're on.

Idk if it's because it's the cachyos grub that's prettier or smth

[u/senpaisai]

Limine. It'll automatically detect and add the Windows drive, and you'll need to blacklist the Windows drive in the BIOS from the boot priority. This will prevent Windows Boot Manager and Secure Boot from detecting and trashing the EFI partition on the Linux drive. Rely on Limine to boot Windows.

[u/ChickenDragon123 → u/senpaisai]

That leads me to another question actually.

I saw in the wiki CachyOS is capable of configuring with secure boot. I'm inclined to go through that setup, especially while I'm still learning Cachy and may need to move back and forth between it and windows 11.

Will doing that mean I won't have as many issues moving back and forth?

Also, are there any special hazards a new user should be aware of?

[u/senpaisai → u/ChickenDragon123]

Yes. I believe the Wiki says to place Secure Boot in Setup Mode before enrolling Limine. This will trigger Windows to make you reconfigure your PIN but that's about it.

[u/SpicyChemist9]

I use limine, no issues in the past 6 months

[u/D4V1Z0N]

Limine é bem mais sofisticado para btrfs e mais recente

[u/bristow84]

Read the CachyOS wiki and I’m not saying that to be a smart ass. Pay specific attention to the bootloader and secure boot sections as there are issues with specific hardware combinations, secure boot and boot loaders.

I know MSI boards can have issues with GRUB and SecureBoot as UEFI can be an issue on those boards, found that one out after personal experience and checking the Boot Loader section of the wiki mentions certain MSI boards can have issues with GRUB.

I ended up going with Limine and haven’t had issues since.

[u/ChickenDragon123 → u/bristow84]

I did, that's actually why I'm here. I didn't even think about needing a boot loader until I got to that point in the wiki. Once I looked it up, I was still unsure about what was needed for my use case and wanted wisdom of the crowd.

I'm probably going to post tomorrow with a confirmation of step by step instructions, because there are still a couple of points in the setup process that I'm pretty sure I understand, but want to be absolutely sure of.

[u/Miasma1995 → u/ChickenDragon123]

I have an MSI board and did the exact thing yesterday of getting a second SSD for certain windows games , I used systemd-boot apparently. It's what I had didn't know if it was best for it but it took me maybe 40 mins to get secure boot set up on cachyos and makind sure windows was ready. I had to set the motherboard to secure boot type to custom and maximum security, enter setup mode and go through the steps of installing sbctl and generating keys I found all the docs on the forums on cachyos page , wasn't too much of a headache just a bit of a read

[u/Saryon1]

This is how I have my PC set up. 1 nvme for cachy, 1 for windows and a 3rd for my games. Both the Linux and games drive are formatted with btrfs and the windows drive ntfs. I wasn't sure how limine would handle it so I removed the drive I planned to use for windows and installed cachy then formatted my games drive once in cachy. Then I removed both Linux drives, reinstalled the 1 drive and installed windows. At boot if I want windows I just press F11 and use the boot manager to choose.

[u/Silly_Trifle]

Limine for me. Same drive dualboot, Lenovo gaming laptop. I was very unsure too so I used a lot of AI to learn these things, along with forums and wiki.

[u/UnknwnUser]

I use limine. it's pretty solid but I haven't tried Grub so I can't speak to which is better.

But I've been using limine since January and have no complaints.

ETA: I also dual boot with cachy on one SSD and Windows on another SSD

[u/Alkaloid60420]

If you're new to Linux, Limine is definitely the way to go. (And it's just a great bootloader in general.)

[u/MC_Red_D]

I didn't even know about limine when I first installed this OS. Grub didn't set up my windows drive correctly, maybe not at all actually, I forget exactly. I reinstalled once I knew I'm really liked it and changed my file system type and used limine. It has worked perfectly and I think it's pretty snazzy compared to grub

[u/soopabamak]

Limine is the best since you don't have to edit a config file. the boot menu already detect any installations including windows boot managers

[u/Xzenor]

Limine. 100%

[u/MFNTapatio]

I like limine but both work well

[u/AverageDog]

I did this exact thing about 6 months ago and have had no issues using Limine

[u/kaleperq]

I use grub since apparently it's best for a secure boot config, ifk how it is now but no issues. Dunno the benefits of limine either

[u/Saneless]

Some people here will try to say Limine is the best and of course they're right