Ubuntu is being reinstalled from scratch and isn't starting, it's frozen in Grub.
Ubuntu is being reinstalled from scratch and isn't starting, it's frozen in Grub.
Hi there! I've been struggling with Windows 10 lately, so I decided to give Ubuntu a shot. I picked Ubuntu thinking it would offer better compatibility across different hardware. My Lenovo Legion Laptop has an extra 1TB NVMe storage, which I mounted from a USB stick during installation. When I power on the laptop, I'm presented with the GRUB menu instead of the operating system. I looked up this problem and tried to figure out which drives and partitions the boot menu recognizes, where the data should be stored, and how to set it up properly.
The "ls" command revealed that the first partition (hd0) had a GPT signature, but the second partition (hd0,gpt1-4) showed no files detected—indicating a Windows SSD. That left (hd0,gpt2) and (hd0,gpt3) as the ones containing Ubuntu. According to some guides, I needed to locate the boot directory and identify the essential files like vmlinuz and initrd. But I couldn't find a boot directory matching the instructions, so I searched online but got no useful results.
I realized the drive was formatted for Linux and wasn't showing up in Windows, making it untouchable. I was hoping someone could assist me in recovering the NVMe drive that had been pre-installed, which now appears unreadable and can't be reformatted in Windows 10. *rant inc* I was expecting a smoother transition to Linux, but it seems like I've hit another wall—just like with my Windows 10, which keeps freezing or crashing randomly on a machine with 4800h RAM and 16GB of memory. I've dealt with countless NVidia drivers, Windows updates, and BIOS changes, but nothing seems to stick.
People seem to be critical of Windows Vista, but I'm not making that joke—this experience has been frustrating. I just want to get my 1TB drive back and avoid the hassle of reformatting again. *glances at Macbook*
Any help would mean a lot! Thanks for your time and support, Chris!
There was an issue during installation. Which choices did you make? Did you notice any mistakes? A good partition manager like gparted can help identify and format the drive properly.
Hey there Sauron, thanks for your response. I went with the standard installation, logged into the network, created an account, and everything worked smoothly—no errors. My main concern is understanding the basic commands, Linux file names, and data types so I can manage things more privately. I’m not looking for anything too minimal; I just want something that’s less intrusive and won’t slow me down while doing basic office tasks. The new Macbooks look nice, but it seems there’s a compatibility issue—maybe I’ll dig into that a bit more before making any big decisions. Appreciate the help! (I’ll check out GParted too.)
Greetings, Chris
Theoretically, you don't require any special steps to set up Ubuntu. Verify in your BIOS that options like "secure boot" or "fast boot" are turned off.
I’m reviewing it now. I followed the Ubuntu installation instructions, which is why I cleared the secondary storage (it held nothing significant). I turned off Win10 Fast Boot, even though it was only in Windows, and avoided doing any updates after the Linux install. The guide warned that updating or installing Windows afterward would disrupt the Linux boot process. Boot.sdi appears to be an unpacked image file, but it seems incomplete, even though the installation went through. I’m still puzzled about what’s happening.
Sorry mb, Sauron is actually the real MVP now. I'm still facing issues—trackpad isn't being recognized and screen brightness can't be adjusted. But at first, Ubuntu looks pretty cool! Thanks a lot for handling this; I should have considered SecureBoot earlier. Ubuntu isn't quite as plug-and-play as I hoped, but those problems are just tomorrow's concerns.
Ubuntu is generally easy to set up. If you're facing problems, please let me know the laptop's age and share the output of the command: uname -a.