So i'm trying to install Ubuntu on my laptop, it seems to work fine until it tries to install grub. I haven't seen progress the past hour and this is the second attempt.
I'm trying to install 13.10, using a Linux Live USB. I don't care about the contents of the laptop.
I've been trying to find instructions about installing grub before starting the installation, hoping that would solve my issues, but I came up empty.
Laptop is 2 years old, it used to run dual-boot windows 7 and Ubuntu. I'm now doing a fresh install of just Ubuntu.
I hope anyone knows how I can find out why it is happening.
Best Answer
During the installation, there's a way to skip installing grub. Look at the "Device for boot loader installation" dropdown.
Instead of choosing the entire device "/dev/sda", choose the partition you'll install Ubuntu, such as: "/dev/sda1"
If you choose "dev/sda", you're supposed to rewrite the boot record for the entire drive, which I believe is what's your issue is all about.
But when you choose "dev/sda1" (or sda2,sda3...) you get to place the boot flag at the beginning of the partition, not the entire drive. That does not make you go for a change in your bootloader. In other words, you place a boot flag as a "subtitle" to your pre-existing bootloader.
After you apply the fix, if you ever want to switch to Grub2 for any reason, use the Ubuntu Boot Repair disk: Ubuntu Boot Repair
If all else fails, try to "rewrite your MBR" because during your uninstallation of Windows, its boot sector may have accidentally remained there. Since you are doing a fresh install of Ubuntu, this may stand as the final option since there's a small chance that Ubuntu failed to handle your Windows partition's boot flags correctly.