Can't install from USB, at the end can't copy to /boot/something and update-grub fails with "no space left on device", but there is space

[Mihai Preda]

I'm trying to install Ubuntu 21.04 beta.
I already have installed Ubuntu 20.04.
I'm installing on a disk that is booted in BIOS mode normally, reusing the /home partition (i.e. side-by-side with the existing Ubuntu 20.04).

The disk is BIOS mode. I tried booting from the install USB in both UEFI and Legacy mode, the install fails in the same way at the very end. The message with "no space left on device" is misleading, there is space. Probably the installer is trying to write to the USB itself, which is probably read-only thus the error. Very annoying: GRUB also did update the MBR, thus I can't even boot the previous partition. Not only did the install fail, it also broke my system! Critical.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 21.04
Package: ubiquity 21.04.13
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.11.0-13.14-generic 5.11.7
Uname: Linux 5.11.0-13-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: zfs zunicode zavl icp zcommon znvpair
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu61
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CasperVersion: 1.461
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Wed Apr 14 11:35:19 2021
InstallCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed maybe-ubiquity quiet splash ---
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 21.04 "Hirsute Hippo" - Beta amd64 (20210331.1)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 LC_NUMERIC=C.UTF-8
RebootRequiredPkgs:
 linux-image-5.11.0-13-generic
 linux-base
SourcePackage: grub-installer
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Mihai Preda (mhpreda)]

I would appreciate some help with how to revert to a bootable system after this failed install. It left my system unbootable, even though I still have a perfectly fine install of Ubuntu 20.04 in sda3, I can't boot it anymore. Grub is borked. Not a great user experience BTW.

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

Possible duplicate of https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1923134

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better.

Bug reporting is mostly about finding & fixing problems thus preventing future users from hitting the same bug.

I suspect a Support site would be more appropriate, eg. https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu. You can also find help with your problem in the support forum of your local Ubuntu community http://loco.ubuntu.com/ or asking at https://askubuntu.com or https://ubuntuforums.org, or for more support options please look at https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/community-support/709

(Note: many support sites don't support development releases, IRC and Ubuntu Forums have ubuntu+1 areas where you are on-topic though)

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

FYI: Lubuntu hirsute (21.04) uses the `calamares` installer and will install correctly in my experience (it'll only give a warning prior to install about ESP partition presence, then install correctly).

[Mihai Preda (mhpreda)]

I found a workaround: I booted with the live USB, and changed the pre-existing swap partition on the installation target (/dev/sda) to a EFI partition. Then the grub-install progressed without error because it could write to that partition. My install was on a MBR disk and I'm not booting EFI.