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I've recently been trying to install Ubuntu 20.4 onto a Windows 10 machine with Dual Boot and ran into some issues I couldn't resolve.

After struggling around a bit, I found out that Ubuntu was booting using BIOS while Windows was running on UEFI (I assume that's why Ubuntu didn't detect Windows?). After several installs using BIOS, of which non was bootable, I configured the motherboard to only support UEFI.

That of itself worked fine and so did booting into the Ubuntu USB. When booting with UEFI however, I am greeted by the GRUB Boot Loader rather than immediately booting into Ubuntu. Thinking nothing of it, I chose the option "Ubuntu" (There is no "Install Ubuntu" option). That resulted in an eternal blank screen, no further information or anything happening. This also applies to the safe graphics option. There does not seem to be any information on this online at all. Curiously enough, in BIOS mode Ubuntu worked just fine with no issues at all.
Fast-, Secure boot and Hiberation are disabled and I ensured that Ubuntu is running in UEFI mode.

From my understanding, the issue is that Ubuntu thinks that, for whatever reason, it's already installed and tries to boot into Ubuntu? Otherwise I cannot explain why there is no "Try Ubuntu" or "Install Ubuntu" option, but rather the "Ubuntu" and "Ubuntu (safe graphics)" options.
A solution that would probably work would be to make Windows BIOS compatible and use Ubuntu with BIOS mode.

I'd like to try and stick to UEFI mode. Any idea why the black screen may occur? I've waited for 15 minutes or so, I am pretty sure it isn't just working in the background or something along those lines.

In case it's relevant, here the hardware:
~ CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
~ GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2070SUPER

I'm not that familiar with Linux (especially not Desktops) so please bear with me here.
Thank you in advance for any ideas or solutions.

Update
Followed this answer to boot with nomodeset and noacpi acpi=off, unfortunately that wasn't helpful either.
Black screen after GRUB selection, boot from USB live

Asmeili
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  • If Windows & hardware is UEFI, you should only install & boot in UEFI mode. You may have a non-working BIOS grub that you should now never try to boot. You need the safe graphics mode to install & choose to install the proprietary drivers, so the nVidia driver is installed. If not installed you need to boot the recovery mode, second grub menu entry & manually install nVidia driver. – oldfred May 25 '21 at 15:02
  • @oldfred I tried using the safe graphics mode, it also results in a black screen. As for the non-working BIOS grub, what exactly does that mean? I burned a new version of the .iso into the USB-Stick again, although that had the same result. – Asmeili May 25 '21 at 16:18
  • Try the newest Ubuntu 21.04 as that has newer kernel & support software. Normally we do suggest users install the LTS versions for longer support. What tool are you using to create live installer. Rufus creates a UEFI only or BIOS only installer. You want UEFI. Most tools create one that can be booted in either mode & you have to select UEFI boot of installer in UEFI boot menu. – oldfred May 25 '21 at 17:13
  • @oldfred Hey, thanks for your help. I tried with Ubuntu 21.4 and it's the same - GRUB works fine, upon choosing Ubuntu, or safe graphics, there is just a black screen with nothing else. In terms of software, I tried Etcher and Rufus. Ultimately going with Rufus because Etcher created errors in files and 2 partitions for UEFI?? On Rufus I use the GPT option and it is normally bootable. Additionally, I disabled any BIOS support in the mobo's settings so I am 100% sure it's using UEFI (the BIOS version works fine). – Asmeili May 25 '21 at 20:37
  • If you get grub menu and use recovery mode, do you get to Ubuntu terminal? Then a video issue. If not, it should show boot process which also is recorded in log files and a few lines above where it stops is probably the issue. Or from live installer mount /var/log of your install and check log files. Others with AMD various versions have had to change UEFI setting for IOMMU, although just saw one user who said he did not change defaults. What brand motherboard? Do you have latest UEFI for that motherboard? – oldfred May 25 '21 at 22:42
  • @oldfred What do you mean with recovery mode? All resources online seem to assume that Ubuntu has to be installed in order to enter recovery mode. However, I am able to enter the grub command line (by pressing c), is it possible to get to the Ubuntu terminal from there? The motherboard is from MSI and I updated the UEFI relatively recently, although I will check for updates and install, if any. Since the BIOS version works, would it be possible to install a BIOS Ubuntu and update it to an UEFI Ubuntu? – Asmeili May 26 '21 at 10:30
  • I thought it was installed and not booting. Not that live installer is not booting. Vendors only have one UEFI. From live installer then you should only use safe mode, but may need other boot parameters. Since you tried a couple try these. Ryzen + Gigabyte installation problem Newer kernels & IOMMU 2017 https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2362773 Some Gigabyte boards need acpi=off boot parameter also – oldfred May 26 '21 at 13:23
  • Sorry for any confusion, Ubuntu is not installed. I tried using safe graphics, acpi=off and noacpi, all unfortunately not producing any output. While playing with "Try Ubuntu" through booting with BIOS, I found out that the "same" black screen occurs if I try to configure 165HZ for the main display, that the UEFI uses. Most likely related to that - I will try to force Ubuntu to use a 60HZ screen (maybe it's auto going with the highest refresh rate?). Otherwise I will just ditch UEFI and convert Windows to BIOS. Afaik there shouldn't be any performance issues with BIOS (aside from boot time)? – Asmeili May 26 '21 at 15:19
  • I normally suggest UEFI. Intel now recommends & some computer manufacturers are now using UEFI class 3 which removes CSM. CSM - UEFI Compatibility Support Module (CSM), which emulates a BIOS mode, only available with secure boot off. Changed to 2021: Intel is planning to end "legacy BIOS" support in their new platforms by 2020 in requiring UEFI Class 3 or higher. http://www.uefi.org/sites/default/files/resources/Brian_Richardson_Intel_Final.pdf & https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht510878-legacy-bios-boot-support-removed-in-lenovo-2020-products – oldfred May 26 '21 at 15:26
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    Did you ever say what brand mother board & if you have latest UEFI? But some issues are common by model, some by vendor. Asus ROG Strix B450 UEFI update worked https://askubuntu.com/questions/1174679/cant-dual-boot-ubuntu-with-windows-10-in-ryzen-3600?noredirect=1#comment1960921_1174679 Rog Strix B550 Disable IOMMU https://askubuntu.com/questions/1265397/unable-to-install-ubuntu-20-04-lts-via-live-usb-ryzen-5-3600?noredirect=1#comment2141726_1265397 Gigabyte X399 Aorus fixes/fast boot setting for keyboard https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2428618 – oldfred May 26 '21 at 15:33
  • The motherboard a MSI B450M Pro-Vdh Max. The UEFI should be around a year old or so. I will update it (if any updates) and let you know how that worked out. – Asmeili May 26 '21 at 15:38

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Update

An update of the BIOS solved this issue.
I was able to install Ubuntu using UEFI properly, Windows was detected and it's booting correctly.

Thanks for the help.

Asmeili
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