Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

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Aliasxd

Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by Aliasxd »

Hello !
First of all i would like to point that that i am a newcomer in this linux bussines. But i really want to understand more about it because i am looking to have a job involving programming and stuff like that .
So here is what happened.

First i searched for distros and this one was more appealing to me than the other so i go download Mint 16 Mate 64 bit version. I burn it on a dvd. I restart the pc and it boots. I entered the "desktop" and click the Install Linux Mint file. I get to the menu where to my surprise it says that it does not detect any other os on this computer. So it gives the option to erase everything or something else. Obviously i click something else and there i can see all the partitions and stuff. And i think i got 3 primary ones .
[url]http://i.imgur.com/GZko294.jpg[/url]

So i didnt want to mess with those so i just installed on the free space creating a new partion ext4 with a "/ ".
It installed and then i rebooted , selected primary boot device the HDD but it didnt give any dual boot options and just entered windows as normal.

I then researched a bit . I got back into the installer , and to my surprise it did detect Linux mint 16 as an OS. But not windows. I reboot again and delete everything on that partion from windows disk management. I go back in the installer and make a swap partition , a home partion and a "/" . Installed it again . Same thing didnt work. Just entered windows.

Now it would be much easier if the damned thing would just detect Windows 7 and have me click install alongside. But it chose to be frustrating.

I have searched forums for this problem and did found some other people discussing it. But i didnt really understand what they were saying .
I hope you guys can help me fix this thing . If not i will probably commit seppuku .

Thanks !
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by austin.texas »

When you were using the install program to choose your partition as /, you may have missed the option at the bottom of that screen for choosing where to install grub. You should install your grub bootloader to the hard drive, not to the partition.
Mint 18.2 Cinnamon, Quad core AMD A8-3870 with Radeon HD Graphics 6550D, 8GB DDR3, Ralink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI
Linux Linx 2018
Aliasxd

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by Aliasxd »

I watched the instalation process and i do remember seeing something about Grub being installed . Also i didnt see any option where to choose to install. But I do think the problem is that the installer isnt detecting any OS on this computer.
wayne128

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by wayne128 »

may be you could do these commands to check hard disk partitions

1. boot and run from Live DVD or Live USB flash

2. open a terminal, type these commands and post their results

sudo os-prober

sudo fdisk -l

sudo parted -l
Aliasxd

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by Aliasxd »

I did exactly as you told me and this is what i got.
mint@mint ~/Desktop $ sudo os-prober
mint@mint ~/Desktop $ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x436ebc91

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 206847 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 206848 268287999 134040576 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3 268288000 1646321663 689016832 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda4 1646325758 1953523711 153598977 5 Extended
Partition 4 does not start on physical sector boundary.
mint@mint ~/Desktop $ sudo parted -l
Model: ATA ST1000DM003-1CH1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 106MB 105MB primary ntfs boot
2 106MB 137GB 137GB primary ntfs
3 137GB 843GB 706GB primary ntfs
4 843GB 1000GB 157GB extended


Warning: Unable to open /dev/sr0 read-write (Read-only file system). /dev/sr0
has been opened read-only.
Model: HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NS30 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sr0: 1326MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 2048B/2048B
Partition Table: mac

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 8192B 24.6kB 16.4kB Apple
2 123MB 132MB 9306kB EFI
sudo os-prober didnt do anything.
wayne128

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by wayne128 »

First thing:

Your CD has a Mac /Apple format with EFI.
Please confirm whether you are booting from this DVD.

If yes, please explain what software and your process of making this DVD.

Second thing:
There are no root partition, no swap partition reading from fdisk and parted.

I do not think I even install any OS into a extended partition, which is just a container.


So I would suggest you do thes
1. be sure your iso download had passed the md5sum checking
2. be sure to burn image using the procedure , it should have been iso9660 format
3. alternative to 2 above, if you have USB flash drive, you can also follow well known procedure to create a bootable USB , I always use two method:
3.1. unetbootin ( can run from WinOS, Linux OS,....)
3.2. dd on linux.

4. if you have a good ( md5sum checked ok, proper procedure) DVD or USB flash, then the next step is to run it in Live Mode, run gparted, and use gparted to do these

4a. delete the extended partition, just to be sure.
4b. re-create the extended partition.
4c. create a new / partition
4d. creat a new swap partition

4e. take a snapshot image of gparted, post here for checking

4f. on terminal, do the same thing to check :
sudo fdisk -l
sudo parted -l

when these are all checked to be OK, then only consider to install.

good luck
KSMeat

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by KSMeat »

I had the exact same problem (among many others) when I booted using UEFI. My mobo let me boot without using it, and everything worked fine after (apart from the apparently common NVidia graphics card issues).
Aliasxd

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by Aliasxd »

To make that DVD i just used Nero burning ROM .

So now here is what i did .

I checked the md5sum thing and it was the same . I used WinMD5 .

Then i download a iso burning program called FreeIsoBurner and just created the DVD again with the OS on it.

I run gparted and try doing the stuff you told me to do and i hope i did it well :
[url]http://www.mediafire.com/view/goladkhcip81t9o/phpM7roMvAM.jpg#[/url]
"mint@mint ~/Desktop $ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x436ebc91

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 206847 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 206848 268287999 134040576 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3 268288000 1646321663 689016832 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda4 1646321664 1953523711 153601024 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 1646323712 1945540607 149608448 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 1945542656 1953523711 3990528 82 Linux swap / Solaris
mint@mint ~/Desktop $ sudo parted -l
Model: ATA ST1000DM003-1CH1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 106MB 105MB primary ntfs boot
2 106MB 137GB 137GB primary ntfs
3 137GB 843GB 706GB primary ntfs
4 843GB 1000GB 157GB extended
5 843GB 996GB 153GB logical ext4
6 996GB 1000GB 4086MB logical linux-swap(v1)


Warning: Unable to open /dev/sr0 read-write (Read-only file system). /dev/sr0
has been opened read-only.
Model: HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NS30 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sr0: 1326MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 2048B/2048B
Partition Table: mac

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 8192B 24.6kB 16.4kB Apple
2 123MB 132MB 9306kB EFI

I dont think my EFI aplle thing changed.

Also thanks for spending your time to try and help me !
wayne128

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by wayne128 »

Your new partitions are OK.
You can install Linux OS onto /dev/sda5.

Note that your hard disk is msdos, so installation should be , by default, with bios-mode.

I am not familiar with DVD with EFI and Apple format, none of my DVD has that format.

I can only guess that you might have been 'installing EFI-mode' onto 'msdos/bios-mode' and thus grub seem to behave totally different from the typical bios-mode installation. But this is just wild guess, please wait for other who are knowledgeable on using EFI/Apple format-DVD for help with proper advice.


or.. perhaps do one of the followings:
1. download 32-bit iso, I think 32-bit iso does not support EFI..hopefully burning iso onto DVD would not turn into EFI capable that might let the installer do in efi mode.


2. use USB flash with Windows version of unetbootin to prepare bootable USB
Aliasxd

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by Aliasxd »

So i should install the os on the smaller partition ? The linux-swap one ? I'm asking because it has 3.81 gib and dont think it is enough .
wayne128

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by wayne128 »

Aliasxd wrote:So i should install the os on the smaller partition ? The linux-swap one ? I'm asking because it has 3.81 gib and dont think it is enough .

Install to /dev/sda5

select /dev/sda5 as /

it is 153G with ext4 format

5 843GB 996GB 153GB logical ext4


leave swap alone, nothing to do on your part, the installer will automagically detect and use it.
Aliasxd

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by Aliasxd »

Ok will try to get hold of an USB memory stick because mine is probably lost forever somewhere in the house. Thanks a lot for the support .
Aliasxd

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by Aliasxd »

So i got myself a usb and did the unetbooting thing . Really nice stuff .

However , the installer still wont detect windows 7 .

I did still install it , and it is working well .

But here is what happens.

When the Live USB is in the pc , the grub screen appears and it gives me just the option of Linux mint 16 . No windows .
If i remove the USB and reboot , it will automatically just enter windows . I swear to god its like they dont want too see each other.

When i was in linux i did and os prober command and it just gave me Linux as result , no windows .

Really frustrating .
wayne128

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by wayne128 »

Aliasxd wrote:So i got myself a usb and did the unetbooting thing . Really nice stuff .

However , the installer still wont detect windows 7 .

I did still install it , and it is working well .
When i was in linux i did and os prober command and it just gave me Linux as result , no windows .
It seems your Windows NTFS partitions are preventing Linux OS to mount...

I do not know what is the real cause, but can think of some possibilities

1. Win7 was hybernating.... thus it keep partitions mounted and prevent Linux OS to 'see them'.

Please check this out, if this is the case, boot to Win7, do a proper shutdown.
Then return to work on Linux OS

2. some left over on RAID.
check this thread, go to post #9
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1758396&p=10815865#post10815865

and if you have some RAID meta-data, remove it, and see if
sudo update-grub or sudo os-prober can detect Win7



But here is what happens.

When the Live USB is in the pc , the grub screen appears and it gives me just the option of Linux mint 16 . No windows .
If i remove the USB and reboot , it will automatically just enter windows . I swear to god its like they dont want too see each other.
sound like you have installed grub 2 onto the USB.
So when USB is plugged in, your bios can find grub2 and boot into Linux mint.

When you unplug USB , reboot, bios find no USB, and thus no grub2.. it automatically switch to next boot device, which is your internal hard disk.

You need to repair grub.
You can try this simple method to see if it works
1. Plug in USB flash
2. boot computer, and run Linux Mint ( from hard disk installed partition)
3. on terminal do this to check what is the hard disk/USB designation
sudo fdisk -l
post results.

4. assuming hard disk is /dev/sda then reinstall grub2 to mbr of first hard disk
sudo grub-install /dev/sda

5. check for any error, if no error, power-down, unplug USB flash, boot again to see if grub is able to start Linuxmint.
Aliasxd

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by Aliasxd »

Ok i think the problem is a bit too tricky .

I propose to do another way and you tell me if its more likely to work.

I will just reinstall Windows 7 , and right after i will install linux . But i will not format the whole drive, i will keep D: where i have most of my stuff there. Will that mess up with the installation ?
Also if this way is better , i would really be thankfull for some tips about what i should be carefull at , probably in terms of partitioning.
dlmassay

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by dlmassay »

Having the same problems here.

The LM 16 64-bit Cinnamon installer won't detect my Windows 7 installation. The downloaded image was verified, I burned several copies using several different methods, I even created a bootable USB drive from the image. It just won't see the Windows 7 installation. (SecureBoot is off and the partition table is mbr/msdos NOT gpt).

Interestingly enough, on the exact same system with the exact same bios settings ... the LM 15 64-bit Cinnamon installer detects the WIndows 7 installation just fine.
wayne128

Re: Linux mint installer wont detect windows 7

Post by wayne128 »

Aliasxd wrote:Ok i think the problem is a bit too tricky .

I propose to do another way and you tell me if its more likely to work.

I will just reinstall Windows 7 , and right after i will install linux . But i will not format the whole drive, i will keep D: where i have most of my stuff there. Will that mess up with the installation ?
Also if this way is better , i would really be thankfull for some tips about what i should be carefull at , probably in terms of partitioning.

Just a comment,

it takes a few minutes to boot into Linux OS, open a terminal, get to root and type
# dmraid -an
# dmraid -si

Code: Select all

root@hp8000:/home/wayne# dmraid -an
no raid disks
root@hp8000:/home/wayne# dmraid -si
no raid disks
that give me confirmation I have no raid disks.

if yours have raid, then one more command
# remove the metadata
dmraid -E -r

and follow by:
sudo update-grub
sudo os-prober


just to see if it is able to find Win7 partition OS.


However, if you wish to start from beginning, that is fine.
I would think it is better to wipe the whole drive, so that hard disk is totally clean, less likely to have raid-left-over due to whatever reasons.

As for the partitioning schemes, there are over hundred varieties, ranging from extremely complex, complicated methods, to extremely simple ones, and people reported to be running just as fine for them.
So it is just personal preference , choose what works for you.


For me, I am on the extreme simple side. My multiboot systems on several computers are using this scheme:
1. One partition for one OS, windows OS is also on One partition (NTFS)
( my win7 does not have the 100M system reserve partition)
2. One swap , shared with ALL Linux OSes
3. One large NTFS partition as data partition, shared by Windows OS and all Linux OSes
4. set small partition size for root partitions, so as to cut down backup time as well as restore time.

As an example, on this computer, 320G hard disk, I have Win7, hp ntfs (data partition) and some Linux OSes , details below
root@hp8000:/home/wayne# os-prober
/dev/sda1:LinuxDeepin 2013 (2013):LinuxDeepin:linux
/dev/sda3:Windows 7 (loader):Windows:chain
/dev/sda7:Debian GNU/Linux (7.2):Debian:linux
/dev/sda8:Debian GNU/Linux (7.2):Debian1:linux
root@hp8000:/home/wayne# parted -l
Model: ATA Hitachi HDP72503 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 320GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 528MB 10.8GB 10.2GB primary ext4
2 10.9GB 15.3GB 4404MB primary linux-swap(v1)
3 15.3GB 78.7GB 63.4GB primary ntfs boot
4 78.7GB 320GB 241GB extended
5 78.7GB 237GB 158GB logical ntfs
6 237GB 270GB 33.4GB logical ext4
8 270GB 293GB 23.4GB logical ext4
7 293GB 311GB 18.0GB logical ext4
9 311GB 320GB 8714MB logical ext4
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