Dual Booting Problem with UEFI disabled, Legacy enabled
 

I just got a new laptop computer and setting it up has been a challenge for trying to dual boot Win and Linux. This is the equipment: HP Envy EV4-5230US, UEFI bios, i5 CPU, 6 Gb Ram, 750 Gb HDD. When I unboxed it, I backed up Win 8 and erased the HDD. I reset the UEFI with Disable Security, and Enable Legacy BIOS.
Then I went through a difficult process of installing Win 7 Pro. Eventually, I found all the correct drivers and it breezes through everything flawlessly. Yeah! Backed it up too, and then partitioned the drive under the Win 7 partition maker so that I can install Linux Mint 15 and dual boot. I found out that is not how it is done anymore.
Now I have spent days and hours and hours on this and here are my results. (1) When I partition my HDD under Win 7, the partition shows up even with 3rd party software, but when I try to do the Linux install, the drive shows up under Linux as empty. It asks me if I want to use the whole partition and it shows my whole drive with no partitions. I am afraid that if I say Yes, then it will erase Windows and I will have to reinstall it. So I stopped there. Q: Is this normal? Should I see Windows and its partition or should I proceed anyway?
(2) I inserted my G-Parted DVD and it also shows the HDD without any Windows or partitions. It shows the HDD empty. Then it brings up a dialog box that states that I have GPT on the drive and there is no DOS MBR. It asks me if I want to keep the GPT. If I click Yes, then the software just hangs and will go no further. It will not partition the drive. If I click No, then the same thing happens, it hangs and will go no further. I can’t figure that out after several attempts. Q: Why does G-Parted show an empty drive when Windows is on it? I even tried it by taking Windows off and using G-Parted without anything on the drive, but I got the same failure. Also, I might add that G-Parted, on this system, has to be run under “Ram Boot” with no mouse.
Has anyone successfully dual booted Win 7 and Linux on a recent HP notebook that has UEFI?

What I would say is happening, is Ubuntu live booted with BIOS, non EFI, and tried to install using msdos(MBR) partition rather than GPT.

One way to tell is when you live boot, look for the /sys/firmware/efi, if that is not present, then you booted BIOS rather than EFI. You can also run this script,
Which will then say UEFI, or BIOS.

From the live boot, run the 'sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda' and look for the 'Disk Identifier' portion and if it says '0xee' then you have a protective MBR, which means you have a GPT disk.

I would like to see the boot-info report, but you will have to install boot-repair which is simple to do, run:
Or visit this site: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Info

Then run, sudo boot-repair, take the second option from the box and paste the url here.

But, if you want a fix now and are not worried about re-installing Window's, then I would completly re-format the drive as GPT using Gparted or gdisk, re-install Window's, then re-install Ubuntu.

First, I would disable secure boot, like you have, disable fastboot if applicable, Google 'disable fastboot' or read: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials...ndows-8-a.html, and re-enable UEFI boot.

We want UEFI since we will be using a GPT disk.

Live boot Gparted with EFI boot, and format the drive as GPT and use the whole disk.

I would install Window's first and use the Disk Manager to partition the drive, or Gparted, but make a partiton for Ubuntu.

Then live boot Ubuntu, and make sure it's using EFI boot, manually partition by using "Something Else" in the installer, let it finish and you should be alright!

Hope this isn't too vauge, I was trying not to take up too much space.

Good luck,
Chris

I agree, that is probably the problem with the computer.

I'll try it later today and get back on the results
 

Hi, thanks to both of you who replied. I'm sneaking in this reply at work. Later tonight, I'll give your suggestions a try and get back with you on whether it worked. This is what puzzles me: You wrote, "We want UEFI since we will be using a GPT disk." But my understanding was that people needed to convert GPT to MBR, which is where I have my hang up. You are telling me the opposite. Others aid to turn of UEFI and go with Legacy and convert to MBR. You are telling me to keep Security disabled and keep UEFI enabled and keep GPT. I'll try it. Correct?
In the mean time, I got this message last night as I was trying G-Parted under the live Linux Mint 15. It may confirm what you are telling me:

"Error Creating Partition....'
"Warning: /dev/sda contains GPT signatures, indicating that it has a GPT table. However, it does not have a valid fake msdos partition table, as it should. Perhaps it was corrupted-possibly by a program that doesn't understand GPT partition tables. Or perhaps you deleted the GPT table, and are now using an msdos partition table. Is this a GPT partition table?
"Error: Both the primary and backup GPT tables are corrupt. Try making a fresh table, and using Parted rescue feature to recover partitions."

I then tried to run the rescue feature and it failed to run. Later...man...gotta work now

It did not work, but a work around may be the ticket.
 

Hey, Operator116, I've had a few of hours since I last posted to try what you said and what Nbiser agreed with. I understood your instructions and followed them closely.

We want UEFI since we will be using a GPT disk.
Live boot Gparted with EFI boot, and format the drive as GPT and use the whole disk.
I would install Window's first and use the Disk Manager to partition the drive, or Gparted, but make a partition for Ubuntu.
Then live boot Ubuntu, and make sure it's using EFI boot, manually partition by using "Something Else" in the installer, let it finish and you should be alright!

The result is that it did not work. I booted the latest version of Gparted with EFI boot and it got part of the way through the installation and it quit, it just froze. Tried it two more times, and got the same result. All of your controls were intact: Secure/disabled; Legacy BIOS/disabled, UEFI/enabled.

HP is nasty with its joint MS venture to lock out unsigned OS from the BIOS. I don't think I'll buy another one.

Now this next attempt is interesting and I'd like to get yours or some other person's comments. I may have found a work around on this issue.

I installed a different, but smaller, 250Gb SATA HDD from an older notebook. As I said in my first post, I got Windows 7 working flawlessly, so I backed it up with TeraBite Image For LINUX because TeraBite has a "Write Standard MBR code" feature to replace the Imaged MBR when you Restore the Image. I wanted to experiment with this MBR idea. I disabled Secure Boot, disabled UEFI, and Enabled Legacy BIOS. I thought an older HDD may need that. Maybe not, tell me.
Next, I partitioned and formatted it in NTFS for Win 7 with a third-party partition CD. I restored my Win 7 to this HDD, using TeraBite Image for Linux, but when I got to the option of "Write Standard MBR Code," I check marked the box. TeraBite finished restoring Win 7 to my exchanged HDD. I rebooted, and it worked perfectly. Next, I inserted Linux Mint 15, with the "Mint4Win" installer and installed Linux Mint through Windows. It worked. I rebooted and GRUB came up offering me two choices, boot in Win 7 or in Linux Mint. I was happy to a point, but I looked at the HDD under both Windows and Linux, both OS showed only ONE partition. Where did Linux go when it installed through Windows? It works, but there is no visible partition. Is this normal? I was concerned because the HDD was formatted in NTFS, but I don't know how a Windows installer like Mint4Win works. I ran Gparted and it also shows one partition, but both OS seem to work. What's up with that? Did I discover a work around or is this a freak show?

I have no idea what is going on with your computer. I checked my HP that I bought, a while back, and dual booted ubuntu and windows 8 on, and I did use the settings that you just described. However, my computer does have two partitions, not just one.

Have you tried getting into your file system in windows explorer to see what is going on? You might want to get into the filesystem in Mint as well.

Nbiser

I know that the wubi.exe installed, which is deprecated, would create a folder on the C: drive of Window's rather than creating a partition. So I don't believe you would see a partition, but I've never used the Mint4Win.

If you can remove the install that you did through the mint4win installer then do that, then partition the HDD under Window's using the 'Disk Manager' and then live boot the Mint OS and try and install it through the Live Boot. But, I prefer Ubuntu over Mint since it seems to be more user friendly and has "better" support as far as drivers and working out of the box goes.

I hate to hear that it didn't work, but you did right by enabling Legacy Boot, but if you want you can try and live boot Ubuntu with EFI, so disable Legacy and try to use gdisk. I don't usually use Gparted because it has never really worked well for me, but I do like gdisk.

We will first install gdisk, so type:
Let it install and when it's finished type:
[code]sudo gdisk /dev/sda (assuming you plugged in the HDD that was giving you problems)
(It may ask if you want to use the GPT or MBR, use the GPT.)
o
y
n
enter
enter
enter
enter (if you want a linux FS)
w

That will create a new GPT disk with a new primary partition.

Then you should be on your way!

Live boot Ubuntu with EFI enabled, and try and re-insatll to the new GPT disk on /dev/sda1. Be sure to use "Something Else" in the installer.

Good luck,
Chris

Mint4Win is Wubi renamed
 

BTW, the Linux Mint Windows Installer, Mint4win, is Wubi, the Ubuntu Windows Installer, repackaged and renamed for Mint. Thanks for letting me know what Wubi (Mint4Win) did, that is, make a folder instead of a partition. How it accesses GRUB is interesting, but it is no wonder I've read that some people do not like the Wubi installer. I'm at work and I'll try your other suggestion tonight.
Cheers from Las Vegas

WUBI on EFI
 

I recently deleted my Ubuntu partitions from what was a triple boot computer. The plan was to replace two distros with one more current distro.

I have no idea what happened, but I cannot get the USB installation flash drives, even the same ones that did the previous installations, to boot.

In an act of desperation to get Ubuntu back on this computer, I tried WUBI Precise. The "ubuntu" folder installed, and the "ubuntu" entry appeared in the Windows start menu (Windows 10 with a Legacy menu), but I get an error message regarding the wubildr file.

I also tried the tweaked WUBI installer from Hakuna Matata.

I now have to use Grub2Win instead of GRUB. I tried a menuentry there and when it runs it gives an error message that it can't find the disks.

I also used another computer to install Ubuntu Zesty on a flash drive and Frankensteined the GRUB2 code from that computer to the other, but it always stalls after the flash screen (ubuntu with five dots) appears.

I've wasted a weekend on this, and before I give up on the idea, I thought I'd ask here.
Is it at all possible to get the Precise WUBI installation to run on an EFI drive with Win10?
Any suggestions as to what menuentry would get the USB Zesty installation to boot?

Hi gunghang.

Can you please start a new thread in Linux - Newbies with this rather than add it on to the end of an old thread. Aspects may have changed in three years and your problem will in all probability be different.

Include some information on your hardware and, specifically, mention if you are using a nVidia card.

Steer clear of Wubi and Precise - both out-of-date.

Wubi is not expected to work with windows 8 or 10, per the Ubuntu Wubi Guide site below. That page explains that you will be able to install but it will NOT boot.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide

Thank you both.

I'll post a new thread.

I won't try WUBI. I'll concentrate on the getting the Zesty installed on a USB flash drive to boot on a second computer.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my idiotic problems.