I need urgent help, i tried installing manjaro and dual booting it with linux mint, however, it gave me a error everytime i tried to install it (couldnt shrink partition /dev/sda2) so i tried to replace mint with manjaro, it still gave me the same error and now i cant find my linux mint bc it loads up the base grub bootloader and i still cant install manjaro bc it gives me errors, please help.
Im a extremely new and unexperienced linux user, im sorry if im being vague. Im running manjaro i3wm.
My advice - never ‘shrink’ partitions to install.
If you’ve been using Linux Mint, you should manage your partition from there, if you need to, shrinking the Linux Mint installation and making space before playing with Manjaro.
However, all is not lost.
Even a noob using Linux Mint learns quickly that Timeshift will snapshot your system for an easy restoration.
So you can 1. Spend 6 minutes installing Linux Mint using half your SSD, then restore your snapshot/backup to restore that.
2. Spend another 6 minutes installing Manjaro to the other half SSD.
Hi @Defalt and welcome to the Manjaro forum.
Firstly, after reading your post, I feel I must offer this link for consideration:
If after reading that, you still want to install Manjaro, this link covers many of the things you might encounter through the process:
I strongly recommend only having one OS per disk drive, even if multibooting. This is the safest and least troublesome configuration, despite those who would tell you otherwise. However, if you only have one disk, then choose which OS you prefer. If you wish to replace Linux Mint completely, the best option is to choose to use the full disk during installation. Calamares (the installer) will replace all partitions for you.
I would suggest using Plasma (as I do) or XFCE rather than i3WM, if your machine is capable enough. My opinion is that i3wm or Sway will prove difficult beasts to tame, given your level of Linux knowledge in general. If you need something lighter, Budgie or Cinnamon are worthwhile considerations.
Ultimately, the choice is up to you. Whatever you choose, make sure you have the latest available ISO file – if there is a choice between a full ISO and a Live ISO, choose full.
Here are more links that will help you use the forum more effectively to seek assistance when you need it; and you likely will need it.
Good luck.
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thank you for your answer, however, when i try to install Manjaro by replacing the partitions, i get the error (The installer couldnt remove the partition /dev/sda) the same error comes up with /dev/sda2. I cannot access my linux mint because it takes me to the grub bash-like menu and linux mint isnt in any of the partitions anymore. I dont have another machine until the weekend and i wanted to solve this as quickly as possible. Any suggestions?
You are booting from the Manjaro installer, right? This won’t work if you just boot into the existing OS normally; or the existing Grub.
Yes, im booting from the manjaro installer
Just confirm that there’s nothing on that disk you wish to keep.
I already had wiped my disk clean with the linux mint installation, however, when i check my partitions, the /dev/sda partition has a 512mb windows boot manager efi system, is it safe to remove it? I dont have windows anymore as i wiped it clean but the windows boot manager is still there. My machine is a Samsung Essentials laptop (i forgot the exact model) and the BIOS is really almost useless aside from the bios settings( that i can only see my boot order and change 3 options.
Oh my, I’m sorry if your linux mint accidentally got removed here. 
If you are ok with just removing all on your system, choose to clean out the whole disk in the installations instead of just the partition.
It will remove everything and make a clean install with only manjaro.
Just make sure that your bios is configured correctly before installation:
- enable efi (on some motherboards you need to disable CSM for this to work correctly)
- disable fast boot
- disable secure boot
Hello, thank you for answering, however (as i said before) my samsung laptop BIOS is almost completely useless, i can only change my boot order, enable secure boot control, enable fast bios mode and activate PXE OPROM, any suggestion on how to proceed?
Yeah, disable them like I instructed in my last post.
You should probably also make sure you are running the latest bios firmware by checking on the support page on the computers/motherboards manufacturer web page.
they are already disabled, do i still need to activate efi? If so, how can i do it?
If there is no setting for efi (or CSM) I would assume it defaults to efi. You have to consult the manual from the manufacturer of the computer/motherboard for that answer.
But make sure you are running the latest firmware for your motherboard.
But you can also just try to install and see what happens, you have nothing to loose (except maybe time) by doing that since you have nothing else on your system.
DISCLAIMER
If you have a laptop it might contain a restore partition you might not want to remove.
If you give me the name of your computer or motherboard if it’s not a brand computer I might be able to help you further.
You can boot with the usb, open a terminal and type inxi -Fazy, press the </> button here in the text window and paste the result from the command.
If you’re installing a new OS, then a new EFI partition will be created during installation. So, you can safely remove the existing one, if nothing else is relying on it.
Also, this link has useful information for reference:
Its a Samsung Essentials E20 laptop
Assuming your BIOS is correctly configured for UEFI, let’s try this:
If your Manjaro ISO is a Live installer, boot with it and install gparted - it will only install to RAM (it will be gone if you reboot).
Use gparted to find the relevant disk, and create a new GPT partition table (option selected via the toolbar). Once that’s completed, and saved, exit gparted and shut down the computer. The disk should now be ready for a new installation.
Boot with the Manjaro installer again, and follow instructions to install a fresh instance of Manjaro on the disk.
From that point you’re expected to know enough to continue the installation yourself.
I hope this helps. Cheers.
I can only find that in Portuguese (seems to be a brazil laptop thing) and my language skills are a bit lacking there.
It also seems very old, win10, so “new” bios firmware is probably not available, but maybe a “newer” firmware than you run. Only you know that.
There is no need to install anything, just open the applications menu in the gui and type “parted”, it’s already installed on the usb.
But I still stand with my recommendation. If you are ok with only running Manjaro and cleaning everything out, just let the installer handle all the partitioning, no need to go super advanced and manually partition, you said you are a new user. Save that for future adventures. 
Its a Essentials, not Book. Sorry.