Hi,

Since about 2 years I use Linux Mint and Windows on 1 PC(dual boot). Always worked well.

Linux Mint is on a separate HDD in the PC and Windows on an SSD and my data are again on another SSD.

Now someone convinced me to try MX Linux too.

I tried to put MX on the same HDD as Mint. When installing from the live flashdrive I could make a separate partition with GParted to put MX on. When installing no error codes or something popped up.

After that I made a "triple boot"(is that even a right word?) with EasyBCD on Windows.
When I booted the PC, I got 3 choices but when I tried the MX option, all I got was some DOS-like text(I know, I should have written it down.... ) mentioning the Grub ifI remember correctly.

I think my mistake was making the wrong choices of root and grub possibilities when installing from the flashdrive. Or maybe a completely other mistake?

Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks in advance for any reaction and greetings from Belgium!!

It would be useful if you indicated which version of windows you are using since they have been licensing OS software for over 30 years? EasyBCD is windows software and my experience with it is that it won't boot more than one LInux system. I haven't used it recently so that may have changed. Since you are using EasyBCD, you might try the NEosmart forums for help.

Is this a newer uefi system?
Posting the error message you got on boot would definitely be helpful.
Knowing how you installed the bootloader with MX (Not familiar with it?) would also be useful.

Thanks Yancek for answering.

Sorry for not giving enough extra information.

Version of Windows : Windows 10 Pro

The message that I get on boot if I choose for Mint or MX is the same:

****************************************************************************

GRUB4DOS 0.4.5C 2014-01-17 mem 634K/3023M/4096M END 356539

[Minimal bash-like line editing is supported. For the first word,
Tab lists the possible completions of a device/filename]

Grub>

*****************************************************************************

When I hit Tab, I get a list of possible commands. It's like one Grub replaced
another and doesn't work. Or isn't that possible?

Windows still starts up like it should.

How I installed the bootloader, I don't know, I just followed the
instructions when installing MX from the flashdrive.(After making
a separate partition on the disk for MX)


About the UEFI: when I enter the BIOS,
all I can find is the brand and type:

Asrock UEFI FM2A78M-HD+


As you can read I am rather new to all of this (especially the installing part :-) )
but I liked Linux Mint so I wanted to try MX Linux too...

Thanks in advance for the time you put in this!!

If I'm understanding your situation correctly, you can boot windows and Mint but not MX. If that is the case, the best thing to do is to go to the site below while booted into Mint and download and run the boot repair software per instructions on the page. Make sure you use the 2nd option to install and when you run it, select only the option to Create BootInfo Summary. THis will output a link that you can post here which will have information on your system drives/partitions and boot files and someone should be able to help.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

No, the message that I get on boot if I choose for Mint or MX is the same(the one above).

What I can do is "repair" the HDD with a complete image(made with Macrium Reflect within Windows)
from about a week ago and start from scratch. (I've already done this for complete other reasons and it worked perfectly)

But when I do that, I don't want to make the same mistakes when I want to install MX again.... Maybe you find this better
or easier to give me advice.

If you have a Mint DVD or flash drive, boot that and go to the boot repair site and download and run it and post the link you get which will show details.
Windows 10 by default is EFI/GPT so Mint and MX would also have to be installed UEFI for you to be able to boot. You should have a lot more options in the BIOS of that machine including using either UEFI or Legacy/CSM, boot options, etc. The boot repair output should show your drives, your partitions, your boot files and whether you have an EFI partition and the correct files for each system there.

If you are trying to use EasyBCD to boot, that complicates things. Have you gone to the Neosmart forums/site? I haven't used it in years but I believe it is now capable of UEFI booting.

Yancek, I'm very sorry to say that due to a tragic accident
in my family, I won't be able to visit this forum(or any
other for that matter for at least a few weeks.


Thanks for all the help and I hope I can come back here when
all is settled down.

Greetings

As another LQ member who has been looking at this thread, but not yet contributing, may I say that I'm sorry that you're going through a tough time at the moment. It will be a pleasure to see you back here again in the future.