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installed ubuntu on a External HDD, wont boot

first time installation ran after installing it to the HDD from windows and restarted.

but it wont boot after that, it freezes at a purple screen.

i tried to do those update commands in Terminal but i cannot for the life of me get them to work, it keeps saying i dont either have permission to do it, or have permission to write to disk. additionally ive tried to put it in safe GFX mode, ive tried turning networking on but it fails to boot the networking modem.

Please help.

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17
  • possible duplicate of My computer boots to a black screen, what options do I have to fix it?
    – Panther
    Apr 4, 2015 at 23:56
  • same options as the link I gave
    – Panther
    Apr 4, 2015 at 23:56
  • you installed from windows? that's not recommended
    – mchid
    Apr 4, 2015 at 23:56
  • i used the program included on the CD, i dont have any CD's to burn it physically onto, and it wont let me do it from a USB, so i had to run the windows installer for it.
    – Daggerfella
    Apr 4, 2015 at 23:57
  • if you need permission you should use sudo but be carefull
    – mchid
    Apr 4, 2015 at 23:57

1 Answer 1

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Using WUBI is not recommended and it is recommended you install using the CD.

if you installed ubuntu to an external hdd, you probably just need to go into bios and make the external drive the first on the boot order or select boot menu during startup and select the hdd from there

it won't boot because the bootloader (grub) is most likely installed to the hdd instead of the main hard drive so it is not running when you boot. choosing the external hdd as a boot option or setting it first on the bootloader list in bios will fix this problem.

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5
  • 1
    ok ill try it, thx
    – Daggerfella
    Apr 5, 2015 at 0:15
  • which version of ubuntu appears? the one installed on the external device or the one installed using windows?
    – mchid
    Apr 5, 2015 at 0:15
  • @Rcj8993 most computers let you press one of the F buttons to access a boot menu during startup.
    – mchid
    Apr 5, 2015 at 0:17
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    it worked.i just had to install it through the cd and not windows.
    – Daggerfella
    Apr 5, 2015 at 3:49
  • @mchid: he was using wubi... Could you please edit your answer and strongly suggest no one uses wubi any more and use a CD/DVD/USB install??? Please??? (I'll come back and upvote if you leave a comment @ Fabby) ;-)
    – Fabby
    Apr 10, 2015 at 9:28

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