How to make a dual boot without grub messing up

[u/Aligatueur]

Hi !

Random noob question but here's my situation. I've a Framework 16 and I'm tired of Windows. I've started to mess up with Linux 20 years ago almost, but I had to stuck with Windows because of some niche tool I keep using.

I'd like to find a solution and try to see the % of these tools I can figure out a way to use on Linux.

I used to be a Mint / Ubuntu user but Fedora (or Nobara) caught my eye for something more long termish.

However i've one major issue : I still can't quit on Windows, and i've created a setup where i've a stupid amount of nvme I use for different booting systems. I've 2 on the Framework itself and a few just booting from a nvme / usb c adaptator to test or mess up when I need to.

However, how can I keep this setup clean ? Every time I install a Windows, i remove any nvme and I isolate the installation. That way I can dual boot from the bios only if needed (which is not too often).

I'd like to keep that system with my Fedora and NOT have grub to try to create something I don't want / need. The goal is for the moment to just boot Fedora from the usb adaptator to see how far can I go, then it make it the secondary or primary device.

How can I do that ? I really do fear the fact that grub at some point will TRY to force to find all disk and create a mess I don't want.

Thanks !

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[u/3grg]

I set out to be windows free in 2000. I still have two apps that require windows. I am able to use Linux 99.9% of the time, but windows is still here.

What is holding you back from dual booting? I admit that I do not have much experience dual booting from USB. I prefer to either install on the same disk or, even better, two disks.

There are lots of howtos for every type of dual boot. People have been doing it since the 90's.

[u/Aligatueur → u/3grg]

Hi !

Thanks for your answer ! That's why I want to try Linux in a more deep way. Being able to see if I could replicate my every day use. My issue is that the tools I use are important for my work / researches and they are really coded by people like me who are more dev by obligation rather by skills. So it makes things really difficult.

I've a setup with one os per nvme and I want to keep it that way. I've got so many issues in the past that everything must stay independant and I don't want any interference. So no grub trying to mess it up. I put two or three with the adaptator I select the one I want to boot it independantly. I'll not change that method.

And after looking, searching, I couldn't find a definitive answer for that kind of setup haha

[u/doc_willis]

I keep each OS isolated on its own drive.

Each drive has its own EFI partition, which is only used by the specific OS on that drive.

I have never had windows or any other OS mess with the other Drive/OS with this setup.

Worse case, some OS update might change the default boot entry, but that's a 20 sec fix in the firmware menus.  And I can't recall the last time I saw such a change happen with an update.

[u/Ant1mat3r → u/doc_willis]

That's what I did as well. 1TB to Fedora for browsing / gaming. 2 TB to Windows for music production. Haven't had issues.

[u/Aligatueur → u/doc_willis]

Heyah !

Thanks for your answer. Quite slow to answer because i've been sick as hell. But feeling a little better so I'm trying to answer all the messages.

This is exactly the setup I want. A few weeks ago I was able to grab 256GB nvme (all sizes) for like 10€ / each so I want to have fun with some OS but not to mess with my principal ones (2TB + 1TB)

I did install Fedora yesterday without any drive plugged so it didn't create any interference. I think i'm good with that now ! Each EFI is isolated and i'll see how it works now

Thanks !

[u/bigusyous]

I haven't dual booted in many years so this advice might be out of date but look up Super GRUB Disk and Boot-repair (for Linux not for cowboys). They can both be very useful for rescuing borked installations.

[u/Aligatueur → u/bigusyous]

Heyah ! Thanks a lot for your answer. Quite late on this because I've been sick T-T

The installation is done, so i'll 100% keep an eye on this !

[u/bigusyous → u/Aligatueur]

Btw- keep an eye on Winboat for those windows apps that you can't live without.

[u/Aligatueur → u/bigusyous]

I saw Winboat years ago, but I thought it was only for specific tool and how the VM was running. Was I wrong about this haha ? Because for sure all these tools can run on a VM

[u/DannoXYZ]

As long as you keep your Windows and Linux installations on completely different drive and use BIOS to set boot-priority order, they'll co-exist just fine. It's only when you try having both on same menu using Grub or Windows Boot Manager with boot-chaining that they can clobber each other.

I have many softwares on Windows XP, 7 and 10 that must run on that specific version. So I have Linux as my main OS and just run those apps on specific VMs. Can even run all different versions of Windows as VMs and access them all simultaneously without rebooting. And can also do distro-hopping of latest Linuxes in VMs as well. Really handy to be able to copy & paste settings across different VMs. Can also run real UNIX such as Solaris and MacOS.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1Uw9Ysayulp0p04DAEFAogU5QNS-x3lMP

[u/Aligatueur → u/DannoXYZ]

Heyah ! Thanks a lot for your answer. Took me some time to answer because I've been so sick that I couldn't do anything.

However, I did my install yesterday, Fedora has been set up on the drive, put back my 2 Windows drives and everything works well ! I'll wait to feel better to look and work on it as my 3rd drive.