dual boot problem
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I have a new PC with two HDDs and I am trying to install Windows and
Ubuntu on one of the drives keeping the other for data and so on. In the past I have dual booted many machines without any difficulty but this is the first time I have tried with a machine with 2 drives and there are problems. Installing XP Pro puts the OS on the main drive as expected but Ubuntu wants to install on the second drive and not along side windows. This shows in the installation process when the point is reached where a decision has to be made on the installation when install along side is selected. The next step then involves setting the partition and it is here that the installer thinks that windows is on the second drive and not on the first drive. If this is ignored and the installation allowed to proceed then I end up with XP Pro on one drive and Ubuntu on the other and this is what I do not want. I suppose the problem could be solved by opening up the machine and disconnecting the second drive before trying to install Ubuntu but this seems rather like taking a sledge hammer to crack a nut as well as possibly negating the guarantee. I have researched but have failed to find a solution and I would be so pleased if someone could solve the problem. Thank you in advance. Norman -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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On 12/05/12 17:38, Norman Silverstone wrote:
> I have a new PC with two HDDs and I am trying to install Windows and > Ubuntu on one of the drives keeping the other for data and so on. In the > past I have dual booted many machines without any difficulty but this is > the first time I have tried with a machine with 2 drives and there are > problems. Installing XP Pro puts the OS on the main drive as expected > but Ubuntu wants to install on the second drive and not along side > windows. I have three HD's on mine and I have no problem telling Ubuntu exactly where I want it. There is an option in the installer to select whichever drive you want it on. I can't remember details without booting into a DVD but if you can't find it, I'll do that for you. Regards, Barry. -- Barry Drake is a member of the the Ubuntu Advertising team. http://ubuntuadverts.org/ -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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> > I have a new PC with two HDDs and I am trying to install Windows and > > Ubuntu on one of the drives keeping the other for data and so on. In the > > past I have dual booted many machines without any difficulty but this is > > the first time I have tried with a machine with 2 drives and there are > > problems. Installing XP Pro puts the OS on the main drive as expected > > but Ubuntu wants to install on the second drive and not along side > > windows. > > I have three HD's on mine and I have no problem telling Ubuntu exactly > where I want it. There is an option in the installer to select > whichever drive you want it on. I can't remember details without > booting into a DVD but if you can't find it, I'll do that for you. Barry, I would be most grateful if you could point me in the right direction. I know that one of the options is to do something else. I have looked at that where the drives are listed but I am uncertain what to do thereafter. Norman -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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On 12 May 2012 18:39, Norman Silverstone <[hidden email]> wrote:
You need to "Do soemthing else". From there it should tell you what you have on each drive, so should clearly show where Windows is. If you only have one partition on that drive and Windows is taking up the whole drive, you can select to partition the drive, which I think uses GParted to do it. -- Regards, Andy -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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On Sat, 2012-05-12 at 18:47 +0100, Andy Braben wrote:
> > > On 12 May 2012 18:39, Norman Silverstone <[hidden email]> > wrote: > > > > I have a new PC with two HDDs and I am trying to install > Windows and > > > Ubuntu on one of the drives keeping the other for data and > so on. In the > > > past I have dual booted many machines without any > difficulty but this is > > > the first time I have tried with a machine with 2 drives > and there are > > > problems. Installing XP Pro puts the OS on the main drive > as expected > > > but Ubuntu wants to install on the second drive and not > along side > > > windows. > > > > I have three HD's on mine and I have no problem telling > Ubuntu exactly > > where I want it. There is an option in the installer to > select > > whichever drive you want it on. I can't remember details > without > > booting into a DVD but if you can't find it, I'll do that > for you. > > > Barry, I would be most grateful if you could point me in the > right > direction. I know that one of the options is to do something > else. I > have looked at that where the drives are listed but I am > uncertain what > to do thereafter. > > You need to "Do soemthing else". From there it should tell you what > you have on each drive, so should clearly show where Windows is. If > you only have one partition on that drive and Windows is taking up the > whole drive, you can select to partition the drive, which I think uses > GParted to do it. > Andy, all I know is that if there is one drive and the installer is instructed to install along side Windows, then the installer partitions the drive accordingly and gets on with the installation. So, are you suggesting that, because there are two drives one of which is empty, the installer decides to install on the empty one rather than partition and install on the one with Windows? I have heard of Artificial intelligence but surely this is not correct. Norman -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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On 12 May 2012 19:42, Norman Silverstone <[hidden email]> wrote:
When the partitioner first comes up it asks if you want to accept any defaults. I doubt if a default is what you want to do so you should choose "Do something Else" On the next screen you should see two drives listed, one clearly marked as having Windows on it. Can you get as far as that before going any further? -- Regards, Andy -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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<big snip>
> > Andy, all I know is that if there is one drive and the > installer is > instructed to install along side Windows, then the installer > partitions > the drive accordingly and gets on with the installation. So, > are you > suggesting that, because there are two drives one of which is > empty, the > installer decides to install on the empty one rather than > partition and > install on the one with Windows? I have heard of Artificial > intelligence > but surely this is not correct. > > > When the partitioner first comes up it asks if you want to accept any > defaults. I doubt if a default is what you want to do so you should > choose "Do something Else" On the next screen you should see two > drives listed, one clearly marked as having Windows on it. > > Can you get as far as that before going any further? Yes, no problem. Norman -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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In reply to this post by Norman Silverstone-2
On 12/05/12 18:39, Norman Silverstone wrote:
> Barry, I would be most grateful if you could point me in the right > direction. I know that one of the options is to do something else. I > have looked at that where the drives are listed but I am uncertain > what to do thereafter. Norman Got a lot to do tonight - it will be tomorrow afternoon before I can boot from a DVD and talk you through it, so if one of the others can help before then I'll be grateful. Regards, Barry. -- Barry Drake is a member of the the Ubuntu Advertising team. http://ubuntuadverts.org/ -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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In reply to this post by Norman Silverstone-2
On 12/05/12 21:04, Norman Silverstone wrote:
> <big snip> >> >> Andy, all I know is that if there is one drive and the >> installer is >> instructed to install along side Windows, then the installer >> partitions >> the drive accordingly and gets on with the installation. So, >> are you >> suggesting that, because there are two drives one of which is >> empty, the >> installer decides to install on the empty one rather than >> partition and >> install on the one with Windows? I have heard of Artificial >> intelligence >> but surely this is not correct. >> > >> >> When the partitioner first comes up it asks if you want to accept any >> defaults. I doubt if a default is what you want to do so you should >> choose "Do something Else" On the next screen you should see two >> drives listed, one clearly marked as having Windows on it. >> >> Can you get as far as that before going any further? > > Yes, no problem. The 'Something Else' option is a manual one (so called advanced in the past). Using that CD with that option will expect you to first have created a suitable partition structure *before* proceeding further. Or, for example, in the partitions list, you will only see the Windows partition, drive. It may be perfectly possible to resize stuff, create partitions, format etc whilst inside the 'something else' option, however, my own strong preference would be to do all this in two stages. Use a live CD session to create partitions in the free space on your windows drive. If it is vista or win7 then I would consider first asking windows to shrink ITSELF, you may get fewer subsequent problems in windows then. Then Create a large (for / ) partition (ext4) for ubuntu system and a smaller swap partition. Then use the 'something else' option and 'change' the target ubuntu system partition to be used in the install as ext4, to be formatted, and to be mounted as / I think that should do it ok. If your second (data) drive is formatted before install of ubuntu then I guess it will get picked up as a data drive when ubuntu installs into the targetted place. -- alan cocks -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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In reply to this post by Barry Drake
> > Barry, I would be most grateful if you could point me in the right > > direction. I know that one of the options is to do something else. I > > have looked at that where the drives are listed but I am uncertain > > what to do thereafter. > > Got a lot to do tonight - it will be tomorrow afternoon before I can > boot from a DVD and talk you through it, so if one of the others can > help before then I'll be grateful. That's OK Barry, not to worry, time is on my side. I forget to mention that although I have used Ubuntu since Warty the emphasis is on used and not fiddled with. Instructions I can usually follow but age is not on my side (84 years young) Norman > > > -- > Barry Drake is a member of the the Ubuntu Advertising team. > http://ubuntuadverts.org/ > > -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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On 13/05/12 08:49, Norman Silverstone wrote:
> That's OK Barry, not to worry, time is on my side. I forget to mention > that although I have used Ubuntu since Warty the emphasis is on used > and not fiddled with. Instructions I can usually follow but age is not > on my side (84 years young) Norman Right. I'm a kid of only 70, so very able minded (I think not). OK. The process is dangerous as you are firstly going to be re-sizing your Windows partition, secondly installing to a partition rather than an entire drive, and thirdly you need to be watching where the boot-loader goes. All this, and it is not too difficult to trash anything you have on any of the hard drives. Make sure you know what your drives are and what they are called. eg /dev/sda /dev/sdb etc. The partitions are numbered like the drives with the partition number at the end. If have three drives - /dev/sda whch is a 165 GiB drive with Precise using the entire drive with an ext4 partition and a Linux swap partition. My /dev/sdb drive is entirely given to Window 7 and is an 80 GiB drive formatted NTFS. The third drive - /dev/sdc is patiently waiting for the next Alpha release. Now, say I want to use half the Windows 80Gib for an Ubuntu installation. I would either re-size the Windows partition from within Windows. (I don't know how to do that). Or re-size using gparted, or let resizing take place from within the installer - which uses gparted. If you wanted the Windows partition (on my 80GiB drive) to reduce to only 40GiB, gparted can do that. You then have the empty space for a new install. Allocate a swap partition about the same size as your ram. Allocate the remainder or the unallocated space to ext4 and remember what it is called - possibly /dev/sdb2 or /dev/sda2? In the install dialogues, choose the 'Something else' option, and tell Ubuntu to install to the newly created ext4 partition. Make sure you tell it to put the bootloader on the drive you are currently booting from. This is one place you need to be careful as this is where grub will be installed and updated. If you put it on the wrong drive, you will need to boot into that drive! So far so good. You may get a warning about installing to a partition and not a drive .... but if you have got it right, it should be workable. The hold your breath and see if you can boot after the installation has completed. Please don't shout at me if anything messes up. This is not an easy process, but I have done it two or three times before I started using a dedicated drive for Windows and one for Ubuntu (with an extra one for Ubuntu testing). The latter arrangement is far far easier for me to maintain. Regards, Barry. -- Barry Drake is a member of the the Ubuntu Advertising team. http://ubuntuadverts.org/ -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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In reply to this post by Norman Silverstone-2
On 13/05/12 08:49, Norman Silverstone wrote:
> That's OK Barry, not to worry, time is on my side. I forget to mention > that although I have used Ubuntu since Warty the emphasis is on used > and not fiddled with. Instructions I can usually follow but age is not > on my side (84 years young) Just a thought. My bios setting have a means of disabling a hard drive. If the installer can't see your data drive, it will offer an automatic install on the same drive as Windows. Regards, Barry -- Barry Drake is a member of the the Ubuntu Advertising team. http://ubuntuadverts.org/ -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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In reply to this post by Norman Silverstone-2
On 12 May 2012 17:38, Norman Silverstone <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I have a new PC with two HDDs and I am trying to install Windows and > Ubuntu on one of the drives keeping the other for data and so on. In the > past I have dual booted many machines without any difficulty but this is > the first time I have tried with a machine with 2 drives and there are > problems. Installing XP Pro puts the OS on the main drive as expected > but Ubuntu wants to install on the second drive and not along side > windows. This shows in the installation process when the point is > reached where a decision has to be made on the installation when install > along side is selected. The next step then involves setting the > partition and it is here that the installer thinks that windows is on > the second drive and not on the first drive. > > If this is ignored and the installation allowed to proceed then I end up > with XP Pro on one drive and Ubuntu on the other and this is what I do > not want. I suppose the problem could be solved by opening up the > machine and disconnecting the second drive before trying to install > Ubuntu but this seems rather like taking a sledge hammer to crack a nut > as well as possibly negating the guarantee. > > I have researched but have failed to find a solution and I would be so > pleased if someone could solve the problem. Thank you in advance. I tried to write a helpful guide to this a while ago. It's here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/23/reg_linux_guide_2/print.html Don't know if it will assist, though... -- Liam Proven • Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile Email: [hidden email] • GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven MSN: [hidden email] • Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 • Cell: +44 7939-087884 -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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In reply to this post by Barry Drake
> > That's OK Barry, not to worry, time is on my side. I forget to mention > > that although I have used Ubuntu since Warty the emphasis is on used > > and not fiddled with. Instructions I can usually follow but age is not > > on my side (84 years young) Norman > > Right. I'm a kid of only 70, so very able minded (I think not). OK. <snip> > In the install dialogues, choose the 'Something else' option, and tell > Ubuntu to install to the newly created ext4 partition. Make sure you > tell it to put the bootloader on the drive you are currently booting > from. This is one place you need to be careful as this is where grub > will be installed and updated. If you put it on the wrong drive, you > will need to boot into that drive! So far so good. You may get a > warning about installing to a partition and not a drive .... but if you > have got it right, it should be workable. The hold your breath and see > if you can boot after the installation has completed. > > Please don't shout at me if anything messes up. This is not an easy > process, but I have done it two or three times before I started using a > dedicated drive for Windows and one for Ubuntu (with an extra one for > Ubuntu testing). The latter arrangement is far far easier for me to > maintain. I can understand and follow all that you say and, viewed theoretically, it is very good. Where I am at a complete loss is how to practically modify the partition containing Windows. I suppose I should read up on gparted before going any further. Norman -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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On 13/05/12 16:47, Norman Silverstone wrote:
> I can understand and follow all that you say and, viewed > theoretically, it is very good. Where I am at a complete loss is how > to practically modify the partition containing Windows. I suppose I > should read up on gparted before going any further. Norman gparted is easy! Fire it up and browse to the NTFS partition you want to resize, and select it. Click on the 'partition' menu and there is an option to 'resize/move'. The rest is easy, and I can honestly say it hasn't let me down once .... but then I've never had a power failure or a computer hardware problem during the re-sizing - which takes quite a while! Occasionally, my wife manages to trip one or more mcb's when she is getting stuff out of the pantry .... there's no way around that. Regards, Barry. -- Barry Drake is a member of the the Ubuntu Advertising team. http://ubuntuadverts.org/ -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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> > I can understand and follow all that you say and, viewed > > theoretically, it is very good. Where I am at a complete loss is how > > to practically modify the partition containing Windows. I suppose I > > should read up on gparted before going any further. Norman > > gparted is easy! Fire it up and browse to the NTFS partition you want > to resize, and select it. Click on the 'partition' menu and there is an > option to 'resize/move'. The rest is easy, and I can honestly say it > hasn't let me down once .... but then I've never had a power failure or > a computer hardware problem during the re-sizing - which takes quite a > while! Occasionally, my wife manages to trip one or more mcb's when she > is getting stuff out of the pantry .... there's no way around that. Right, that seems straight forward. I'll have some tea and then have a go. I have no data to loose so if things mess up it wont matter. Norman -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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In reply to this post by Barry Drake
Barry, using gparted, the HDD containing Windows XP Pro was partitioned
as you described and all seemed well. The installation process was started and do something else selected. The partition allocated ext4 was chosen and then I was warned that I needed to indicate a boot partition so I chose this partition. The installation completed but, on reboot, it went straight into Windows. I have confirmed that the two OSs are on the same drive so I assume I need to do something about Grub. Still, progress is being made. Norman -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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On Sun, 2012-05-13 at 20:45 +0100, Norman Silverstone wrote:
> Barry, using gparted, the HDD containing Windows XP Pro was partitioned > as you described and all seemed well. The installation process was > started and do something else selected. The partition allocated ext4 was > chosen and then I was warned that I needed to indicate a boot partition > so I chose this partition. The installation completed but, on reboot, it > went straight into Windows. I have confirmed that the two OSs are on the > same drive so I assume I need to do something about Grub. Still, > progress is being made. > > Norman > > Norman, please wait for further advice before trying my suggestion; but if this was my machine I would now boot directly to Ubuntu from the live CD & from there I would try "grub-install /dev/sda" [or sdx where x is the boot drive] from a terminal. However, *please* do wait for my idea to confirmed as good or rubbish before doing anything [it may not work with your set-up]. It is not my machine - it is yours & as such, deserves a 2nd opinion ;) -- Regards, Bill B. [SuperEngineer] ------------------------------ -Registered Linux User 523667- -Registered Ubuntu User 32366- -----Free as in Freedom------ -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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On 13/05/12 21:03, Bill Baker wrote:
> Norman, please wait for further advice before trying my suggestion; > but if this was my machine I would now boot directly to Ubuntu from > the live CD & from there I would try "grub-install /dev/sda" [or sdx > where x is the boot drive] from a terminal. However, *please* do wait > for my idea to confirmed as good or rubbish before doing anything [it > may not work with your set-up]. It is not my machine - it is yours & > as such, deserves a 2nd opinion ;) Maybe that on its own might work; the full sequence might be necessary. It depends so much on where grub is - and it must be on the drive that Noman is booting from. And this drive must be mounted first at a known mountpoint. Re-install grub from live-CD sudo -i mount /dev/sda2 /mnt #assuming that Ubuntu is on sda2 - check with gparted #mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/boot #skip this one if not have a separate /boot partition grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sda Then update-grub to complete. The first step is usually need to access the drive. If it is mounted already and you know where it is mounted, you can use this as an alternative. Any third opinion? Regards, Barry. -- Barry Drake is a member of the the Ubuntu Advertising team. http://ubuntuadverts.org/ -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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In reply to this post by Norman Silverstone-2
Hi Norman, I think the only mistake you made (for future reference out to help others) was to install grub to the partition rather than the whole of the boot drive. To recover now, you boot the live CD and reinstall grub, as others have suggested. The complete list of instructions is on the grub (or grub2) page of the Ubuntu wiki, something like http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Grub. Hope this helps. I followed the instructions about a week ago, and they were easy to understand. Neil. P.S. Sorry for the brevity, this is typed on my phone. On May 13, 2012 8:45 PM, "Norman Silverstone" <[hidden email]> wrote:
Barry, using gparted, the HDD containing Windows XP Pro was partitioned -- [hidden email] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ |
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