[SOLVED] Installation disk selection configuration

[RLynwood]

My new HP Pavilion Plus 14-3y0095cl laptop came with Windows 11, Home edition, I assume. I want to replace Windows with 23.10.

23.10's default installation page lists the location as /dev/nvme0n1.
Wanting btrfs rather than ext4, I chose a Manual installation. The Manual installation page, labeled Prepare partitions, for Devices gives this list (this is new to me):

/dev/nvme01 entire disk
Free space 1 MB
/dev/nvme01p1 Type efi, 272 MB, 85 MB used
/dev/nvme01p2 16 MB Used: Unkown
/dev/nvme01p3 1023237 MB Used: Unknown
/dev/nvme01p4 Type ntfs, Size 675 MB, Used: 675 MB
Free space 6 MB
/dev/sda1 no Type, Size: 3928 MB, Used: Unknown
/dev/sda2 no Type, Size: 5 MB, Used: Unknown
/dev/sda3 no Type, Size 0 MB, Used: Unkown
Free space 0 MB
/dev/sda4 ext4 Size: 11586 MB, Used: 2441 MB
Free space Size: 1 MB

I assume that I select /dev/nvme01p3 to install 23.10 on, since I want to overwrite Windows; right? And I assume that the 23.10 installer wipes all partitions and establishes its own; is that right?

Please tell me what to do if not these choices. Thanks.

[jglen490]

Yes, 23.10 will wipe the entire NVME drive, if you tell it to do that.

I would keep /dev/nvme01p1 as it is the efi partition, then I would wipe the remaining partitions and use it all for your Kubuntu. Whether you keep that space as as one partition, or split it between / and /home is your choice.

I have an HP Envy, here's my partitioning:

lsblk -T --output NAME,FSTYPE,LABEL,UUID,SIZE,FSAVAIL,MOUNTPOINTS
NAME FSTYPE LABEL UUID SIZE FSAVAIL MOUNTPOINTS
nvme0n1 931.5G
├─nvme0n1p1 vfat C309-DC20 100M 92.4M /boot/efi
├─nvme0n1p2 ext4 43f7aabd-aa47-4eef-b4f4-d49cbef8b875 48.8G 32.4G /
├─nvme0n1p3 ext4 870436af-1189-421f-8240-e35613dba718 866.2G 495.9G /home
└─nvme0n1p4 swap 4bfd3cbc-efd5-48cd-ba39-6c4186543565 16.4G [SWAP]

If you have questions, please ask!

[RLynwood]

Can you explain why HP/MS created all those partitions and what they're for?

[jglen490]

I have no explanation for anything Windows does

[RLynwood]

No positive explanation, anyway. Anyone else? I actually would like to know what they do with all those partitions.

[claydoh]

System recovery. Very often, OEMs include this to be able to restore a system without needing a USB stick, etc.

As to partitioning for BTRFS, you don't need to do anything fancy, since the installer will set up separate volumes for / and /home automatically (they share the same space, not separate partitions)


You can use Partition Manager to set things up from the live session before you begin the install. The UI in the installer can be a little bit clunky.

Here is mine:





I am not sure if it is still necessary to have a separate swap partition when using btrfs, It used to be required. Not sure if it still is, but it is just easier to use a partition than to go down the rabbit hole of recent and less-recent information, blah blah.

[RLynwood]

Thanks, claydoh. I believe I'll make two OS partitions (one as a backup/alternative) then /home and swap partitions.

I thought of using the Partition Manager to establish the partitions and got started with that when I had to take a break and found another puzzle: When I returned to the job, Kub. had ?--logged out? It displayed username and password fields I had to fill out to continue. If I clicked another user, I got a broader similar display, allowing Sleep, Restart, Shut down, & List users. Clicking List users took me back to the password field with Other as the last option. Didn't know what the login requirements were (tried User/user & password/1234 to no avail) and so had to reboot. How do I fix this glitch?

[claydoh]

When I returned to the job, Kub. had ?--logged out?

Your computer is probably doing this automatically, I don 't think that the live session has any suspend, sleep, power saving or lock screen settings set. My test VM doesn't have anything, and so far has not locked the screen (but that's not real hardware).

I *think* the default password is blank, and the user is "kubuntu' but that doesn't seem to work on the desktop, it locks up my virtual machine. It works in the shell

But being a live session, it runs in ram, so you may lose what you were working on previously, even if it did work.

So, you may have to keep the session active and don't let it time out.

[RLynwood]

Thanks. I didn't think that Kub's live version had any timing out feature. I'll have to do as you say.

[jglen490]

No positive explanation, anyway. Anyone else? I actually would like to know what they do with all those partitions.

It doesn't matter if you are installing Kubuntu on top. Windows will not exist.

Also, you're welcome for the partitioning idea.

[RLynwood]

Thanks, jglen490. I've learned a few things that have corrected some of my own mistakes. I do know that wiping the SSD will remove ALL Windows stuff, leaving none of their installation.

[RLynwood]

This is a side issue to this post. Does anyone know of the extent of collusion between HP & MS, esp. as of Windows 11, that limits the BIOS' (vendor Insyde) from accommodating "Linux" in ANY way, and if so, in what way and how?
I may not even be asking exactly what I want to know; I just don't understand the whole situation enough to ask the question correctly. I'm sure this sounds like an absurd question, but I'm afraid that once 23.10 is installed, the BIOS will somehow cripple its, GRUB's, full accessibility and functionality.

[Schwarzer Kater]

[…] Does anyone know of the extent of collusion between HP & MS, esp. as of Windows 11, that limits the BIOS' (vendor Insyde) from accommodating "Linux" in ANY way, and so, in what way and how? […]

No. Something like this does not exist.
Many HP devices are on the list of "Ubuntu certified laptops" - mostly EliteBooks, ProBooks and ZBooks, though.
And I have never had any problems installing Kubuntu or other Linux distributions on EliteBooks of former customers or friends.

[claydoh]

No. Something like this does not exist.

The only slight caveats to this I can think of that might slightly hinder things may be:

1. Intel's RST raid option in the bios (if present -it is not a universal, mostly laptops iirc) - This does not support Linux at all, but can be turned off, though pre-existing Windows installs may need some extra steps to load properly (well documented on the 'net)
2. Some BIOS updates for some machines on many brands will reset the boot order back to Windows as the default. Another easily fixed thing, and of course if Windows is not present, it can't be set as the default.

[Schwarzer Kater]

You are absolutely right - those things (if applicable) could be problematic. I don't think a Pavilion has a RST RAID option, though. But I may be wrong.
Certainly they are no result of a conspiracy between Microsoft and HP to prevent Linux from being installed.
They would belong in the category of "usual" obstacles a Linux user can run into.

RLynwood: I think the obstacles have another origin - can you describe in more detail what you mean by "crippled" UEFI and by "crippled" GRUB? Those are also two different things and one does not have to be connected to the other.
Is it possible you accidently misconfigured your UEFI settings? Did you try to reset them to factory defaults and go from there?