ZorinOS Dual Boot Install Doesn't Display GRUB

[Rikker]

Recently, I installed ZorinOS 16.2 on a Lenovo ThinkCentre M715Q Tiny with a 256GB NVMe drive and Windows 10 Pro. I set the BIOS to Legacy, turned off Secure Boot, made sure SATA was AHCI. I shrunk Windows to 128GB and created a 128GB Ext4 partition for ZorinOS. I believe I chose the default location for the GRUB boot loader which was MBR sda1.

On reboot, ZorinOS booted directly and GRUB did not appear. I installed and checked GRUB Customizer and Windows was not listed.

Then, I changed BIOS to UEFI and Windows booted and GRUB still did not appear. This is a cool effect but I am puzzled as to how I get GRUB working properly and not have to use the BIOS to switch operating systems.

Can I save this install and repair GRUB? Should GRUB have been installed to Partition 1 EFI System (Windows)?

[Ocka]

Gday @Rikker , try the search within this forum, here's a couple.

Grub not showing up after boot repair

Hey peeps - happy new year. Bit of an issue with a Win 10 - Zorin OS 16 Core dual boot machine (OSes are installed on their own partitions as per the forum instructions). I went into my Win installation this morning and created a new FAT32 partition from the free space of the Win installation partition. Shouldn't have done that apparently as it screwed up grub and I couldn't boot into Zorin even from the one-time boot menu ('ubuntu' was listed there, just wouldn't do anything). So I did Boot Re…

Grub is not showing up to choose kernel

Hello. I've recently downloaded a Xandmod (5.15) kernel to try to see improvements in certain games. When I installed it, I was told by others that I could simply pick the kernel the moment I install it on the GRUB menu, in case I ever wanted to roll back. The problem is I realized that on my laptop with an encrypted disk, I never see the GRUB menu. I haven't since I installed Zorin. First, I get the encrypted password login screen, and after that is succesfully entered I get sent immediatel…

Let us know how you go.

[Rikker]

Thanks for the info. I checked out these posts but they didn't seem to be the solution.

Following my gut, I went into Windows and turned off Fast Startup and then set BIOS to UEFI. I reinstalled ZorinOS to my Ext4 partition and this time I was careful to choose Windows Partition 1 EFI System as the GRUB boot loader location.

GRUB now loads properly and both operating systems boot perfectly.

[Ocka]

Your welcome, glad you got it sorted.
Yes i remember my first few weeks with the dual boot/try Zorin- installing/seeing how things worked ( breaking things , hahahah ) so i had my trusty bootable usb stick close by
Now im totally rid of windows & totally happy as But i still have my files backed up & my bootable usb stick safely stowed away.

[Rikker]

Yeah, I keep Windows but I don't know why I should. Windows uploaded my personal files to the cloud even when I had OneDrive turned off so I don't trust it at all. And I'm sure it has spyware and a backdoor built in. Scary stuff. Zorin is much better!

[joshuaorbit]

OneDrive once configured is not really possible to turn the syncs off or on ... it just always syncs. I had (still have actually) a free OneDrive of Microsoft, and the beauty is that after +4 years of non use, all files were kept on the drive. For a free account that is very nice.
No spyware, no back doors ..... that is a hear-say of mostly paranoïd people.

Zorin is better, of course a Linux is always 'better' but remember to find in time alternatives for your workflow on Windows.
Personally I really don't like the dual-boot scenario unless you never update Windows again and use it mostly for offline purposes.
But how long takes it really for a backup and reinstall of Zorin if you realise that Windows is just maybe over and out for you.
On Ubuntu you can sync OneDrive, and (or) Google One (Drive) Suites ... on Zorin you can add those online accounts in the Settings-menu. So OneDrive just might be still of use for you.