UEFI means dual boot install does not show or give Mint the option.
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Distribution: Mint 20.3 MATE, Android, Windows 10, MX Linux and Mint 21.1 MATE
Posts: 1,052
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UEFI means dual boot install does not show or give Mint the option.
I am using a desktop running Windows 10. It is UEFI configured and in legacy mode. I followed youtube instruction from Britec to dual boot Mint with Windows 10. It went through but on restart there was no Mint option in the boot loader, it went straight into Windows. I think I missed a part. EasyBCD software gives three options. I am not sure and may have to start again. The one that looks best is Grub2. I am concerned I could lose Windows 10.
UEFI is complicated for my level tech knowledge.
Has someone worked through this before, to advise?
Do you know which key to press before boot to access uefi boot menu (on mine it's F8 iirc) ?
If there is only Windows here, yes you missed a step at Mint install (Installation of boot manager)
You might post a link to the site you used with the instructions.
The most common reason for the situation you have is installing one system UEFI and the other Legacy/CSM.
I haven't used EasyBCD in some time, are you sure it is capable of booting UEFI?
You could post more info. Best way to do that is to go to the site below and get the boot repair software and download and run it. Make sure you select the secxond option and use the pa as it is more current. Also, when running boot repair, make certain you select only the option to Create BootInfo Summary and do not try to make any repairs. Post the link you are given from boot repair here and someone should be able to advise.
Distribution: Mint 20.3 MATE, Android, Windows 10, MX Linux and Mint 21.1 MATE
Posts: 1,052
Original Poster
Rep:
I tried looking at easyBCD for Grub2, but it is blocked from making entries. I tried changing my old style BIOS to legacy, but then I get error 1962, no operating system found. Is there any chance of getting it right with neosmart or neogrub? If I have to start again, is there a recommended tutorial, other than BRITEC?
In legacy mode my computer with the older style BIOS doesn't boot up. So I have chosen "UEFI, AUTO or Legacy" to opt for.
Posting a link to the output of boot repair would give enough information so that someone might be able to help.
If your windows 10 was pre-installed, it is almost certainly UEFI/GPT so you would need to install Mint UEFI/GPT also or you would need to access the BIOS on boot each time you want to boot Mint. This info will be provided with boot repair.
Distribution: Mint 20.3 MATE, Android, Windows 10, MX Linux and Mint 21.1 MATE
Posts: 1,052
Original Poster
Rep:
I have a six year old Lenovo desktop. But it has a new SSD onto which was installed Windows 10.
Where can I get boot repair output from?
"In order to boot in Legacy BIOS mode (CSM) the SSD has to be partitioned as MBR. Since your system was set up as UEFI originally, it is partitioned using GPT and had an EFI System Partition. That's why legacy booting can't find the OS."
My computer is a Lenovo Think Centre. Made from parts like those in a laptop. It is about 5 years old and came with Windows 7, but the HDD was faulty and replaced with a SSD Samsung, 250 GB, then Windows 10 was installed on the new drive.
You've made the common error new with EFI. You have windows EFI install and have installed Mint in CSM/Legacy mode. With an EFI install, you should NOT have any boot code in the MBR and you do as you can see at the top of the boot repair output. Looking down a little further, you can see under sda2 that there are several EFI files and that ALL of them are windows. Since your partitioning shows as GPT and windows only works with GPT with a UEFI install, if you want Mint you need to re-install or convert it to EFI. According to the Ubuntu documentation at the link below, you can convert Ubuntu to EFI with boot repair. You need to scroll toward the bottom of the page to find that section. Since Mint is one of the major derivatives of Ubuntu, I would expect the steps described at the link to work for Mint also but have never used it myself. Might do more research at a Mint forum.
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pa as it is more current. Also, when running boot repair, make certain you select only the option to Create BootInfo Summary and do not try to make any repairs. Post the link you are given from boot repair here and someone should be able to advise. 
