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I had a working ubuntu 20 (disk A) to which I overwrote root from a previous ubuntu 20 (disk B) install. GRUB went mad, and I eventually gave up fixing, because of relevant details I will list below.

Question. I still have / from B, and I can reinstall ubuntu in A. I want to restore this data to A, WITHOUT touching its GRUB. How do I go about it?

Details:

  1. A is SSD in a new Dell laptop
  2. B is HDD in an OLD laptop
  3. C is m2 SSD in the same, new laptop with Intel RST enabled and has Windows 10. [MAJOR PROBLEM]

Important notes:

  1. A and C worked together well before I destroyed A with overwrite. I just had to choose in bootloader in bios setting.
  2. C prevents installation of ubuntu without its temporary removal because of RST.
  3. Disabling RST is not an option for me; I don't want to try it.

My thoughts: Excluding boot folder while tarring up / is sufficient? Should I make a backup of new GRUB files (how?)

Question exists where I requested help for fixing GRUB, has details on how I tried fixing, and how it didn't succeed. If relevant, is here.

Edit:

C is UEFI, which led Ubuntu to automatically create EFI partition in A .. I don't know about B, but if it is absolutely necessary, I can find out in a day or two. Laptop is not with me right now. My Dell model is 5590 Inspiron.

physicophilic
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  • Are both systems UEFI or is old one BIOS? UEFI requires boot entry into UEFI for grub to boot from ESP - efi system partition. Your Dell support person was the noob. Is your Dell here, then it is supported: https://fwupd.org/lvfs/devices/ Intel RST https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/rapid-storage-technology.html Optane Memory Module - Frequently Asked Questions https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln306745/optane-memory-module-frequently-asked-questions?lang=en What model Dell system? – oldfred Jul 05 '20 at 15:11
  • Please check my edit. No, my device is not in this list. I think what you're suggesting could be a reason, but I then reinstalled grub into the EFI partition as described here, which still didn't fix my issue. I am not sure if that was supposed to though. – physicophilic Jul 05 '20 at 15:21
  • Still not sure exactly what issue is, but seems more like a Windows issue. If you really want total separation, buy an external adapter for SSD or external SSD. I was surprised how fast older SSD with adapter was, bit faster than internal HDD. But Ubuntu Ubquity installer only installs grub to first drive, usually Windows, see this bug report. Also see work around during install in #23 & 26 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1396379 – oldfred Jul 05 '20 at 16:07
  • I already know a solution for total separation. My question is only about the backup. Windows was taken out when Ubuntu was installed, as mentioned in Important point 2. Thanks, I will check these out! – physicophilic Jul 05 '20 at 17:19
  • Unless you did not turn off Windows fast start up, so installer could see the NTFS partiitons or chose the full drive install, Ubuntu would not overwrite or change Windows at all. Always safest to use Something Else install option, so you can see existing partitions & choose to create or reuse the Linux partition(s). https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI Also shows Windows 10 screens or similar to Windows 8 https://askubuntu.com/questions/221835/installing-ubuntu-on-a-pre-installed-windows-10-with-uefi – oldfred Jul 05 '20 at 18:05
  • So you are saying that even if windows ssd has been taken out, ubuntu could detect windows partitions? I did everything after disabling fast start up by the way. Thank you for the links. UEFI is particularly useful – physicophilic Jul 05 '20 at 20:17
  • When you plug Windows back in and have Windows fast start up off, you can run sudo update-grub and it will add Windows to grub menu. And you can mount the Windows NTFS partition, but generally better to use a separate shared NTFS data partition. Windows will turn fast start up back on with updates. http://askubuntu.com/questions/843153/ubuntu-16-showing-windows-10-partitions & https://askubuntu.com/questions/145902/unable-to-mount-windows-ntfs-filesystem-due-to-hibernation – oldfred Jul 05 '20 at 20:56
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – physicophilic Jul 06 '20 at 13:54

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