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I am fairly new to linux and want to know the system better. I attempted to install Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS on my computer, but got a couple of issues.

Some background:

I have Windows 10 installed on a 256GB M.2 nvme which I run on a daily basis along with a 1TB HDD for general storage. My motherboard (ASUS Prime Z270-A) has an additional M.2 slot, so I figured I could install Ubuntu there and run both OS. This way, I could select a specific drive during boot. Note that my goal was to keep my Linux and Windows systems separate.

In summary:

500GB nvme0n1 - Ubuntu 18.04

256GB nvme1n1 - Windows 10

1TB sda - General storage

What I did:

I downloaded the Ubuntu iso and set it up in a USB then proceeded for the installation. Since the 500GB drive was blank I started a new partition table with the following:

• / type ext4 with 65GB

• /home type ext4 with 200 GB

• I left 235GB unallocated for future use

For the different partitions, I read that these two and /swap are really the only thing you need. You’ll notice that I did not include a /swap partition. This is because I have 16GB of RAM and I have never come close to using it all. Now if this was a bad choice, I welcome criticism.

Disk Partitions

My goal was to leave my entire Windows system intact and so I wanted to install GRUB on the Ubuntu drive (i.e. the 500GB nvme0n1), which you can see is my selection on the picture above (I triple checked this when installing). After this, I proceeded with the installation. Note that the 1TB HDD was disconnected from the motherboard during this time to protect my files from anything weird. After a “successful” installation, the computer boots, GRUB shows up and gives me the choice to boot either Ubuntu or Windows.

GRUB

I select Ubuntu and it just gets stuck on the following screen:

Stuck screen

Something that I noticed (and I am not sure if it could be a separate thing) is that GRUB seems to have been installed on the 256GB nvme… As you can see below (M1 is the 256GB and M2 is the 500GB. Sorry for the picture quality…):

Boot Menu

Any idea on what could be causing Ubuntu to get stuck? And why did GRUB get installed on my Windows nvme?

I have been using the Windows side for a couple of days without issues but I really wanted to keep things separate. Is there a way to move GRUB to the other drive? If not, I guess it is not the end of the world, but it will bother me forever…

Let me know if I can provide any more information that might be useful. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Marco Nunez
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  • Windows 10 should be installed in UEFI boot mode. But users can install in the 35 year old BIOS/MBR configuration. But to install Ubuntu in UEFI mode, drive should be gpt partitioned and an ESP - efi system partition. Generally Ubuntu's grub will want to install to first drive, usually sda or first NVMe drive. You then must have an ESP on that drive, also. Best to use gpt and have an ESP as first partition for all new drives, even data drives, so later you could add a small install. http://askubuntu.com/questions/743095/how-to-prepare-a-disk-on-an-efi-based-pc-for-ubuntu swap not required now. – oldfred May 19 '19 at 23:17
  • What video card/chip? You may need nomodeset boot parameter if nVidia. Asus Prime Z270-A Ethernet patch https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2351572 Older but otherwise similar: – oldfred May 19 '19 at 23:23
  • @oldfred Thank you for the tip. Would you suggest to wipe entirely the Ubuntu drive and perform a new install with the additional partitions you suggested? If I did that, would it remove grub from my Windows drive? Or how can I remove it safely? Also, I have a GTX 1060 NVIDIA card – Marco Nunez May 19 '19 at 23:44
  • Before deleting anything or reinstalling boot with your live USB and run boot-repair: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1104855/how-to-make-grub-menu-appear-instead-grub-minimal-bash-like-in-booting/1105737#1105737 – WinEunuuchs2Unix May 20 '19 at 00:02
  • Boot-Repair uses bootinfoscript for first part of report and that has not yet been updated to correctly include NVMe drives. Some data is there, but some then is missing. Another user posted an update to bootinfoscript. It would be a good test if his fix works if you would run that and manually post to a pastebin site. https://github.com/arvidjaar/bootinfoscript/issues/5 See post by baedacool. – oldfred May 20 '19 at 02:24

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