So I have been experimenting with Linux again (Ubuntu this time). After endless hours of fighting with it trying to get it to install on the same drive as Windows (7) so I could use it when I want to and get used to it gradually, I finally decided to just install it on an external USB drive. Frankly, that's the only way I could get it to work. I don't know why. I spent like 3 hours trying to get it installed on an internal drive. Even if I installed it on a different drive, my computer wanted to boot W7 or nothing. No amount of changing the drive order in the BIOS would work. When I put the drive I had Linux installed on in the first slot, I'd get a flashing cursor every fucking time. Anyway, I finally installed it on an old external drive I had laying around. It's a USB. It has to be a USB 2.0. There's no way it'd be a 3.0 as old as it is. Anyway, I was getting irritated because Linux was running as slow as molasses when connected via USB 2.0 (rear port). I decided to give it a shot and plug it into one of the 3.0 slots and believe it or not, it actually does run faster. I don't think I'm getting full 3.0 speed but the speed boost is unmistakable. This can't be. Or can it?
I suppose it is possible that the chip was over-engineered. That, or the driver for USB "3" is a lot better engineered than the old USB driver. By the way, the BIOS isn't going to canvas your drives looking for boot records on them. It looks at the designated "C" drive and ignores the rest. You should be able to set up a dual-boot, but I'm not familiar with the arcana of Ubuntu, so I can't give you chapter and verse.
I think it's my BIOS. The computer was apparently designed from the ground up for Windows 8. I found a page somewhere that tells me to switch a setting in the BIOS to prioritize LEGACY BIOS but my BIOS doesn't appear to have that setting. I'm pretty sure it is a UEFI because the machine came with Windows 8 installed and I had a hell of a time figuring out how to install 7. It turned out the hard drive wasn't formatted right. Edited by - randomprecision on 4/3/2013 5:23:32 PM
Also, I probably won't be trying to set up dual-boot again until I've spent at least a month getting used to Linux. I was actually trying to install Mint initially (I like it better than stock Ubuntu) but by the time I realized I wasn't going to be able to get W7 and Mint on the same drive, I'd already installed Ubuntu on the external and had most of the basic stuff set up. I don't want to overwrite it with Mint because I was just lazy and tired of repeating the set up over and over.
Well, I'm almost afraid to try it because I've got a working system on that external but if I wanted to create another partition and put Mint on it (on the same drive as Ubuntu), it should work, right? Currently, at boot, I get a screen that asks me if I want to boot Ubuntu or Windows 7 but if I select Windows 7, it gives me an error so basically, I can only boot Ubuntu as long as I have that drive connected unless I go into the BIOS and change the boot order. If I install Mint on another partition will it just add Mint to the boot screen?
I don't know if it will or not. If memory serves, the boot sectors for each of your operating systems have to be on the same "C:" drive. That may be why yours isn't acting properly. Unless Microsoft has written code into their new version of Windows to looks for other operating systems and adjust the boot record accordingly, I assume that you still have to take care of the details yourself.
Well, I finally succeeded in making a persistent "pendrive" with Mint on it. For some reason my BIOS shows two entries for the pendrive and if you prioritize the wrong one, it will treat it as a plain old live CD without persistence. It's considerably slower than the USB hard drive but it works.
^Some pendrives employ(ed?) a scheme to make it appear as 2 devices: a CDROM and something else. Such as the now-defunct U3 system which Sandisk used for some years. Maybe that's what's tricking your BIOS. I remember having to use a special software to remove the U3 and make the Sandisk Cruzer into a "normal" USB flash drive.
Yep. That has to be it. It's an old Sandisk Cruzer 8 GB and I remember seeing U3 in the description somewhere. That never occurred to me. I thought if you format it normally to Fat32 that should do everything that needs to be done. Do you remember what program you need to remove that?
Yes, it's by Sandisk. U3 Launchpad Removal Tool. Doing the Fat32 format is not good enough, because it's some low-level structure that's creating the virtual CDROM. Even the HP format tool, which has a reputation for being very powerful, cannot destroy Sandisk U3.
OK. Thanks. I'd have never thought of that. These flash drives are still incredibly useful even if they're old, on the smaller side and a little slow. Anything that increases it's utility and extends it's lifespan is a plus.
Audrey Madison Interview
Posted - Apr 3 2013 : 4:47PM
