Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
Unfortunately after the successful install I got cocky and tried to install Ubuntu because that's what I wanted. It booted and went through the installation fine, multiple times, but I'm constantly getting a fatal error that the grub could not install. I've tried switching into UEFI mode. I tried adding backlight=vendor in the launch config. I've tried selecting the partitions myself. But it kreps failing to install the boot loader. The OS is installed on my SSD and my 1TB drive but neither of them have boot loaders.
Might there be a reason I can't install bootloader now?
Unfortunately after the successful install I got cocky and tried to install Ubuntu because that's what I wanted. It booted and went through the installation fine, multiple times, but I'm constantly getting a fatal error that the grub could not install. I've tried switching into UEFI mode. I tried adding backlight=vendor in the launch config. I've tried selecting the partitions myself. But it kreps failing to install the boot loader. The OS is installed on my SSD and my 1TB drive but neither of them have boot loaders.
Might there be a reason I can't install bootloader now?
Did you install to the Master Boot Record during the Ubuntu installation?
Are you using Ubuntu in safe mode to try to install the bootloader?
As yancek suggested before you should download bootinfoscript and post the output so someone can look at all of the partitions and what you have going on.
I keep getting an error "boot info script needs to be run with bash as she'll interpreter" and I cannot find any information on how to go about that.
Also, the grub page did not help.
Using disk -l lists my drives (ssd and sdc, ssd and hdd respectively) and shows all of the seemingly correct information but using the command df -l does not list /mnt or any of my drives apart from the USB stick I have the live image on.
Upon trying to umount my drives and remounting them I'm told that they were never mounted and that they are "already mounted or /mnt is busy".
I have to reiterate; the amount of hassle this has been is ridiculous. This is the reason why linux has not seem mainstream consumer use yet. I've been using windows and in the windows repair field for years now and a simple installation is bringing me to my knee. I couldn't imagine the average tech inept person even thinking about installing ubuntu.
The instructions for running the bootinfoscript are at the link below. If you are using the Ubuntu installation medium it should download to the /home/user/Downloads directory. Extract it there and run it as explained at the link using sudo.
Distribution: K/Ubuntu 18.04-14.04, Scientific Linux 6.3-6.4, Android-x86, Pretty much all distros at one point...
Posts: 1,802
Rep:
Quote:
I have to reiterate; the amount of hassle this has been is ridiculous. This is the reason why linux has not seem mainstream consumer use yet. I've been using windows and in the windows repair field for years now and a simple installation is bringing me to my knee. I couldn't imagine the average tech inept person even thinking about installing ubuntu.
Don't go blaming Linux for something you've done. You built your own machine, attempted to overclock it, and run into hassles that seem to indicate bad RAM as much as anything else.
In the 15 years I have been a Linux only user, I have not had installation problems that were not hardware related (as in bad or obscure hardware). Windows?!?! Well,... Having just attempted to run an Android rooting program on my only Windows (8.1) machine, I managed to install about 12 pieces of malware that took 7+ hours to remove. An hour later, I had a wiped HD with a full, completely working and custom configured Kubuntu 14.04 installation installed (my first attempt at running a Linux system with UEFI Secure Boot,... and successful at that). Try that with Windows!!!
I have to reiterate; the amount of hassle this has been is ridiculous. This is the reason why linux has not seem mainstream consumer use yet. I've been using windows and in the windows repair field for years now and a simple installation is bringing me to my knee. I couldn't imagine the average tech inept person even thinking about installing ubuntu.
I am not saying it as a way of rebuke or chastisement, but these comments really put me off. And I have the feeling that I am not the only one. You are not doing yourself a favor when you are asking for help.
Grub will install extra bits that are tied to the distro (and partition) that installed grub. Once you purge that partition, grub gets lost in the fog. One work around is to have a bootable usb distro with grub on it. You can chainload grub configurations, or do an update-grub on the usb distro and boot the main drive linux.
GRUB> configfile (hd0,1)/boot/grub/grub.cfg
Plus probably a few insmod of the *.mod files to gain access to the root filesystem. Basically most of what is listed in grub.cfg done manually line by line. Which depends on the .mod files being there which tend to reside on a partition, the partition that you blew away when you did another install over the old one. Various ways to work around it, but just because you installed grub on a previous install does not mean that you can skip that step on this install. Unless you used a different location and left the other one alone.
I am not saying it as a way of rebuke or chastisement, but these comments really put me off. And I have the feeling that I am not the only one. You are not doing yourself a favor when you are asking for help.
I apologize if my statements have offended anybody. My frustration should be taken as that, frustration. I have no ill will towards linux. It's powerful, free and customizable. The frustration that lies with no distros working with fully functional hardware. Everything posts correctly and everything is fully functioning. I used linux for about 4 years, all throughout highschool and switched back to windows when I lost interest in programming.
It worked well on my older equipment and there were no real indications on why the software was not installing or breaking. It can seem like bad ram but when it comes down to it, all hardware is fully functional.
But I do apologize if my remarks offended everybody. An update; in UEFI mode my ssd has grub successfully installed on it and I'm in ubuntu with no issues. Despite the installer telling me grub was not successfully installed and there was a fatal error, it did in fact install and boot.
Thanks everybody for your help. I really do appreciate it. I'm going to take this opportunity to really learn linux so I can be the one to help others in the future.
I apologize if my statements have offended anybody. My frustration should be taken as that, frustration. I have no ill will towards linux. It's powerful, free and customizable. The frustration that lies with no distros working with fully functional hardware. Everything posts correctly and everything is fully functioning. I used linux for about 4 years, all throughout highschool and switched back to windows when I lost interest in programming.
It worked well on my older equipment and there were no real indications on why the software was not installing or breaking. It can seem like bad ram but when it comes down to it, all hardware is fully functional.
But I do apologize if my remarks offended everybody. An update; in UEFI mode my ssd has grub successfully installed on it and I'm in ubuntu with no issues. Despite the installer telling me grub was not successfully installed and there was a fatal error, it did in fact install and boot.
Thanks everybody for your help. I really do appreciate it. I'm going to take this opportunity to really learn linux so I can be the one to help others in the future.
Don't despair. This is not the normal experience for an installation. You are meeting some resistance due to hardware incompatibilities and it is up to you to find out what. It might be UEFI, (most likely), it might be something else due to the fact that hardware is now more than ever, designed and locked down for another operating system.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.