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Subject

I am trying to install Ubuntu 14.04 from a dvd. I used to have 14.04, but I updated to 14.10, however, I found that 14.10 doesn't play well with my Radeon graphics card.

Steps I have taken

I downloaded the 14.04 ISO from http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

I burned the ISO onto a DVD

When I restart my computer, the installer loads up.

I am able to:

  • Select my language and click "Install Ubuntu"
  • connect to my WIFI network
  • Tell Ubuntu to install additional updates

Problem

When I get to the screen with the partition table, the table is blank.

The field below it that says "Device for boot loader install:" is filled in with /dev/sda and no other options are available.

If I click continue I get an error saying "No root partition is defined" (duh) and If I click one of the +/-/change buttons, the page basically becomes unresponsive, although I can move the mouse.

Here's a picture of my file system setup, at this point I have completely wiped my drive and just have one partition:enter image description here

I looked at this tutorial and the install process is identical to mine, except mine completely skips step 5. This must be causing the problem

Clicking the "Try Ubuntu" option does work as expected.

I have checked the disk for errors and there were none.

I have done a memory test and no errors were found.

I also performed a secure erase on my hard drive, thinking it might fix the problem. It did not.

I have tried many different partitioning schemes using many different partitioning tools from the live CD. nothing seems to work.

When the application crashes, there is a stack trace, but I cant copy the text. The best I can do is a partial screen shot:

enter image description here

Similar Questions

I found a similar question here, but it didn't yield and useful answers.

Community
  • 1
Luke
  • 181
  • It looks like Ubuntu is your only operating system that you use. In that case why not delete all partitions and then let the Ubuntu install disk set up the boot partition along with the fresh install? – jbrock Jan 31 '15 at 16:37
  • how would I go about doing that? – Luke Jan 31 '15 at 16:41
  • Normally when the install disk boots it gives the option to install alongside or replace. I would just pick replace. Of course this deletes all data from the previous install. If this does not work, you can go to try out Ubuntu. Then go to gparted. From there you can delete or change any partitions. – jbrock Jan 31 '15 at 16:47
  • it does not give me those options, perhaps it happens at the next install step(the one I cant get to). – Luke Jan 31 '15 at 16:49
  • That is interesting because I only have arrived at the partitions table after I have selected "Something else." https://assets.ubuntu.com/sites/ubuntu/latest/u/img/download/desktop/install-ubuntu-desktop/image-installdesktoplongtermsupport-4.jpg – jbrock Jan 31 '15 at 16:52
  • I am pretty sure the install disk will have gparted on it. If it does not you can create a gparted disk. – jbrock Jan 31 '15 at 16:53
  • I do not get that screen. I selected try ubuntu and started gparted. There are no partition tables available in it (it just says I have a bunch of unallocated space) – Luke Jan 31 '15 at 16:55
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – jbrock Jan 31 '15 at 17:03

1 Answers1

3

This was caused by two things. Sometimes, when using a DVD doesn't work, you should try booting with a USB instead, it is faster as well.

The second problem I had was that there was RAID metadata that resided on the hard drive. which was preventing Ubiquity from finding it.

So, to fix these problems:

  • Boot from a live USB
  • Select "Try Ubuntu without installing."
  • Once booted, open up a terminal.
  • Clear meta data with the following command: sudo dmraid -Er /dev/sda (If your hard drive isn't located at /dev/sda then replace that argument with the location of your hard drive. You can use gparted to figure this out)
  • Type y when prompted to confirm.
  • Proceed with your install!
Luke
  • 181
  • Is it a problem the following sentence? Do you really want to erase "isw" ondisk metadata on /dev/sda ? – Boris Valderrama Aug 22 '19 at 04:25
  • @luke The problem is, neither the Gparted nor Ubuntu recognize that there is an internal hard disk. So the command mentioned above didn't worked. – Pranav Apr 15 '21 at 09:21