Grub loader failed to install

[mhuckman]

folks,

I am attempting to install a clean Ubuntu mate on an intel machine. motherboard is a gigabyte EG45M-UDH2. The processor is a intel core 2 duo running at 2.6 MHz. I have 4 gb of RAM and two 750 GB hard drives.

I am booting from a dvd I just downloaded from web page. I used this dvd to install Ubuntu mate on two other (slightly newer) PCs.

I get all the way through the install procedure and then I get the error message “executing ‘grub-install/dev/sda’ failed This is a fatal error”

and then I am done.

I am a newbie, just staring Linux. I have no idea how to fix this.

Can anybody help?

[mhuckman]

Some more information. The computer has two hard drives and the motherboard has on board RAID. I have disabled the raid and also disabled the SATA AHCI.

It seems my USB wifi adapter is not working - or not being detected for some reason.

I tried to install Ubuntu unity from a CD that came with my Ubuntu book and I have the same error about grud loader not installing.

[mhuckman]

well it seems that if I remove (pull the cables off) one of my HDD, then the installation proceeds apace. So…

I assume the problem has something to do with logical versus physical volumes – Ubuntu was reporting my two 750gb hard drives as one 1.5Tb volume dev/sda. but my system details in the gui tool show an /sda and an /sdb with 750 gb each.

Or maybe that had nothing to do with it.

either way, I have shared the solution and my (probably wrong) guess at what might be behind it.

Thanks for all the help!

[mdooley]

Thanks for your follow-up report @mhuckman.

[mcajina74]

I'm having a similar situation. The installation seems to be proceeding normally, but when it gets to the point of installing GRUB, I get the "This is a fatal error" message.

I've never encountered this before with Ubuntu MATE, so I'm not sure what the issue is. When I click the "OK" button in the error window, it gives me a choice to install it in a different location, but that doesn't seem to do anything when I select /dev/sda or any of the other choices.

This is Ubuntu MATE 17.10 on a Dell Latitude E6530 laptop that I always use as a tester. Here are screenshots of what I get:

[Jorin_Gedamke]

I’m having the same problem. Boot-info