Ubuntu

How to Install Ubuntu Server Edition to Secondary Hard Drive with dual boot status?

Asked by W A P Wanasinghe

I received the requested Ubuntu Server Edition Bootable Disk today. Thanks Canonical for that.

Just after received the disk I tried to install it on my computer. But I had to stop at partitioning stage. Because I want to install it while keeping my existing Windows XP OS and NOT SHARING the same partition for Ubuntu Linux. I want to install Ubuntu on my secondary hard drive where I reserved a maiden logical drive just for Ubuntu.

I went through some Ubuntu litrature to find out how can I do that. But I could not find a solution.

In short I want to install Ubuntu on seperate partition on seperate hard drive other than the existing operating system with Dual boot status.

My PC's partition information is as follows.

      Disk #1
              Drive C: 39.60 GB NTFS Windows System
              Drive E: 29.30 GB NTFS
              Drive F: 29.30 GB NTFS
              Drive G: 19.53 GB NTFS
              Drive H: 19.53 GB NTFS
              Drive I: 12.32 GB NTFS

      Disk #2
              Drive D: 15.84 GB NTFS Expected to install Ubuntu
              Drive j: 9.32 GB FAT32
              Drive K: 7.45 GB NTFS
              Drive L: 5.68 GB NTFS

Please explain me how to install Ubuntu as I wish with Dual Boot status.

Thanks in advance.

WAP Wanasinghe

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Jon Packard (jonpackard) said : 		#1

The server installation CD uses the "Alternate Install" method. You can find more information about installing with this method here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/I386.

The important thing to understand about installing Ubuntu on a partition on your secondary hard drive is that your computer will still be booting from the data in your primary hard drive's MBR (master boot record). Grub installs to that MBR (more info on grub here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GrubHowto) and tells your computer how to boot up and where to find the devices or files needed. Grub will allow you to choose which OS to boot from at start up.

New users may find the Ubuntu Desktop CD easier to install. You can even install from inside windows with Wubi (http://wubi-installer.org) and not need to worry about hard drive partitions. The Desktop installer is a graphical installer and may be easier to use than the text based installed on the server CD. Also, in case you are not aware, the server version is a stripped down Ubuntu (no desktop, just command line or shell if you will) but does have some useful packages pre-installed. You can easily add LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) to a normal installation by following the instructions here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ApacheMySQLPHP. The best choice for you probably depends on what you will be using the PC for.

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W A P Wanasinghe (wapwanasinghe) said : 		#2

Thanks for the reply. I will try to understand and follow the links in your reply and try to do my task.

There is another problem I got today.

In most installation notes I saw that there is a GUI comes after bootin from installation CD. But it did not come on my PC. I got only command lines. On that Initial screen menu number of function keys are not activated except F1.

Then I went for disk checking option on the main menu.

I got the following message.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
( ! ) Configuring CD ROM-Checker-Menu
The ./Pool/Main/W/Wget/Wget_1.10.2-3Ubuntu1_i386.deb file failed the MD5 checking verification. Your CD ROM or this file may have been corrupted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am confused. Is something wrong on the CD ROM I received and request another Installation Disk.

Or is there anything wrong or incompatible in my PC with Ubuntu Installation.

Please Help !!!

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Jon Packard (jonpackard) said : 		#3

It would seem that there is a problem with the CD. Check the disc for smudges, fingerprints, debris or scratches. If you still don't get a successful disc check, you should obtain another disc. This page may prove useful: https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/switching/installing-get.html

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