"Erase disk and install Ubuntu" doesn't work when BitLocker enabled

[Cameron Kolodjski]

The drive I'm trying to install Ubuntu on is entirely encrypted with BitLocker. I have the "Erase disk and install Ubuntu" option checked, yet clicking Next brings me to the "BitLocker is enabled" screen. This screen says I may "choose 'Erase disk and install Ubuntu' to continue", yet my only option is to restart into Windows and disable BitLocker (which I will be doing after I submit this).

[Cameron Kolodjski (ckolod)]

Note: This was after updating and restarting the installer as prompted by the wizard.

[Ulo Pe (ulope)]

I've just ran into the same issue.

It's clearly a bug since this [1] blog post even brags about how it's now possible to wipe bitlocker'd drives.

There's a workaround: Open a terminal (by clicking on the dash-dot thing icon in the top left and searching for Terminal) and then running:

    sudo wipefs -a <device>

You can find the correct device with `lsblk`

[1] https://ubuntu.com/blog/how-we-designed-the-new-ubuntu-desktop-installer

[Olivier Gayot (ogayot)]

Hello and thank you for the bug report.

I'm adding ubuntu-desktop-installer for now. I think it is a UI issue.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Closing that ubuntu-desktop-installer report since the component is deprecated. We aren't going to fix 23.10 installer bugs at this point and Noble uses ubuntu-desktop-provision, feel free to reopen/reassign to that component if that's still an issue with the noble beta image

[Daniel Arnold (motmonthenet)]

Just chiming in to confirm that I am having the same issue with the 24.04 beta installer. I got around it by manually partitioning.

[Matthew K (matthewkuk-deactivatedaccount)]

I just tried a fresh install of Ubuntu 24.04 final ISO and I have this exact bug. I even captured it as a video incase anyone didnt believe me. Cannot install Ubuntu unless I manually partition. Didn't experience this problem on my laptop with ether 22.04 or 23.10.

[Alex (alex-1992)]

Same issue for me on 24.04. If BitLocker is detected it just refuses to let you install without manually partitioning, even if you choose to erase the drive or have multiple usable drives. Seems like a UI mistake where the "Disable BitLocker" screen shows for "Erase disk..."-option when it's not supposed to.

[Kristian Lange (madsen953)]

Same problem here with a new ISO image of 24.04

[rdig (rdig)]

Ran into the same issue trying to install 24.04 over a Win 11 with Bitlocker. This seems to still be a issue.

This is made even more cumbersome due to having to disable Secure Boot to boot Ubuntu, but then, in order to disable Bitlocker in Windows, you'll have to re-enable it, otherwise you won't be able too boot.

[shuyao (notanumber5)]

Same problem when i was installing ubuntu 24.04 on a windows 10 with bitlocker already deactivated. In the end I installed another flavor (kubuntu 24.04) instead to bypass this problem.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thanks for posting your feedback. To confirm, everyone there was trying to wipe their Windows partition and just have Ubuntu as only installed system?

[Matthew K (matthewkuk-deactivatedaccount)]

Indeed if we select erase disk with an excsiting windows partition and bitlocker is active (all new machines are enabled by default) this is the problem we are seeing.

[Halfcard (halfcard)]

I'm also seeing this today with a fresh 24.04 LTS install and bitlocker enabled on a Windows 11 Dell G15. I wanted to erase the disk and go all-in on Ubuntu.

[Jennifer Cash (drjenncash)]

I'm also seeing this today with a Dual-boot laptop with Windows and Ubuntu 23.02. I'm trying to wipe all of that and move to Ubuntu 24.02 with no Windows partition left. I choose "Erase Disk and install Ubuntu" and still get the message that I need to turn off BitLocker to continue.

[SickBeard (bubanja-kaju)]

I'm getting the same issue with a Windows 11. Cant erase the bitlocker