surashid
February 20th, 2014, 06:13 AM
Hi,
I am new to the Ubuntu world and I would really appreciate your help in this. I noticed quite a few posts with *similar* issues (but not quite the same) and I wasn't able to find a solution in over a day now.
What I'm trying to do:
- To install either Ubuntu 12.04.3 or Ubuntu 13.10 (tried with both, several times) alongside Windows 7, so that I can have the dual boot option menu at start
- Laptop model & specs: Lenovo N580, i3, 4.0 GB RAM, 500GB hard drive (just one partition initially, C drive but I shrinked to free up ~110 GB so far to see if Ubuntu detects it or not - it didn't)
- I don't mind having more partitions but I am not really sure how many partitions to make (guessing I should be making the partitions from Ubuntu instead of Windows).
Actions/Attempts and results so far:
1) I tried to boot the USB installer in both the UEFI mode (where you see the black grub menu option) and the non-EFI mode. Both results in the same, in the installer steps of Ubuntu. It says "No detectable operating systems" and I get no "Install alongside Windows" option (picture below). I have also tried with "Try Ubuntu" without installing, in both modes, to check out the partitions with the "GPartition Editor", only to find that the it doesn't 100 GB unallocated space and a partition - it just sees a block of 500GB unallocated space (picture below). If I choose "Something else", from the installer steps, the results are the same.
Note that in this "Try Ubuntu" mode, I can actually see the C drive mounted (which has Windows 7), with the right space (~300+GB) but the installer cannot detect it (visible in the picture). I am also pasting some command line results below, in case it helps.
2) I figured out from my Windows 7 "diskmgmt.msc" that the OS was initially installed in non-EFI mode (picture included). As suggested in the community posts, I matched it with the non-EFI mode of Ubuntu installer as well by changing the settings from the BIOS menu at startup.
3) Not sure if this is relevant or not but for both the EFI and non-EFI mode, I see this following message very briefly, before USB installer takes over (either the grub menu or the the full screen purple background image):
"Could not open "\EFI\BOOT\failback.efi":14
4) When I tried it with Ubuntu 12.04.3 USB installer at first, the results are pretty much identical but the grub version is slightly older in UEFI mode (which is why I tried it with the Ubuntu 13.10 but didn't help).
I am afraid that if I try to make a partition from Ubuntu installer (which cannot detect the allocated space correctly), I will be messing up the Windows 7 installation. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Thanks.250503250504250505250506
Some command line results from the "Try Ubuntu.." mode, for partitions:
-------------
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo parted -l
Warning: /dev/sda contains GPT signatures, indicating that it has a GPT table.
However, it does not have a valid fake msdos partition table, as it should.
Perhaps it was corrupted -- possibly by a program that doesn't understand GPT
partition tables. Or perhaps you deleted the GPT table, and are now using an
msdos partition table. Is this a GPT partition table?
Yes/No? No
Model: USB Flash Disk (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 8020MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1159kB 8020MB 8018MB primary fat32 boot, lba
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l
WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.
Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x9e8f47dc
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 2048 206847 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 * 206848 756570111 378181632 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
Disk /dev/sdb: 8019 MB, 8019509248 bytes
256 heads, 44 sectors/track, 1390 cylinders, total 15663104 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xc3072e18
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 2264 15663103 7830420 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$
I am new to the Ubuntu world and I would really appreciate your help in this. I noticed quite a few posts with *similar* issues (but not quite the same) and I wasn't able to find a solution in over a day now.
What I'm trying to do:
- To install either Ubuntu 12.04.3 or Ubuntu 13.10 (tried with both, several times) alongside Windows 7, so that I can have the dual boot option menu at start
- Laptop model & specs: Lenovo N580, i3, 4.0 GB RAM, 500GB hard drive (just one partition initially, C drive but I shrinked to free up ~110 GB so far to see if Ubuntu detects it or not - it didn't)
- I don't mind having more partitions but I am not really sure how many partitions to make (guessing I should be making the partitions from Ubuntu instead of Windows).
Actions/Attempts and results so far:
1) I tried to boot the USB installer in both the UEFI mode (where you see the black grub menu option) and the non-EFI mode. Both results in the same, in the installer steps of Ubuntu. It says "No detectable operating systems" and I get no "Install alongside Windows" option (picture below). I have also tried with "Try Ubuntu" without installing, in both modes, to check out the partitions with the "GPartition Editor", only to find that the it doesn't 100 GB unallocated space and a partition - it just sees a block of 500GB unallocated space (picture below). If I choose "Something else", from the installer steps, the results are the same.
Note that in this "Try Ubuntu" mode, I can actually see the C drive mounted (which has Windows 7), with the right space (~300+GB) but the installer cannot detect it (visible in the picture). I am also pasting some command line results below, in case it helps.
2) I figured out from my Windows 7 "diskmgmt.msc" that the OS was initially installed in non-EFI mode (picture included). As suggested in the community posts, I matched it with the non-EFI mode of Ubuntu installer as well by changing the settings from the BIOS menu at startup.
3) Not sure if this is relevant or not but for both the EFI and non-EFI mode, I see this following message very briefly, before USB installer takes over (either the grub menu or the the full screen purple background image):
"Could not open "\EFI\BOOT\failback.efi":14
4) When I tried it with Ubuntu 12.04.3 USB installer at first, the results are pretty much identical but the grub version is slightly older in UEFI mode (which is why I tried it with the Ubuntu 13.10 but didn't help).
I am afraid that if I try to make a partition from Ubuntu installer (which cannot detect the allocated space correctly), I will be messing up the Windows 7 installation. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Thanks.250503250504250505250506
Some command line results from the "Try Ubuntu.." mode, for partitions:
-------------
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo parted -l
Warning: /dev/sda contains GPT signatures, indicating that it has a GPT table.
However, it does not have a valid fake msdos partition table, as it should.
Perhaps it was corrupted -- possibly by a program that doesn't understand GPT
partition tables. Or perhaps you deleted the GPT table, and are now using an
msdos partition table. Is this a GPT partition table?
Yes/No? No
Model: USB Flash Disk (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 8020MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1159kB 8020MB 8018MB primary fat32 boot, lba
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l
WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.
Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x9e8f47dc
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 2048 206847 102400 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 * 206848 756570111 378181632 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
Disk /dev/sdb: 8019 MB, 8019509248 bytes
256 heads, 44 sectors/track, 1390 cylinders, total 15663104 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xc3072e18
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 2264 15663103 7830420 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$