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When I try to install Ubuntu (or any other distro, I've tried Manjaro, Pop!_OS, Debian and Fedora), I get an error with GRUB telling me either that there is not enough space to copy on the ESP in the case of Manjaro, Pop!_OS, etc.., or simply that there is a fatal error in the case of Ubuntu. The system I'm trying to install on is a Dell Vostro 5515 with Bitlocker and Secure boot disabled, a 1.3GB ESP (huge I know, but installers told me there wasn't enough space to copy, so I gave it more...). My CPU is a Ryzen 7 5700U and my current partition layout looks as follows:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/ClP3r.png

My disk is using a GPT partition table and Windows is installed in UEFI mode, as can be seen by the presence of the ESP.

lamitron
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  • Space issue may not be ESP, but UEFI memory? Have you updated UEFI. Check entries with sudo efibootmgr -v Or you may need chkdsk (if Windows) or dosfsck to repair ESP. https://askubuntu.com/questions/862724/grub2-failed-to-install/86587z682#865872 And make sure Windows fast start up is off. That may be "locking" ESP also. – oldfred Jul 01 '21 at 22:51
  • @oldfred I did check efibootmgr -v; it shows just 3 entries, one for Windows Boot manager, and two for network boot. I've updated the firmware to the latest version. Could you elaborate more on chkdsk? Thanks. – lamitron Jul 01 '21 at 22:56
  • @oldfred If I don't have enough space in my EFI memory, might a solution be to remove the network boot entries and EFI dumps? Fast startup is off also. – lamitron Jul 01 '21 at 23:20
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    If only the three entries that should not be the issue. But there have also been some UEFI where they have a security setting to prevent writes. You may want to review your manual and see what settings it has. With Windows you have to mount the ESP as Windows does not normally mount it and then you can run chkdsk. Do not know details. You can just run the dosfsck command from Ubuntu live installer in live mode. – oldfred Jul 02 '21 at 03:30

1 Answers1

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Ok, I at long last found the issue, and it's that Dell laptops use what I think is a non-standard way to load EFI binaries as boot options, and on top of that, I think they use a 'hidden EFI system partition', from what I've heard. The steps I took to overcome this were simply to reinstall Windows from a USB stick, so that it created an ESP on the disk as opposed to wherever Dell keeps it by default.

Another option I think may be possible is to ntfsresize the Windows partition and create an EFI system partition along with your bootloader of choice, then, in the Dell UEFI/BIOS add the .efi file as a boot option (in the case of GRUB on ubuntu it will be at /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi, or just EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi from the BIOS. I am, however, unsure whether GRUB will fail to install still on a distro such as Arch as it will be unable to write to the UEFI boot order with efibootmgr.

Hope this helps anyone else with a Dell laptop struggling to dual boot!

lamitron
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  • Do you still have this laptop? I'm thinking about getting one to use as a Linux workstation. Would you recommend it? Any issues? – Scott Deagan Nov 02 '21 at 14:28
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    I do still have this laptop, and I can highly recommend it - I've had no significant problems running any distro. – lamitron Nov 06 '21 at 22:27