Problems installing Ubuntu (with Windows 7)

[lavindc]

After installing a new Windows 7, I tried installing Ubuntu 11.04. I had partitioned the HD during the Windows install.
However, before the Ubuntu install I'm told that there is no detected OS installed. I ignored the message and installed Ubuntu on the partition I had for it. Unfortunately, then GRUB didn't work, and I would load into Windows every time I started up.

After reformatting and remaking all the partitions and re installing both OSes a few times (with disks and USB) I decided to just install wubi, only to find after reboot that when I tried to load Ubuntu from wubi I got an error message that there is an internal problem with windows - take the install disk and repair the system (which I also tried).

Basically, I'm saying that I've spent all day trying to install Ubuntu, never sen these problems before and am baffled. What do I need to do to get this to work?

[Rubi1200]

Hi and welcome to the forums :-)

Please post the results of the boot info script so we can see what is going on. There is a link at the bottom of my post with instructions.

Thanks.

[lavindc]

Here are the results. Thanks.

Boot Info Script 0.60 from 17 May 2011


============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================

=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.

sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:

sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system:
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed: mount: unknown filesystem type ''

sda3: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sda3 has
950695935 sectors, but according to the info from
fdisk, it has 2024437759 sectors.
Operating System: Windows 7
Boot files: /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda4: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sda4 starts
at sector 951164928. But according to the info from
fdisk, sda4 starts at sector 2024906752.
Operating System:
Boot files:

============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sda: 3000.6 GB, 3000592982016 bytes
256 heads, 63 sectors/track, 363376 cylinders, total 5860533168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sda1 1 4,294,967,295 4,294,967,295 ee GPT


GUID Partition Table detected.

Partition Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors System
/dev/sda1 2,048 206,847 204,800 EFI System partition
/dev/sda2 206,848 468,991 262,144 Microsoft Reserved Partition (Windows)
/dev/sda3 468,992 2,024,906,751 2,024,437,760 Data partition (Windows/Linux)
/dev/sda4 2,024,906,752 2,639,304,703 614,397,952 Data partition (Windows/Linux)

"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 BCE6-2F10 vfat
/dev/sda3 765EEA2C5EE9E4B9 ntfs
/dev/sda4 6C06DD6C06DD37B2 ntfs Ubuntu

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)


======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc: ========================

[oldfred]

With a 3TB drive and gpt partitions you have a new system using UEFI to boot not BIOS. Boot script does not yet parse efi partitions to see what is there but your windows should be like the links below:

Windows Recommended UEFI-Based Disk-Partition Configurations
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744301%28WS.10%29.aspx
Change the booting style of Windows Vista or 7 x86_64 versions from BIOS-MBR mode to UEFI-GPT mode without formatting or reinstalling
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t186440
Windows installs the efi bootloader to (ESP)/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ which is identical to (WINDOWS_SYSTEM_PART)/boot/microsoft/ incase of BIOS systems.
The dir mainly consists of bootmgfw.efi, bootmgr.efi, memtest.efi and 'bcd'.
Post #76
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1719851&page=8
efi\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi

I do not think wubi works with UEFI as it is trying to modify BIOS based windows boot.

Grub2 seems to have some issues with UEFI.
grub EFI -skodabenz
1. Most of the modern UEFI systems come with GPT instead of MBR.
2. GRUB needs to be installed to the ESP (EFI SYSTEM PARTITION). The ESP has to be the first partition in the drive, with file system of a FAT variant, and it has to be larger then 100 MiB. Ubuntu mounts the ESP by default in /boot/efi .
3. After you install grub in the ESP, you need to make a boot enrty for it using efibootmgr, or you could launch it with the UEFI shell
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFIBooting#UEFI%20Shell

http://www.rodsbooks.com/bios2uefi/
Updates - Avidanborisov created compile script
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1772310

http://www.mail-archive.com/maverick-changes@lists.ubuntu.com/msg01724.html
How boot a (U)EFI system natively (without BIOS CSM) using GRUB 2
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFIBooting

A few have had dual booting work, it seems to depend on how well the UEFI and grub work together. Some suggest just backing up the window EFI partition, installing grub & then copying the windows efi entries back.

[srs5694]

In broad outline, I recommend you do the following:



Using whatever tool is convenient and familiar, shrink your existing partitions to make room for Linux. (Maybe you've already done that -- there seems to be a gap between the end of /dev/sda4 and the end of the disk.)
Back up the contents of your EFI System Partition (ESP), aka /dev/sda1. The Ubuntu installer has the inexcusable habit of trashing it.
Install Ubuntu. If you tell it that /dev/sda1 is your ESP (IIRC, Ubuntu's installer calls it an "EFI boot partition" or some similar not-quite-correct term), it'll install OK but trash the ESP, rendering Linux bootable (probably) but Windows unbootable. If you don't identify your ESP as such, Ubuntu won't install a boot loader and you won't be able to boot. I suspect that's what happened to you.
Repair the damage or incomplete boot loader installation:


If Ubuntu boots but not Windows, restore the files from your ESP backup, but don't delete the Ubuntu files. You should then be able to boot either OS by selecting your choice from your firmware, and running update-grub should enable GRUB to chainload to Windows, so if you set Ubuntu/GRUB as the default in the firmware, you should be able to more easily select your boot OS.
If Windows boots but Ubuntu doesn't, install an EFI-capable Linux boot loader. The grub-efi package is one such; however, you may need to edit your /etc/fstab file to mount /dev/sda1 at /boot/efi before it will work correctly. Personally, I've had more luck with ELILO (http://elilo.sourceforge.net/) on UEFI-based systems; however, this will require more reconfiguration, and ELILO can't chainload to Windows. Thus, you might need to install rEFIt (http://refit.sourceforge.net) in addition to ELILO; rEFIt presents a boot menu to select Windows vs. Linux, and ELILO boots Linux. There's a refit package in Ubuntu, but you must copy some files, including the 64-bit executable, to the ESP. Of course, installing all this Linux software if Ubuntu doesn't boot can be tricky; you'll need to use the Ubuntu install disc in its "live CD" mode.





I can provide more details if necessary; as I say, that's a broad outline.

Unfortunately, Ubuntu's UEFI support is pretty poor at the moment. No doubt things will improve in the future -- with any luck, as early as the 11.10 release in about two months.