Ubuntu Installation
 

Hi,

I am currently trying to install Ubuntu 10.10 after using VMWare I decided to try a full install, I created a virtual partition as I currently had Windows XP Professional installed. I want to keep this for a some of the things I have on it but want to install Ubuntu alongside it.

I have created a CD to install from and when I start to install it says I do not have enough memory free I don't have more than 2.3GB of free space. The drive I want to install onto is the E: drive but for some reason it does not seem to allow me to do anything as it says I dont have the 2.3 GB of free space anyone any ideas?

The drive is formatted for NTFS not sure if this matters? Which is better NTFS or FAT32?

Thanks for any help greatly appreciated.

Can you please specify what you want to do?
Do you want to install Ubuntu using the Wubi installer, or will you dedicate space on your disk for a "real" dual-boot scenario?
If you want to use Wubi, Ubuntu will install itself in a container-file. In this case you have to use NTFS, because FAT32 does not support files bigger than 4GB.

I want to do a real dual boot. How do i do this?

Delete the partition you want to dedicate for Ubuntu, then boot from the CD and install Ubuntu. When it comes to partitioning let Ubuntu use the free space on the device (be careful that you choose the right options). It will create all partitions it needs in the free space.

And as always, before doing anything, backup your important data.

I still have over 30GB of free space even with this other partition but for some reason Ubuntu seems to say I dont have over 2GB and I cant understand why? My only thinking was that it was only looking at the C: as it is only 4GB in size and has stuff on it which i dont think I can delete. Any ideas?

How do you actually start the install? Do you start it under Windows, or do you boot from the CD?

I am booting from the CD, I restart the computer and get no options it just brings up the installation? I think I have done this correct. It seems strange as I have created a 30GB FAT32 partition with nothing on it, I have 35.66GB unallocated space. I also have a primary partition which is 3.57GB NTFS (the 3.57GB says System next to it) and 2 Logical drives, 133.10GB and 30.28GB both NTFS (the 133.10GB partition says boot next to it).

For some reason I have 2 copies of Windows XP professional on the computer, one works fine and the other I did not activate as I cant even remember how it got there as this is an old machine. Hope this helps if you need any other info just let me know. I have tried everything I can think of

If you put in the CD and boot from it, you should at first get a screen were you are asked for your language ( I think, last Ubuntu installation was few months ago). After a short time of booting from the CD, you should be asked if you want to test Ubuntu or install it. Choose the install option and follow the instructions.
If you do not boot from the CD, but are straight going into Windows, you have to set up your BIOS to boot from CD first.

I am definitely booting from the CD just now then just have no luck with it for some reason! I tried the same thing a few months back and decided to leave it alone for a while due to doing coursework etc for University but now I want to get it working. Thanks for the help, hopefully get it working soon

Did you have the CD mailed to you from Canonical?
Did you download it from the internet? If so, did you run the md5checksum to verify the download? (should be instructions on how to on the ubuntu download page), did you burn the downloaded iso file as an image?, burn at a slow speed?
How much RAM do you have?
Neither ntfs nor fat32 are Linux filesystems and when you ever get to the point in the installation, you need to select a Linux filesystem such as ext3, ext4, etc.
GParted is usually good about detecting filesystems so other than the above possibilities, I don't know what the problem could be.

I burned the ISO file to a disc. I have 1GB of RAM, I did not run the md5checksum but will have a look on the website and find how to do this. I downloaded from the Ubuntu download page before burning the file to a disc. I will delete the partition and leave it as unallocated space and also do the md5checksum hopefully this solves the problem.

Thought this was going to be the easy part getting it installed!

It usually is. Like anything, if you haven't done it before it's not as easy.
Make certain you burn the iso file as an image. You should have that option somewhere with whatever burning software you use.

I am sure that this is what I done but I will try burning the file to another disc and see if this works but I have more than enough free space so cant see why it still doesnt allow me to install as I have so much free space available. If anybody else has any other ideas they are more than welcome.

I also have a puppy linux disc which I have managed to boot just now and I am using that to create 2 partitions a 19.9GB ext2 and a 36.17GB ext2 both primary partitions. Maybe this will allow Ubuntu to see the free space it is my only hope just now.

ok not sure if this helps but I am running Ubuntu from the disc that I wanted to install from, the same way I did from Puppy Linux. I have started GParted on both, however Puppy Linux shows all my drives and partitions but Ubuntu does not show any of my drives or partitions? Is there anyway I can use either command line or anything to check the discs exist on Ubuntu, not sure of the commands?

Open a terminal in Ubuntu and try these commands separately: sudo fdisk -l; sudo parted -l (lower case letter L in both)