Bootloader options aren't clear

[B. Joshua Rosen]

The Gutsy installer isn't clear about how to install the Bootloader to a partition other then the MBR. You have a button called Advanced which brings up the boot loader options. This is completely opaque. The button should say Boot Options which is clear, not Advanced which means absolutely nothing. When you get to the Advanced page it says (hd0) with no alternatives. To change the bootloader to your root partition you have to know which partition you designated for /. You also have to know that Grub numbers partitions differently than /etc/fstab, i.e. if root is on /dev/hda9 then grub sees it as hd8. Redhat has a button that selects the root partition, this is the right solution. The best solution would be to put the two options, MBR and Root, out in the open not on some hidden page. Stomping on an existing setup without asking is the sort of thing Microsoft does, it's unacceptable for Linux distro to behave that way.

[B. Joshua Rosen (bjrosen)]

I did the install with the (hd8) option set. I got a fatal error during the grub_install phase.

[David Griffioen (griffioen42)]

I agree that the bootloader issue is over simplified by the installer.
I wanted to install everything on an USB (flash) disk. By accident the bootloader was installed on the hard disk (of my companies notebook): oeps. I needed the USB for every boot. After my mistake i found out that under 'advanced' the installer is perfectly able to install everything on the USB (including bootloader).

In the overview at the end it should at least mention where it will write the grub stuff. Then I have a fair change to see that i am writing on a HD.

Also the naming of the partitions /dev/sdd is not as clear as it can be. Ubuntu usually recognizes and mentions 'USB something'. That would be helpful to have also during install.

[Mikel Ward (mikelward)]

(Came here via bug #230603.)

Ditto to David's comment.

I tried installing to USB key using direct install rather than usb-creator based on someone's recommendation.

I don't think the installer made it clear that Grub would be installed to the first primary hard disk. My Windows installation was rendered unbootable. This kind of thing should not happen.

Obviously installing Grub to the first hard drive would be the right thing to do if there were two internal drives, but if any of the drives are removable, the installer needs to ask the user what to do. Either that or maybe there is a way to enumerate the BIOS boot order: if the install target is a valid BIOS boot device, then Grub should be installed to the install target and not the first hard drive.

Also, the installer should display the name of the drive it is installing Grub to, and it should do so on the main page, not hidden under advanced. Any label would be beneficial, something like "Seagate STxxxxx - SATA" versus "SanDisk Cruiser - USB" would be enough to differentiate from external, but /dev/xxx would be better than nothing. If you're trying to make the screen as simple as possible, the information could possibly be hidden if there is only one drive.

[Marcus Tomlinson (marcustomlinson)]

This release of Ubuntu is no longer receiving maintenance updates. If this is still an issue on a maintained version of Ubuntu please let us know.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for ubiquity (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]