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I tried to perform an installation of Ubuntu 14.04 in a dual boot setup with Windows 8.1 using a LiveUSB.

I selected a 17GB disk to install Ubuntu on. The disk was empty according to Windows, and formatted with FAT32. According to the Ubuntu installation, 33MB of the disk was used though.

Anyway, I selected the option 'something else', as the option to install alongside windows wasn't available (perhaps because the drive has more than four partitions?) and then selected only this 17GB disk, as mount point /, with FAT32.

Then the device needed a lot of time, over two hours, to write the changes to the disk. I hadn't expect it to take so long for just 17GB, and went to bed. I closed the lid of my laptop. When I woke up this morning, the device was still running. However, when I opened the lid, the screen stayed black.

I closed it again and opened it, and then saw some text, like when you start up or shutdown Ubuntu. The text was:

nouveau E[  PDISP] [0000:01:00.0][0xc000907c][ffff880222a2f400] fini: 0xc2061088
nouveau E[  PDISP] [0000:01:00.0][0xc000907c][ffff880222a2f400] failed suspend, -16
nouveau E[    DRM] 0xd1500000:0xd15c7c00 suspend failed with -16
nouveau E[    DRM] 0xdddddddd:0xd1500000 suspend failed with -16
nouveau E[    DRM] 0xffffffff:0xd1500000 suspend failed with -16
nouveau E[    DRM] 0xffffffff:0xffffffff suspend failed with -16
pci_pm_suspend(): nouveau_pmops_suspend+0x0/0xb0 [nouveau] returns -16
dpm_run_callback(): pci_pm_suspend+0x0/0x150 returns -16
PM: Device 0000:01:00.0 failed to suspend async: error -16
PM: Some devices failed to suspend, or early wake event detected

After a second, the screen goes black again. Any time I close and open the lid I see this text (added to the text that was already there from last time), but just for one second.

The special function key to enable/disable the built-in screen doesn't have any effect, nor does ctrl-alt-del or ctrl-shift-esc. I tried connecting an external display, again with no success.

I'm reluctant to power off the device as it was doing something with partitions and don't want to lose my data.

How to get out of this strange mode?

The laptop in question is a Lenovo U410.

  • Try re-installing the Lightdm using the command 'sudo service lightdm restart' and check. – BDRSuite Jan 14 '15 at 11:15
  • @vembutech I don't have a terminal now. I can turn off the computer completely, you mean? And then how do I get a command prompt with the LiveUSB? –  Jan 14 '15 at 11:21
  • I am not sure that any damage has been done, but I don't see how powering off your device could make it worse. You may need to reinstall Ubuntu though. And it is always good practice to have a backup of your data. – Jos Jan 14 '15 at 11:38
  • @Jos Alright, thanks. I shut it down and nothing is lost, the partition table is unchanged. Does the fact that the installation took so long point to me doing something wrong? And shouldn't I see the 'install alongside' option in the first place? –  Jan 14 '15 at 11:59
  • I'm not sure, however you should not be able to install Ubuntu in a FAT32-formatted partition. It needs to be formatted to something like ext4 first. Perhaps the installation got stuck there? Anyway you should at any point in the installation see some kind of progress or animation. If nothing on the screen has moved for a little while, your installation is stuck. – Jos Jan 14 '15 at 12:05
  • @Jos Ah, I see. The guide I used mentioned I should create the partition from within Windows first. I didn't know that after that I should change the filesystem with Ubuntu. So I format the 17GB partition as ext4, and mount it on /? What should the bootloader location be? –  Jan 14 '15 at 12:08
  • Yes to your first question; not sure what is expected as the bootloader location, but I would think that the bootloader should be located on the disk (not partition) that holds the Windows and the Ubuntu partitions. Which is probably the default. – Jos Jan 14 '15 at 12:12
  • @Jos it turns out that the guide I used had a section about the exact partition setup in the troubleshoot section. Anyway, thanks a lot for your help. Perhaps you could write an answer to conclude so that I can show my appreciation? –  Jan 14 '15 at 12:59

1 Answers1

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I am not sure that any damage has been done, but I don't see how powering off your device could make it worse at this point.

You will need to reinstall Ubuntu though. Install it in the 17G partition, which should be formatted as ext4 and with / as the mount point. The bootloader should also go on the disk (not the partition) to let you choose the OS. The guide you mentioned has good points on this in the troubleshooting section.

If properly done the installation should take less than two hours, or at least you should notice some progress or animation.

(compiled from the comments)

Jos
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