# Boot loader install fail ubuntu



## guy2 (Apr 30, 2009)

Iv been trying to install Ubuntu Studio but i come across the same old boot loader problem.

At Ubuntu main installation menu the first problem starts off with the package manager failing to install free software after this i finally get prompt to continue. This is not a big deal because i can always download the software and probably newer updated versions. 

Install grub is next on the list ,fails every time and so does LILO Boot loader.

Next option would be to continue without boot loader ,iv done that before and all i get is black screen with grub failed message.

What am i missing ,is their something i should of done before this installation?

Note i used Killdisk to clear the drive before these problems ,there is nothing left on this drive but what ubuntu installed so far.


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## itsjusme (Aug 19, 2006)

After you nuked the drive with Killdisk, did you format it, create a partition and mark it as active/or boot?? I have run into problems before after wiping a drive this way and had to format the drive before the installer would work. Ubuntu studio wont run live, so do you have another Linux live distro that you could use to format it? Puppy, Parted Magic, Ubuntu live ? Use the Gparted partition editor to create your partitions and format the drive, then select to " Manage Flags" and mark the partition as " Boot" . You can look at the docs for Ubuntu Studio to see what file system to use, but i think EXT3 would work. If not, once you get that far the installer will take it from there.


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## guy2 (Apr 30, 2009)

Hello ,itsjustme

No i didn't format it ,i thought this would be a automatic process within ubuntu installation. I do have a few live CD's ,knoppix and ubuntu comes to mind first.

Well i'm going to play around with these live CD's and EXT3 sounds right because that's what i used in my live usb format.


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## itsjusme (Aug 19, 2006)

Depending on which method you use, Killdisk can wipe every part of the drive thats accessible or writable, putting it back to an unformatted state. Heres some faq and info from the Killdisk site. Knoppix or Ubuntu either one will work for the partitioning and format. Knoppix uses Qtparted i believe and Ubuntu uses Gparted, both are fairly easy to use. Gparted is probably the easiest to use but they have a very similar GUI.

http://www.killdisk.com/killdisk-faq.htm


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## guy2 (Apr 30, 2009)

I'm getting the same mess ,Grub-PC package failed to install into /target/ ,not sure what that means.

I used gparted from knoppix to reformat the primary to ext3

This gparted is different than windows ,i wish i could save a snap shot on usb but i don't know how to do that in knoppix yet. When managing flags i selected /dev/sda1 to Boot and then got a prompt to close but don't see flags listed.

Partition File system Mount Point Size Used Unused Flags 0 

/dev/sda1 ext3 /media/sda1 36.07 766.50MIB 35.95GIB
/dev/sda2 extended ----------------- 37.83 ---------------- ---------------
/dev/sda5 ext4 /media/sda5 36.49 3.78GIB 32.71GIB
/dev/sda6 linux-swap ----------------- 1.33 ---------------- ---------------


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## itsjusme (Aug 19, 2006)

I tried to duplicate your scenario with an old drive i was going to scrap anyway, but it is a working drive, just old and small. I downloaded Killdisk and wiped it. Ubuntu would not install but i got a different error, it wasnt seeing the drive, i never could duplicate your grub error. I did find out though that this was a common problem in earlier versions of 8 but the bug was fixed by 8.04. Also, the Gparted in Puppy didnt see the drive. What i wound up doing to get it to install was slave the drive to a working windows machine and use windows disk manager to format it to ntfs. Reinstalled it as master and the Ubuntu installer found it, automatically partitioned it , and it worked fine. Some of the Linux guru`s can probably tell you how to troubleshoot the install, but this is one option for now. If the partition editor can see it and format it, looks like the installer would work.


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## guy2 (Apr 30, 2009)

I don't have win factory disk for any of these computers but my laptop.

Ubuntu Studio installed flawlessly on the laptop even tho it was a long process ,i'm just glad iv got that taken care of for now.

As for the one i'm having issues with i'm just going to start over again carefully at the linux forums.

The Dell has a junk drive i took it out and iv got it booting knoppix of usb.


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