Some dual boot Windows/Linux experience and issues solved on Acer Swift SF314-56G
I wanna share with you some experience with Linux and boot mgr issues that you might encounter.
I've tried Manjaro, ubuntu budgie, peppermint os + budgie desktop. First on virtual machine, but later as dual boot on the single ssd drive. I also tried on the 2nd hdd, but I wanna experience the speed and also the boot problems as well, if you choose for the dual boot on a single disk.
First the linux experience on an Acer; on installation the hardware is automatically recognised, however for the optimus nvidia, you have to make sure that you install the utility to choose which gpu (intel, nvidia) to choose from. In Windows it is more convenient. Also had to install power mgmt software like tlp, powertop and thermald, and still the battery life is less than on windows. The best distro sofar is Ubuntu budgie and/or Peppermint OS with budgie desktop, due to the modern look of the desktop interface. Note also that bluetooth connectivity is not that smooth like on windows.
Now some experience with boot managers and boot loaders. I like to choose which OS to boot from the Acer BIOS (F12) and have Windows boot as default, instead of Grub or refind (these are boot mgrs with a menu) you can install in Linux or Windows in the ESP/EFI partition.
Some tips after some problems - especially with regards to suspend/hibernate of Windows or Linux - I encountered:
1) BIOS settings: don't disable secure boot, disable fast boot, enable F12, you dont need to add the linux boot entry as trusted, because the BIOS or Acer firmware will scan the ESP boot partition for boot directories under EFI. A EFI secure boot mgr file in ubuntu is called shimx64.efi
2) if you are in Linux, you can access the Acer firmware boot mgr settings via efibootmgr program. Here you can change the boot order and very important, to set the timeout more than 0 sec - I dont recall that this setting is available in the Acer bios - , so you can always access the BIOS settings with F2.
3) use grub or refind as boot mgr for linux. These boot mgrs will scan for boot mgrs or loaders on the ESP boot partition and show them as menu items. I prefer to set the timeout low in in grub/refind, as I prefer to choose to boot using F12. In /etc/default/grub i also set the setting "quiet" not to see messages. If you encounter problems with booting or shutdown remove the "quiet" setting
3) disable Windows and linux hibernation to prevent problems with reboot after hibernate, depending on which os was last booted after hibernation
It can happen, that for some reason Linux won't shutdown or restart gracefully, so that the shared ESP partition can get corrupted or damaged, so that Windows boot can result in a BSOD. In that case you can go to Safe mode, and do some system file integrity checks: "sfc /scannow" and restore the system health: "dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth"
If this does not solve the issue, the next step is to try to get to the Windows recovery menu and goto the cmd prompt, mount the esp partition and assign a drive letter, fix the boot sector - "bootrec /FixBoot" in :\EFI\Microsoft\Boot - and fix /recreate the BCD store: "bcdboot c:\Windows /l en-us /s <esp drive letter>: ALL".
Please share your good/bad Linux dual boot experience here!
