Hello forum,

As I was installing Linux Mint 13 (Maya), it did not give me a choice as to whether or not I wanted a boot loader installed. I do not want a boot loader because I have a multi-boot configuration using the new Grub and installing a boot loader would overwrite the MBR, wiping out my multi-boot configuration. So I cancelled the operation before it finished.

Is there a way to install this OS without a boot loader?

Thank you,
Roy

Unfortunately, no. The Mint dev team does not provide alternate installation images like Ubuntu, which is somewhat surprising, considering the fact that Mint is based on Ubuntu. The only easy solution is to dedicate an entire drive to Mint, and make sure that its the only drive connected to the motherboard during installation. That way, after installation, you can reconnect your primary drive and use Grub's chainloader feature. You can also just run a WM like VirtualBox fullscreen, which may be more practical depending on your hardware.

I presume you have an ubuntu cd, if ao install Mint then use your ubuntu as a live cd and replace the mbr using this tutuorial - section 12

grub2

I haven't installed Mint 13 but Mint 12 and earlier versions gave you the option to install to the / partition of the Mint install. This, of course, will have no effect on whatever bootloader you have in the mbr. Some systems used to have an option to not install a bootloader at all but this does not seem to be common practice any longer

Thanks for all of the replys.

I think I found a workaround. During the installation process, I chose to install the boot loader on another drive (I have two hard drives in my computer tower, first and second), therefore, the MBR on the first drive (the one I was installing Mint on) was not effected and my multi-boot configururation was preserved.

But this poses a question - Since the boot loader was writen to the MBR of the second HD instead of the first HD, is the second HD needed for Mint to boot properly? Or if I would erase the data in the MBR on the second hard drive, would Mint still boot properly?

All the best,
Roy

Installing the Mint bootloader info to the master boot record of drive two while your Mint install is on drive one should allow you to select drive to as first boot priority in the BIOS and boot Mint on the first drive. That is if both drives are attached, plugged in.

You don't indicate which systems or bootloader you have on the first drive or whether you have tried to boot Mint and been successful so there is not way to answer that question. If you have the Grub bootloader on the first drive and have it as first boot priority, you would need to either put an entry in its boot menu file or update grub.