Is there some way to integrate a hardware switch for "which boot drive to use"?

[Allptraum1989]

I like to use windows and i like to use linux. I need to switch often.

I am sick of having to go to the bios every time i want to switch. I also don't want a boot manager asking me to select a drive every time i want to boot.

I want some little switch i can set to either "windows drive | linux drive".

 

Some kind of sata switch if you will. Do you know if such products exist?

[Electronics Wizardy]

You can use a boot manager like grub to show a menu at bootup to select the drive that you want.

 

A hardware switch for sata power should also work, but be you gotta flip it at the right time, not when the drives are in use.

[mariushm]

Most bioses will have a hotkey to press to select boot device at start

usually it's F8 or F12   (when DEL or F2 or F10 are "enter bios" typically)

 

You can also have a boot manager to show all operating systems.

 

You could probably make a switch, but it would probably be easier to configure boot order and update the information in the bios (through uefi or by overwriting the bios chip)

The switch would probably have to intercept the data packets and lie to the motherboard when the motherboard asks for hardware information (device serial number, name) because bios will use those to remember boot order.

[startrek03]

Maybe you could just install a switch for the Sata power cable. No power, no drive to boot from, so it will take the next drive in the booting order. This should be doable as Sata power is rather simple. If you enable hotplugging, it might even be possible to use both drives after booting.

[zogthegreat]

From what you are saying, you have Windows on one drive and Linux on another. If your dual booting Windows/Linux, grub should be installed to allow you to choose your boot OS. If you have installed grub only on the Linux drive, then you will have to modify grub. The "easy way" is to reinstall Windows and the reinstall Linux and configure grub from there. You can also try Grub Customizer on your existing setup:

 

https://launchpad.net/grub-customizer

 

Otherwise, here are a few links:

 

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows

 

https://howtoubuntu.org/how-to-repair-restore-reinstall-grub-2-with-a-ubuntu-live-cd

 

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1127208/how-to-fix-grub-in-dual-boot-windowa10-and-ubuntu-i-dont-see-where-ubuntu-is-i

 

https://www.cameratim.com/computing/linux/restoring-grub

 

https://superuser.com/questions/44847/install-grub-on-2nd-hard-drive

 

Good luck and let us know how you resolved the problem!

 

zog