Wondering about the biosboot partition if it is an uefi system. Did you try with enough free space before you boot net install? With no free space available it may treat the hardware as newly to install and delete the current content of the hd completely. And maybe struggle with an unknown partition type. With enough free space for installation available, it should ignore the existing partitions. Dual boot is a bit tricky today. And we assume Server to be the only inhabitant on the system. Co-existence is not a test case. Did you specifically use the Server net install disk (not another one and then switch to Server as install target). -- Peter Boy https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Pboy pboy(a)fedoraproject.org Timezone: CET (UTC+1) / CEST (UTC+2) Fedora Server Edition Working Group member Fedora docs team contributor Java developer and enthusiast

On 7/10/22 17:43, Peter Boy wrote: It was netinst. In the past I've found the installer for netinst gave me more control over the installation and I could then configure the system as desired. That no longer seems to be the case.

On Wed, 13 Jul 2022 00:03:44 -0400 Robert McBroom via users <users(a)lists.fedoraproject.org&gt; wrote: Did you go into the custom spoke? I've found that I can do whatever I want there (last time was f35). Usually I use pre-allocated partitions and tell anaconda how to use them and reformat them. But the option to erase and create also exists. I've never tried to shrink a partition, especially on windows, so I don't know if that works from the custom spoke.

On Thu, 2022-07-14 at 10:00 -0400, Robert McBroom via users wrote: That's something that catches a lot of people. They know they have umpteen gigs of unused space on their drive, and think they can install Linux to it. But that unused space is part of an existing partition. The installer looks for unallocated space to install to. You *can* use pre-existing partitions, but you have to select them manually, and be ready to deal with the consequences if those partitions aren't empty. If you had a spare empty partition, you can use it with less to worry about, you can even change the filesystem on it if you'd prefer something different. You can do that from the installer (or you used to be able to, I haven't tried all the recent installation options). Or you could use a drive prepping tool ahead of the installer (e.g. gparted). Some tips: A two-drive PC is very useful. Store your data on one (use it for /home), install the operating system on the other. You can unplug your home drive to preserve it during a new installation that wipes out your previous system drive. It's one of the most personal-stress-free ways to do installations. Alternatively, a single-drive PC with a very large harddrive can have the harddrive partitioned leaving a large empty partition for the next release to be installed to: Have the usual boot partitions, a home partition for your files, and two large partitions for the system installations (the current one, and one reserved for the next one). When you install the next one, keep the old one around until you're confident the new one works. Then erase the contents of the old system partition, so it's free for the next installation. I suggest erasing it as soon as you're sure the new install is good. That way you've committed yourself, and you don't have to agonise over erasing it when it's time for the next install in 6 months or a years time. I dislike new installs over the top of prior installs (upgrade installs), there's so many things that come back to bite you on the bum (ages of yum/dnf computations for it to work out what it's going to do, lingering old files, incompatible old software and configurations). I've found it quicker to import old configurations and data from another drive, program by program, and make sure each works. Than try to unscramble the eggs of an over-the-top upgrade of everything that went haywire. I'd hate to try and deal with a scrambled database. -- uname -rsvp Linux 3.10.0-1160.71.1.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Tue Jun 28 15:37:28 UTC 2022 x86_64 Boilerplate: All unexpected mail to my mailbox is automatically deleted. I will only get to see the messages that are posted to the mailing list.

On 2022-07-10 13:18, Robert McBroom via users wrote: Multiple drives is not the problem. Your description is a little confusing. You mention multiple drives, but then describe only one? It's not clear. Which drive has the 17M reserved and rest ntfs? The new one? Your initial drive with windows should have an efi partition. That is what you should be assigning to /boot/efi. Anything else should be on the new drive, just delete any existing partitions first. The bios boot partition is strange because that suggests that you're not booting in UEFI mode. Make sure your USB(?) boot is using that mode and not legacy.

On 2022-07-10 20:33, Robert McBroom via users wrote: Did you try letting the installer automatically create the partitions? (It won't actually modify the disk until you start the install.) Then it shouldn't be wanting a biosboot partition. I missed that part. That will be difficult. It will overwrite the UEFI boot entry of the other Fedora.

Samuel Sieb: Robert McBroom: I thought UEFI was supposed to be an improvement on boot choices, but it seems like the old GRUB that you could easily hand control its configuration was easier to deal with (for multiboot multi-OS PCs). I get the impression UEFI is only good for one OS installation on the system, perhaps giving you a boot in safe mode or from a re-install partition. But all from one OS that had been developed with those choices in mind. Maybe we need a UEFI probing program? One that finds all your potential installations, presents you with a list, asks you which you want to put into a boot list, and in what priority, and have it program the UEFI settings for us. Even on a single-boot system I've had the UEFI boot menu show me confusing choices: Fedora, a whole harddrive, and a particular harddrive partition (neither of the last two said anything more than the hardware details, no clue as to what trying to boot from those choices might do). That was on an installation on a brand new motherboard and blank hard drive, letting the installer run the installation without any customisations. I've never done a Windows installation on one of them to see if it was any less messy. I haven't installed Windows on anything for about 20 years, except for amusing myself by installing Win98 on an ancient PC to see if it actually worked. That was a trip down headache memory lane. -- uname -rsvp Linux 3.10.0-1160.71.1.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Tue Jun 28 15:37:28 UTC 2022 x86_64 Boilerplate: All unexpected mail to my mailbox is automatically deleted. I will only get to see the messages that are posted to the mailing list.

Hi, I always use "netinst" and rarely had any problem with disk partition. This what I do to have a dual boot installation. - Use the Window program to shrink the Win partition - start the installation, chose the HD and click "custom" - I prefer "standard partitions" and "xfs" but that's me - click on create partitions automatically as this create the /boot and /boot/efi if needed - increase the / partitions as F use 15GB (if I have space) - create "swap" if wanted - create "/home" leaving size blank so it uses all the space remaining - done G -- GianPiero Puccioni |Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi-CNR gianpiero.puccioni(a)isc.cnr.it |Via Madonna del Piano, 10 T:+39 0555226682 |50019 Sesto F. (Firenze) ITALY

On Wed, 13 Jul 2022 00:36:41 -0700 Samuel Sieb <samuel(a)sieb.net&gt; wrote: There are two other alternatives: -systemd-boot allows multiple versions of any operating system from a single efi partition. It has to be a little larger. -If you have more than 1 disk you can put an EFI partition on the other disk and use the BIOS boot menu to switch between the two EFIs as default boot. Obviously not suitable for constant use, but if occasionally another boot is required it isn't too bad. I haven't tried two EFI partitions on the same disk, but that might work also, just by setting one as default in the BIOS. I haven't tried the different label, I'll have to do some research and experiment.