Struggling to install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS to newly built PC

[oldfred]

Samsung has firmware updates on its site.
My Samsung NVMe drive has a specific ISO just for update of my model in its support section.
I think with Windows it has an application, but could not get the Linux version of that to work. App for Linux was in the commercial section of Samsung support.

[flexbriggs]

Alright, that sounds good. Yeah, the only operating system currently working on my computer right now is Windows.... so I'll update the firmware using the Window's Magician Software. Thanks for the heads up

[flexbriggs]

Here is the attempt for the new SSD install.

1) -- The SSD and BIOS are confirmed to be on the latest firmware updates.
2) The boot mode is confirmed to be UEFI

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ #!/bin/bash
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ] && echo UEFI || echo BIOS
UEFI

3) Secure boot is disabled

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ mokutil --sb-state
SecureBoot disabled
Platform is in Setup Mode

4) Here is the drive information

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/loop0: 1.98 GiB, 2103640064 bytes, 4108672 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 /dev/loop1: 29.9 MiB, 31334400 bytes, 61200 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 /dev/loop2: 54.98 MiB, 57626624 bytes, 112552 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 /dev/loop3: 255.58 MiB, 267980800 bytes, 523400 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 /dev/loop4: 62.9 MiB, 65105920 bytes, 127160 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 /dev/loop5: 49.8 MiB, 52203520 bytes, 101960 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 /dev/sda: 465.78 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Disk model: Samsung SSD 860 
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 /dev/sdb: 7.51 GiB, 8053063680 bytes, 15728640 sectors
Disk model: ProductCode     
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 0091245B-D8C7-4F3A-82D2-5EC6B34F2CC6

Device     Start      End  Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sdb1   2048 15728606 15726559  7.5G Microsoft basic data

From what I can see, the samsung ssd, which I'll call /dev/sda does not have a partition type. Therefore I will go into gparted and create a new partition type of GPT and post updated fdisk below

Disk /dev/sda: 465.78 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Disk model: Samsung SSD 860 
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: DD95C7C8-88CB-4EB1-99DD-611D7AA346B9

Device        Start       End   Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sda1      2048   1050623   1048576   512M EFI System
/dev/sda2   1050624  72730623  71680000  34.2G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3  72730624 976773119 904042496 431.1G Linux filesystem

Here is some parted info on the /dev/sda

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo parted /dev/sda
GNU Parted 3.3
Using /dev/sda
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) print                                                            
Model: ATA Samsung SSD 860 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
 1      1049kB  538MB   537MB   fat32              boot, esp
 2      538MB   37.2GB  36.7GB  ext4
 3      37.2GB  500GB   463GB   ext4

(parted)

Here is some parted information of the USB installer

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdb
GNU Parted 3.3
Using /dev/sdb
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) print                                                            
Model: VendorCo ProductCode (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 8053MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name                 Flags
 1      1049kB  8053MB  8052MB  fat32        Main Data Partition  msftdata

(parted)

Will attempt install, and edit this afterwards with more information. . . .

Here is the Something else configuration
Screenshot from 2020-08-28 21-09-28.png

Here is the mount info

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ mount
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,size=8113472k,nr_inodes=2028368,mode=755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=1632360k,mode=755)
/dev/sdb1 on /cdrom type vfat (ro,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/loop0 on /rofs type squashfs (ro,noatime)
/cow on / type overlay (rw,relatime,lowerdir=/filesystem.squashfs,upperdir=/cow/upper,workdir=/cow/work)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
tmpfs on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=5120k)
tmpfs on /sys/fs/cgroup type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,mode=755)
cgroup2 on /sys/fs/cgroup/unified type cgroup2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/systemd type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,xattr,name=systemd)
pstore on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
efivarfs on /sys/firmware/efi/efivars type efivarfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
none on /sys/fs/bpf type bpf (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,mode=700)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/net_cls,net_prio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,net_cls,net_prio)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpu,cpuacct type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpu,cpuacct)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/devices type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,devices)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/perf_event type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,perf_event)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/freezer type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,freezer)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpuset)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/memory type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,memory)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/rdma type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,rdma)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/hugetlb type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,hugetlb)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/pids type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,pids)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/blkio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,blkio)
systemd-1 on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type autofs (rw,relatime,fd=28,pgrp=1,timeout=0,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct,pipe_ino=15264)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tracefs on /sys/kernel/tracing type tracefs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
hugetlbfs on /dev/hugepages type hugetlbfs (rw,relatime,pagesize=2M)
configfs on /sys/kernel/config type configfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime)
/var/lib/snapd/seed/snaps/snapd_8542.snap on /snap/snapd/8542 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
tmpfs on /run/user/999 type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,size=1632356k,mode=700,uid=999,gid=999)
gvfsd-fuse on /run/user/999/gvfs type fuse.gvfsd-fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=999,group_id=999)
/dev/fuse on /run/user/999/doc type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=999,group_id=999)
/var/lib/snapd/seed/snaps/core18_1880.snap on /snap/core18/1880 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/seed/snaps/gnome-3-34-1804_36.snap on /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/36 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/seed/snaps/gtk-common-themes_1506.snap on /snap/gtk-common-themes/1506 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/seed/snaps/snap-store_467.snap on /snap/snap-store/467 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/dev/sda2 on /target type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sda1 on /target/boot/efi type vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0077,dmask=0077,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sda3 on /target/home type ext4 (rw,relatime)

Looks good, going to attempt the install now. . edit to come

"Executing grub-install /dev/sda failed. This is a fatal error." Looks like the hard drive was not the problem. I'm going to reboot and create a boot-repair summary for ya @oldfred
Could it be the motherboard? This felt like the cleanest attempt of a linux install possible. Everything was right leading up to the install.

[oldfred]

All that looks correct to me.
Good luck, I expect install to work.

[flexbriggs]

It unfortunately did not. Same error as before. I forgot to mention in my latest post that when I boot up from the USB, I edit the grub line parameter
linux casper/vmlinuz files=/cdrom/pressed/ubuntu.seed maybe-ubiquity quiet [nomodeset acpi=off] splash ---
where the brackets are the inserted parameters.

I wiped and burned ubuntu 20.04 LTS again on the USB, for a fresh attempt as well.

Also, here is the boot-repair summary (not actually running the repair yet)
https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/W58dCjJVBd/

[oldfred]

Everything Boot-Repair is showing is correctly.
You have a new ubuntu entry in UEFI using GUID/partUUID of the new ESP to find shimx64.efi.
You have grub.cfg in ESP that configfile entry is to full grub in your install.
And fstab has correct UUIDs.

If you needed nomodeset to boot live installer, you will need it for initial boot of install or until you go into system settings & install nVidia driver.

[flexbriggs]

If everything is correct, then why am I getting a grub-error? What would be my next step? Should I try the recommended boot-repair, or just try to boot into the hard drive.

Also... I am using the AMD Radeon RX 580 as a graphics card. Not nVidia. Should I wait to install the AMD drives until I boot in the hard drive correctly? And, how could I edit
the nomodeset when booting into a hard drive instead of a flash drive?

[oldfred]

I did not think nomodeset was required with AMD, but I used to have nVidia, but now only use the Intel Chips's video (as it was better than my old nVidia card). Not really up to speed on AMD video, but thought defaults now just worked.

What is exact grub error?

[flexbriggs]

Hey @oldfred I tried to boot into the hard drive, but was faced with a GNU grub menu. From there, I tried to find the kernel, but couldn't find it.

Anyway, so I ran boot-repair again, this time trying the recommended repair, and got a pastebin for you.
https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/F9ztrXGy78/

It looks like the
grub-install: error: failed to register the EFI boot entry: Operation not permitted.

Is messing things up.

[oldfred]

If you got a grub menu, you are booting.

And you had working entry before. Not sure what re-running Boot-Repair did.
And I still do not understand the failed to register EFI boot entry, but more related to your UEFI than Ubuntu.

From grub menu are you able to boot the recovery mode? Second entry in grub menu.
That should take you to a command line or a menu of options. But without a gui.