I want to install 64bit Ubuntu on my PC which is already running Windows 10. The problem is, Ubuntu installer is neither detecting the windows installation nor the partitions I've made on my hard disk using windows. The installer shows an empty hard disk (no partitions) where I can install Ubuntu. Im afraid if I continue to install I might break the existing partitions and lose my files.
But the partition manager "Gparted" is showing all the existing partitions correctly. Only the installer is not able to detect the partitions. Is this issue occurring because I'm running Windows in legacy mode?
I took the following steps before trying to install Ubuntu:
- Created free space of 15GB on my hard drive
- Disabled fast boot (and couldn't disable secure boot since I'm running windows in legacy)
- Made a bootable USB drive for Ubuntu installation using "rufus".
And UEFI boot is already enabled in the boot manager.
EDIT:
Here is the output of sudo parted /dev/sda print
and sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda
$ sudo parted /dev/sda print
Error: Can't have overlapping partitions.
Ignore/Cancel? Ignore
Model: ATA ST500LT012-9WS14 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 106MB 85.1GB 85.0GB primary ntfs boot
2 1016kB 500GB 500GB extended lba
5 1049kB 106MB 105MB logical ntfs
6 85.1GB 280GB 195GB logical ntfs
7 296GB 500GB 204GB logical ntfs
$ sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.1
Partition table scan:
MBR: MBR only
BSD: not present
APM: not present
GPT: not present
***************************************************************
Found invalid GPT and valid MBR; converting MBR to GPT format
in memory.
***************************************************************
Disk /dev/sda: 976773168 sectors, 465.8 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): E5565EE3-A718-45F1-9D21-1AE3D5CA64F7
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 976773134
Partitions will be aligned on 16-sector boundaries
Total free space is 31465523 sectors (15.0 GiB)
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 206848 166189951 79.1 GiB 0700 Microsoft basic data
5 2048 206847 100.0 MiB 0700 Microsoft basic data
6 166192000 547473337 181.8 GiB 0700 Microsoft basic data
7 578930736 976769071 189.7 GiB 0700 Microsoft basic data
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda
GPartEd complains I have overlapping partitions. Is that a problem?
Best Answer
Here's the source of your problem, from your
parted
output:Your disk's one primary partition (
/dev/sda1
) resides entirely within your extended partition (/dev/sda2
). This is illegal. This invalid layout was probably created by the Windows partitioning tools, which often do this sort of thing with disks that have extended and logical partitions.Chances are my FixPart utility, which comes with Ubuntu, can fix the problem; however, you must be careful about how you go about doing this repair. Specifically:
Also, although you note that UEFI boot is specified in your firmware, your disk layout clearly indicates a BIOS-mode installation of Windows. When dual-booting, it's almost always best to ensure that both OSes boot in the same mode, so you should install Ubuntu in BIOS mode. Note that the boot mode (BIOS/CSM/legacy vs. EFI/UEFI) specified in the firmware is often interpreted as more of a suggestion than a command, which is why you can have a BIOS-mode boot even when you've set EFI-mode booting in the firmware.
As an alternative to some of this, you might consider converting Windows to boot in EFI mode, as described in this blog post. With Windows booting in EFI mode from a GPT disk, you needn't be concerned with primary/extended/logical partition issues, since GPT doesn't recognize that distinction. It's usually easier to ensure a consistent EFI-mode boot in a dual-boot configuration than to set up both OSes in BIOS mode, too. (See this page of mine for more on this subject.) If you go this route, it's probably safest to fix the current disk setup with FixParts as a first step; however, if you put off resizing partitions until after the MBR-to-GPT configuration, FixParts will become unnecessary.