8

I bought a new laptop with Windows installed. I selected “Erase disk and install Ubuntu”, and then it tells me to go back to Windows and disable bitlocker.

I can’t go back to Windows, because I don’t have the Bitlocker recovery key to beging with and furthermore I want to wipe the disk clean, why is disabling Bitlocker even required? Additionally when I do “Manual installation”, there is absolutely no way for me to wipe manually.

What is this? Why can’t I install Ubuntu?

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

masiton
  • 119

2 Answers2

8

Since you want to erase disk and install ubuntu, I am assuming that you don't need to retain Windows, or any data within.

Therefore, open a live session ("Try Ubuntu"), and open GParted. Delete all the Windows specific partitions, and club them to create an ext4 partition (this is where we will install ubuntu later). You can retain the other partitions if they have any required data. If you don't need to retain any data, then you can just delete all the partitions.

Now, open the installation again, and install Ubuntu in the newly created space.

Alternatively, go to manual installation, and delete all the Windows specific partitions.

Mark the EFI partition as boot.

Create another 60 GB ext4 partition from the space you created, and use it as / (root partition - this is the analog of "C Drive" in Ubuntu).

Keep the rest of the space for storage. You can partition it in any manner you wish.

Archisman Panigrahi
  • 40,026
  • Can someone explain the downvote? AFAIK, my posts answers the question – Archisman Panigrahi Jul 18 '24 at 03:25
  • 1
    I didn't realize I can do the try Ubuntu & use GParted, that's helpful, thanks. Your alternative solution does not work, however. Even if you set everything correctly, you'll end up on the last screen I posted. There is simply no way around Bitlocker in Ubuntu installer. – masiton Jul 20 '24 at 19:03
  • 1
    Did the try Ubuntu and GParted work? If so, you can accept my answer by clicking the checkmark, so that it helps future users point to the working solution. I will update it to reflect that the alternative solution did not work. – Archisman Panigrahi Jul 21 '24 at 06:28
  • I guess I'd need to rephrase the question as well? It doesn't really answer why the Ubuntu installer is behaving this way but it does give me path forward. – masiton Jul 25 '24 at 19:53
  • The alternative solution worked for me perfectly. – madacoda Sep 13 '24 at 07:28
  • 1
    @masiton: the "why behaves the installer this way" may be raised with Canonical, as they wrote the code for the installer. AU is about community support for Ubuntu, not for justifying design decisions or justifying certain code by Canonical. – noisefloor Sep 17 '24 at 13:59
  • 2
    This answer worked for me. Note that you have to follow it completely -- you have to club the old partitions, and make a new partition. If you don't do the last step then the installer still gets stuck. I tried it that way first, then I read more carefully and tried again. As to why the installer works that way, I agree it seems like a defect in the installer, but this answer helped me get past it. – Chris Beck Nov 11 '24 at 00:26
  • 1
    Just ran into this same issue with Ubuntu MATE 24.04 installer. I have been given a decommissioned corporate machine (yes, it's on the up-and-up), but it hasn't been wiped (smaller organization, less thorough IT). I obviously don't have login credentials, and I don't want any old data on the HD. This is a bug in the installer. Either it's a process bug, and the operation to erase the HD is failing somehow, or it's a UI bug, and the on-screen instructions are wrong. Thank goodness for StackExchange and AU! – Eiríkr Útlendi Nov 15 '24 at 04:42
  • FWIW, I found that backing up and selecting the "Manual" option allows me to change the partition table and get rid of the old Windows data. – Eiríkr Útlendi Nov 15 '24 at 04:50
0

This behaviour is not as outlined in the tutorial on Ubuntu.com and therefore likely to be a bug. A simple workaround without running GParted the live session is outlined in https://askubuntu.com/a/1513667/288322.

Rantanplan
  • 315