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I am trying to install ubuntu-14.04.3 on my system which already has windows 10 installed (upgraded from Windows 8.1).

I can boot into ubuntu from a bootable USB drive. However when I try to install it I do not see the option to install ubuntu along with windows. I've found out that this is due to windows partition not being accessible due to windows going into hibernation when shut down.

As per the various guides on the internet I have disabled fast start-up from windows and checked that my BIOS is Legacy. The hibernation option is not available in windows. So why would ubuntu complain about mounting windows partition being unsafe? Is this a problem on windows side? I can mount the partition in read only mode but that still doesn't solve the missing dual mode installation option problem.

Is there anything that I can do here to solve this problem?

abhink
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  • If originally Windows 8 then it was UEFI, not legacy. And you really need to install in UEFI boot mode. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI and: Also shows Windows 8 screens or similar Windows 10 http://askubuntu.com/questions/221835/installing-ubuntu-on-a-pre-installed-uefi-supported-windows-8-system IF UEFI with gpt partitioning the 4 primary MBR partitions do not apply. Fast start up/hibernation off: http://askubuntu.com/questions/145902/unable-to-mount-windows-ntfs-filesystem-due-to-hibernation – oldfred Apr 03 '16 at 14:21
  • I did upgrade to windows 10 from windows 8.1 but I don't believe I have a UEFI based system. As per these instructions I can see the following entry in the setupact.log: Detected boot environment: BIOS. Also, system information lists BIOS mode as legacy. – abhink Apr 03 '16 at 19:02
  • I also tried to change the boot mode to UEFI from the BIOS but once I do that the system wont start (No bootable device is found error). So I can only access windows in legacy mode. Other than that when I tried to install ubunti 15.10, I got the warning that ubuntu installation would be in UEFI and there is another system that is in legacy mode. Is there any way to install ubuntu in BIOS mode? – abhink Apr 03 '16 at 19:53
  • If system was sold as Windows 8, Microsoft required vendor to use UEFI/gpt. But what has happened since is unknown. Best to see details, then. Post the link to the Create BootInfo summary report. Is part of Boot-Repair: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Info If drive is MBR partitioned then you can install Ubuntu in BIOS boot mode. But Windows does not correctly convert a gpt partitioned drive to MBR partitioning, and then Linux installer sees both MBR & gpt and will only offer to erase drive. It can be fixed, if that issue. – oldfred Apr 03 '16 at 20:34
  • Thanks for the suggestions. Fixed the issue by setting the BIOS as legacy. – abhink Apr 04 '16 at 20:51

2 Answers2

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So if I understand correctly you are trying to install Ubuntu on a hard disk that already has Windows installed on it but the Windows partition isn't showing up when running the Ubuntu installer?

Check your hard disk partitions. You can only have 4 primary partitions on a basic HDD. A typical Windows install has 1 partition for its system files, 1 for its c: drive and user directories, and 1 recovery partition. This leaves you one remaining partition on which to install Ubuntu. Ubuntu typically at minimum format 2 partitions when installing; a / partition for its root dir and a /swap partition. If this is the case and there are not enough unused partitions or enough space remaining on an unused partition to install Ubuntu, this install will be impossible on one basic disk.

If this sounds like your problem. Try removing the Windows recovery partition (should probably copy these files to somewhere else first in case you need them later or don't want the dual boot disk anymore) and reformat the free space as one unused partition. then configure Ubuntu installer to manually partition your disk when prompted so as to avoid installing the /swap partition ( note that this should only be done if your system has sufficient RAM >=2GiB).

To check your windows partitions use diskpart from the command line and select disk and view partitions or go to your disk manager to visually see the partitions on your drive.

user526154
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I solved the dual boot problem. My exact issue was that after the Windows upgrade (from 8.1 to 10), the system went into UEFI and Legacy mode. Setting the BIOS to UEFI Only resulted in system failing to boot windows (No bootable device is detected.. error).

Setting the BIOS to Legacy Only solved the problem. This also required re-arrangement of boot device order which was not required with the UEFI and Legacy mode.

Once the installation USB booted in BIOS mode, windows 10 was detected by ubuntu installation.

abhink
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