I’m trying to wipe Windows and install Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS as the sole OS on a Samsung laptop.
Ubuntu boots just fine from USB with ubuntu-24.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso.
However, the installer fails during partitioning with the error:
sfdisk: cannot open /dev/sda: Input/output error
Hardware:
Laptop: Samsung Galaxy Book S
Internal storage: SAMSUNG KLUEG8UHDB-C2D1 (UFS module, 256 GB)
Symptoms:
sfdisk: cannot open /dev/sda: Input/output error
ls /dev/sd* shows /dev/sda but no partitions
smartctl fails early on. With -T permissive it doesn’t technically fail but still returns no info (no temperature, no SMART logs, etc.)
I tried Lubuntu 22.04 instead, to the exact same effect
Doing a partial installation alongside windows runs into the same issue
From Windows:
The drive shows up fine under “Disk Drives” in Device Manager
No errors or issues reported
wmic diskdrive get status returns “OK”
CrystalDiskInfo fails to find the drive though
BIOS Info:
Drive is listed in BIOS correctly with model number
Secure Boot is off
Trying a diagnosis with ChatGPT (Just so you know: If any of this sounds super-odd it’s on them ) it may be a UFS driver issue?
Has anyone installed Ubuntu on a UFS-based system before?
Any way to include the relevant driver in the installation process?
Also: I’m neither fixed on the version nor flavour of Ubuntu. Any hint to a flavour/version combo that may install on this machine would be much appreciated!
I had come across that post in my search but thought it unrelated since my error occurs at a different stage. Sorry for missing that.
Anyway:
I tried installing Lubuntu 24.10 (Oracular Oriole) just now.
Sadly: The installer still returns the same kind of error (being unable to create a partitioning table) upon running sfdisk --wipe=always /dev/sda .
I haven’t gotten around to trying Lubuntu Partition Manager / Gparted yet - mostly because I feel rather insecure about it:
Even if I can manually partition the drive (and I wouldn’t know which partitions / what sizes to create in the first place):
Wouldn’t the installer still attempt and fail to create partitions afterwards?
Can I get the installer to pick up the installation process after me repartitioning / wiping the drive?
(And if this is too short notice before the topic closes: Nevermind, the delay is clearly on me.
Thank you all!)
The steps provided by others are exactly what you need to do.
We hope not, that’s why we’re suggesting this
Yes. This is a very, very common thing to do. I have frequently had to “zap” a drive and re-create the partition table, or just wipe the first few MB of the disk to get a clean start.
Here’s the full set of steps:
Boot from a live USB of Ubuntu 24.10 (or a flavor like Lubuntu 24.10).
Once in the live session, open a partitioning tool like GParted (available by default in Ubuntu).
In the partitioning tool, select the internal UFS drive (likely /dev/sda), delete existing partitions, and then click Apply.
Create a new GPT (GUID Partition Table) on the drive.
For GParted, this is typically done by selecting the disk, then going to “Device” > “Create Partition Table…” and choosing “gpt” from the list.
After the GPT has been successfully created, close the partitioning tool.
Run the Ubuntu (or Lubuntu) installer from the live session.
When you reach the partitioning step in the installer, choose the option to allow the installer to automatically create partitions or proceed with “Install alongside” or “Erase disk and install Ubuntu,” as the drive should now be properly initialized with a GPT.
This method aims to prepare the UFS drive with a compatible partition table structure before the installer attempts its own sfdisk operations, which might bypass the input/output error. It seems you have not yet attempted this specific step of manually creating a GPT partition table before running the installer again.
) it may be a UFS driver issue?
.
Apply.