I've installed various flavors of Ubuntu (including 19.10) many times before, using the bootable USB. Never had any problem. But never before was I using a just installed, brand new SS drive on the machine. I can bring up Ubuntu just fine, but when I try to install it, I get an error message (at the 4th install screen, after hitting "install now") saying "No root file system defined. Please correct this from the partitioning menu."

I have no idea how to do that. Seems like a Catch-22 to me. Appreciate any insights.

Are you sure the drive is unformatted?
Does it show up in Bios?
Is the installer booting by Bios or GPT? Might be a mismatch with the format of the disk.

When I boot (without the bootable USB) the Bios display says "Fixed HDD - not detected", SATA ODD - HL-DST-St DVD+/-RW GU7ON
The "boot" section shows "Legacy boot" highlighted. When I exit, I got a terminal display showing the mac addr and guid. And finishes with the message "no boot device found"

So, I assume it's not formatted. I'd format it, if I knew how to do that (given that it's the only storage device on the machine).

I suppose that I could copy gparted (or something like it) to a thumb drive, boot up with the Ubuntu boot USB, and then use gparted. Not sure that's possible, or exactly how to do it.

Somehow my previous attempt at a reply didn't take. I'll try again.

When I try to boot without any attached USB, the machine says no boot partition found. If I boot with the Ubuntu USB, then try to install, I get to the "Install Now" prompt (4th install screen), click and get a display of /dev/sda as the "device for boot loader installation", I then get an error "No root file system is defined. Please correct this from the partitioning menu"

I'm stuck - I don't know what to do next.

Well, I found GPartd. It suggested a 14.47 MB boot section at /dev/sda. I agreed, but then it gave an error. So I tried to create a partition table (type gtp) and it failed.

Now even the Ubuntu boot USB won't boot.

I'm kinda hosed.

Based on the information you have posted, you have a computer with no operating system installed and are trying to install Ubuntu on it. The error you get is very common for new users who fail to select a mount point for the system partition. This is explained in detail at the link below, just over half way down the page with images of the various screens. If the disk is unformatted, it would be a good idea to format it with a Linux filesystem during the install.

https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/...all-guide.html

yancek,

You say: "Based on the information you have posted, you have a computer with no operating system installed and are trying to install Ubuntu on it."

That's correct. I just purchased an SSDI (solid state drive) and installed it. I did a complete test of the computer and it passed all the tests (except for the harddrive).

You say: "This is explained in detail at the link below, just over half way down the page with images of the various screens."

Well, I scanned the whole page you referred to. It deals with the normal installation of Ubuntu (14.04 in that case, but fairly similar to installing other Ubuntu versions). However, it does NOT (that I can tell, explain how to deal with a target disk that's not formatted.)

You say: "If the disk is unformatted, it would be a good idea to format it with a Linux filesystem during the install."

I agree that would be a very good idea. I just don't know how to do that, given that the Ubuntu install doesn't let me get that far and I don't know how to format it otherwise. I tried bring up the Ubuntu (from the boot thumbdrive) and invoking GParted - but that also gave me an error - saying I didn't have a partition. So I tried to create a partition table, and got another error.

I appreciate your effort to help, but I'm still dead in the water. I'm not a computer novice, but this has me completely stumped.

Terry

Let me add one more clarifying detail.

I boot up with the Ubuntu (19.10) bootable USB drive. That works fine.

I then select the GPared application. It shows the boot USB drive, but that's it. The SSDI drive is 1T but is not visible to GParted.

Does the SSDI drive show up in BIOS? Without that happening, Ubuntu can't find the drive.

The error above means that during the install you did not select the partition on which you wanted to install Ubuntu on in the Installation Type window then select format by checking the box on that line. This is explained at the link I posted and I'm sure you've seen this before if you have done manual installs of Ubuntu.

I don't see anything in your posts that would indicate the drive was not formatted. Often they are formatted ntfs so the first step would be as asked above, does it show up in the BIOS?

What are the errors you get in GParted? If you use gdisk, fdisk or parted does the drive not show up?
If you have another computer available, could you attach the new SSD to it to see if it is recognized?

Your initial post seems to indicate the drive was recognized as you were trying to install Ubuntu but did not set a / filesystem mount point and now you don't see the drive at all when you boot the Ubuntu installer, is that correct?

Gparted gave me a hint of the possible problem when it didn't find the SSDI hard drive. I started wondering if my computer can't handle a 1T drive. I looked up the spec and is said "up to 500GB." I'm going to take the drive back to the retailer (hope they'll take it, but they - Microcenter - usually do) and get one that's smaller. I'll let you know if this resolves the issues I'm having.

Thanks for your efforts so far.

Terry

Yup! That was it. Replaced the 1T with a 480GB drive and everything worked perfectly.

Sorry to consume so much of your time on a "operator headspace" problem.

Terry