[Bio-linux-dev] Ubuntu installer bug

[Tim Booth]

Hi Tony,

This is particularly galling as I've actually been tracking the bug you
linked to and applied the patch (see comment 55) on Bio-Linux some time
ago.

It appears that when I updated the ISO to 8.0.5 I got a new version of
Ubiquity that clobbered my manual patch but didn't actually fix the bug.
I've now updated the Ubiquity package to 2.18.8.3 and I'm rolling a
8.0.5.1 ISO for the website, so hopefully that fixes it for future
users.

As an aside, I attempted to install dual-boot on my new new personal
laptop (a Yoga 2 Pro) over the weekend and completely trashed Windows
without the help of this bug, so I'd agree that yes UEFI really is
making it hard to get things working.  At least for me the resolution
was simple - leave Windows off.  Hopefully you can get your colleague's
laptop fixed too.

Cheers,

TIM

On Sat, 2015-01-17 at 15:15 +0000, Tony Travis wrote:
> Hi, Tim.
> 
> I've accidentally overwritten the Windows 8 installation on my
> colleague's UEFI Acer laptop because of a bug in the Bio-Linux/Ubuntu
> "Ubiquity" installer:
> 
>   https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1265192
> 
> I booted from the Bio-Linux 8.0.5 .iso, but Windows 8 was not detected
> and I was not offered the option of installing Linux alongside Windows
> 8. So, I resized the main Windows 8 partition using "gparted" and then
> installed Bio-Linux from the "Something else" option in the installer
> GUI. Bio-Linux booted from the hard disk OK, but Windows 8 did not boot
> from the Windows loader option in the GRUB menu. Eventually, after
> changing the UEFI boot options, I was able to boot Windows again, but
> not Bio-Linux. After several reboots, I could no longer boot Bio-Linux.
> Apparently, Windows 8 detects the changes Ubiquity makes as 'corruption'
> and 'repairs' them from a copy of its own files.
> 
> I decided to re-install Bio-Lunux to see if I could find out how to make
> the Ubiquity boot persistent, but this time the installer detected
> Ubuntu already installed and one option it offered was to "re-install"
> Ubuntu. I selected this option expecting to be told what it was going to
> do and then asked if I wanted to continue. However, the Ubiquity
> installer IMMEDIATELY overwrote the entire hard disk, destroying the
> Windows 8 installation completely. I've salvaged what I can from the
> laptop's hard disk using "testdisk/photorec", but this is my colleague's
> laptop and we didn't make a Windows 8 recovery USB-stick before
> installing Linux so I'll have to contact Acer support to see if they can
> help!
> 
> This is the first time I've ever had problems installing Bio-Linux, but
> UEFI has seriously complicated matters :-(
> 
> Bye,
> 
>   Tony.
> 
> --
> Dr. A.J.Travis, University of Aberdeen, Institute of Biological and
> Environmental Sciences, Cruickshank Building, St. Machar Drive, Aberdeen
> AB24 3UU, Scotland, UK. tel +44(0)1224 272700, fax +44 (0)1224 272 396
> http://www.abdn.ac.uk, mailto:tony.travis at abdn.ac.uk, skype:ajtravis
> 
> 
> 
> The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.
> Tha Oilthigh Obar Dheathain na charthannas clàraichte ann an Alba, Àir. SC013683.
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-- 
Tim Booth <tbooth at ceh.ac.uk>
NERC Environmental Bioinformatics Centre 

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
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OX10 8BB 

http://environmentalomics.org/bio-linux
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