#Triple-Booting MacOS, Linus Mint, and Windows 10 (or an alternative solution idk)

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

gritty plinth
#

I have an oddly specific issue that I would like to solve.

My goal is to be able to run a GeForce Now app using my 8bitdo Wireless 2C Ultimate controller.

A few things: I am running Linux Mint 22.3 and MacOS Sequoia 15.7.3 on a 2020 MacBook Air. My 8bitdo does NOT work on MacOS for whatever reason. It works on Linux Mint, but GeForce Infinity sucks and I'd prefer not to use the browser version of GeForce Now when I am paying for the service The browser version also doesn't register my mouse clicks.

I tried using VirtualBox to run a VM of Windows 10, but it is slow and slightly blurry. I only have 8GB of RAM on my MacBook. I am willing to run a VM if there is some way to make it run well enough that I forget it's a VM... but I don't think my laptop is powerful enough.

I also thought about Win-to-USB / Rufus, but it seems that it doesn't exactly run well on a USB. I don't want to buy an external drive just to use GeForce Now when a native app will be releasing sometime this year.

My next thought was to re-install Windows 10, but apparently most people install Windows first and THEN Linux, but I don't want to delete everything after I spent so long setting it up. I heard that Windows has a habit of frying other OSes.

I understand if this is a bit too niche, but I don't know, I'm not great with technology and I don't want to mess up my laptop. I really like to game and my computer just isn't powerful enough to run the games I want. GeForce Now isn't officially supported on Linux yet and on MacOS my controller doesn't work even after troubleshooting. I'm just not sure what to do.

worn kettle
#

as long as all OS's are installed as UEFI-mode then it should be fine. Mint usb has a boot repair app if needed.

#

turn fast startup off in Windows, once Windows is installed fully

gritty plinth
#

is there anything I should specifically avoid doing when installing Windows that might break things? originally I installed it with Bootcamp, but I've pretty much abandoned my Mac partition at this point, so this is new territory for me

worn kettle
#

you will also need to LIVE BOOT a linux distro containing gparted or the gparted-live distro and use it to shrink partition 4 by around 100 GB and leave unallocated

#

also back-up your most critical/precious data off any partition of this drive before messing with it at all.

#

Boot Camp should be happy to boot all three

gritty plinth
#

Thanks! When I get the chance I will attempt to install Windows and keep those things in mind

gritty plinth
#

hey so, i've been having a loooot of trouble with this set-up. i have reinstalled macos, windows, and linux many times and even used refind

but eeeevery single time i install linux, it breaks the windows boot loader. i even tried installing without grub, and it STILL broke windows.

i'm not sure what to do

what i've done is reinstall macos > install windows through boot camp > partition my drive inside windows > boot live usb of linux mint > install linux mint using "something else" (i have also tried "install alongside windows", same issue)

every time without fail, it breaks windows

i assumed maybe mint is overwriting windows' boot loader bc i know it's an issue with ubuntu, but i do not have another drive to install windows to

worn kettle
#

it shouldn't overwrite any Microsoft folder in the EFI folder of the EFI-System-Partition

#

in fact, you should be choosing 'install alongside' in the mint installer

gritty plinth
#

i have done this, and it still doesn't allow me to boot into windows after

worn kettle
#

do you get a Mint GRUB MENU when you boot the real Linux?

gritty plinth
#

yes, and it shows Windows Boot Manager as an option

worn kettle
#

ok. then it should work to boot windows from there

gritty plinth
#

when i do, it loads for a bit and remains as a black screen

#

when i do boot repair it just boots into grub instead of windows as well

worn kettle
#

try LMDE 7 instead then. it uses a different installer.

#

(after a working Windows install)

#

make sure u launch the Disks app (gnome-disks ) and know your stuff thoroughly before running up the lmde installer icon

gritty plinth
#

okay thanks. i'll just need a bit to delete linux mint and reinstall windows, i'll let you know how it goes

worn kettle
#

as a matter of fact, once you've done all that, boot the LMDE ISO up to a desktop, and show me Disks app on drive, and result of efibootmgr from a maximized terminal.

#

tag me then

gritty plinth
#

@worn kettle

IMG_5297.jpg IMG_5298.jpg
#

haven't installed it yet

worn kettle
#

ok

#

so... is windows on that last partition, labelled 'BOOTCAMP'?

#

and it works now?

#

also show lsblk -o name,model,partuuid,size,mountpoint

worn kettle
gritty plinth
#

yep, windows is BOOTCAMP and i double checked it works a few times before booting up the ISO

IMG_5299.jpg
worn kettle
#

then get some other external drive that can hold at least 320 MB, and use the disks app to 'create partition image' of your current nvme p1 (EFI) and save the .img to that external drive.

gritty plinth
worn kettle
#

at least now you have that EFI partition image on some external separate device. if things mess up, just restore it back to p1 using the Disks app in the live linux environment.

#

moreover do take incredible care that you're shrinking the PROPER spacious partition when trying to install linux.

#

I would imagine that is nvme0n1p3. idk how good linux tools are to shrink APFS. maybe do it from within the MacOS if you can. just a thought.

#

give around 100 gigs for linux - unallocated - if doing from mac OS

gritty plinth
#

oh yeah i partitioned it from macos, im using that 300 gb on p3 for linux as it will be my main OS, what i have been doing was deleting it and using the unallocated space

i am going to be busy for the next few hours, but when i am back i will finish up and let u know how it went

worn kettle
#

if you already set aside p3 from mac OS, (and it's blank atm) then DELETE p3 from the Disks application in live linux before running up the installer.

#

MUST BE UNALLOCATED. then see the chart above and hit + to make ext4 on right one

worn kettle
#

!

#

the lmde is a bit different, but still same idea. and the part for grub shows up one page later

gritty plinth
#

ok! if i have more questions before/during the installation, i'll ping you. thank you so much for your help with this, i really appreciate it

worn kettle
#

oh and disable Windows fast startup in windows itself before proceeding.

gritty plinth
#

@worn kettle i did as you said and now i've run the installer. does this look correct so far?

also, is GRUB in the next menu then getting installed to the EFI System Partition shown in my picture or did i misunderstand the chart?

IMG_5300.jpg
worn kettle
#

one sec, as i have a look

#

yes, click next. you should then get page for where to put bootloader.

worn kettle
gritty plinth
#

this is the summary for my filesystem

IMG_5301.jpg
worn kettle
#

yes, that is all correct

gritty plinth
#

ok i will install now and see how everything works out

gritty plinth
# worn kettle yes, that is all correct

so i went through with the installation, restarted my laptop

when i press option, it just shows Mac or Windows, and when i press Windows it is just a black screen 🥲

i tried pressing escape to see if GRUB would come up but it doesn't. don't know if it's related to needing to install my mac drivers on linux mint though

worn kettle
#

look for 'debian' loader

#

or use supergrub2 to boot it.

#
  • boot live usb and SEE thru the disks app and file manager if the linux install destroyed the files on partition 4
#

if not, and windows core directories are all there, restore your backed-up efi partition image.

#

then just use supergrub to boot linux from partition 3 . (need a usb flashed with supergrub)

gritty plinth
#

is there anything specific i should look for in the files that would indicate they've been messed up, or would it be obvious

worn kettle
#

windows folder and its system32

gritty plinth
#

everything looks normal to me in those folders

worn kettle
#

if u really want to dig. open the efi partition on nvme.

#

see if microsoft and debian folders exist and contain efi files within it

#

the current one, not the backed-up one

gritty plinth
#

unfortunately i already restored the original 😅

#

i will say that despite restoring it, windows boots with a black screen, and i know it was working prior to the installation of lmde bc i made sure fast startup was off

worn kettle
#

ok try to boot the computer

#

does the mac os boot?

gritty plinth
#

i'll check gimme a sec

#

yeah mac boots just fine

worn kettle
#

can't u just VM windows in linux?

#

anyway, boot the lmde live usb. use boot repair tool.

#

at least that should let you be able to boot up lmde

gritty plinth
# worn kettle can't u just VM windows in linux?

this is what i tried originally. is there a way to make it run well on an intel macbook air with 8gb of ram? i didn't spend too much time setting it up so i imagine there must be a way to make it not blurry / fit the screen

gritty plinth
#

this issue has confused me for the past three days idk what's wrong with my mac 😭

worn kettle