Just got my Desktop with two nvme drives. Nice machine! But getting dual boot set up is driving me crazy.
I can install Windows 11 Pro on the first drive just fine. I then turn off bit locker and install Fedora on the second drive. But I can’t figure out how to get a boot entry into grub for Windows. The system always boots directly into Fedora with no choices. Lots of Googling leads to lots of suggestions that don’t work.
Has anyone managed to do it? How?
Thanks, … Sam
The better option usually is to just use the BIOS boot menu to either select the Windows or Linux boot entry. That would work even with Bitlocker enabled.
Otherwise, have you tried sudo grub2-editenv - unset menu_auto_hide? This should make the grub menu show up every boot.
The problem is that after installing Fedora there are no entries for Windows … either in the Grub menu OR in the BIOS boot list! Fedora install wiped them all out.
Everything online says to install Windows first and then Linux, because Linux knows how to co-exist … but that seems like it’s not the case.
Try “sudo os-prober” in terminal
Then “sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg”
This updates the grub config. It should add the windows boot manager to the grub boot menu.
Yes, I did that. Doesn’t add anything. Fedora install on disk 2 seems to have vanished the Windows install on disk 1 completely. I’ve done it twice (install Windows then install Fedora) with the same results.
Does your Windows disk still boot with the Fedora disk removed? If it does not you could try installing Fedora with the Windows disk removed first. You can then boot them with the Bios boot manager. Its probably safer this way as Windows update’s has a habit of removing your grub bootloader.
Thanks, that worked. I started with Windows on disk 1 and Fedora on disk 2 … but installing Fedora had wiped out the Windows boot entry in BIOS and so it wasn’t usable.
So I then removed the Fedora disk (disk 2) from the computer and installed Windows again on disk 1. I then put the Fedora disk back in as disk 2. At that point I could boot both Windows and Fedora from the BIOS by repeatedly jamming the F2 key.
So despite everything online saying that Windows doesn’t play well with others, the reality seems to be that Fedora is the evil-doer … wiping out Windows if it’s on the machine.
Others trying to install both on Framework Desktop need to know this, since the obvious Google searches will cause you to waste a day and a lot of brain cells otherwise.
…Sam
I thought about dual booting windows and arch Linux. Not decided yet as I have a Mac I game on as well lol.
Glad you got it running together which is relief for my own soon to arrive Desktop.
I have Fedora dual boot with Windows 11 on my laptop and I did not have the issue you ran into with the Desktop. If I were to guess its a EFI issue with Grub unable add the windows entry in the EFI partition and corrupting it. I may run into this issue myself when I get my Desktop If I want to install Windows on it to test this.
Hi, I am thinking of installing Fedora on a second drive.
I want to run Secure Boot and drive encryption on both Windows 11 and Fedora.
I have read that the following process should result in a system that functions:
From here both OSs should show up in the BIOS boot menu.
My outstanding questions are:
Can this work with Windows Secure Boot and Bitlocker enabled?
Can this work with Fedora Secure Boot and LUKS enabled?
Can Windows updates be installed without causing issues to the Fedora install?
Can Fedora updates be installed without causing issues to the Windows install?
I would like to have both systems available, but only if there is stability in running both.
I would be grateful for any insight you can provide based on your experience so far!
Thanks.
I dual boot Win and Ubuntu. My process primarily followed the guidelines here. Thjere’s a guide for Fedora there, too.
I have two SSDs. I initialised the first one, installed Windows, then initialised the second one and installed Ubuntu (with Grub)
A BIOS update to 3.04 changed the boot order but that was easily fixed in BIOS settings
Thanks for the reply.
OK cool, this is good to hear.
Did you only have a single drive connected when installing each operating system?
I read that this was the simplest method to avoid GRUB attempting to manage both installations (not having the Windows drive connected as you install Ubuntu).
Have you knowingly installed any Windows 11 updates, or Ubuntu updates since managing the setup? Any impact?
Do you have Secure Boot enabled, and encryption on both or either Windows/Ubuntu?
Thanks for the insight!
As I said, both drives were installed but only one initialised when I installed Windows. I initialised the second to install Ubuntu
The “knowingly” sounds like I’ve committed a crime but, yes I’ve installed updates to Windows and had no issue … your Honor 
Secure boot, yes, encryption no
Are you sure you are telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? 
Ha, the reason I said knowingly is that I find Windows 11 updates to be largely automated these days. I find it easy to forget what updates have been installed!
Good to hear that you have seen both OSs successfully insall updates without affecting the boot options.
I can understand that a BIOS update may affect the boot order.
Out of curiosity how did you go about updating the BIOS, which method did you use?
OK great, half the challenge solved.
I will have to dig further on the encryption side.
Thanks!
I’ve been growing increasingly frustrated with Microsoft seemingly asserting that I don’t own my computer. They believe they can change my configuration far beyond security updates. Microsoft keeps moving my data on it’s cloud-based OneDrive. I decided to try migrating away from Windows and onto Fedora, because Framework stated it’s most compatible with my laptop.
I already had other operating systems, including Fedora, running as virtual machines. I wanted to try running it directly on my laptop.
I already had other operating systems, including Fedora, running as virtual machines.
I first thought I could create an empty partition on my primary 4TB SNX850X (disk), but in Fedora setup, Fedora was telling me it was going to erase the entire (disk) device. It appeared unwilling to install Fedora in the unformatted partition I created for it.
So, for safety, I removed my existing 4TB SNX850X and installed a new 1TB SNX850X (disk) . Then I installed Fedora Workstation 43 onto it. Fedora ran and passed preliminary tests. I put my preexisting 4TB SNX850X into an external Thunderbolt 4 case.
I restarted the laptop pressing F12 to get into the UEFI boot menu. I selected the Fedora 1TB disk and it ran successfully. I restarted pressing F12 and selected the external 4TB Windows disk and it refused to boot Windows.
In the next test setup, I put the 4TB Windows disk back into the laptop, and put the 1TB Fedora disk into the external Thunderbolt 4 case. I started the laptop pressing F12 and selected the Windows Disk, and Windows came up. O restarted again without pressing F12 and Windows came up again. I then restarted the laptop pressing F12 and selected the Fedora disk, and it seemed to get stalled with the following screen;
, with the spinning circle. I let this go on for 30 minutes. Fedora would not start.Framework Laptop 13 with Intel Ultra 165H
4TB SNX850X Nvme-M2-2280 (Mounted in Laptop)
1TB SNX850X Nvme-M2-2280 (Mounted in an external Thunderbolt 4 case)
1 x 32GB DDR5-5600
The laptop has the latest firmware. Windows 11 Pro has the latest set of drivers.
Device name Win11P…
Processor Intel(R) Core™ Ultra 7 165H (3.80 GHz)
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.4 GB usable)
Device …
Product ID 00330-80842-93078-AA029
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Edition Windows 11 Pro (Fully Updated) Installed on Internal 4TB SNX850X
Version 25H2
Installed on 2025-03-22
OS build 26200.8037
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.300.0
Fedora Workstation 43 (Fully Updated) Installed on an External 1TB SNX850X in a Thunderbolt 4 case.
