1

I'm trying to install Lubuntu 20.10 alongside Windows 7 Ultimate. Created a bootable USB with rufus and loaded Lubuntu without issues. Then started the installation and opted for Manual Partition option for installation. The partition looks as below before partitioning: before partitioning

Then I created new partitions using the Free Space as below: at partition

The summary of installation looks as below: summary

While the bootloader is installed, it shows the error as below: enter image description here

Disabled "Secure Boot" in BIOS and tried installation again with "Replace a partition" option. Installation failed with the below error: enter image description here

When I tried installing with "Manual Partition" method, it shows the below alert. Ignored and continued. Lubuntu installed successfully but doesn't boot. Every time Windows 7 directly boots without showing the option to boot Lubuntu. enter image description here

Have tried many times with no success so far. I'm totally new to Linux and doesn't know much of command line troubleshooting techniques. Please help me to complete the Lubuntu installation without errors.

Thanks in advance :)

Prashanth JC
  • 121
  • It looks (to me anyway; I don't see an EFI partition) like your windows was installed in BIOS/legacy mode, so why aren't you installing Lubuntu in the same mode? Where you are dual-booting, the two OSes should be installed in the same manner. I also wouldn't have a separate boot partition (Lubuntu isn't a server OS), and why not use swapfile? (if you need swap; you've created such a small swap partition I'd use swapfile as it's easy to change size). Why not install to a single partition (/)? – guiverc Dec 08 '20 at 07:43
  • I tried installing to a single partition with "Manual Partition" process and it showed an error that the OS might not boot at all. Ignored the warning and continued and the same thing happened. Lubuntu installed successfully but it won't boot. Every time Windows 7 boots directly and there is no option to select Lubuntu to boot. Please help :) – Prashanth JC Dec 08 '20 at 11:52
  • For your last "No EFI system partition configured", please refer https://askubuntu.com/questions/1273421/lubuntu-installer-giving-error-after-partition-creation-your-system-may-or-may/1276789#1276789 Are you booting your system in uEFI or BIOS/legacy mode? (what I asked in first comment; Lubuntu should be installed in the same mode as windows 7, or you'll only be able to use a single OS) – guiverc Dec 08 '20 at 11:56
  • How you boot installer, UEFI or BIOS is then how it installs. So you must boot in BIOS mode, not UEFI mode to install in BIOS boot mode. Any mention of ESP - efi system partition is then UEFI. Shows live installer with screen shots. Both BIOS purple accessibility screen & UEFI black grub menu screen 20.10 uses grub for both https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI If using Rufus, you must create live installer in BIOS boot mode (MBR, CSM/BIOS). But Windows 7 is obsolete. And system must be newer UEFI to boot in UEFI mode. Better to convert to UEFI with gpt partitioning. – oldfred Dec 08 '20 at 14:29

2 Answers2

1

Firstly, thanks to @guiverc @pip1726 and @oldfred for all your guidance. It did help me to move in the right path :)

It was almost a weeks' time and finally, I have a working dual-boot machine with Lubuntu 20.10 and Windows 7 Ultimate.

What was the issue?

My HP Pavilion laptop has UEFI support and by default all installation media were booting in UEFI mode only. Also, my HDD was having GPT partitions and hence not allowing me to install in Legacy mode. When installing Windows 7 in UEFI mode, I wasn't able to create a separate UEFI partition (may be it was my mistake for not knowing how to do it and having no patience to research on the internet). Hence decided to install both OS in legacy mode.

Solution:

  1. Backup all data from HDD to external storage device.
  2. Disable secure boot and enable Legacy boot from BIOS.
  3. Convert the HDD from GPT to MBR (all data in the HDD was lost). Created three partitions - two primary for Windows 7 and Lubuntu each and one extended for storage purpose. Used DISKPART for converting GPT to MBR and also partitioning the disk. Some applications claim to convert GPT to MBR without data loss, but need to purchase a license to perform this task. So, I chose to do it with DISKPART itself.
  4. Boot Windows 7 installation DVD in legacy mode and fresh installed it. (While booting, went to the boot options menu [clicking F9 in my laptop]. External devices will be listed twice, once with UEFI in bracket at the end and other without UEFI. By default the one with UEFI was loading. Had to load the one without UEFI, which was actually legacy mode. I wasn't aware of this lol).
  5. Boot Lubuntu 20.10 USB stick in legacy mode (booting in legacy was similar as explained above) and fresh installed it. No errors at all; wow! :D

After installing Windows 7 and Lubuntu 20.10, the Grub menu shows up and allows me 30 seconds by default to choose the OS I like to boot in to. Without any tweaking, the Lubuntu Grub menu recognized and listed Windows 7 OS. All options in the Grub menu are working fine.

Hope this helps someone else who is as lost as I was :)

Prashanth JC
  • 121
0

Before installing, you should go to your BIOS Firmware settings and:

  1. Disable Secure Boot.
  2. Disable Fast Startup.

And as @guiver mentioned. You don't need to create an EFI partition. This is partition is created by Windows when it installs in UEFI mode, but it was installed in Legacy mode. Therefore, it is not needed. You only need to define the root (/) partition and the swap partition.

Also as @guiver mentioned. 1GB of swap is pretty small. A good rule of thumb is to use on swap between 50% and 100% of the amount that you have on RAM.

Welcome to Linux :)

pip1726
  • 151
  • 1
  • 1
  • 12
  • 1
    As you suggested, I tried installing using the "Replace Partition" option without any changes done with HDD partitioning. In BIOS the "Secure Boot" is disabled and "Legacy Boot" is enabled. Installation throws up error which I have updated in my question. Please help :) – Prashanth JC Dec 08 '20 at 11:47
  • You are saying that you can't boot into Lubuntu? Or you are not given the option in a boot menu? If it is the latter, then you should try changing the boot order in BIOS. Put Lubuntu first, then Windows. Ubuntu by default let's you choose which partition to boot to. Windows usually just defaults to itself. – pip1726 Dec 08 '20 at 17:34
  • Also yeah, it seems like you need the EFI partition. Just go ahead and create it. 550MB size is advised. Give it the "boot" flag and mountpoint /boot/efi. – pip1726 Dec 08 '20 at 18:47