Ubuntu Version:
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
Problem Description:
When i first tried to install ubuntu from my external USB, the SSD showed up and the installer showed the option for installation alongside windows, however i had to disable Bitlocker.
After i disabled Bitlocker, the option disappeared, i decided to use manual partitioning instead however when selecting the boot drive, the SSD appears, but is greyed out and unusable.
I’d like to either figure out how to get the installation alongside another OS option back, or for the drive to be an option for the manual option.
Example:
Try or install ubuntu →
go through every step until installation options →
select boot drive, cannot select SSD
Relevant System Information:
My original OS is windows 11, I’m trying to dual boot ubuntu to it, i have an AMD CPU.
Screenshots or Error Messages:
i had a screenshot, but i have no clue how to find it on windows since ubuntu isn’t actually installed yet, sorry.
What I’ve Tried:
i have already disabled AMD FTPM, the sata config is not raid, and i have set secure boot to other OS and disabled Fast boot, my SSD is also partitioned with 100gb of free space.
Disabling BitLocker is necessary but not enough. If you don’t have unallocated space you can’t do manual partitioning either.
Please do so in Windows with Windows native tools. And if you intend to dual-boot disabling the Fast Startup “feature” in Windows is a must.
i apologise if i didn’t make it very clear, i set 100gbs of unallocated space and fast startup already.
From USB live session you must format your 100gbs of unallocated space as ext4 and than retry install.
Not really.
Partitioning in advance isn’t at all required. You can create partitions during the installation process or let the installer do it automatically.
The problem here is different. I don’t know what exactly. According to the OP the initial requirements are met.
Sure, it won’t hurt opening e.g. GParted to check what’s going on.
@deadbread4 Could you please post a screenshoot of GParted with the target drive selected?
1 Like
I would disable secure boot completely and try again
other OS is literally the only other option available other than enabled
The “Not automatically fixing this” ‘label’ is weird, I’ve never seen such thing. That said it’s probably unrelated.
What happens exactly when you select manual partitioning (or install alongside that should take the 100GB unallocated space and make it (EXT4) root file system and use the existing ESP as well)?
Can you make a screenshot of the step you fail at select? I think there might be a misunderstanding. If you only have 100 G contiguous unallocated space, that should be made into a single / partition formatted as ext4. There is no need for a separate /boot partition, when the former is plain old ext4.
When i select manual partitioning, this is what shows up. as you can see in the bottom left the actual SSD (Rather than the USB 123GB) Is recognised but not selectable. As for install alongside, that option doesnt even show up.
Select the 100GB free space, do you see a + sign in lower left corner?
yes, thats where i made the 2 selected partitions
I see, “Next” is greyed out. I’ve had that happen recently too. The installer seems to need some special layout, and if you don’t mimick it to the tee it won’t let you proceed.
Have you tried just going with the “Install alongside” option (screenshot)?
install alongside? i remember seeing that before i decrypted my drive from Bitlocker, but afterwards it wouldnt show up
I guess that means that you didn’t disable Bitlocker in a way the installer can deal with and it rightly refuses to (potentially) break your existing OS. Might be something to do with there being another partition after the free space.
You need to also select (but not format, obviously) the ESP (EFI System Parition), the first partition (100MB), click “change” to attribute the role. A separated SWAP partition is NOT required, for years Ubuntu uses a swapfile by default. I think this is what’s missing to proceed with the installation.
2 Likes
Noooooo…
Again:
- Select the EFI (nvme0n1p1) partition as such - use “change” to assign the role - DO NOT FORMAT!!!
- Create the root file system in nvme0n1p5 and select format.
- Do NOT create or otherwise change any other partition to swap!
Alternatively (unsure because I never did it like this) you may get away without selecting the ESP if you choose the target drive from the dropdown menu “Device for bootloader installation”.
What you show now won’t work, fortunately, because if it did it would destroy the Windows bootloader.
What role am I actually applying when I use “change” am i just hitting change, then OK?
