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NB: unique part = hard disk is not seen by install program. Not broken. Is being protected by manufacturer? How do I go through the protection? (see my answers to comments below for more info)

here what the terminal says with command sudo lsblk -f

NAME   FSTYPE    LABEL    UUID                                 MOUNTPOINT
sdb    isw_raid_                                               
└─sdb1 isw_raid_                                               
sdc                                                            
├─sdc2                                                         
├─sdc5 swap               ce0660bf-7ab3-4967-9a81-0b5bf7397e7e [SWAP]
└─sdc1 ext4               f8c8fcf4-ace3-47f6-9415-ffbddfab4fc9 /
sda    isw_raid_                                               
├─sda4 vfat      HP_TOOLS D462-EE69                            /media/hp-envy/HP
├─sda2 ntfs      OS       74B41D8FB41D54C8                     /media/hp-envy/OS
├─sda3 ntfs      Recovery 14DC8220DC81FC6C                     
└─sda1 ntfs      SYSTEM   8E8618B88618A32F                     /media/hp-envy/SY

original question:

  • Windows 7 died on HP Envy 6.
  • Ubuntu 16.04 via 'make startup disk' made on another computer
  • Ubuntu tutorial followed

  • The installation stops at 'Installation type' screen:

    1. dia doesn't look like tutorial
    2. only flash drive (/dev/sdc) is pre-shown under 'device' (and nothing is active in this window)

    3. under this window 'device for boot loader installation' there are 2 items:

      • /dev/sdc
      • /dev/sda

      /sda should be OK (extended hard disk run + enough space) but the install doesn't 'grab' it.

  • Read on Ask Ubuntu that manufacturers may protect /sda

  • Failed at restore factory defaults on BIOS. Error message: "insert a Windows boot disk and click Repair your computer." I don't have a Windows disk (no optical disk drive and no disk).
  • Ask Ubuntu says something about changing values of SATA in BIOS.
  • I don't see any SATA in BIOS.
  • I see SATA in terminal in when running Try Ubuntu via flash drive.
  • I don't know how to change SATA.
  • I know how to copy/paste a command in the terminal.

Sorry if I missed something crucial. Please be kind, I am an old mum born and bred before computers who just got into Linux. It took me a week of study of Linux to get to the point where the flash drive is actually booting.

I must say: I love Linux. I am fed up with Windows, which makes it more and more difficult for non-pro users like me to talk directly to the machine. I refuse Windows 10 and smart phones because of all these apps I can't configure (and which spy on me). I think with a little help from you guys, I can manage to run Linux.

ponsfrilus
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Oud Zeikwijf
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    It sounds to me like your computer's hard disk has died or been disconnected. If so, you won't be able to install ANY operating system until you fix the underlying hardware problem. – Rod Smith Aug 30 '17 at 13:21
  • would that not come up during the extended hard disk check up I did prior to anything else? – Oud Zeikwijf Aug 30 '17 at 15:17
  • @michael what I see there is the same ubuntu tutorial I followed to install ubuntu. No answer as to why it fails by me. – Oud Zeikwijf Aug 30 '17 at 15:26
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    I have done a few Ubuntu installations for owners of old computers and I have learned to ask if Windows had a problem before installing Ubuntu and always bring a spare hard drive. – karel Aug 31 '17 at 00:18
  • But again: I did a thorough hard disk check up prior to install, and it came out cleared. Can the check up come up with a faulty diagnosis? – Oud Zeikwijf Aug 31 '17 at 06:49
  • in another thread I found the tip of using gparted. I will try this and come back here to give feed back. – Oud Zeikwijf Aug 31 '17 at 07:38
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    I had the flue so had to do something simple about it, temporarily: I just installed ubuntu on a 16GB flash drive.
    Install found the usb-drve-space. Works well.
    Now something really weird happened: Under ubuntu I can access a folder named bloody windows! In it all the original files, documents etc.
    SO WHY DOESN'T INSTALL SEE THIS SPACE?
    That's my question all along. Hard disk is clearly all right, but install doesn't SEE it.     – Oud Zeikwijf Sep 10 '17 at 07:32
  • Old mum, you are very welcome here. (Many of us, who help here are old parents.) - Thanks for the update, it will help us get further. After all, the suspicions about a failing hard disk drive may be exaggerated :-) I suggest that you backup everything that you don't want to lose, and after that decide if you want to keep Windows and install Ubuntu alongside it, or if you want to make this an Ubuntu only computer. The further advice will depend on your decision. – sudodus Sep 10 '17 at 09:14
  • Concerning the protection of the drive: If Windows was hibernated, semi-hibernated or if you quit Windows in a dirty way (because of power failure or otherwise without flushing the buffers correctly), Ubuntu will sense that, and mount the partition with Windows read-only. It means that it cannot write to it, so it is not available for installation. – sudodus Sep 10 '17 at 09:31
  • @sudodus Thx a lot! Do you mean Windows can still be activated? Windows did not boot at all any more, whatever I did. That's why I had to install a new OS in the first place. – Oud Zeikwijf Sep 11 '17 at 08:36
  • 1) I don't know i Windows can still be activated. Maybe. Particularly if you have a Windows recovery disk or Windows install disk for the version, that you have installed. It depends on what is damaged; 2) But the most important thing is that you can read files on the drive, so that you can back them up to a safe place (in another drive or an internet cloud service); 3) Have you checked the health of the hard disk drive using the S.M.A.R.T. information? You can do that with 'Disks' alias `gnome-disks`, when booted from a USB drive or DVD disk. – sudodus Sep 11 '17 at 09:18
  • See this link about checking the hard disk drive, https://askubuntu.com/questions/948036/reformating-hard-drive-after-malware-damaged-boot-sector/948560#948560 – sudodus Sep 11 '17 at 09:21
  • I'm having a hard time following what you have actually tried. I think it would help if you could radically edit the question and walk us through what you actually did. Instead of "Ubuntu tutorial followed" tell us the steps you took (there are a lot of tutorials out there, we can't know which one you used or how far you got unless you tell us!). Instead of "Ask Ubuntu says something about changing values of SATA in BIOS." link to the question where you found that suggestion. – Amanda Sep 11 '17 at 23:55
  • Thx all of you :) I did what @davidFoerster said and paste the outcome in the question. Hope you can make smthg out of it. – Oud Zeikwijf Sep 13 '17 at 08:13

1 Answers1

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It looks like you've set up some "fake" RAID with your Intel storage chipset. Such setups are problematic and discouraged with Ubuntu (and Linux in general) because they're proprietary and thus not well supported and offer less features and no better performance than software RAID in Linux (via dm/mdadm).

Unfortunately you can't trivially convert fake RAID setups to plain drives. You'll need to back up the partitions, change the SATA setting in the system BIOS from RAID to AHCI and restore the partitions. You may need to restore Microsoft's bootloader (using Microsoft's tools) afterwards but at least you won't have to reinstall Windows from scratch.

You can also try to run the Ubuntu installer from within the live system (Try Ubuntu mode). If you start the installer directly from the boot menu it won't probe for uncommon (and even some common) storage setups like yours. However, the bootloader Grub that Ubuntu sets up may need some additional, manual configuration to recognise the fake RAID setup for a successful boot after the Ubuntu installation.

David Foerster
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  • O DJEEEZ. Dankeschön @davidFoerster für deine Hilfe. I don't understand how the setup was changed. I surely never did it, nor anyone since it is in our possession. The solution seems too complicated for me at this stage. I don't know how to back up the partitions, and I don know how to change the SATA settings. Is this the end of my Ubuntu-adventure? – Oud Zeikwijf Sep 13 '17 at 09:12
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    @OudZeikwijf Like I said in the last paragraph of my answer, you can install try to install Ubuntu nonetheless with this little trick and see where that takes you. You can open a new question when you run into issues with the boot process of the Ubuntu installation. In any case you should back up your data before you shrink any existing partitions (and the file systems therein) which you'll likely have to do during the installation of Ubuntu. – David Foerster Sep 13 '17 at 09:19
  • O I see. I will try now to reboot and try to install directly from the boot menu. I come back with feed back. Thx thx thx – Oud Zeikwijf Sep 13 '17 at 09:31
  • @OudZeikwijf: **No.** Like I explained in the last paragraph you need to start the Ubuntu installer after you started the Ubuntu live system in *Try Ubuntu* mode. – David Foerster Sep 13 '17 at 11:14
  • OK :) I'll try to install under the try ubuntu session. Monday a computer guy is coming to fix a windows issue on another laptop. I'll show him your explanation and though he doesn't speak Linuxian perhaps it will tell him something about why Windows has crashed. After that I will try and install Ubuntu as you said. So thanks a lot David for your help, you have localized the problem and put it into words. – Oud Zeikwijf Sep 13 '17 at 14:51
  • @OudZeikwijf There's a good chance he will understand because almost all of my explanation revolves about *firmware and storage management* and not the *operating system* using the previous two. – David Foerster Sep 13 '17 at 19:25