I have Win8 on my desktop, where a 120G SSD is used to run windows and some select applications, while I have a 2TB HDD to provide basic file storage and where possible, install applications instead of on the SSD.
I want to install Ubuntu on a new partition of the HDD (I allocated 300GB, with 5GB swap file).
I've used a USB to install the OS, which seemed to have done the job. However, after prompting for a restart, I can no longer boot to ubuntu.
During instillation I was confused about where to install the "boot loader instillation". I ended up selecting "/dev/stb" because I figured I would be able to boot with BIOS by selecting the HDD drive as a priority over the SSD.
The bootloader is a large part of where I think I went wrong.
My partition system looked something like this:
/dev/sta ... //SSD ~120 GB
/dev/sta1 NTFS (350 MB) //Win8System
/dev/sta2 NTFS (118 GB) //Win8C-Drive
/dev/stb ... //HDD ~2TB
/dev/stb1 NTFS (1563 GB) //FileStorage
/dev/stb5 Free Space (300 GB) //Space I want to use for Linux
(NOTE: Created two partitions from the 300GB, ~5GB and 295GB. stb5,stb6.)
It'd be great if I could get an explanation of what drive you'd select for the boot loader and why, and what selections won't work with regards to the Boot Loader Instillation. I think I understand what Grub is, but I have no idea on how to use it, or play around with it.
I seem to be able to get back into OS from my usb, however I believe it's just showing me a preview/trial of Ubuntu (ie, can't access any of the system NTFS drives). Note, if I try to install from the USB again, it will recognize that a version of Ubuntu 13.10 exists on the system.
Apologies in advance, have used windows all my life, don't really know to much about Linux at all. Did have a brief skim over some similar questions, didn't find anything too useful. - Where to install bootloader when installing Ubuntu as secondary OS? - ubuntu 12.10 dual boot with windows 8 on two hdds - Dual-boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu on two SSDs with UEFI
EDIT: Found Solution
Turns out, after I attempted to re-installing once more, that what was required was to create the root partition (~295GB) as a primary
partition instead of the default selected Logical
. It wouldn't recognize a logically formatted root partition.
All working now, I'm typing this from Ubuntu as we speak. (Yipeee!)
EDIT: Clarification
I still left the boot loader instillation specified to '/stb', and now I can use the BIOS to boot from the SSD or the HDD interchangeably. Very handy.
I still require an explanation as to why:
- Using a Logical partition would not be recognised the system's BIOS (I have an ASUS H-87 Pro Mobo).
- What would be different if I changed my boot loader instillation instead to '/sta'? Would I no longer directly boot into Windows, and instead use the Grub interface every time?
- Is there a preferred place to install the boot loader instillation? Clarifying that specifying volumes such as '/sta1' or '/stb5' would not allow you to load the OS?