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I'm trying to install Ubuntu on my external HDD. For some unknown reason, when I install the bootloader on the external HDD, it doesn't boot, showing only a blinking cursor with nothing happening. I was wondering if I install the bootloader on my internal hard disk but on a drive different from my Windows drive, will grub fail if I do not have the external HDD connected to my PC?

Zanna
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Programmer_04
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    Anyone who attempts dual booting without reading 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 is doomed to confusion, failure and frustration. – waltinator Dec 02 '16 at 17:20
  • If BIOS you install to the drive sdb, or whatever drive it is seen as. If UEFI, you must partition in advance to have ESP - efi system partition and will have to copy boot files twice from ESP on internal drive to external drive's ESP. http://askubuntu.com/questions/743095/how-to-prepare-a-disk-on-an-efi-based-pc-for-ubuntu and: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2338836 – oldfred Dec 02 '16 at 22:37

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You should install GRUB to your boot partition (if you are booting Windows successfully). Obviously, your BIOS settings is configured to boot from that drive, thus it posses bootable flag partition. GRUB should not fail booting Windows if your external drive is not present, but logically it will be unable to boot ubuntu if external drive is not connected. If you connect external drive, it should be able to boot into both Windows and Ubuntu.

Stefan Certic
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  • This way Grub will boot to rescue-mode if external drive is not connected unless you have a /boot-partition on the internal drive. – mook765 Dec 03 '16 at 00:23