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My computer already has two pre-installed OSes: Windows 7 and a customized Linux distro. Both are in UEFI mode. GRUB is already installed too.

I'm trying to install Kubuntu 14.10 alongside these two installations. To do so, I created a bootable USB stick with LiLi and booted from it in the Boot Menu. Everything is fine until the "Disk Setup" step (note: I choose "Manual" partitioning).

I create a new 100 GB ext4 partition using the free space (~ 250 GB) and set the mount point to "/". Then, when I click "Continue", I get the following error:

The partition table format in use on your disks normally requires you to create a separate partition for boot loader code. This partition should be marked for use as a "Reserved BIOS boot area" and should be at least 1 MB in size. Note that this is not the same as a partition mounted on /boot.

If you do not go back to the partitioning menu and correct this error, boot loader installation may fail later, although it may still be possible to install the boot loader to a partition.

I'm stuck here.

  1. Is the "Reserved BIOS boot area" the same as an EFI partition?
  2. If so, since there are already two OSes installed, it should already exists, right? I do not see such a partition but there is a partition called "free space" at the beginning of the disk which is 1 MB in size.
  3. Is it possible that this "free space" is actually the EFI partition?
  4. If I mark this partition for use as "Reserved BIOS boot area", would it solve the problem?

EDIT: the 1 MB "free space" partition is indeed an EFI partition, however I still don't know how to fix my problem.

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  • If it is asking for a bios_grub partition you are installing in BIOS boot not UEFI boot mode. Better to install in UEFI boot mode. How you boot install media is how it installs. First partition should start at sector 2048, which does leave about 1MB at beginning of drive. But that is so newer 4K and SSD drives work better. Also make backup or just copy efi partition to another drive. Not sure if in efi partition, you get a new folder kubuntu or if it overwrites the current ubuntu folder. Either way you should from grub be able to boot either install, but not both from UEFI menu unless unique.
    – oldfred
    Dec 24, 2014 at 17:02
  • Actuallmy, the Windows Disk Manager sees that 1 MB partition as an EFI partition. However, when I select "UEFI Native" as boot mode in the UEFI Boot Options (available options are: "Legady", "UEFI Hybrid (With CSM)", "UEFI Native (Without CSM)"), Windows won't boot anymore (black screen). The Linux distro boots without any problem. Should I select "UEFI Native" to install Kubuntu (to make sure the USB stick boots in UEFI mode) and then change it back to "UEFI Hybrid" when I'm done?
    – GuiTeK
    Dec 25, 2014 at 12:47
  • 1MB cannot be an efi partition or not a working efi partition. Windows uses 100MB as its standard and we suggest 300 to 500MB for future use. Best to see what partitions you have post this above. 'sudo parted -l'
    – oldfred
    Dec 25, 2014 at 15:27

1 Answer 1

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Something is confused here. You do not need this "Reserved BIOS Area" Normally. A 1Mb empty space is normally created before or after partitions because of partition padding, it has nothing to do with booting.

  • Are you using MBR or GPT partition table? It should be GPT.
  • Is the medium you are trying to install from, UEFI-compatible and is it actually booting in UEFI mode? For example, my Ubuntu USB stick is represented by 2 lines in F8 menu: "Verbatim" and "UEFI Verbatim"
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  • What's the difference between the two (grub?) entires on your USB, an added boot option for UEFI?
    – Xen2050
    Dec 25, 2014 at 14:31
  • Yes. And it is not mine, it is how standard Ubuntu ISO presents itself. Dec 25, 2014 at 18:25
  • I didn't see it on the Xubuntu lts iso. Do you know what the extra/different option(s) are?
    – Xen2050
    Dec 25, 2014 at 19:17

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