Won't boot into Linux...

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Well, I decided last night to install Kubuntu onto my external drive. It went for HOURS until it failed at a point installing "Grub". So I tried installing Mint and all went fine and it told me to press enter to reboot. I thought I would get some kind of boot menu but I was just booted back into Window 8. Do I need to manually install a boot loader?

 

EDIT: I went into BIOS and set it to boot off that drive and I could hear it spin up on boot but then I saw the Windows logo. Is there no way to use Linux on an external drive? I apparently have a fully functional system there, I just can't see to boot to it.

[(Account no longer active)]

You've taken the wrong path with the installation. Install your distro onto your external drive using this instead: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ Installation should only take a few minutes, depending on the speed of your USB connection. Once complete, set your BIOS to boot from the drive.

 

By the way, use Lubuntu instead - LXDE is much faster than GNOME 3/KDE when loading over USB 2. http://lubuntu.net/

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Ah, so I can't install a regular full distro onto an external drive? Maybe I can try my 2nd SSD. I only have a few things on it anyways. Will Linux install a boot loader that way?

[Ambroos]

You can perfectly install any Linux independently on your external drive, but you'll also have to tell it to install GRUB to that drive. Basically, in the setup, choose the most manual options there are.

 

BUT this also means that you have to know how to partition your external drive correctly for a Linux install. So it's some more advanced stuff.

[simonlang]

this is an excellent guide --> http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2013/10/23/how-to-install-ubuntu-13-10-on-an-external-hard-drive/

[patseguin Global Moderator]

this is an excellent guide --> http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2013/10/23/how-to-install-ubuntu-13-10-on-an-external-hard-drive/

Thanks for that. I followed that guide and it was copying files pretty fast but now it on a window that says "installation will finish soon". There is a blank progress bar and the DVD is doing nothing. I've left it like this for an hour.

 

When I did that initial installation that completed but gave me an error about installing GRUB, I think if I had set it to install GRUB to the external drive, I'd be having a working system right now.

 

For now, I can't figure out why it has said it's almost done with a blank bar for just over an hour now. I specifically set it to NOT download updated files so that the installation would go faster. I could have installed Window 8.1 6 times over by now. I thought Linux was supposed to be quick. Somone said minutes.

[simonlang]

I would enable updates during installation. Especially if you are trying advanced things such as installing linux on an external hd.

What does your partition sheme look like?

Could well be the ext hd has issues.. What about trying to use only 20 or 30 GB of it for a test?

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Yeah I did do a small one. 50 GB I think it was with a 2,000 swap. I don't think the drive has issues, the first part of the install went very fast. Now it's gone to a craw. However, as I type this is came alive and is now up to 27%. I guess sometime tonight I'll have a working system.

[simonlang]

if the dvd is doing nothing wile the setup is waiting to progress, maybe the dvd or dvd drive is not right .... usually it should run all the time. tried an usb pendrive? thats the faster option...

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Well I went through the whole guide and get Linux installed after about 4 hours. I had it install Grub on the external drive I was putting Linux on and when I rebooted, I went into BIOS made sure that the external drive was the first drive. It just booted Windows. I dialed everything except for the external drive and I get "Reboot and Select proper Boot device"

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

It shouldn't take 4 hours, you are doing something wrong here.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

I spent a lot of the weekend trying to get a couple different distros to work on my external drive. Each time I installed, it took nearly 4 hours. It would copy all of the files and then I would have a blank progress bar for maybe 20-30 minutes and then it was "retrieving files" which took a long, long time. In finally got Kubuntu installed on the external drive and installed Grub to that drive as well. In BIOS I set my boot drive as that external drive and on boot it just told me to insert a bootable disk. I eventually said screw it and decided to install it on my 2nd SSD which was sdb1. I chose to install the bootloader to that drive as well. The install got about 75% done after several hours and it told me it couldn't install the bootloader. At that point, I put the discs on the shelf, restored the drive to a Windows format and forgot about Linux. I had tried Mint at one point too and it also took several hours just as Kubuntu did. The fact that I couldn't get it to install on an external or even internal drive drove me nuts beyond belief.

[Haggis Veteran]

you wont have to install the bootloader to the drive that your computer boots from

 

When you install grub it should detect windows and also add that to the boot menu

[simonlang]

sounds like a hardware problem for me. linux is more sensitive with potential hardware problems than windows (also explains why windows crashes so often).

my advice: check the hdd external or ssd via gparted running from a linux live dvd. good hardware and bios provided, there just shouldnt be any problem to install linux. as the poster above me said, linux bootloader can run from any device, i never had problems with. (my setup is like only one primary partiton for linux / and /home, no swap and grub installed on a secondary ntfs data-partition.)

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Try disconnecting all other HDDs, and only use that one that you are installing on. I did it several times that way. Where if I include other drives, sometimes it loads the bootloader on the wrong disk.

 

As recommended several times before, did you try a USB Pendrive?

[simonlang]

i would also consider trying out this:

http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2014/05/install-ubuntu-1404-alongside-windows.html

 

esp:

7. Boot RepairI am going to assume that you chose to restart now and your computer booted straight into Windows without giving the option for Ubuntu.

Log into Windows and click the power icon next to your username in the top right corner.

Hold down the shift key and select to restart your computer. Keep the shift key held down until your computer reboots.

At the point of the UEFI settings appearing choose to boot from USB again.

You will now be booted back into the live session of Ubuntu.

Click on the network icon in the top right corner and choose your network connection. You will probably need to enter the security key. (If not then when you have finished with this process consider checking your router settings because your internet connection is wide open).

Now open up a terminal by pressing the "super" key (Windows key) and typing "term".

Within the terminal window enter the following commands one by one.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo sh -c "sed -i 's/trusty/saucy/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yannubuntu-boot-repair-trusty.list"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair && boot-repair Eventually the boot repair screen will appear.

Click on the "Recommended repair".

When I did this I received a message stating "EFI is detected". This is just an informational message as far as I am concerned because it is perfectly fine to install Ubuntu with EFI turned on.

After clicking "OK" to the EFI detected message the utility performed a few tasks and then asked me to select some text and run it in a terminal window.

If you are asked to do this open a new terminal window (press the "super" key, enter "term" into the Dash and click on the icon that appears).

Copy the text from the boot repair window by selecting it with the mouse. Press CTRL and C and then right click in the terminal window and select paste.

Make sure all the commands have run correctly. You may need to press return to get the last command to run.

Now click on the "Forward" button within the boot repair application. You may be asked to copy and paste more text.

Repeat the process of selecting all the text, press CTRL and C and then right click in the terminal window and select paste.

Make sure the commands run.

Keep following through on the process until the boot repair finishes.

If you are like me then at the very end of the process you will see a message stating that boot repair completed with errors. (not good). It is worth copying the link and posting to pastebin as suggested but I think you can just continue onto the next step.

 

and

 

 

8. Fix the boot loaderAlmost there now.

Reboot your computer.

Unless you are lucky it will still boot straight into Windows and actually this is ok because we are going to use Windows to fix the boot loader.

Log into Windows and make sure you are viewing the desktop and not the tiles screen.

Hover the mouse in the bottom left corner and right click. You should see an option for the administrator's command prompt. Click on this option.

Within the administrator's command prompt type the following command:

bcdedit /set "{bootmgr}" path \EFI\ubuntu\grubx64.efi

Exit the command prompt.

 

i have no idea if thats needed, i never needed to patch and fix bootloaders, but then so i never used win 8.1 and all the trash that comes with so no idea about this. good luck!

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Can't he just use Wubi?

[simonlang]

i think wubi has been abandoned some time ago hasnt it?

[patseguin Global Moderator]

I checked and the website says Wubi doesn't work with Windows 8.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

i think wubi has been abandoned some time ago hasnt it?

not abandoned per say, just put on hold to the public while they try and work around some bugs regarding windows 8