I am new to Linux and this is my first time trying to install Ubuntu. Six hours in, and I have not yet succeeded. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
I am trying to install Ubuntu on a partition on my Lenovo Thinkpad, which is already running Windows 7 on a separate partition. I have a liveCD which I burnt using the ISO supplied from Ubuntu. Everything seems to start off smoothly, but about 20 minutes into the installation, I get the message:
executing 'grub-install/dev/mmcblk0' failed. This is a fatal error.
The installer gives me no choice but to exit.
I read that some people had luck changing some options in their BIOS, such as turning off quick boot. Unfortunately my BIOS doesn't give me any options like that. When I got to the boot section, it only offers that I change the priority order.
I've read through many answers online, but they all seem to be for people trying to dual-boot off Windows 8, or for people trying to install Ubuntu fresh with no other OS.
I've also tried using sudo grub-install from the Ubuntu Live Desktop, hoping to manually install grub, but I got this message:
failed to get canonical path of /cow.
I tried using chroot:
sudo mount /dev/sda /mnt
sudo chroot /mnt
sudo update-grub2
But I get the same message still.
I also tried reading the dual-boot guide, as recommended in this answer:
1st-time-install-of-ubuntu-as-dual-boot-on-my-win-7-notebook-now-grub-error
However I did not read anything in that guide that helped me with this problem.
I've heard that some folks had some luck formatting and re-creating the target partition so I am going to do that now, but only because I don't know what else to do.
Is there a way to complete the installation without GRUB and then manually install it later?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.