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when I install Ubuntu 16.04 with UEFI+ GPT, I feel uncertain! Why I don't select default install? Because it's stupid.

When I create a EFI partition, should I select primary or logic?

When I create a EXT4 partition, should I select primary or logic?

When I create a SWAP partition, should I select primary or logic?

And what's the function of "reserve boot area"?

liaoweizhi
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  • because I want to reserve my data when reinstall ubuntu OS in the future – liaoweizhi Jan 12 '19 at 15:08
  • If using gpt which is highly recommended with UEFI boot, all partitions are primary. There is no extended and logical partitions like with MBR partitioning. You do not need swap partition with newer verisons of Ubuntu as it now uses a swap file. You can only have one ESP - efi system partition per drive. UEFI/gpt partitioning in Advance: http://askubuntu.com/questions/743095/how-to-prepare-a-disk-on-an-efi-based-pc-for-ubuntu – oldfred Jan 12 '19 at 17:24
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    Possible duplicate of My disk already has 4 primary partitions, how can I install Ubuntu? The 4-partition limit no longer exists with disks that use the GUID Partition Table (GPT). GPT supports up to 128 partitions by default and does not include the concepts of primary, extended, or logical partitions (although many tools refer to all GPT partitions as "primary partitions," simply because those tools were written with the older MBR system in mind). – karel Jan 13 '19 at 08:31
  • I try to reinstalled OS，and I chose primay， but it prompt：Force UEFI Installation? This machine’s firmware has started the installer in UEFI mode but it looks like there may be existing operating systems already installed using “BIOS compatibility mode”.......go back or continue “ I click on “continue”，but the install process can‘’t continue，it dead。 – liaoweizhi Jan 15 '19 at 13:58
  • If the two OSs were installed in different modes (BIOS and UEFI), dual booting Windows and Ubuntu can't work Quoted from this answer. – karel Jan 15 '19 at 14:02
  • thank you very much，I understand Why do people call a partition a primary partition，although GPT disk do not have logical partitions or primary partition。. – liaoweizhi Jan 15 '19 at 14:02
  • In BIOS mode >>> What is the difference between Primary Partition and Logical Partition? – karel Jan 15 '19 at 14:06

2 Answers2

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Legacy BIOS has a limitation of 4 primary partitions and 2.2 TB per drive.

With UEFI, this limitation is now 128 primary partitions and 8 ZB (source: Wikipedia).

So you can choose either primary or logic partitions, UEFI will deal with them anyway. On my laptop, I have chosen primary partitions, it sounds proper than logic partitions on the same primary partition.

Regarding to your question about reserved boot area, the only topics I find on it are this one and this one, both quite old. But both give a similar answer, so I'd like to ask: are you 100% sure you boot in UEFI mode and not legacy mode?

FloT
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  • you said that“So you can choose either primary or logic partitions， UEFI will deal with them anyway”。so，I chose logic as the partition type of EFI ，swap and Ext4 ，but it did not work ，it could‘t load OS and the screen dispaly：“can‘t get efi db list ”，then，the screen keep black。 – liaoweizhi Jan 15 '19 at 13:40
  • after that ，I try to reinstalled OS，and I chose primay， but it prompt：Force UEFI Installation? This machine’s firmware has started the installer in UEFI mode but it looks like there may be existing operating systems already installed using “BIOS compatibility mode”.......go back or continue “ I click on “continue”，but the install process can‘’t continue，it dead。 – liaoweizhi Jan 15 '19 at 13:50
  • @liaoweizhi wipe the drive and completely rewrite the partition table(if nothing else is present on it) and attempt to reinstall. If other partitions are present on the drive, then try to delete the partitions that the Ubuntu installer made(after backing up all important data) and retry the installer. Sometimes these installers can glitch, – spark Jan 15 '19 at 14:03
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    haha,I erased all the data on my hard drive.，and I installed Ubuntu successfully。 Thank you again。 – liaoweizhi Jan 16 '19 at 09:40
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It really doesn't matter, as UEFI has a very high partition limit and a logical partition is not really required. A logical partition is really a workaround for the legacy BIOS, which only allowed for 4 partitions on one drive. It essentially created a "master partition", which looked like one big partition to the BIOS, which would have many smaller partitions under it. However, as UEFI has a much higher limit at 128 partitions, unless you intend to create that many partitions, I suggest using primary so as to not add complexity to your installation.

spark
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