Issues with dual boot install of Ubuntu

Wej · 30 Oct 2011 at 21:03

I've recently bought a netbook pre-installed with Windows 7 and I want to dual boot it with Ubuntu. Because I have no USB key or (obviously) DVD/CD, I thought I'd install Unetbootin on the main drive and use it to install Ubuntu 11.10 on one of the other partitions.

The first part of this has gone fine - I now have a dual boot menu and can boot into Ubuntu and start the installation process. However, this is where the issues occur. The netbook has 4 partitions - a small one probably used for Asus utilities, a boot one with Windows 7, another small one (not sure what it's used for) and a spare 100gb partition that I'm planning to installed Ubuntu on.

I've deleted the partition I'm doing the install on Windows so it shows up as free space in the Ubuntu installer, but when I choose it I get the following message (this is on the 'Installation Type' screen): -

No root file system is defined. Please correct this from the partitioning menu

The partitions are as follows: -

/dev/sda
/dev/sda1 ntfs 107374mb (this is Windows 7)
/dev/sda2 fat32 16106mb (asus utils or something similar)
free space 126559mb (where I want to install)
/dev/sda3 16mb (no idea)

Now, do I just highlight the free space and click 'Install Now', and do I just leave 'Device for boot loader installation' as /dev/sda?

If I do, I get the message above.

What should I do? Do I need to set the free space up before installing, or am I missing something crucial?

EDIT: If I 'Change' that free space into something (if this is the issue), what parameters do I use? It can be primary/logical, and has 'Use as' and 'Mount point' options that I have no idea about!

richthomuk · 30 Oct 2011 at 23:16

Ok i think i get what you have done, Unetbootin makes usb drives bootable, so basically you have made your partition into a live .iso, it will not install onto the same partition as you are using the partition to read the live operating system, you will need to use either Wubi to install Ubuntu from Windows 7 or use Unetbootin to make a usb pen drive bootable. The boot option you are getting at the start is to boot into Windows 7 or the Live .ISO thats all.

NuclearWinter · 31 Oct 2011 at 00:35

Set the mount point for the free partition as "/" (the root of the filesystem).

And in addition you'll probably want to create a small logical partition to be the swap partition also.

Wej · 31 Oct 2011 at 07:44

Do I need to alter the free space to be anything before install? Or can I just 'install into the free space'?

NuclearWinter · 31 Oct 2011 at 10:39

Set it to use ext3.

Wej · 31 Oct 2011 at 11:44

I got round it in a bizarre way in the end. Didnt have a USB stick but did have an sd card in my phone, so turned this into a usb and stuck it (with an adaptor) in an adaptor and used the card slot on the netbook (after disabling boot buster or whatever it is).

Working perfectly now... forgotten how nice Linux is. Keep thinking how do I do this and then realising it's far easier than I thought. Need to unlearn the Windows mindset now.... although Windows 7 is still on there just in case ;-)