Installing Raring Ringtail with XP

[starsage]

I've recently reformatted my old IBM Thinkpad T30 and have done a fresh install of Windows XP SP3
My laptop is too old for booting from a usb thumbdrive to be an option.

I used Gparted to resize the NTFS partition. When I boot using the Live CD (Kubuntu 13.04) I selected the
'Try Kubuntu' option and launch the Installer from the desktop but there is not a 'Install alongside' or 'Install in
the largest free space'

I manually created my partitions after XP (ext4, swap). During two separate installation attempts I have
selected to install Grub2 to the MBR (which results in just a flashing Grub prompt upon reboot) and I have
also selected to only install Grub2 to my linux partition.. however I cannot get Raring Ringtail to boot from
either prompt after completing install.

I would prefer to be able to edit the Windows bootloader to just point to the partition with Grub at bootup
but I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough. And all of the documentation I can find regarding a Dual boot setup with
XP refers to older linux distributions.

Can anyone help please?

thankyou,
David

[Robtygart]

Is there an option at the bottom of the installation screen that says "Do something else" or "Manual"? That should give you more options.

[starsage]

"Manual" only gave me the option to create the partition tables for the remaining free space.
It also gave me the option to select which partition the bootloader was installed to. I selected
the partition linux was being installed to as I don't want Grub2 to override the Windows bootloader

[vinnywright]

"Manual" only gave me the option to create the partition tables for the remaining free space.

and that is what you nead to do ,, make a place to install to.
I dont use the installer to do this however , you should make a Gparted or parted magic live cd and use that to make the partitions first then go back to the installer's "manual" option and point it to your new partitions.

It also gave me the option to select which partition the bootloader was installed to. I selected
the partition linux was being installed to as I don't want Grub2 to override the Windows bootloader

then you will half to find out how to point the windows loader to the partition that contains the grub install.

VINNY

[oshunluvr]

Ubiquity is broken (again) in 13.04 for some installs. It just won't detect some hard drive partition tables correctly. I ended up installing 12.10, updating fully, then upgrading to 13.04.

[vinnywright]

I'm sure vinny has a good and valid reason for suggesting a Gparted or so disk but my experience is the 'parted' software already available on the Live disk is doing a fine job.

LOL well yes parted is just swell,,, but a CLI partitioner is a bit daunting for some .
and not knowing the OP's experience level with such tools I was offering a GUI solution with the thought that if he/she new there way around the CLI then they may chose that option .

in short I was just suggesting pre-partitioning the drive before trying to install and then using the "manual" option point the installer to the newly created partitions.

VINNY

[vinnywright]

The KDE partition manager on the Live disk does have a GUI, it looks like Gparted.
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LOL ,,,,yup I forgot all about that ..........when you sead "parted" I was thinking the CLI parted .



VINNY

[starsage]

Ubiquity is broken (again) in 13.04 for some installs. It just won't detect some hard drive partition tables correctly. I ended up installing 12.10, updating fully, then upgrading to 13.04.

Would the issues with Ubiquity in 13.04 be preventing Grub from properly configuring?
I've completed installs with both writing Grub to MBR as well as only to my Linux partition
but neither would leave me with a usable bootloader.

I'm not fond of the notion of manually configuring the Windows bootloader, so if your process
(install 12.10, updating then upgrading to 13.04) worked for you I'll give it a shot

[oshunluvr]

I've had no trouble with grub2 since 9.04. Obviously, if you install grub to a partition, you can't boot to it directly. But as Vinny said above: if selecting "Manual" detected your free space and you Windows partition, Ubiquity is working as it's supposed to. The times Ubiquity fails, it won't detect your partition table at all (shows the drive as blank) or just stalls prior to displaying the partition selection menu.

If it detects your Windows partition and the rest as free space, just manually create the desired partitions and install.

[starsage]

Sadly, I retried with 12.04 install and it seems to be doing the same thing. I'm starting with an existing Windows XP install on an NTFS partition. I've both used Gparted to delete/create my prior Ext4 and Swap partitions as well as used the 12.04 installer to do so. It seems to make no difference. Even if I use the Boot Repair disc I burned Grub will just not create a valid boot load. I'm greeted with a Grub: prompt.

The majority of what I've read says it's best to start with an existing Windows install. I'm wondering if I'd be better off with wiping my drive and installing 13.04 first and letting Windows configure it's own bootloader. I just hope I don't have to go back to SuSe or Fedora in order to have a functional dual boot system

[starsage]

EasyBCD only works for Vista+ (Win7, 8 etc) I'm just using plain ole Windows XP SP#

[arist]

I had problems installing 13.04 on my desktop (dual-boot with Windows 7). I finally resorted to installing Ubuntu Server 13.04, then installing kubuntu-desktop. If you have a 32-bit system, you'll need install Ubuntu Server 12.04, then upgrade from there.