How to dual boot properly
How to dual boot properly
I have a Dell XPS15 with an M.2 and a SATA SSD. I thought I could run different operating systems on each drive so I could switch between them easily. It worked fine at first, but after a few days it stopped recognizing the Windows M.2 SSD as a bootable device. What could be causing this issue?
Checking your setup: are you relying on grub or the boot menu? Have you refreshed Windows? Which operating system did you set up?
Consider setting up Windows on a 2.5" SSD and Linux on an M.2 drive. Arrange the boot sequence so Windows comes first. Verify that ntfs-3g is present for Linux to recognize Windows files. When asked by Sauron, confirm the boot loader currently active. Remember, install Linux at the end of a dual-boot setup.
I started from each drive using the one-time boot menu via F12. It seems Windows is fully up to date both times. I was using Fedora.
Anaconda operates quite differently when it comes to starting up. Review the etc/fstab file and verify the UUIDs for accuracy, if relevant. If not, investigate Anaconda further.
It seems the update might have been saved without your knowledge. The Linux SATA SSD isn’t booting now, which could mean a hardware or software issue.
It seems there might have been an issue with the Windows setup or the storage device. Verify the drive's condition using a Linux tool, and if everything looks good, attempt to reinstall Windows while preserving your files in Linux.
A few days back I examined the M.2 NVMe SSD on my main computer using CrystalDiskInfo, and everything looked normal. All my data is already safely stored on my NAS. I plan to install Linux on the M.2 drive and Windows on the SATA drive as suggested by @TorC, to check for any corruption again.
I installed Windows on the SATA drive but couldn't boot from the original M.2 drive where Fedora was installed. This suggests a potential issue with the M.2 SSD. I used a spare M.2 SSD (non-NVMe) and managed to dual boot without problems. According to smartctl on the Fedora Live CD, the original NVMe M.2 SSD appeared to be functioning properly. So, it's unclear whether the problem lies with the drive itself or something else.