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Ícaro Molinari
Ícaro Molinari

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I Turned a Dusty 2014 Lenovo Into a Two-Brained Dev + Hacker Machine (and So Can You)

#linux #fedora #cybersecurity #tutorial

It was dying in a drawer and I turned it into this:

ONE LAPTOP
  │
  ├── 🐧 Fedora → coding, Docker, daily driver
  └── 🛡️ Kali   → pentest, security labs
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Here's the trip: what I did, what broke, what I'd do differently.

Split-screen illustration: a blue Fedora coding setup on the left facing a red Kali Linux hacking setup on the right, the two computers merging in the middle into one login screen showing the Fedora and Kali logos

Why bother?

  • Full hardware access (no VM slowdown)
  • Free — no new hardware needed
  • Old laptops deserve a second life

The plan 

SSD  → Kali (small) + Fedora (big, main driver)
HDD  → just files (/dados)
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Step 1 → Install Kali, partition it manually

Guided partitioning eats the whole disk. Don't use it. Go manual:

SSD
 ├── EFI   → 512 MB  → /boot/efi
 └── ext4  → rest     → /

HDD
 └── ext4  → all      → /dados
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Rules that saved me:

  • Pick disks by model, never by name (sda can change)
  • Check "Use as:" on every partition before moving on
  • Read the final "write to disk?" screen. Every word.

Step 2 → Black screen on first boot

Scary. Almost always one simple fix:

Boot Mode: Legacy Support ❌
      ↓
Boot Mode: UEFI Only      ✅
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Still black? Add nomodeset to the boot line and try again.

Step 3 → Check before you touch anything 

lsblk -f
sudo fdisk -l
df -hT
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My Kali partition:

Claimed: 447 GB
Used:    18 GB  (5%)
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Huge safe gap → easy to shrink, zero risk to files.

Step 4 → Install Fedora next to Kali (no wipe)

In the installer:

"Use entire disk"              ❌ wipes everything
"Share disk with other OS"     ✅ this one
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It offers "Reclaim space" — shrinks Kali live, no extra tools needed.

BEFORE                  AFTER
Kali: 480 GB      →     Kali:   100 GB
                         Fedora: 380 GB (encrypted, new)
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Confirm screen, hit install, done in ~10 min.

Step 5 → "bad shim signature" — Kali won't boot anymore 

Fedora's bootloader → trusted ✅
Kali's kernel       → not trusted ❌
      ↓
Secure Boot blocks it
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Fix: turn off Secure Boot in BIOS (Security tab). Fedora doesn't care. Kali boots again.

Step 6 → Clean up the GRUB mess

Two distros + old kernels + recovery modes = 8 menu entries. Fix it in 2 moves:

1. Drop old kernels:

# Fedora
sudo dnf remove --oldinstallonly --setopt installonly_limit=2 -y

# Kali (check exact name first!)
dpkg --list | grep linux-image
sudo apt purge -y linux-image-OLD-VERSION+kali-amd64
sudo apt autoremove -y
sudo update-grub
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2. Kill recovery-mode duplicates:

echo 'GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"' | sudo tee -a /etc/default/grub
sudo update-grub
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8 entries → 4 entries
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Step 7 → Make it pretty + make it yours

Four GRUB boot menu theme previews stacked vertically - Tela, Stylish, Vimix, and WhiteSur - each showing a dark boot menu listing Arch Linux, Manjaro, Ubuntu, and Windows entries with a different colored background design

  • GRUB_TIMEOUT=-1 → menu waits, no countdown race
  • grub2-themes → real GRUB theme in 2 commands
  • hostnamectl set-hostname kali → fixes your terminal prompt
  • Second keyboard layout, one toggle: 
echo 'XKBLAYOUT="br,us"' | sudo tee -a /etc/default/keyboard
echo 'XKBOPTIONS="grp:alt_shift_toggle"' | sudo tee -a /etc/default/keyboard
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -f noninteractive keyboard-configuration
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What I'd do differently

  • Check Secure Boot before starting, not after a scary error
  • Always lsblk -f first. I got this one right — kept it that way
  • Pick disks by model, never by name
  • Measure before you shrink
  • Read every confirm screen. Every time.

Got an old laptop doing nothing? This is a weekend project, not a wizard-level one. Go dig it out.

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