Ubuntu

Wubi install never reaches Ubuntu; goes straight to Windows

Asked by Markus Mannheim

I've installed Ubuntu via Wubi in the past without a problem, but it no longer works with Ubuntu v10.04.1. I've also tried the CD, but it fails, too.

The dual-boot install seems to work fine at first. It prompts me to choose a drive for Ubuntu. I choose E (I have a partitioned hard disk: C for XP; E for Ubuntu; F for data). It then begins the process of installing and tells me I must reboot to continue the installation.

But the reboot does not go to Ubuntu, nor does it go to the GRUB dual-boot screen. It simply boots straight into XP as usual. Windows lists "Ubuntu" among the installed programs, but cannot uninstall it. I've formatted my E partition twice and tried this process, in slightly different ways, three times, each with the same result.

Any ideas? There are no error messages. It's a mystery to me.

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Aruna Hewapathirane
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Best Aruna Hewapathirane (aruna-hewapathirane) said : 		#1

Wubi adds an entry to the Windows boot menu which allows you to run Linux. Ubuntu is installed WITHIN a file in the Windows file system (c:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk), this file is seen by Linux as a real hard disk. So Instead of having a separate E: partition for your ubuntu simply select the SAME partition you have windows installed in and things should work again..

Reference - > http://wubi-installer.org/faq.php ( Scroll down to where it says How does wubi work... )

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marcobra (Marco Braida) (marcobra) said : 		#2

May be your Ubuntu live install cd is not perfect or it can't be read from your cdrom drive please verify it...

Here some general note on install Ubuntu and howto to get a good ubuntu iso cd image (.iso) to burn on a cd:

- Here the steps to install Ubuntu 10.04.1 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GraphicalInstall

- Here install Ubuntu video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaqaDZZ_P0g&feature=fvw

Below there are some intructions to:
--- 1) Ubuntu prerequisites... and Ubuntu for pc with low power
--- 2) download the iso...
--- 3) check the md5sum of the iso image, please don't forget to check...
--- 4) burn the iso image to a cd ...
--- 5) install Ubuntu using the self made cd ...
--- 6) trouble screen at installation or at first boot after installation ...
--- 7) Ubuntu manual and online help...
--- 8) Relax and fun...

The main ubuntu site is this: www.ubuntu.com and the download location is this
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

--- 1) Ubuntu prerequisites: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

Ubuntu 10.04.1 release notes: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynx/ReleaseNotes

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynx/ReleaseNotes/ChangeSummary/10.04.1

If your ram is less than the recommended amount, you won't be able to install with the graphical installer,
but you might be able to use the Alternative cd, where you can use a text based installer - that uses less memory.
If your machine does have plenty of ram, you might want to try running Memcheck (which is also an option from the live cd, see below)
to just make sure your ram isn't failing.

- if your pc doesn't meet the Ubuntu prerequisites, you can try:

xubuntu http://www.xubuntu.org/get
lubuntu http://lubuntu.net/blog/lubuntu-1004-now-available-download
here a list from distrowatch: http://distrowatch.com/search.php?category=Old%20computers

- if you pc is a very low resource pc you can try different Linux distribution
  something like DSL http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ or Puppy Linux www.puppylinux.org/ on your machine.

1.a) Please always prefer to download them using torrent if you can...

1.b) BE ABSOLUTELY SURE to verify the md5sum https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM
of the downloaded iso image BEFORE to burn it

1.c) burn it using infrarecorder if you are using Windows at lower speed you can do

1.d) boot your pc from cd and install...

--- 2) please download the 700 mb file http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download simply press on download button
To avoid download errors download the desired ubuntu iso install cd image using the torrent protocol.

- if you are using Windows please install a torrent client i suggest you http://deluge-torrent.org/
and download the iso using a .torrent link from here:
http://releases.ubuntu.com/10.04.1/ubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso.torrent

--- 3) PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK the md5sum of downloaded file to be sure it have no error https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM
Only if the md5sum number match with this: http://releases.ubuntu.com/10.04.1/MD5SUMS go to the next steps.

--- 4) burn the iso image onto a cd, to do it install and use http://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5 burn the cd at lower speed you can do and activate the data verify

--- 5) insert the self made install cd into your pc cdrom drive and reboot your pc. YOU MUST NOT SEE Windows starting and you can try Ubuntu from cdrom and then install it

--- 6) If you have trouble with installation (the system freeze or you can't complete it) be sure to read the above suggestions, then:

Please boot entirely (you must not see windows starting) from Ubuntu live install cd and when the system start to boot from cd you will see two bottom screen icons (keyboard and man inside circle ) please press space (choose your desired language) then a screen textual center menu will appear to you with this items in it:

Try Ubuntu without installing
Install Ubuntu
Check disc for defects
Test memory
Boot from first hard disk

Please select "Test Memory" to deeply test your ram healty, if your pc freeze at installation or installation doesn't start.

Please select "Check disc for defects" and press enter to test if your cd-driver can read in a good way the live install cd... or if the install cd have some defective file in it.
Then please also perform a Test memory to be sure your pc RAM memory have not any issue

If you get a blank screen at boot after install or booting from the Ubuntu install cd please read:

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-fix-ubuntu-10-04-lts-lucid-blank-screen-at-startup.html

If you have trouble with intel8xxx graphic cards:

please try this: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Bugs/Lucidi8xxFreezes

--- 7) Ubuntu Manual, it's very informative: http://ubuntu-manual.org/
Click on the "download Button" to download the latest PDF version.

The online help https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/index.html

--- 8) Relax and fun
http://planet.ubuntu.com/ and Full Circle Magazine http://fullcirclemagazine.org/

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bcbc (bcbc) said : 		#3

When you reboot you should be prompted with the windows boot manager, offering the choice of Windows or Ubuntu. This choice comes from the update to the boot.ini file in Windows XP. It should be updated as part of the wubi install. If you aren't seeing this then for some reason wubi is unable to update it.

I'd look in the wubi-10.04.1-revxxx.log file (in the %temp% folder) and see if there are any messages in there. You can view the contents of c:\boot.ini before rebooting - if there is no wubildr.cfg entry in it then it's not going to work (the last line should say C:\wubildr.mbr = "Ubuntu".)

I have to ask though - if you have a whole partition you are dedicating to Ubuntu, then it makes more sense to install directly to it. so why do you want to use Wubi?
If you install direct then you will have the full partition available to ubuntu in it's native format, rather than using a virtual disk containing the ext4 file system, but stored on ntfs.

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Markus Mannheim (markusmannheim) said : 		#4

Thanks Aruna Hewapathirane-අරැණ හේවාපතිරණ, that solved my question.

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Markus Mannheim (markusmannheim) said : 		#5

Thanks Aruna and bcbc; you were both sort-of right.

But I solved the problem a different way: instead of using the CD from Windows, I booted up with it. It worked fine. But trying to run Wubi from within Windows still failed even when I selected the C: partition. There are clearly no problems with the CD, so this problem remains a mystery.