[SOLVED] Boots Windows 7 but not Mint Linux 19.3

[Tina97]

So I had Windows 7 installed for me on my new SSD (for games), and Linux Mint 19.3 alongside it in a separate partition on the same drive (to access the internet). All was working well for a couple of days, then when I tried to get into LInux nothing happened - just a black screen with a faint flashing hyphen in the top left hand of the screen. From what I've read it might be a display issue, but there are no issues when I boot into Windows 7. The boot menu I get is unchanged, three different options for Linux and one (at the bottom) for Windows 7.

Another thing, not sure if its related or a bad coincidence, but my second HDD full of data no longer shows up on My Computer so I cannot access it. In Desk Management it shows it as Basic and Healthy. It does not say anything like Unitialized, or indicate that anything needs to be done with it. It has a drive letter (E). The HDD was formatted (NTFS) before data was added to it and had been in use on my computer before installing Win 7 and Linux on the new SSD.

Any help with these two issues greatly appreciated thanks.

CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K @3.5Ghz
Motherboard: ASUSTEK P8Z77-VLX
Ram: 16GB
SSD/HDD: Western Digital 1TB SSD (C drive), Huawei 2TB HDD (E).
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX670
PSU: XFX PRO850W

 

[rocktalkrock]

The flashing hyphen means your computer can not find the Linux Mint partition.
Have you tried all three different boot options for Linux?
Which boot loader is your computer using, Windows or Linux?
Have you checked your Boot menu settings in the BIOS?
Have you tried booting with the 2TB HDD disconnected?

 

[Tina97]

Thank you for the reply. After the flashing hyphen a login prompt (for "root") very briefly appears, its so brief its easy to miss altogether and I only spotted it today. I tried typing in my password but nothing happened. I'm mentioning it just in case it is somehow relevant.
The other three options in the grub menu for Linux are accessible. I have been into advanced recovery mode but don't understood any of the options that follow, and all bar the systems check warn you of scary things like something being unloaded and then only read and write. As I have no idea what that means I left it alone. I can get Linux to load from within this by doing a system check, and then resuming booting. Not sure if its the whole deal though, or just a barebones recovery thing (like windows safe model maybe). What I do get then is a warning about video drivers not being present. And when I click on driver manager, options to load one of various nvidia drivers. None of which work - two or three can install but then Linux still doesnt boot up, the rest prompt an error message announcing that packages are broken, and did I use third party packages? I'm sure I didn't because I don't know what that even means, and all I have done is install Mint 19.3 from a bootable disk and accepted what was on offer. The other options are memory checks and they both appear to do their thing, albeit without changing anything.
In response to your questions it looks like a Linux boot loader to me, nothing blue or pretty about it at all.
I checked the boot menu settings in the Bios and my second HDD does now appear. It also now appears on My Computer. Other than trying your booting up thing with that HDD temporarily disconnected, I didn't do anything else. I took the SATA cable and the power cable out. Would this work with just the power cable taken out? It would be easier as it is a bit hard to reach and pull out the SATA plug.

 

[rocktalkrock]

Try downloading and installing the driver directly from Nvidia. This is the latest driver for the GeForce GTX 670 on Linux 64-bit.

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/156772/en-us

P.S. Just disconnecting the power cable is all you need to do.

 

[Tina97]

Thanks again. How would I go about doing that please? I can presumably find and download it when I get into Linux through the advanced recovery mode way, but what do I do with the driver once in? Is there a particular folder I put it in, or do I need to do something using Terminal (hope not!).

 

[Tina97]

oh dear, I can no longer get into linux via the recovery mode either, so I would need to install the new driver from terminal. Anyone able to give me an easy to follow, step by step way to do that please?

 

[rocktalkrock]

oh dear, I can no longer get into linux via the recovery mode either, so I would need to install the new driver from terminal. Anyone able to give me an easy to follow, step by step way to do that please?

Since you only installed Mint a few days ago it would probably be easier for you to just reinstall Mint. You can also try to boot using the onboard graphics of your Intel CPU. Another option is to run Mint as a program inside Windows using VirtualBox software.

 

[Tina97]

Since you only installed Mint a few days ago it would probably be easier for you to just reinstall Mint. You can also try to boot using the onboard graphics of your Intel CPU. Another option is to run Mint as a program inside Windows using VirtualBox software.

Thank you. I removed Mint 19.3 from my PC and replaced it with Mint 18.3. The latter installed and worked fully from the word go, no driver issues nor any other problem. Conclusion? My set up isn't ready for 19.3 yet, or just there is some incompatability that is currently unresolvable. 18.3 works great and will do me for a while. I can always try a later version in the future.