Linux installation problem

[UldSkull]

I came here, humbly, to submit you my problem :
I tried, many times, to install different Linux distros, in cohabitation with Windows 10, on a Dual boot, without success.

I try to install these distros on a 500 GB SDD. The Windows partition is 60 GB. It can be less, I know <3

I'm french, so I first try to install ubuntu following these tutorials :
https://lecrabeinfo.net/installer-ubunt … ws-10.html

cohabitation_ubuntu_windows [Wiki ubuntu-fr]

doc.ubuntu-fr.org

35 GB partition

And Mint by following this one :

http://www.jetestelinux.com/installer-linux-mint-windows-10-uefi-gpt

60 GB partition

Assuming that you perhaps don't speak french, these are similar to this one :

Beginners Guide to Install Windows With Ubuntu in Dual Boot

This detailed article shows you how to dual boot Ubuntu with Windows 10, step-by-step, accompanied with proper screenshots.

itsfoss.com

The only thing I did not succeed to do, is to disable the "secure boot". I cannot see how. I see "it", I see that is enabled, but I can't switch it to "disabled".

Everytime, the "live" works fine. I have sound and colors, pictures, etc... but when I try the "definitive" install, I got the same error on the both install :

It say that :
"Install program failed because it encountered an error during file copying on the hard drive
[Errno 5] I/O error

This is frequently caused by a deficient disk, CD/DVD player or hard drive. You can try to clean the CD/DVD, to burn it with a reduced speed or to clean the CD/DVD player's lens ([...]). It can also be useful to verify the age of the disk and to consider an eventual replacing, or to move yout system in a fresher environment."

I tried to change the software I use to create my USB live. I used Rufus, i also used UnetBootin, same problem.

I obviously verified my SSD. It obtains a 96% integrity score on CrystalDiskInfo. It's not old, I didn't used it so much, so ...

I didn't "checksumed" the ISOs because according doc.ubuntu-f :
"that check is useless if [...] you already created the install media, and verified it". I created the install medias and systematically verified these ones, by running the "support check" during the install steps. (When you reboot on the live USB, you can Install Ubuntu, Try without installing or check the support. I did that check.

I have to admi that my internet connection is fallible. Do you think that the "simple" check I did was not enough ?
As I used differents ISO from differents distros, I hoped to exclued the problem, statistically..

I realy don't know what to do.

Help me.

..

Please.. <3

UldSkull

 

[Deleted member 58530]

Have a read and read as many times as necessary, written for Linux Mint although works for most Linux Distros.

**How to TRY Linux Mint on your Windows PC**

First, you can -- __and should__ -- try Linux Mint before switching to it. Fortunately, unlike other operating systems, Linux distros like Mint make it easy to give them a test run before installing it. First you'll need to download a copy of Linux Mint, which comes with three different...

www.linux.org

Welcome to Linux.org forums.

 

[UldSkull]

But I tried Mint and Ubuntu with the live USB like it says And everything works fine ! That's why I don't understand the install doesn't.

I'm french, and maybe I didn't understood what you meant :
I have to read as much as possible - what works for Mint works for most Linux distros - Try Mint with the live ?

 

[atanere]

Hello again @UldSkull.

The first advice I would give is STOP. Think more, read more, ask more. Installing an operating system is not like installing a new program. Please backup anything on Windows that is critically important to you to a DVD, USB, or external hard drive. If you make a mistake and Linux erases your Windows... you will be mad at Linux. But Linux will only do what you tell it to do.

I didn't "checksumed" the ISOs because according doc.ubuntu-f :
"that check is useless if [...] you already created the install media, and verified it". I created the install medias and systematically verified these ones, by running the "support check" during the install steps. (When you reboot on the live USB, you can Install Ubuntu, Try without installing or check the support. I did that check.

I have to admi that my internet connection is fallible. Do you think that the "simple" check I did was not enough ?
As I used differents ISO from differents distros, I hoped to exclued the problem, statistically..

You can still verify the checksum after you create the media, but it is more trouble. It is far better to get a simple free program (like this one) to verify before you create the media. If you verify the MD5 or SHA256 sums first, then you know your download was complete and not corrupted. Since you are having a problem, and since your internet connection may be fallible, it is good to rule out a bad download as one of the many things that can go wrong.

Every computer is different, and so is the BIOS/UEFI firmware which causes so many troubles when installing Linux. This is where you are trying to disable Secure Boot. There are other settings in BIOS/UEFI that can be a problem too. Many people give instructions (like maybe the webites you quoted above) that tells people to disable Secure Boot. But many Linux can use it too, but maybe the computers make a difference. I have 2 laptops that I can install Ubuntu and Linux Mint both with Secure Boot left enabled, so I know from experience that this is possible. But maybe your computer is different.

So please tell us what brand and model number is your computer? That is a good place to start. If you find that you must disable Secure Boot, some brands require special steps to do this, and maybe yours is one of those.

We have many people on the forum with a lot of installation experiences, but we don't all have the same experiences. So I'm sure you will also get good advice from others very soon too.

Cheers

 

[UldSkull]

Hello again, and, off course, thank you for your "welcome" that I didn't see earlier, your patience and your kindness.

Ok, I stop.

So, first thing, I backuped everything I need to keep. It's the first thing I did, it's like, obvious, for me, don't worry.

I formated my SSD and once it was empty and clean, I installed Windows. The SSD only have windows on it. A small Windows, with an anti-virus and a Firewall, and that's all.

About getting mad about Linux, I knew a teacher who said me, one day: "When people get mad about something, it 's often that they do not know that thing enough."

Following your advices, I checksummed, and the MD5 and SHA1 are corresponding. It's not the problem.

And, my computer is not from a brand, I assembled it by myself.
However I can give you some informations :

My motherboard is :
ASUS PRIME Z270-P

PRIME Z270-P | Cartes mères | ASUS France

Carte mère ATX Z270 avec 5X Protection III, les slots PCIe renforcés SafeSlot et l'éclairage LED

www.asus.com

The disk where I try to install Linux is :
crucial ct525mx300ssd1

What can I tell you more ?

 

[captain-sensible]

recently i bought my wife a moderate cost HP brand laptop , i started to look into dual boot then stopped when i realized Windows 10 needs cirac 32gig and that was the size of the hard disk- yes its true "ye gets what ye pay for" . Anyway this laptop wouldn't even let me boot Knoppix live on a usb stick. l disabled secure boot via bios in boot section. you didn't say but i assume you did a clean of disk & defrag so all data on disk is not all over the place, set up swap space and file system onto which to install linux ? last time i did a dual boot i found it easier to look and set up disks using knoppix live and gparted

 

[UldSkull]

I'll try gparted.
My disk is a ssd so the defrag is forbidden, but there is only a clean windows on it.
And I thought I can do not have a swap because of my 32G RAM. Am I wrong?

 

[captain-sensible]

32gig ! ah so your computer & processes are unlikely to use all that ! ; i've read having a couple of GB of swap won’t hurt. It will give an extra layer of ‘stability’ if a faulty program starts misusing RAM. Also maybe have a look at http://www.porteus.org/ or slack first before Mint etc i think they can both go on SSD, just to keep things simple and get things working . Last time i did it it was slackware/windows first lilo, then grub

 

[UldSkull]

Yep. I was young and wanted an expensive computer ... I don't regret, but .. arf..
I tried by partitioning by myself during the install :
25 G for /
25 G for /home
4 G for /swap
4 G for /tmp

Same issue.

I will try porteus !

 

[atanere]

Well, I had a bad feeling that you might have an Asus. It is one of those brands that needs some special action(s) to disable Secure Boot. And it is quite possible that will be necessary for you to install Linux. Keep in mind that probably no one here has your exact motherboard. This is why so often we have to combine our past experience with guesswork and with Google searches.

Having a clean fresh installation of Windows (with all of your important things backed up) is a good way to start. If it becomes necessary to reformat your SSD again and reinstall Windows again, it will probably not be too painful. With luck, you won't need to do that though.

I am hopeful that when you formatted the SSD that it used the GPT partitioning method. This is the modern method (instead of older MBR partitioning) and I think Windows 10 would have used this preferred method.

You mentioned limiting Windows to about a 60 GB partition, and the link you gave (itsfoss.com) steps through the "manual" partitioning steps to shrink Windows and create space for Linux. This is usually the hard way for new users to install Ubuntu or Linux Mint. There is an easier way! Let Linux automatically partition your drive and set itself up! The people who make Ubuntu and Mint have been striving hard to make this simple, and I think they've done very well.

I will outline how I think that I would proceed to install Ubuntu or Mint (either one) on your computer. But, again... STOP. Think, read, ask. Don't rush into these steps, but follow the links I give, and try to understand the steps and process. I may have made a mistake, or forgot something... so allow some time for others to jump in and correct me. Or maybe someone else's advice will seem better for you to follow. There is more than one way to install Linux, and I don't claim that "my way" will be the best for you.

STEP 1. Boot into Windows and disable hibernation. When you tell Windows to "shut down"... it does not. Instead, it goes into hibernation. This can cause problems for Linux. See this link from Microsoft on how to disable hibernation.

STEP 2. While still in Windows, use Disk Management tool to rejoin any partitions that you may have split off back into the Windows (C drive) partition. In other words, make the whole drive set up for Windows only for now. There may be some other partitions... a "EFI" and a "Recovery" partition, and those are okay... leave them alone. Just delete everything you prepared for Linux. Later we will let Linux do the job of splitting your drive.

STEP 3. Reboot from Windows above and go into BIOS/UEFI setup. Look for "Fastboot" (or Fast Boot) setting and be sure it is disabled. Disabling hibernation in Step 1 may have taken care of this already, but if not, be sure to disable Fastboot in here.

STEP 4. (While still in BIOS/UEFI setup) Disable Secure Boot. There are at least 2 different methods to do this on Asus, but I'm not sure which will work for you. You might have to enable a Supervisor/Administrator/Master password in the BIOS/UEFI setup, save it, and come back into setup to disable Secure Boot. Or you may have to clear the Secure Boot "keys" instead. If you enable a Supervisor/Administrator/Master password, you can clear it again later after Secure Boot is disabled. If you don't clear the password... don't forget it! Here are several links to help you understand the process of disabling Secure Boot: here, here, here (especially read comments about BIOS Master Password), and even a YouTube video.

STEP 5. Boot on your Linux media and begin the installation. Unlike your previous attempts, DO NOT choose the "Other Setup" option for partitioning. Instead, right at the top of this install screen, it should offer you to "Install Alongside Windows" and this is the one to choose. After this screen, it will show you a "slider bar" with your hard drive approximately divided in half... Windows on the left, and Linux on the right. You can click and drag on the divider line of this slider bar to change the size of the partitions, giving Windows more and Linux less, or giving Linux more and Windows less. With a 500 GB drive, I'd suggest leaving it about half and half. I especially suggest that you do not limit Windows so much as you mentioned above (60 GB). Because you will still be a regular Windows user, do not restrict it too much because it will probably need more room to grow than Linux.

STEP 6. I think you can safely accept all of the default prompts during the Linux install... remember that I said the Linux developers are trying to make this an easy process! You will need to enter a user name and password (don't forget it!) and just a few other choices. I strongly suggest these: a) DO NOT check the box for "LVM" partitioning, b) DO NOT encrypt the home folder (or entire disk), and c) DO keep the selection to require password when logging in.

STEP 7. That's it. If it finishes the install without errors, it will prompt you to restart the computer and remove the install media. When it comes back on, you should be at the ugly GRUB bootloader screen. It will default to booting Linux in 10 seconds, so if you want Windows you will have to use the arrow keys to arrow down to highlight Windows and hit Enter.

Again, please don't rush into this... I will come back and re-read it in awhile and may make some edits if I see something wrong, or maybe other people here will comment with corrections or other information that may help further, or that may offer a different method that you would rather try.

Sorry this is so long. Hope it all makes sense!

Cheers

 

[atanere]

Ahhh, for all that, there seems to always be more to say.

If, by chance, you do not boot up into the GRUB bootloader menu... then you may be taken straight to Windows. Such are the crazy results sometimes with so many varied BIOS/UEFI systems... they do not all behave the same, as they should.

So, if GRUB does not load, there are a couple of things to consider. Back in the BIOS/UEFI settings, there is usually a place where you can choose the "boot order".... and you may find Linux there to move up to the #1 spot. Another option sometimes needed instead is when the computer is booting, there is usually a F-key that you can hit to interrupt the boot, like F9, or F10, but sometimes ESC.... whatever it is, it will give you a Boot Menu, and you may can choose Linux from there. By the way, the BIOS/UEFI may identify Linux Mint as Ubuntu... that's not a problem, but it might surprise you if you install Mint and you see Ubuntu in the settings.

Well, I won't go on and on over this. With luck, you will boot up on GRUB and things will be fine.

Cheers

 

[captain-sensible]

there is the "laterally thinking approach" you tried before and didn't manage to get dual boot with windows on your SSd PC; so far you spent rather a lot of time and effort

you could just go and get an old 2nd hand pentium 4 PC with maybe even xp on it and no UEFI for playing with very cheap. If things get messed things up it doesn't matter. If you go down this road then i would suggest Slackware Linux

 

[UldSkull]

@atanere

Hello again (again?).

At first, thank you SO MUCH, atanere. I didn't try your steps for the moment, but you wrote a lot, and I'm very grateful. It's just what I needed. People will sing songs about you.

1. I've read somewhere that the secure boot would have produced a specific error. I didn't had this error message for now, so ... I hope that its not my problem. By reading your step 4, I remember to have seen "Administrator-thing" enabling in UEFI setup, so I think I can do that. I also saw the possibility to clear the secure boot keys. With all these links, it's sure I'll be able to do it !

2. I believe that GPT was used during the SSD formatting.

3. I'm starting to have tried a lot of things, but I actually always shrinked Windows because I believed that is the only way to make the dual boot. In my mind :
a - Install Windows
b - Shrink Windows
c - Install Linux
d- Be happy

So I tried "Install alongside Windows", I tried "other" and selected partitions, and a few things like that, but I don't know all the possibilities there are. I totally respect the work of Ubuntu or Mint team, BTW. I only gone astray by my ignorance. And I'm a little bit scared about "automatic" things, that I cannot see the cogs.

4. I didn't mentionned it but during the different installations I had severals errors. But I didn't keep the messages. I'll do it in the future. And even if I have not succeeded to install the distributions until the end, at boot I have a console prompt that seems to be the (beautiful) grub boot loader. I'm not sure. But there is "grub" wrote on the screen, somewhere. And the only command that I succeeded to run is "reboot"

I read, and I ask. I'm on three forums, with this one, and I don't rush anymore. But I'm looking forward to try.

@captain-sensible
I'm not against the idea to have another computer. Really. But my GF is. Really.

 

[atanere]

People will sing songs about you.

I think people already do... but they aren't nice songs!
(Just kidding! Thank you for the compliment! )

And I'm a little bit scared about "automatic" things, that I cannot see the cogs.

For many new users, the automatic way can be much easier. You are learning very quickly and seem able to adapt to the various circumstances that can come at you. But there are many ways to proceed, and you will soon hit the right one that works for you. Dual booting with Windows/Linux actually used to be easier than all of this (before UEFI)... but here we are.

The suggestion to get another good (cheap) computer for Linux only is also a good one. Choosing the "Use Entire Disk" option during the partitioning part of the installation usually creates a working Linux with very minimal effort. If you (and GF) give more thought to this later, at least try to get 2GB or 4GB of RAM... that is the greatest help to running any modern Linux.

Looking forward to seeing which way you go next. Will help if I can, along with many others here.

Cheers

 

[UldSkull]

Sooooooo ...

Step 1 . Done
Step 2 . Done
Step 3 . Done
Step 4 . Done - yes I succeeded to disable secure boot !
Step 5 . Mmh, wait, I can't see my ssd, I only can see the hdd. Damned. So okey, lets try on the hdd, we'll see...
...
Same issue.

Thus ...
1 - I got the same issue on my HDD, it's not the ssd.
2 - I checked my ssd's File system, it's NTFS. I thought it can be the problem. I formatted the ssd to Ext4 and re-installed Windows... The SSD is in NTFS again. Windows automatically formats the disk in ntfs. Duh. I runned ubuntu on the usb stick, formatted the partition in ext4, tried to install the distrib on the ext4 partition and... same issue.
3 - The fact that I cannot see the ssd with "install alongside Windows" maybe is a clue ?

 

[atanere]

And sometimes you just have to beat your head against the wall until the computer complies!

When all is said and done, and you finally have Linux dual booting... you should write up a summary to explain all this. Yours is definitely one of the harder cases.

When/where did the HDD come into play? Is your drive a "hybrid" (part SSD, part HDD)? These have caused trouble before too.

Depending on your willingness... I'm sure curious if Ubuntu or Mint would do a full install (Use Entire Disk) and work correctly? In my experience, they should both work with Secure Boot left enabled, but they should also work leaving it disabled too. It may need to be disabled on your Asus... it's a funny one.

Doing a full Linux install is not typically the best way to go with dual boot though. Almost always Windows is installed first... because it is guaranteed to take over the system and not allow Linux booting if you try to install Windows second. I think it's possible, but not something I have experience with.

I'm fighting a few battles with my own home desktop, so I'll be in and out. Hopefully back soon.

Cheers

 

[wizardfromoz]

People will sing songs about you.

Stan would love that. He and I are fans of Tolkien's Lord of The Rings, so having songs sung about him would make his day.

Hey @UldSkull - not trying to take you off course with what you are currently attempting, but I have 2 further bits of input.

First I will explain about WUBI.

1. WUBI is a Windows UBuntu Installer, developed 8 or 9 years ago, and it used to be included on Ubuntu .isos until around the 15.10 'Wily Werewolf' edition, then was discontinued. It has been revived with WUBI-UEFI.

https://github.com/hakuna-m/wubiuefi/wiki

WUBI allows you to run Ubuntu from a Folder in Windows on your C: drive. You simply need to download the .exe file, have your Linux .iso on hand, and then double-click the .exe file from your File Manager to begin the installation.

When the install has completed, you reboot your computer and there will then be a Grub Menu which features entries for Windows and Ubuntu. The folder will be called Ubuntu, and as part of the install you get to nominate how much space to allocate, anything from 30 - 40 GB would likely be fine.

To remove WUBI, you simply delete the folder, and a couple of small WUBI files that are easily identified, reboot, and your computer is back to where it was with Windows only.

An advantage over using a Virtual Machine setup with Virtual Box or VMWare is that you don't have to choose an amount of your existing RAM to the running of it (typically at least 4 GB if you want to get a decent performance) - you have the full use of your entire RAM.

The latest WUBI currently supports

Ubuntu (64 bit only), Kubuntu (*), Lubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu MATE, Xubuntu, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu Budgie.

(*) Note: Kubuntu has no progress bar during second part of installation.

... so it appears that you could use Ubuntu Studio with it.

More reading on Releases at https://github.com/hakuna-m/wubiuefi/releases

2. VOYAGER - I don't, as a practice, try to steer people away from a Distro they are trying to install, but this may be of interest to you, and was released only yesterday.

Voyager Live 10 you can read about at DistroWatch

https://distrowatch.com/?newsid=10634 , and there is also a LTS (Long Term Support) version with Voyager Live 18.04 https://distrowatch.com/?newsid=10187

Voyager is a French product, so you would feel right at home with it. A number of the wallpapers have that distinctly French style to them.

I used Voyager 8 for a couple of years, and would use it again any time.

Voyager Live 10 release notes also say in part

security is in the spotlight with support for Secure Boot; this means that users will no longer have to disable support for Secure Boot in the firmware configuration.

So there's a couple of thoughts for you, see what you think.

Cheers

Wizard

 

[atanere]

Stan would love that. He and I are fans of Tolkien's Lord of The Rings, so having songs sung about him would make his day.

Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe.

Hmmm, that's a catchy little tune!

 

[Condobloke]

I like tooheys flag ale, Tooheys flag ale for me,
A little for breakfast, a little for tea,
A little each day is a good recipe

 

[wizardfromoz]

Brian, a fellow Australian, is adapting the jingle for Aeroplane Jelly ... interesting.