Should this be possible ? can’t get it not to install in a GPT format . so Grub not playing ball for dual boot with Windows in Legacy.
Existing Win 10 is installed in legacy bios mode. I’ve added a 2nd SSD to put Ubuntu Mate and Grub on. I formatted the 2nd SSD in MBR with one basic data partition in FAT32 . I formatted the USB pendrive similarly MBR/FAT32….then I used Rufus to flash 24.04.3 LTS to it in MBR format. It booted from this…..but after installation is complete, the grub menu does not appear and it goes straight to booting Ubuntu. But I can boot to Windows from the boot order list.
Using AOMEI is I see that the Ubuntu SSD is in GPT ( which confuses me as I had thought Legacy can’t see GPT…so the laptop as currently set must boot in either Legacy or UEFI depending on the drive in the boot order)
I’m left not sure if the 24.04.3 LTS installer is able to install for legacy bios….or whether it is my bios/UEFI set up that is guiding the installer to a GPT UEFI install as the default of both options ?
Mate 24.04 installer seems completely broken for dual boot installs. I have a win10/20.04 dual boot and the only install option was wipe.
What I did was boot 24.04installer “try ubuntu” mode and use gparted to make space for a new install. I then plugged in a USB drive and did the Mate 24.04 installation to it in the bios mode to match the disk with Win10/20.04
Once completed, booted and initial config was done I once again booted the installer in try mode and used gparted to copy the boot and root partitions to the win10/20.04 disk.
I then made a Boot Repair usb stick and was able to get the multiboot to work. I then installed grub customizer to adjust the order, time delay and set default to “previously booted”.
I suspect this system will be quite fragile wrt upgrades that require a reboot.
I think it is a travesty to put out an installer for the current LTS release that can’t do a dual boot installation with an existing windows10 partition seeing how a lot of folks are now interested in trying Ubuntu before buying a new “windows 11 ready” machine. This experience will be sending them straight to the store to buy a windows 11 system.
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I strongly suggest that you have a look at this following post, along with the conversation that followed. I believe it would save you a lot of heartache.
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I've had no issues installing Ubuntu MATE 24.04 LTS on legacy hardware as old as from 2007, and that is using the legacy partition table (ie. non-GPT).
Be careful here though; rufus is a program which allows you to reformat the ISO during write; where you specifying the MBR format does imply to me you're actually reformatting the ISO. As Ubuntu ISOs newer than 20.04 do have variations in the ISO, you need apps like rufus to be updated to deal with each release; so ensure you're using an updated version that can correctly cope with 24.04 LTS, or you'll have problems getting it to boot, or as you describe working correctly (the installer may try and write the bootloader to the incorrect location, as your modified ISO write caused it to NOT ignore the install media which its supposed to do, but your changes may mean what it looked for wasn't there).
Yes Ubuntu MATE 24.04, even the newest and currently unreleased 25.10 will install on a non-uEFI machine using a non-GPT disk (MBR), when written as documented & QA-tested, though by default many install options will try and force a GPT partition table.
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As the laptop is running Windows 10 in Legacy on one SSD and then without changes to the BIOS/UEFI will boot to Ubuntu Mate on the other SSD ( which Ubuntu the install USB formatted as GPT…..despite the install USB being in MBR) I conclude the 24.04.3 LTS install media must default to a GPT/UEFI install when it sees the UEFI/BIOS is CSM (not that I knew what CSM was before !….and the HP laptop doesn’t actually call it CSM)
Both OS’s are working well. To change between the OS’s requires accessing the boot order….but fortunately this laptop has F9 as a direct access to select the boot. Whilst I think I have worked out how to change the Bios/Uefi menus to force the Ubuntu install media to install in legacy……so the Grub menu will be available………I have had second thoughts about running in Legacy so will do a clean install of windows in UEFI ( with only that SSD attached) & reinstall Ubuntu in UEFI ( with the Windows SSD not attached) …then set ubuntu as default in the boot order and use F9 to boot windows when it is occasionally needed….then I can use secure boot on both and hopefully avoid completely any Grub menu corruption problems in the future
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