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I am a Windows 10 user and I would like to try Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS. I use Windows 10 to my 595 GB disk 0 (C:) and I wish to install Ubuntu on my empty 595 GB disk 1 (D:). My aim is to select which operating system to use on every startup. Therefore, I shrunk disk disk 1 (D:) and created an unallocated 200.20 GB partition in order to install there Ubuntu. I booted into Ubuntu using a USB Ubuntu bootable drive. In the partitions table, I clicked the 214 gb free space, and chose the following partitions for installation (I haven't made any change or completed the installation yet). 

/dev/sda   TYPE        SIZE    USED    SYSTEM
/dev/sda1  ntfs       209 MB   42 MB  Windows 10
/dev/sda2  ntfs       424 GB  108 MB
/dev/sda5  swap         9 GB
/dev/sda6  ext4/       20 GB
/dev/sda7  ext4/home  185 GB

/dev/sdb
/dev/sdb1  ntfs       639 GB  581 GB 
/dev/sdb2  ntfs       300 GB  448 MB

You can see that I partitioned the free space to /dev/sda5, /dev/sda6 and /dev/sda7.

Questions

  1. How can I know which drives are /dev/sda and /deb/sdb? Since Windows 10 is installed on disk 0 (C:) and having used already 543 GB there, while disk 1 (D:) is empty, I suppose that /dev/sdb is disk 0 (C:) and that /dev/sda is disk disk 1 (D:). Is that correct? Furthermore, as the free space which was in disk 1 (D:) became /dev/sda5, /dev/sda6 and /dev/sda7, I assume again that disk 1 (D:) is /dev/sda. Are my thoughts correct?

  2. a) May someone explain to me what is the device for boot loader? Do I already have such a device? If so, how can I find which it is?

    b) I must choose to select either /dev/sda or /dev/sdb. The installer defaulted to dev/sda. Does it matter which I choose? Will a wrong choice affect my windows installation or files on disk 0 (C:)? Is it possible that I won't be able to boot on Windows 10 if I choose wrong?

  3. In the worst case that something goes wrong with the boot loader installation, can I fix that problem booting from my USB bootable drive or I will have to reinstall Windows 10?

Note: There are similar questions here and here. The first link troubles me, the second link doesn't give details for the boot loader installation, and both links don't answer all my questions.

Thank you in advance for any help!

bing-nagata-smirnov
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  • Warning! Your understanding of Disk Partitioning is flawed, and you run the risk of total confusion. I suggest you read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-on_self-test , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_boot_record , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFI – waltinator Sep 22 '19 at 19:09
  • @waltinator Thank you for your reply, I will check your links. I hope they can answer my questions and help me understand how to resolve these issues. In the meantime, I am still waiting for someone to advise me on which device for boot loader installation to choose: /dev/sda or /dev/sdb? – bing-nagata-smirnov Sep 24 '19 at 04:23
  • normally on /dev/sda, after that ensure that this drive is 1. bootdevice. – nobody Sep 24 '19 at 11:14
  • Thank you @nobody, after a lot of search on the internet, I found someone saying that you should install the the boot loader on the drive that you are installing the new operating system: sdv/sda in my case. So you are the second one implying the same thing. That was helpful! Now it remains to ensure that /dev/sda is disk 1, something I have no idea how to do so. – bing-nagata-smirnov Sep 24 '19 at 12:31
  • You must do this in Bios/Uefi. That thing that start at first, when you poweron your computer. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bios-keys-to-access-your-firmware,5732.html – nobody Sep 24 '19 at 12:37
  • I think that I can see the name of my drives entering Bios, but again I am not sure how I will understand which drive is /dev/sda. – bing-nagata-smirnov Sep 24 '19 at 12:58
  • run sudo lshw -c disk There is a field you can see it. In english product. I f you are unsure show the output, edit your question for that. – nobody Sep 25 '19 at 15:01
  • @nobody Using Windows System Information to find my hard drives names and the command sudo lshw -c disk in Ubuntu trying mode, and comparing the information, I confirmed that /dva/sda is indeed drive 1. Thank you so much for your help! – bing-nagata-smirnov Sep 25 '19 at 20:06
  • Another easier way I found for that is to open any folder in Ubuntu trying mode, and click the section "Other Locations". Τhere you can find your drives and their Ubuntu names. In my case, it shows that Windows 10 drive is /dev/sdb1 and that my second empty drive is /dev/sda2. – bing-nagata-smirnov Sep 25 '19 at 20:14

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