Not able to install: Partition problem

Asked by John Savio

Hi..I have a Dell Studio 1555 laptop which has a 500gb hdd. These are partitioned into c: 100gb, d:100gb, e:100gb, f:100gb and e:60gb and 7gb free space. I have windows 7 64bit installed in C:. When I run the installer from the live cd, the partitioning tool says that there is no operating systems available and only two options are available; 1, Use the whole disk and 2, manually partition. I want to keep the windows7 and dual boot the system. Could somebody help me? I am just a starter to linux so I dont know how to enter commands, as I browsed through the forum and some commands were entered. Thanks for helping in advance.

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John Savio (johnmsavio) said :
#1

I typed the following command in Gparted and got the following results.

sudo blkid

/dev/sda1: UUID="D00A10670A104CBA" LABEL="BOOT" TYPE="NTFS"
/dev/sda5: UUID="15D5B8B0480E6480" LABEL="MOVIES" TYPE="NTFS"
/dev/sda6: UUID="5EC937B826007D48" LABEL="SONGS" TYPE="NTFS"
/dev/sda7: UUID="46EDDE2324B73529" LABEL="BACKUP" TYPE="NTFS"
/dev/sda8: UUID="57E45A2C141B57F9" LABEL="UTILITIES" TYPE="NTFS"
/dev/loop0: TYPE="squashfs"

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PeterPall (peterpall) said :
#2

My solution would be to choose "manually partition" and tell the system there which partition's contents you want the linux installer to delete and use for installing linux on.

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John Savio (johnmsavio) said :
#3

I typed the following command in Gparted and got the following results.

sudo fdisk -l
sudo df -h

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xb8000000

 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 13053 104848191 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 13054 60048 377487337 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 13054 26107 104856192 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6 26108 39161 104856223+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda7 39162 52215 104856255 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda8 52216 60048 62918541 7 HPFS/NTFS

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs 443M 0 443M 0% /lib/init/rw
udev 10M 100K 10M 1% /dev
tmpfs 443M 0 443M 0% /dev/shm
rootfs 443M 5.8M 437M 2% /
/dev/scd0 96M 96M 0 100% /live/image
tmpfs 443M 5.8M 437M 2% /live/cow
tmpfs 443M 0 443M 0% /live

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John Savio (johnmsavio) said :
#4

Thanks PeterPall for answering, but the problem is that there are no partitions showing the partition manager. Only option is Create new partition table. As I said in my original question, I have around 6GB unpartitioned free space where I would like to install ubuntu.

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Andrea Corbellini (andrea.corbellini) said :
#5

From the partitions manager, click on the free space. You should then be able to create a new partition using the "Add..." button.

If you can't, please could you attach a screenshot?

Thanks,
Andrea

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delance (olivier-delance) said :
#6

In free space, you have to create at least two partitions:
    swap - no name - twice the size of RAM
    ext4fs - / - remaining space (you can also choose ext3fs)
It's better to create three partitions
    swap - no name - twice the size of RAM
    ext4fs - / - 4GB
    ext4fs - /home - remaining space

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Andrea Corbellini (andrea.corbellini) said :
#7

@delance: using two separate partitions for / and /home isn't a good thing to do, especially with 6GB of space.

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delance (olivier-delance) said :
#8

Right, best to do simply two partitions, else you could have to resize one partition against another one.
If you have lot of space in one Windows partition (i.e. more than 6GB free...), you could install VirtualBox, build a virtual machine and test Ubuntu inside it. You will not have exactly the performance of native Ubuntu (as you work over fragmented NTFS hard disk), but you will be close. It will be more easy to install, you will not take any risk and not will have to manage dual boot.
One drawback, if you will like Ubuntu, you will have to install it later in dual boot and move data from virtual machine to new partition.

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John Savio (johnmsavio) said :
#9

No No No....u guys didnt get me. I already have the necessary partitions, but when I open up the install process the partition manager shows no partitions. I donot want to delete my windows partition. @Andrea Corbellini : I will try to take a screen shot. but how do I send you the pic?? Thanks for the replies.

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John Savio (johnmsavio) said :
#10

Hi guys..I guess the problem is too much to understand!!!! If anybody has any idea pls post.

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delance (olivier-delance) said :
#11

/dev/sda1 * 104848191 7 HPFS/NTFS C:
/dev/sda2 extended partition
/dev/sda5 104856192 7 HPFS/NTFS D:
/dev/sda6 104856223 7 HPFS/NTFS E:
/dev/sda7 104856255 7 HPFS/NTFS F:
/dev/sda8 62918541 7 HPFS/NTFS G:

I continue to think you should envisage a virtual machine, but if you want a dual boot:
  1) Boot on Ubuntu CD
  2) Choose option "Try without install"
  3) Upper menu bar, System->Administration->Gparted
  4) Gparted will display partitions of disk
  5) In remaning place, create a "swap" partition the size of your RAM. It will be used for virtual memory.
  6) In remaining place, create a "ext4fs" partition
  7) Reboot computer
  8) Start installation process of Ubuntu
  9) When you reach partition screen, choose "Manual partitionning"
 10) On last partition (/dev/sda9 ext4fs), mount the directory "/" (proposed in list of default mounting point)
       Refuse formating of partition (already done on /dev/sda9)
 11) Continue installation
 12) And check....

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