Windows 10: Installed Windows 10. Now I can't boot Windows 10 or Linux Mint.

Hello, TenForums.


I run Linux Mint on one SSD and Windows 7 on another.

Linux Mint SSD is on SATA 1; Windows 7 SSD is on SATA 2; 500GB empty drive on SATA 3.

I upgraded Windows 7 to Windows 10 and after getting it all set up and pretty, I decided to reboot and use Linux for the rest of the night.

Well, with my Windows Drive Connected, I tried booting into Linux but received the error: "Cannot mount drive /mnt/sdb1". So, I booted back into Windows 10 and everything Windows-wise was cool.


Here comes my screw up:

Fast forward to today (roughly 3 days later). I tried fixing my Linux Partition by unplugging the Windows Drive (since that would be the /sdb1 drive) and received the error: "The Disk Drive for UUID=<Drive Name Here> is not ready yet or not present". Using a LiveUSB, I tried mounting and using chroot to try and fix grub, but to no avail. I also tried reinstalling Linux Mint while keeping my /home partition, but with no success either. So, I decided to install another SSD that I wanted to add for games & misc. files since it was bigger. So, I opened up my computer, reorganized a bit and put all of the SSDs in (in the config at the start of my post) and connected all the power/SATA cables.

I had previously read that Windows 10 gets really pissy if you make any changes to hardware. Well, here comes the confusing part:

1. When only the Linux drive is connected, I get the "Disk Drive UUID" error.
2. When booting into Linux with the Linux Drive & Windows Drive Connected, I get the "Cannot mount Drive /mnt/sdb1" error.
3. When Booting into Windows WITHOUT the Linux Drive Connected, I get the BSOD error "A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed. 0xc0000225".
4. When booting into Windows WITH the Linux Drive connected, Windows 10 works just fine.

My hypothesis: Windows always wants to be first. When I upgraded to Windows 10, since my Linux Drive was in the 1st SATA slot, I think it bound the Windows Boot Manager & other Windows start up necessities to it as well. By doing this, it changed the UUID of my / or /boot partition so grub doesn't know where to look when booting. My concern is that I'm not sure how to separate these and to get them both to work. I was saving up for a backup drive, so I don't have any backups (luckily, this is for games. I'm only worried about some read-only files on my Linux Drive). I do not have any physical media for Windows 10, and would rather create a VM (and attempt GPU passthrough) than install Windows 7 SP1 from scratch and do all those damned updates. I'd prefer not to have to reinstall any OS, but I'll do it if we cannot find a solution to these two problems.

Please ask my any questions you may have and I'll try to get back to you ASAP. I have finals for school tomorrow, so this is really just a massive inconvenience. Thankfully, all my school work is on a laptop or synced to Dropbox.

Thanks.

I don't find it necessary, but to save anyone the trouble of asking, here are my parts:

CPU: Intel i5-4690k

GPU: Gigagyte WindForce GTX 970

RAM: 16GB G.Skill (4x4GB)

MOBO: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition

PSU: Seasonic G-Series 650W.

SSD: 2x Samsung EVO 850 (250GB), 1x Samsung EVO 850 (500GB)

:)

 

about dual booting

You should ensure Windows 10 is installed first, then install Linux Mint after.

How to dual-boot Linux Mint 17.2 and Windows 10 | LinuxBSDos.com

 

How to Dual Boot Windows 10 with Other Versions of Windows, macOS and Linux

I am trying to install a Linux Mint Distro (Linux Mint 18.3 "Sylvia") in my computer, running Windows 10 Pro.

It doesn´t matter which way I choose (allowing Mint to setup the system, or making it mannually), what I get is a system that always runs Windows 10 and there is no way to run Linux Mint (just from a USB drive), as the boot loader comes from Microsoft with
no way to introduce Linux Mint on it. I purchase EasyBCD and no result with it.

What did Microsoft do in the last updates?

Previously it was very easy to create a Dual boot system, but now, there is no way.

Some help will be appreciated.

Please, don´t submit me to:

How To Dual Boot Linux Mint And Windows 10 [Beginner's Guide]

How to install Linux Mint on your Windows PC | ZDNet

or any article from Andre Da Costa because after the latest Windows 10 updates, there is no way to install a Linux Distro.

Thanks and Regards

 

With the configuration that you can boot Windows 10 from, we need a full screenshot of disk management with the columns expanded so we can see all the information in them:
Disk Management - How to Post a Screenshot of - Windows 10 Forums

 

Are you trying to dual boot windows 10 and linux mint ? the order is you have to install wins 10 first.

 

Technically, No, not the traditional dual boot on one singular drive. I figured if they were on separate Drives, I would okay. I suppose not.

 

Attached is the prompt that appeared when I started Disk Management. I had not yet formatted my 500GB SSD, so I believe that's what it was asking. I chose the selected option.
To the best of my knowledge:
Disk 0: Linux Drive. Has / (root), /boot, /home, EFI & EFI-Legacy partitions.
Disk 1: Windows Drive
Disk 2: Brand New empty 500GB drive.
Disk 3: Flash drive used to transfer these pictures. Windows Machine is currently disconnected to Internet (Didn't want to change components on carpet. Since getting Ethernet, I removed my WIFI card).

 

I know the rules say not to bump, but I did post some information.