Hanging ntfs-mounts leave system unbootable when install is cancelled
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ubiquity (Ubuntu) |
Expired
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
Using Ubuntu 7.10 desktop amd64 cd-image downloaded from website 2008/02/26.
I was trying to install from within the started live-cd session, using the install button on the desktop.
The installer hang (note: this is not the actual bug i am talking about) after copying the files in the attempt of obviously (as reported by df) mounting several existing ntfs partitions from my drives into one mounting point (/var/lib/
When giving up, and trying to reboot into my existing windows installation, the system was unbootable. It only said "Grub stage 1.5" "Error 5".
I had to (partially) reinstall windows.
A serious installation CANNOT shoot an existing MBR and/or bootloader before *knowing* that the new ones *will* work.
If the installer, or the mounting instances, are confused by drives/
I consider this a serious mistake in the design of the installation procedure, and a reason not to trust ubuntu at all, until this flaw is obviously made impossible.
Sorry for ranting.
Arno Waschk
Thank you for taking the time to report this issue and help to improve Ubuntu.
It is impossible to ever guarantee with 100% certainty that the bootloader will succeed until the attempt is made; this is a limitation inherent to software. Any failures to correctly boot are certainly bugs, and all such bugs are taken seriously, but they can't all be solved and eliminated before they're seen.
At any rate, if the files are missing from /boot, this sounds to me like a bug in grub-installer rather than in grub; reassigning to that installer component.