LibreELEC & Windows 11 Dual Boot?

    Hello Community,

    Over the weekend, I installed LibreELEC using the USB SD Creator on an old 32GB microSD card. The performance is not bad, but I'd like to add a 128GB or, if possible, a smaller SSD in addition to my Win11 hard drive. My issue is that during testing with the card, I couldn't set up dual booting. While my stick is recognized, it isn't displayed in the Windows Explorer. Could I have made a mistake during installation, or is it not possible without selecting the stick for booting through the BIOS at device startup?

    My Hardware Specs:

    ▶️HP EliteDesk 800 G1 TWR Tower PC

    ▶️TV via DisplayPort Adapter & HDMI

    ▶️4th Generation Intel i7 Processor

    ▶️Intel Graphics Card

    ▶️RAM expanded from 4 to 20 GB

    ▶️Windows 11 SSD

    ▶️32 GB microSD with USB Adapter for Testing

    LibreELEC Version:

    LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-11.0.6.img.gz

    Would the legacy version be better for my roughly 10-year-old computer, or would upgrading to an SSD hard drive be enough to improve LibreELEC's performance?

    The project does not support dual-boot configurations; it's always a complete pain in the rear to setup and future Windows updates are likely to break whatever fragile arrangement you come up with. There are some threads in the forum which describe the seqence of fiddling that worked for some other users if you search for them, but I wouldn't expect too much sympathy or help from staff, as we're all volunteers giving up free time and we prefer fun stuff on Linux not purgatory on Windows :)

    If I set LibreELEC as the boot option before Win11 in the BIOS, would it still be a better alternative to switch from my old 32GB microSD card to a faster SSD hard drive? One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that when I boot into LibreELEC before Win11, my WiFi stick is sometimes not recognized immediately. I have to wait a few minutes to get online or in the worst-case scenario, reboot with Win11 to use LibreELEC online after a restart.

    The issue with BIOS selection is both drives are permanently connected so you have to enter the BIOS boot menu to switch, whereas with a removable SD card device it can be preferred over the HDD only when connected. The SSD will give a decent I/O performance advantage unless it's a rubbish one. So really you need to configure a bootloader capable of working with both OS.

    How can I configure such a bootloader? Currently, Win11 starts even when the stick is connected. However, I would like a boot menu to appear automatically when starting the device, where I can select which system to boot into.

    "Fast Startup" is disabled. Currently, I have the computer set up to start with LE first. But if I ever want to switch to Win11, I have to press the ESC key at startup and switch to the BIOS menu to start Windows. This is also necessary when LibreELEC does not recognize my WLAN stick during boot. However, I would like the device to start and be able to choose between LE or Win11 without having to switch to a menu.

    What I also want to mention is: The SSD hard drive, where LibreELEC is going to be installed, contains only the system and all installed add-ons including settings. My movies and series are all stored on an external hard drive.

    Quote from Tom Depp

    Currently, I have the computer set up to start with LE first. But if I ever want to switch to Win11, I have to press the ESC key at startup and switch to the BIOS menu to start Windows.

    If you use the LE from removable device (SD-card, USB-stick), why you don't set the LE as first boot and the W11 as second. When you want W11, just remove the LE, and the bios will boot from next available option. And instead to enter in the bios to (temporarly) change the boot order, theoreticaly exist "boot menu key" (I think is the "F9" for HP) to enter to boot select menu. I'm using this for W11 - Xubuntu "dual boot" (installed on different SSD's), my PC is booting directly to W11, if I sometimes want to boot the linux, I hit few times the "F11" key (MSI MB) when starting the bios, and I select the "Xubuntu" to boot.

    Another thing is how do you want to use that PC, if mostly with W11, and only sometimes do you want LE (Kodi), maybe is more simple to install the Kodi under Windows.

    Quote from VLouis

    Another thing is how do you want to use that PC, if mostly with W11, and only sometimes do you want LE (Kodi), maybe is more simple to install the Kodi under Windows.

    I used Kodi under Windows before, but due to many problems, I would like to switch to LibreELEC. During testing, the only issues were that I had to disable HD for livestreaming in the TV Now add-on settings for it to work, and that not all files were displayed in the OneDrive add-on that I need for Kodi (channel list, logos, etc.).

    I think it would run better if I switch to an SSD. And if I can only start Win11 through the BIOS, I'll have to accept that. As mentioned before, sometimes I have to start Win11 to get LibreELEC online with the WLAN stick. If I can't access the additional hard drive anyway, this would be a better solution for me as the performance on Windows would be better than on the old 32GB microSD card.

    Quote from Tom Depp

    As mentioned before, sometimes I have to start Win11 to get LibreELEC online with the WLAN stick.

    That HP PC doesn't have boot menu option? With "Esc" then "F9" or only "F9"? To be able to select the boot device without to go thrugh the bios?

    That PC does have a boot menu. On Power Up press F9 and you have a vast selection of boot choices like UEFI Boot Sources or Legacy Boot Sources or Network Controller. The options are no different to a typical Grub menu.

    I am currently using the start menu option with 'Esc' then 'F9' to switch to Win11 when LibreELEC cannot establish a network connection or when I want to play PC games. I have not yet tested the dual-boot article from the previous post. What I thought is that if I press the power button in the Yatse remote control, I get an error message saying that the MAC address is missing. Would it be possible to start the computer with LE via that method? Yatse should start LibreELEC, and the power button of the computer should start Win11.

    Thought I might offer up experience with dual boot using LE. A few times it worked fine but as reported 1st win update trashed the setup and caused me to rethink what I wanted. A reliable way to run LE or Windows on a laptop (or PC.) LE fits very comfy on a 32 GB thumbdrive with plenty of space to spare and works every time. On my Lenovo F12 brings up the boot choices at power on and that's it. No muss or fuss and always works. Not yet running win11 but I doubt any real boot changes. USB3 thumbdrive loaded with LE handles everything I throw at it with ease. Windows simply does not play well with other systems but you can get it to work ....usually till the next update,

    I tested two add-ons today with both LibreELEC and the Windows Store version, and I found that problems occurred in LE that did not occur in Windows. Is this related to the system used, or should I check the log files to find out the error?

    I tested the add-ons again today, and they are working without any changes. It could be due to the weak memory card. Also, I noticed that I use the Arctic Zephyr reloaded skin, and the customization of the widgets in the Master Profile is gone. They are still present on my 2nd Profile. What could be the reason for this?