Trying Again - to Dual boot Windows 8.1 and Kubuntu 13.10

[longnosemonkey]

I'm longnosemonkey from a previous thread last year. I'll post a link in my next post.
As you can see, I made an epic attempt at dual booting Kubuntu 12.10 and Windows 8 last year that failed. I promised to return to try again to after the UEFI issues were solved. I'm stubborn...
But this time I want to ask for your help before I start the install process. SteveRiley, if you are still around, I'd appreciate your help again.
I have a fresh windows installation of Windows 8.1 that I'm updating right now. The laptop is a Toshiba L840D with 8GB of RAM.
My partitions are laid out as follows:
150GB Windows 8 partition (NTFS)
400GB Data partition (NTFS)
20GB Linux root partition (empty)
16GB Linux swap partition
+ 5(!) other smaller EFI and Recovery Partitions.
Please give me clear directions to a dual-booting laptop.
By the way, why won't the forum let me use the enter key to make paragraphs?

[longnosemonkey]

Here is the link to the old thread: https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...-Kubuntu-12-10

[67GTA]

Just my two cents. I have found UEFI to vary greatly by version/vendor. Dual booting works on two of my four machines without any special install steps. The oldest machines (older UEFI) will not dual boot unless I use a separate boot partition. It seems the earlier versions efi would only handle one nvram entry at a time. Linux is installed second, so it's entry is first. A reboot will cause efi to remove all but the first entry, so only Linux remains. When Windows is next booted, it notices that its entry is missing from nvram and it puts its entry back, and that makes it the first entry. On the next boot, efi deletes all but the first entry from nvram, leaving only the Windows entry.

[longnosemonkey]

My laptop is new. It's from late 2012. But I did have issues with Linux and windows deleting boot records or something like that last time. I posted a link to the thread of my experiences but it needs to be cleared by the mods.

[longnosemonkey]

This is annoying. Why doesn't the [Enter] key work on this forum? I can't start a new paragraph.

[richb]

Hmmm.

Works for me. Not much help for you, however.

[life0riley]

I won't be much help with this, but I have some links from reading this forum and others. My only dual boot setup is on older hardware with Windows XP and Kubuntu 12.04 LTS using GRUB.

If I was going to dual boot Windows 7 or Windows 8 on new hardware and UEFI I'd be looking at rEFInd Boot Manager.

Here are some links.
New motherboard, 2 hard drives, dual boot win 7 and Kubuntu 12.04
MBR vs GPT, BIOS and UEFI, Secureboot...what's "the best" combo for a Linux only box?
The rEFInd boot loader for UEFI Systems: A life (and sanity) saver
rEFInd Boot Manager is a fork of rEFIt Boot Manager (used on macs), but is more universal and can work on both Macs EFI and PCs UEFI
The rEFInd Boot Manager

...
By the way, why won't the forum let me use the enter key to make paragraphs?

I'm able to do this as you can see in my post here. I always click the Go Advanced button and format there. I like to preview before I submit.

[SteveRiley]

I concur with using rEFInd.

Assuming that you have only Windows 8.1 on your machine now, first install rEFInd. Next, use the Ubuntu server ISO and install a command-line only Ubuntu into your 20 GB Linux root partition. Near the end of the installation procedure, when you're asked whether to install a boot loader (GRUB or ELILO), don't do either. Skip this part. Continue on and finish the installation. Now reboot. rEFInd will detect the presence of the Linux kernel in the root partition and present that in the menu along with Windows 8.1

[longnosemonkey]

Thanks again, SteveRiley. What is the success rate of this method?

I'm just waiting for Windows to update before I start the install process.

I've switched to Firefox. Apparently, not being able to use the Enter key is a limitation of IE10.

[SteveRiley]

I've built a dual-boot like this once on my ThinkPad X1, but using Windows 7 rather than 8. Your results should be similar.

GRUB has simply become too big and complex, and really isn't necessary on UEFI machines.

[longnosemonkey]

Windows is updated. I followed the Windows instructions to install rEFInd. I rebooted and noticed no change. I was not presented with a boot screen. I was expecting one, but maybe having a boot screen only makes sense if you have more than one OS?

Why am I installing Ubuntu Server if I want to install Kubuntu? Is Kubuntu just Ubuntu with KDE?

[Snowhog]

Is Kubuntu just Ubuntu with KDE?

Basically, yes; and no.

The 'core' of both Ubuntu and Kubuntu is the kernel. What adds 'flavor' is the Desktop Environment used by each. Ubuntu uses the Gnome Desktop Environment, and Kubuntu uses the K Desktop Environment.

[longnosemonkey]

It looks like Ubuntu 13.10 Server is 672 MB. Kubuntu 13.10 Desktop is 976 MB.

Will I get Kubuntu Desktop by installing Ubuntu 13.10 Server?

Edit: Thanks Snowhog. So KDE is almost 250 MB?

[Snowhog]

Not initially. Installing the Server release gives you a console only install (server). You can, after it's installed, install the desired desktop environment. SteveRiley has a thread here on doing this. See https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post339099

[longnosemonkey]

Well, I'm a Linux noob, I'd appreciate a link to that thread. I wouldn't get very far without a GUI.

Are these the instructions?

I like to enable "expert mode" because it allows selecting a mirror; for those in the U.S., mirror.anl.gov is likely to be the fastest. Near the end, you'll be presented a list of server packages -- don't install any of these. Allow the installer to finish and reboot your computer. The next step is to clean up the minimal amount of true server-related stuff that's still remaining:

sudo tasksel remove server

sudo apt-get purge $(dpkg -l | awk '/^rc/ {print $2}')

(The second command purges configuration files not removed by the first one.)

Finally, install the Kubuntu desktop:

sudo tasksel install kubuntu-desktop