Linux Installing ubuntu 9.10 on Dell inspiron 1545 laptop

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SpaceVoid

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Hey TE'ites.

Recently my friend purchased a dell laptop 1545 inspiron series which came with bundled windows 7 home premium.He wanted to partition the drive further so we decided to do a reinstall of the OS.

As the OS OEM DVD came with the lappy we proceeded forward with re-installation.There were 3 partitions in it.First one was about 300MB or so called dell rescue or something.Second was the 100MB which 7 makes for itself.And the remaining was one giant partition.We deleted all of them and started partitioning from scratch.Made the first partition of 40GB,second of 100GB and third of 87GB.The remaining 5GB we left as it is,thinking we will use it for installing ubuntu.The installation of windows progressed without any glitch.

After setting up the drivers and stuff we decided its time to install ubuntu.But we hit a roadblock when the partition manager screen popped up.We choose manual partition but that 5GB was shown as unusable.:@As if it was some garbage which the system couldnt use.So we logged into windows 7 and selected that 5GB and made a new partition(volume).This new partition was merely 5GB in space but was working fine.

So again we tried loading ubuntu but this time at the partition screen the partition manager started showing only 3 partitions.One the 100MB one,other the 40GB one ( "c" drive) and it showed the rest of the partitions as one whole partition of 192GB.:no:

Now guys please help us in installing ubuntu on this laptop.We even tried setting sata mode as ATA from ahci in the bios.But it didnt work.

Any help is greatly appreciated. :hap2:
 
Partition that remaining space from Win7 and format as FAT32

then while installing ubuntu again select that partition to format as EXT3/4
 
Hi,

I am guessing that 5GB partition, was the last partition that might be the reason Ubuntu was not able to use.i think it something with the fact Operation systems can only be installed on primary partitions.Lastly, 5GB space is hardly enough for Ubuntu.

1) In Win7. From Control Panel; goto Disk Management.

2) Choose a partition and click on "Shrink" partition. Allocate about 8-10GB space.

3) While installing Ubuntu, tell the installer to use free space.

Here is a video guide:

[youtube]GhnLk3gviWY[/youtube]
 
^ Indeed you are right.5GB was infact the last partition.But that is how I do it on my desktop with 80GB pata drive.I just leave some 5GB space while partitioning in windows xp at the end of the drive.Afterwards I reclaim this space directly while installing ubuntu.Have never came upon what happened with the laptop till date.It was only in the beginning when linux had to be installed on primary partitions and that too within some 1024 cylinder limit aint it ? I dont think that limitation still exists.Anyways guys thanks for the inputs :) I ll try the things you mentioned.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.I truly appreciate your help :)
 
Do post if it worked for you...

What I usually prefer to do is create first "small" partition for Windows like maybe 50-60 GB NTFS, then create second unformatted partition from 8 to 20 gb for Ubuntu, then the REST of the space as a single huge NTFS partition to store my data... that seems to work for me... after installing Windows then running the Ubuntu installer works well...

BTW you didnt say which version of Ubuntu you are trying, maybe it is buggy and you should get the very latest version (9.10 or the latest 10.04 Beta2)...
 
^ was going to post it yesterday but forgot in a hurry.

The above solutions didnt work.We tried shrinking the E drive so that some space was freed up.But in ubuntu only 2 partitions show .. first the 40GB one (windows system drive) and rest it shows as a single 192GB partition rather then individual drives.We are trying with ubuntu 9.10 final 32bit.Windows 7 64bit is the installed OS.

Vishal.. The exact same thing I used to do earlier on my desktop.Now we need to do it with his laptop.

Also my other friends desktop with a sata drive have been formatted like .....

ntfs windows c ..

ntfs d ...

ntfs e ...

ntfs f ...

free space at the end .... which i use for ubuntu later.This system also works on the desktop.But its not working with laptop.

Anyways will give it a try as you mentioned. :)
 
laptop bios may be buggy/crappy and unable to access large disk areas near the end in bootup mode for linux....

btw forget my question about what version you are trying, its in the thread title and i am blind :D
 
Hi,

I have installed Ubuntu on Dell Inspiron 1420 and 1525 and its a breeze believe me.

I would ask you to start afresh. That would keep things straight and simple.

First lay your hands on Gparted and make 4 partitions in the following way ( I would have four partitions like this )

60 Gbs – Windows 7 – NTFS

20 Gbs – Ubuntu 9.10 – ext4

2 Gbs – SWAP

150 Gbs – Data Parttition – NTFS

You can make the last three partitions by deleting and making fresh Partitions using Gparted

No need to install Windows 7 again if you feel

Now try to keep the 1st two partitions as primary

Rest does not matter

Last should be logical :)

The partitions shd ideally be in the above order to prevent complication...Maybe you are leaving too few space for Ubuntu...Actually 5 Gb is too less.

Now install Windows 7 on 60 Gb partition..(If you are doing a fresh install of Windows 7...Else ignore this step ).... I would ideally install Drivers and complete other tasks later.

Install Ubuntu straight away after installing Windows 7 on the 20 gb partition...you should choose the swap file carefully before you can finalize the installation.

Rest should be a breeze...just follow the on screen instructions.

Now installing Wi-fi can be a bit of a trouble on Ubuntu..but I have figured a way out..Just let me know if you face problems installing Wi-Fi.

Ideally you should 1st try to install LAN-Wired Connection before Wi-Fi...Its easy..But its your choice anyways.

Let us know how Ubuntu behave and many of us are here to help you :)

Also Ubuntu 10.04 with Long Term Support would be released around 29th April...So if you want you can wait..Else....Dive right away :)
 
sgx100 .... awesome post man.Thanks.

The friend was a bit busy today so couldnt get our hands dirty.will try tomorrow and post the results.

*fingers crossed*
 
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