Install F17 in DualBoot on Samsung NP300E7A that has Win7 HP
 

I've been searching a lot on this but can't find something that works.
I've been fidling with RedHat's OS's since RedHat 7 so if this works, GREAT
but if I have to go with some other OS... then so be it. (but I know ppl has got this working)

First I had had problems with partitioning and since that was due to 3 primary partitions already on
the HDD I nuked the recorvery partition and after that I could get beyond that problem.

Now I'm in trouble again :p
It keeps asking me to set the boot partition to GPT(or something) and I read somewhere that if I would
delete some file (can't recall the exact name) but it ended with .gpt many people got it to work.
I tried that but after that the CD wouldn't boot, I tried 4 CDs of the NetInstall(that I modified) and still
the same result.

How can I fix this "error"?
(I wanna nuke winblows but wifey won't let me.. yeah I'm a wuss)

GPT is required for disks larger than 2 terabytes. gdisk is the command to create and modify GPT tables. See this link for some insight into GPT's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table

Does your system have a standard BIOS or is it UEFI?

man gdisk has a lot of information as well.

I don't have a 2 terabyte disk, so have not used gdisk. I have read several threads on this topic, so you may find useful information on the forum. UEFI is another bag of snakes.

The disk is just 500G and.. hmm about the BIOS and UEFI, I can't tell 'cos I have no clue what to look for :redface:
although I haven't seen anything with those letters in it.

Can't even turn OFF the stuff that let me see the boot text that usually shows (as far as I know)

500 gig disks do not require GPT tables.

Can you post the make and model of the system? Laptop or desktop? UEFI has not been around for a long time, about a year or so for consumer systems.

Do you know how to enter the BIOS?

Laptop: "Samsung NP300A7E-A04SE" http://www.samsung.com/se/support/mo...ownloadName=UM
New: Have no idea, as of "creation" time, but I guess new-ish.
BIOS: Yeah, have already been there and changed the bootup order. I need to try to boot on other stuff before the HDD

I am running Fedora17 dual boot with Win7 on a 320GB hard drive and had no issues during installation. Are you getting these messages from the Fedora install program? How big is your /boot partition?

Yeah, it's Fedora telling me this and the boot size is 500M

Sorry for the long delay.

In your BIOS, can you check the boot order of devices?
If you are trying to install Fedora from a DVD-ROM drive or USB drive that is booting up in UEFI mode and you are trying to install to a hard drive that is not partitioned in GPT style (i.e. it has a Master Boot Record) the installer will probably stop and give you this error. You can go into the BIOS and have the boot device boot in the normal "non UEFI" style, or you could repartition the hard drive in the GUID style.

I hope this is the problem

First, how can I tell F17 to partition it using UUID? Can't think of a place where it asks for that(unless in a place by clicking a option I haven't checked out)

Oh that one, DOH! didn't think of it :p I just turned that off and I'll see what happens.
I Think it even was 'disabled' as default but why call it "UEFI/Legacy boot" as I've seen,
when I also saw this: "UEFI will also enable support for partitions greater than 2TB under GPT (guid partition table)."
and in here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table Using partitions greater then 2TB and to use GPT can't be called legacy as far as I think... or?
Ain't Win7 "new" enough to handle UEFI?
I KNOW Linux would be able to so why would there be a problem at all since 'ENABLE' will, as it says, just ENABLE it not FORCE it.

I'll be back when I tried this......

TIA though :)



UPDATE: Yep it's installing now :)

Awesome! have fun with Fedora 17

There is other reasons to have a GPT style drive than just the 2TB limit.
If the BIOS is running in UEFI mode it will not boot up a device that has a MBR. The boot drive needs to be partitioned in GPT. I guess that the installer saw this and rejected the install. Windows 8 installs are running into this issue also.

OK, so it aint possible for BOTH MBR and UEFI at the same time, got it.


and that is that it can't handle UEFI at all or...??? didn't really get that part.

Win 8 can read GPT drives, as can Win 7, Vista and later Linux distros. That is how they can access >2TB space on a drive. I am referring to data storage drives and not the boot drive.

The BIOS can be set to start up in "UEFI" or "Legacy BIOS" mode. If you try to boot from a hard drive that is MBR while your BIOS is set to UEFI, it will not work. UEFI mode booting also requires the boot drive to be GPT. I do not know how your BIOS got started in UEFI mode when you began the Fedora install. I have seen BIOS that give choices for how to boot from a USB thumb drive or optical drive in "UEFI" or "Legacy BIOS" mode.

There may be some exceptions to this rule, I am not an expert. There are some systems out there like Itanium processors that this might not apply.