Hi @ Wilders Hope this is the right part of the forum for this? Apologies if not. I just bought a new computer and decided in my wisdom that I would use what little experience of Linux I had by installing Zorin to avoid endles Microsoft updates that fail. Unfortunately, shortly after receiving my PC with Zorin I soon realized that my knowledge of Linux was none existent and that Zorin was not as claimed, a Windows 8/10 lookalike. In fact I now realise how naive I have been. So what to do, spend money on Windows and potentially continue with monthly foul ups or try another Linux distribution? I am going to try Linux Mint Cinnamon, but having read some aspects of the installation of Mint I want clarify with more experienced members of Wilders than me. I am NOT DUAL BOOTING, I simply want to install Linux Mint over Zorin eradicating every thing in the process, in other words , a clean start. So, not knowing a massive amount about Secure Boot, am I going to be affected by Secure Boot by installing Mint on top of Zorin? Apologies for the wordy post. I had a particularly depressing day trying to put icons on the Zorin 12 taskbar. Thank you Terry
Terry, I've tested quite a few Linux distros and these boot on my computer with Secure Boot enabled. Mint Cinnamon, XFCE and Mate. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate. I haven't tested other Ubuntu variants but they will probably be OK. Fedora CentOS OpenSUSE These don't. Debian, MX Linux, Zorin, Manjaro and others I've forgotten. In UEFI mode, the Boot Loader is installed into the EFI System partition. Edit... I'd delete all partitions on the drive except for the MSR. Create a single ext4 partition for Mint and install Mint. No other partitions are essential.
Terry, Can you check your Secure Boot status in the UEFI BIOS. Zorin doesn't boot in my computer if Secure Boot is enabled. The Zorin UFD boots with Secure Boot enabled but installed Zorin doesn't.
Hi Brian, That's interesting, my previous attempts at installing Cinnamon required me to disable Secure Boot. I'll try enabling Secure Boot on my current 19.1 Mate install and see what happens.
If anyone knows of other distros that boot with Secure Boot enabled, please let us know. Krusty, Cinnamon is my main Linux distro.
H Brian K et al Thanks for the replies. What you have got to remember is that I am quite illiterate in terms of Linux. So my first post was what I thought I needed to know. However I am not sure your responses have given me all of what I want . So, I am looking for further clarification: 1) Zorin 12 x64 does not give me what i am looking for. Nothing else installed No Windows or dual booting, just Zorin. In addition Zorin boots without problem on my PC. I don't know whether secure boot is enabled. I will try and find out today. If it is enabled, and because it boots then your comments about Mint in your reply suggest there will not be a problem with secure boot. 2) I simply want to eradicate the mistake I made (installing Zorin), I hoped to simply install Mint or Ubuntu directly over Zorin and removing it at the same time. Apparently there is an option to do do this with most distros. Brian commented in his reply " Edit... I'd delete all partitions on the drive except for the MSR. Create a single ext4 partition for Mint and install Mint. No other partitions are essential." Question:- 1) Does not choosing the Mint install option to remove Zorin delete all partitions and re create according to the needs of Linux Mint? 2) If not, are you saying that there will be unnecessary partitions remaining after Mint is installed ie Zorin partitions. The reason I want to use the Mint install option to remove Zorin as it installs, is that it is easy I don' t have to play about with partitions about which I know little. Thanks again for all your help Terry
Terry, ignore my comment about deleting partitions etc. My setup is different from yours. When you make the UFD from the Mint Cinnamon ISO, use Rufus with the GPT, UEFI (non-CSM) options. Install Mint and use the "Erase disk and install Linux Mint" option. ("Installation type" window) It doesn't matter if you make a mistake. Just do the install again. There is no data to lose.
Hi Brian Thanks for your reply. As promised I can confirm Secure Boot is switched off in BIOS. Does this make any difference to your last comments? Thank you again for your help Terry
Terry, I always have Secure Boot enabled but others prefer to have it disabled. Mint will work with it enabled or not. Make sure CSM (Compatibility Support Module) is disabled in the UEFI BIOS. This makes the firmware more stable by disabling Legacy boot.
Terry, I just tried "Erase disk and install Linux Mint" on a spare computer. It works well and you finish up with two partitions... EFI System Partition... 512 MB Linux Native Partition which uses the remainder of the drive. You can use the "Advanced partitioning tool" option if you want to create a smaller Linux Native partition but I doubt you want to do this at present.
Hi Brian K Many thanks for all your help - exceptional service. For the record I find Mint much, much more user friendly than Zorin. Terry
Mint also has a help forum that is more user-friendly than that of many distros. It's a good choice if you just want to enjoy your Linux machine and not tinker with it a lot. For instance, on some distros, all you have to do is install the recommended updates, and things already break, worse than on Windows. That doesn't happen on Mint. It's well thought-out.
