Dual Boot BitCurator 2.0.16 - Windows 10 Install Fail

[John Richan]

 We are trying to do a dedicated dual-boot install of BitCurator 2.0.16 on an HP Probook with 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD. Everything seemed to go smoothly but at the last step and we get this error message, and the installer crashes:

 

The ‘grub-efi-amd64-signed’ package failed to install into /target/. Without the GRUB boot loader, the installed system will not boot.

 

At first we thought it might have something to do with the partitioning of the disk. We had originally selected the “Install alongside” option in the setup menu and manually dragged the partition to allocate 50% to Windows and 50% to BitCurator, since we weren’t sure how much space we would need for either. After the installation failed and we tried again, we found that the partitions we had created were still there, and we could not continue the installation without resetting them, so we had to manually repartitioned the disk. After watching a few tutorials, we deleted the BitCurator partition and created a root partition (100 GB) and a swap partition (16 GB) instead. But it failed anyway with the same error code and we’re now a little stumped. 

 

We’re wondering if anyone has encountered the issues we’re having and can give us some insight!

[Amanda May]

I've had the same problem. I've tried many different solutions over the past month, but can't get BitCurator to install no matter what options I choose, whether the computer is hooked into the internet or not, whether secure boot is enabled or not, no matter how I try to create the swap and EFI partitions and what I name them... I've tried so hard to find the solution, so if anybody has any ideas then I'm game to try.

Thanks!

[Kam Woods]

An alternative installation method follows below. Some context first:

Over the past few years, we've put significant effort into ensuring that the BitCurator ISO works identically to the base Ubuntu installation media. Unfortunately, as time has gone by the tools available to produce a Ubuntu respin with a backed-up user have both (a) required significant modification to handle changes to the security model, file system layout, and outright bugs in ubiquity, and (b) seem to now exhibit some behavioral differences on installation regardless of these efforts. It's possible that these may be contributing to the issue.

Fortunately, the build tooling for BitCurator itself is fully automated, so for situations like this (where you'd like to do a dual boot), you can do the following:

1. Start with a Windows machine and create your partition as usual (no need to create a swap partition - Ubuntu 18.04LTS uses a swapfile).

2. Download the Ubuntu 18.04LTS Desktop ISO from: https://ubuntu.com/#download and write it to a USB stick as you would with the BitCurator ISO.

3. Install Ubuntu 18.04LTS (using any username you wish) alongside Windows.

4. Once your dual-boot system is ready, boot into Ubuntu and log in with your username

5. Follow the instructions in the README at: https://github.com/bitcurator/bitcurator-distro-installer (note - you will need to be connected to the internet to download the installation components).

Kam

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[Kam Woods]

Realized I should have added the following: the recently(ish) released BitCurator installer linked above no longer makes *any* changes to grub, fstab, or other boot-related system components. Once you have Ubuntu 18.04LTS dual-booting with Windows, installing the BitCurator tools and desktop modifications will have no effect on the ability of the system to boot.

A related benefit of this installation method is that if (prior to installing the BitCurator-packaged tools) you are experiencing dual-boot issues with your Windows installation and stock Ubuntu 18.04LTS, you can seek help in the Ubuntu forums, where you'll have access to a wider pool of expertise. This said recognizing that one of the principal benefits of bitcurator-users is to bring together a supportive community with shared needs. If, however, you don't find the answers here for one reason or another, hopefully it's helpful if the setup/install workflow supports finding them elsewhere.

Kam

[John Richan]

Hi Kam, we just wanted to let you know that we followed your instructions and it worked! We now have a functional dual-booting workstation. Thank you so much for your help!  

 

Thanks

On Monday, August 26, 2019 at 4:08:33 PM UTC-4, John Richan wrote:

[Amanda May]

John, I think we're mentally linked because I was also doing this today. Thank you, Kam, for your 5-star instructions! We, too, have a working dual-booting workstation and another on the way. 

Amanda