Questions about Linux Mint and this list

[Liam Proven]

On Mon, 18 Jul 2022 at 17:41, Bret Busby <bret at busby.net> wrote:
>
> Hello.
>
> The first question, is, because Linux Mint appears to not have a mailing
> list equivalent of this one that we have for asking questions about
> Ubuntu, and, because one of the variants (the most common one, I think)
> of Linux Mint, is apparently, Ubuntu based, is it okay to ask questions
> about Linux Mint, on this list?

The moderators do not like it. Some listmembers, like Ralf, don't either.

I don't mind. :-)

> The second question (assuming, and, hoping that it is okay), is, with
> Linux Mint 20.3 (because, from  my understanding, especially, from the
> article by Liam Proven, recently published on The Register web site,
> Linux Mint 21 is at the beta testing stage, and, has, as yet, no known
> or expected date of release), can it (relatively easily) be installed on
> a computer with MS Windows 11 installed?

Yes.

As a matter of fact I dual-boot a laptop with Win11 and Mint 20.3.

> I am wondering whether the Linux Mint 20.3 (and 21,
> when it is released), can be relatively easily installed, and,
> dual/multiple boot (not concurrently, but, being able to choose which to
> boot, having both or more OS's installed) on a computer that has MS
> Windows 11 pre-installed on it, or, whether we would need separate
> computers for running MS Windows 11 and Linux Mint.

Yes.

There are a few caveats. These mostly apply to Ubuntu too.

* Disable Secure Boot in the system firmware
* If the onboard controller is in RAID mode, as my Dell's was:
 - put Windows into Safe Mode (Google for how)
 - switch the controller to AHCI mode
 - reboot into Windows and let it re-detect the disk controller. Check
it boots happily.
 - disable Safe Mode, check it boots normally.
* Now you can boot Mint from USB.
* Install normally. I split my SSD 50:50 between the 2 OSes.

I wrote a blog post on how to clean up Windows to prepare for Linux.
It may help. It's here:
https://liam-on-linux.livejournal.com/68495.html

> I have read an article on the Register, about a "latest Lenovo"
> computer, that has some MS plutonium thing, that prevents OS's other
> than MS Windows, from being installed, and, I do not know whether MS
> Windows 11 prevents other OS's from being installed.

Disable Secure Boot and you'll be fine.

-- 
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