Install fatal error

I put Ubuntu cinnamon on a usb drive and booted it. I had installed a band new master ssd, so I checked it and my other ssd on the drive program. Both ssds were recognized and showed the correct volumne size. On the home screen I told it to install it on my master (sda) computer ssd. It asked me how I wanted to install it whether to install side by side of a different Q4os that I had previously installed, but I told it to wipe everything and just install it. Q4os had been on a completely different ssd that is on my laptop, (not sda). It went through almost the entire process but an error screen said there was a fatal error when trying to install the operating system. The error message I received when trying to install Mint said," Unable to install GRUB in /dev/sda Executing ‘grub-install /dev/sda’ failed. This is a fatal error"

This is on an acer aspire v3-772G laptop. Please help. The confusing thing is that sda is a COMPLETELY brand new ssd?? I am a newbie, so please give me exact steps on what information I need to provide.

dkdias - Hello

I have no experiene installing to an Acer machine - however I am aware that with some models some hoops have to be jumped through.
Maybe these links will help -
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2444142
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2384706
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2390593
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2330267
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2333630
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2332385#post13525158

oldfred has good advise - well tested…

-my bit to try and help-

1 Like

You start talking about Ubuntu Cinnamon (not telling us which release), then switch and talk about Q4os and then Linux Mint?? Please provide clear details.

This site/area supports Ubuntu and official flavors only, so we can help with Ubuntu Cinnamon, but Linux Mint & Q4OS are not Ubuntu systems and are supported elsewhere.

The link below is to the official Ubuntu documentation and explains the process in as much detail as you will find any where. Did you read through it before trying to install Ubuntu?

Install Ubuntu Desktop | Ubuntu

If you have 2 drives attached (the new SSD and the old one with Q4OS), you need to make sure you select the correct one. Device names (sda, sdb, sdc) change and if you are booting from a USB it may show as /dev/sda. You should be able to determine which drive by the size shown, use fdisk or parted from a terminal before installing.

Is there any other OS on another drive or is it just the new SSD and the old drive with Q4OS? Is this an EFI capable computer? Did you boot and try to install in EFI mode?

I had installed Ubuntu Studio previous on a old style HD drive in this laptop, but I replaced the hd with a new ssd. I downloaded Ubuntu Cinnamon and tried to install it after replacing the drive. When the computer booted up it showed the “Ubuntu Studio” splash screen on the same screen as the Acer splash screen. It showed the splash screen twice, before going on to the screen to select whether to install Ubuntu or try it. When it tried to install it said it was installed Ubuntu Studio? I told it to wipe the drive and install Ubuntu, it said it was installing Ubuntu Studio again? It went through the process of installing the system, but came up with an error at the end. I was trying to install Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04.2 desktop-amd64.iso. I don’t why it said to install Ubuntu Studio. The Ubuntu Studio was on the old HD which is no longer in the computer? Same with the other operating systems, they are no longer on my ssds? I have two ssd drives in this Acer Aspire V3-772G laptop. There are 24 gigs of ram, a 256 ssd and a 1 tb ssd in this laptop.

How can I wipe both ssd drives of all the partitions and then install Ubuntu Cinnamon on my smaller 256 ssd? I have Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04.2 on a usb drive. I could care less about anything that is on any of the ssd drives that I have on this computer. I looked up and saw that that there are several partitions on my 1 td ssd and the last time I tried to install Ubuntu Cinnamon it created a partition on my smaller 256 ssd. The partitions seem to be creating a problem. If someone could provide me with the sudo commands I would appreciate it.

Please be precise with details; 24.02 represents 2024-February, but there was no release of any new Ubuntu product in 2024-February.

Please correct your details.

The installation should look like what you see in Install Ubuntu Desktop | Ubuntu as Ubuntu Cinnamon uses the same installer (last two releases), so differences will be cosmetic (such as background image differing).

On that page I provided, first link has an “Erase disk and Install” option; use that. That will erase all partitions on the physical drive/disk, however if you have more than a single drive (inc. two SSDs) it’ll only erase the disk you select.

Some (myself included) tend to find it easier using the second “Manual installation” option where I can tell the installer exactly what I want; however for people who don’t install systems that often, this maybe more complex (esp. if more than a single drive exists on the system as you probably have).

Given your last comment refers to a invalid release though, adjust if this doesn’t match your installer (I’ve assumed Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04.2 or 24.10 here)

In my previous posting I put this, please look at all the posts.
Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04.2 desktop-amd64.iso

One explanation for seeing Ubuntu Studio on boot when you have removed it or formatted the partition on which it existed is because it was an EFI install and code indicating Ubuntu Studio is on the nvram on the system board. I don’t know why the installer would show Ubuntu Studio.

The link I posted above to the Ubuntu site is about as detailed an explanation as you will find.

If you have nothing on the drives in your computer and you want to start fresh, you can remove everything and create a new partition table on the drives(s) you want to use by using gparted which should be included with the Ubuntu USB. Just open a terminal and enter: sudo gparted and it should open. Gparted has a manual available on line explaining how to use it. To create a new partition table on either/both drives, select the drive in gparted then click the Device tab at the top and select the parittion table type.

Did you look at the links provided?
Acer has a unique requirement of setting “trust” on the Ubuntu UEFI boot entry. You have to turn Secure boot on to get the extra settings in Acer’s System settings. If you set UEFI password never lose it or reset to blank or you may brick system.

If you create all new partitions with gparted be sure to make drive gpt. Note sure now but gparted used to default to very old MBR(msdos) partitioning.
Select gpt under device, advanced over msdos(MBR) default partitioning before starting.
Or use gdisk which is in repository. If drive was MBR, changing to gpt will totally erase entire drive, all partitions.
For UEFI install you need ESP(FAT32) & / (root) (ext4) at minimum. Other partition(s) are optional.

To see what partitions you have post this from terminal in live installer.

sudo parted -l

I appreciate your help. I am pretty stuck. I can only run “live” Ubuntu right now to get to my operating system or change any settings. Neither of my ssd drives will boot. I believe that secure boot is set to on in the boot settings, but I will double check again. IF I make both ssds into gpt drives will it select the default MBR by itself? How does the MBR get created? I don’t care about what is on either of the ssd drives, wiping them is fine with me. I just want to be able to boot my laptop using either ssd, without having to use a “live” usb drive. Please explain more about the UEFI install (ESP (Fat32) & (root) (ext4)? I think this is what I am missing?

If you create a GPT partition table on either/both drives all the data will be gone for all intents and purposes for a new user. If you have a GPT drive and you boot a Linux live/installer it will likely install in UEFI mode. On a system using UEFI, nothing is written to the MBR but the EFI boot files are written to an EFI partition if it exists or when the user creates it. You can see your drive/partition information with either command below. If you don’t understand the output, post it here.

sudo parted -l OR sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/loop0: 4.03 GiB, 4329140224 bytes, 8455352 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop1: 895.71 MiB, 939216896 bytes, 1834408 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop2: 4 KiB, 4096 bytes, 8 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop3: 74.27 MiB, 77881344 bytes, 152112 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop4: 269.77 MiB, 282873856 bytes, 552488 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop5: 10.72 MiB, 11239424 bytes, 21952 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop6: 104.61 MiB, 109694976 bytes, 214248 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop7: 505.09 MiB, 529625088 bytes, 1034424 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/sda: 223.57 GiB, 240057409536 bytes, 468862128 sectors
Disk model: Acer SSD SA100 2
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: BEEE60D9-CF52-4428-B42D-D39228646A9C

Device       Start       End   Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sda1     2048   2203647   2201600     1G EFI System
/dev/sda2  2203648 468858879 466655232 222.5G Linux filesystem


Disk /dev/sdb: 931.51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: SanDisk SDSSDH3 
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: AF632FD8-9B26-9D46-9D2B-597FDF40DACD

Device          Start        End    Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sdb1        2048 1899651071 1899649024 905.8G Linux filesystem
/dev/sdb3  1899652140 1953520064   53867925  25.7G Linux swap


Disk /dev/sdc: 29.82 GiB, 32015679488 bytes, 62530624 sectors
Disk model: Cruzer Glide    
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 8254D99E-236B-434D-B201-48BF70978748

Device        Start      End  Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sdc1        64 14149739 14149676  6.7G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sdc2  14149740 14159883    10144    5M EFI System
/dev/sdc3  14159884 14160483      600  300K Microsoft basic data
/dev/sdc4  14163968 62529535 48365568 23.1G Linux filesystem


Disk /dev/loop8: 116.78 MiB, 122449920 bytes, 239160 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop9: 91.69 MiB, 96141312 bytes, 187776 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop10: 500 KiB, 512000 bytes, 1000 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop11: 38.83 MiB, 40714240 bytes, 79520 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop12: 149.63 MiB, 156901376 bytes, 306448 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
ubuntu-studio@ubuntu-studio:~$

I am totally lost. Please help!! Here is the sudo parted -l information…

ubuntu-studio@ubuntu-studio:~$ sudo parted -l
Model: ATA Acer SSD SA100 2 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 240GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name  Flags
 1      1049kB  1128MB  1127MB  fat32              boot, esp
 2      1128MB  240GB   239GB   ext4


Model: ATA SanDisk SDSSDH3 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system     Name                   Flags
 1      1049kB  973GB   973GB   ext4            ext4 ssd 1 tb sandisk
 3      973GB   1000GB  27.6GB  linux-swap(v1)                         swap


Model: SanDisk Cruzer Glide (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 32.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name       Flags
 1      32.8kB  7245MB  7245MB               ISO9660    hidden, msftdata
 2      7245MB  7250MB  5194kB               Appended2  boot, esp
 3      7250MB  7250MB  307kB                Gap1       hidden, msftdata
 4      7252MB  32.0GB  24.8GB  ext4


ubuntu-studio@ubuntu-studio:~$

In the boot menu, it says that my Secure Boot Mode is set to “Standard”.

OldFred,
Yes I did look at the links provided and I tried them, but they did not work for some reason?

So now there are two SSDs in your Acer Aspire V3-772G laptop:

  • ATA Acer SSD SA100 2 with 240 GB
  • ATA SanDisk SDSSDH3 with 1000 GB

Which one replaced your HDD recently? ATA SanDisk SDSSDH3?

On which one did you try to install Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04.2? Both?

What happens now when you boot with your Cinnamon USB? Do you get to see the Cinnamon installer? (Do not install yet. Just trying to narrow down the problem.)

  • ATA Acer SSD SA100 2 with 240 GB replaced the old HD drive I had in it…

I think I tried to install on both drives? I do not see anything to do with Cinnamon, even though the usb live install is Cinnamon? It loads Ubuntu Studio. I did have Ubuntu Studio installed on my old HDD drive that Is no longer on the laptop. I replaced it with the Acer SSD 240 gb.

When you boot in your Linux live usb what flavor is started? Cinnamon? If Ubuntu Studio is started from usb you may have installed the wrong iso on your usb stick.