Installer tries to install in BIOS mode on drive larger than 2 TB

[Robert Pearson]

I replaced a failing hard drive with a new one. I installed Ubuntu MATE 18.04 and then tried to boot it. Complete failure.

I have read that currently the Linux installer checks to see how the installation media was booted. If it booted as legacy BIOS it installs Linux as legacy BIOS bootable. If it is booted as UEFI, then it installs as UEFI bootable.

This algorithm is valid as long as the target hard drive is 2 TB or smaller. If the the drive is larger that 2 TB it must use a GUID Partition Table and boot with UEFI. Now that 3 TB and 4 TB drives are getting cheaper, the algorithm needs to be brought up to 2005 standards and install as UEFI regardless of how the installation media was booted.

The installer should also check the for an UEFI System Partition, create it if needed, and install any missing UEFI files. They are on the installation DVD, the current installation program does not bother to check the target drive and copy required UEFI files.

The installation media is a DVD with the latest Ubuntu MATE 18.04 ISO.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: ubuntu-release-upgrader-core 1:18.04.19
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-23.25-generic 4.15.18
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-23-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: ufsd
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.2
Architecture: amd64
CrashDB: ubuntu
CurrentDesktop: MATE
Date: Sat Jun 23 04:46:52 2018
InstallationDate: Installed on 2018-06-15 (7 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-MATE 18.04 LTS "Bionic Beaver" - Release amd64 (20180426)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: ubuntu-release-upgrader
Symptom: dist-upgrade
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

It is not possible to install in UEFI mode if the installer is not booted in UEFI mode.

[Robert Pearson (rpearsonii)]

That is exactly the bug!

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

That's not a bug; it is how UEFI is designed. Specifically, UEFI requires the OS to make calls to the firmware to register firmware variables telling it how to boot the OS. Those calls are not available when the system isn't booted in UEFI mode.