Elementary OS Installation fails with Fatal Error

[AlTech]

Hi,

I've been trying to install Elementary OS on a second partition on a Thinkpad X240 and that's been going badly.

 

Elementary wants a bios in  UEFI bios mode but Windows won't boot without a bios in legacy BIOS mode so I'm quite confused. 

 

Here's the error I'm getting when trying to install Elementary OS.

 

The BIOS is from 2014 and I don't know if a newer version is available.

 

I'm really confused about why I can't just install Elementary normally.

 

Please help. Thanks.

[LHJKO]

Cant you install windows on legacy then elemetery on uefi

[DnFx91]

4 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Hi,

I've been trying to install Elementary OS on a second partition on a Thinkpad X240 and that's been going badly.

 

Elementary wants a bios in  UEFI bios mode but Windows won't boot without a bios in legacy BIOS mode so I'm quite confused. 

 

Here's the error I'm getting when trying to install Elementary OS.

 

The BIOS is from 2014 and I don't know if a newer version is available.

 

I'm really confused about why I can't just install Elementary normally.

 

Please help. Thanks.

put the bios into UEFI mode with CSM enabled mate, its probably freaking out because of the GPT MBR mismatch

[AlTech]

2 minutes ago, DnFx91 said:

put the bios into UEFI mode with CSM enabled mate, its probably freaking out because of the GPT MBR mismatch

If I do that then I won't be able to boot into Windows.

 

Also, I'm updating the BIOS right now to version 2.40

[DnFx91]

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

If I do that then I won't be able to boot into Windows.

 

Also, I'm updating the BIOS right now to version 2.40

enabling CSM should allow you to boot legacy OS and hardware even though BIOS mode is UEFI

[AlTech]

BIOS update worked. Now what?

[AlTech]

Just now, DnFx91 said:

enabling CSM should allow you to boot legacy OS and hardware even though BIOS mode is UEFI

I'm telling you what I'm seeing. Enabling UEFI only with CSM doesn't boot into Windows.

[DnFx91]

Just now, AluminiumTech said:

I'm telling you what I'm seeing. Enabling UEFI only with CSM doesn't boot into Windows.

ok now you are  before you were speaking in prior tense as if you were assuming that was the case. 

if elementary doesnt support legacy boot at all, then you can try using a 3rd party bootloader like clover or rEFIned and see if that will let elementary do its EFI grub stuff. If not, i would be a jackass about it and capture the windows installation with WDS, wipe the laptop, image windows back on in EFI mode, then install elementary too.

 

[AlTech]

4 minutes ago, DnFx91 said:

ok now you are  before you were speaking in prior tense as if you were assuming that was the case. 

if elementary doesnt support legacy boot at all, then you can try using a 3rd party bootloader like clover or rEFIned and see if that will let elementary do its EFI grub stuff. If not, i would be a jackass about it and capture the windows installation with WDS, wipe the laptop, image windows back on in EFI mode, then install elementary too.

 

So, I think I found a possible cause for the problem. For whatever reason the SSD is using MBR instead of GPT.

 

What can I do to change it to GPT? Normally I'd right click in the partition manager on Windows but I can't select that now for some reason.

[DnFx91]

Just now, AluminiumTech said:

So, I think I found a possible cause for the problem. For whatever reason the SSD is using MBR instead of GPT.

 

What can I do to change it to GPT? Normally I'd right click in the partition manager on Windows but I can't select that now for some reason.

nope, changing partition map on a drive with windows on it, and have it still be bootable, is the holy grail, i dunno how to do it, but i think it can be done.

That's why i suggested reinstall. its a bastard of a problem to get into, and usually requires starting again. If you are feeling brave though, look into zeroing the boot sector with gparted or something, and booting windows recovery, to use CMD and try rebuild a GPT on the now probably unbootable drive

[Sauron]

34 minutes ago, Vernw3 said:

Cant you install windows on legacy then elemetery on uefi

Not if you want to dual boot.

15 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

So, I think I found a possible cause for the problem. For whatever reason the SSD is using MBR instead of GPT.

 

What can I do to change it to GPT? Normally I'd right click in the partition manager on Windows but I can't select that now for some reason.

I don't think you can change the boot drive from mbr to gpt, you'd need to reinstall windows in uefi mode. If elementary is being fussy I suggest you try a different distribution, there are plenty that will work just fine in legacy mode.

 

Unfortunately, this is the sort of problem you might run into with prepackaged installers.

[AlTech]

Just now, Sauron said:

Not if you want to dual boot.

I don't think you can change the boot drive from mbr to gpt, you'd need to reinstall windows in uefi mode. If elementary is being fussy I suggest you try a different distribution, there are plenty that will work just fine in legacy mode.

 

Unfortunately, this is the sort of problem you might run into with prepackaged installers.

I tried Ubuntu prior to Elementary and that didn't install either. In fact, elementary worked for longer before crashing and burning.

 

Yep, downloading Memedows all over again.

[AlTech]

1 hour ago, Sauron said:

Not if you want to dual boot.

I don't think you can change the boot drive from mbr to gpt, you'd need to reinstall windows in uefi mode. If elementary is being fussy I suggest you try a different distribution, there are plenty that will work just fine in legacy mode.

 

Unfortunately, this is the sort of problem you might run into with prepackaged installers.

What if Windows doesn't allow me to change the drive to GPT at the installation screen?

[Sauron]

12 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

What if Windows doesn't allow me to change the drive to GPT at the installation screen?

Use a standalone tool (for example gparted) to wipe the drive and change it to GPT, then run the windows installer.

[KenjiUmino]

2 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

Hi,

I've been trying to install Elementary OS on a second partition on a Thinkpad X240 and that's been going badly.

don't dual boot windows with anything else - it will always cause problems. bootloaders overriding each other and whatnot. 

 

if you have to dual boot, better install each OS to a seperate physical drive (the thinkpad should have a m.2 or msata in addition to the 2.5" drive) and use the thinkpads boot menu to select wich OS you want