Installing over one partition of a dual-boot system

Support & Help Requests
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#1

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T430. It is currently dual-booting to LinuxMint MATE and Solus OS. I tried to install Ubuntu MATE on the LinuxMint partition, but I get the option of installing it IN ADDITION TO the other two, or erasing the entire disk. There is a “Do something else” option, but it does not allow me to continue. I would think it would take me to GPartEd or equivalent and let me choose a partition to install it on, but it doesn’t.

This is why I have not used Ubuntu in the past. The installer has well thought out options but the ones I need go nowhere OR it wipes my whole disk. The easiest solution I see at present is to reinstall Solus OS using the entire disk, thus wiping LinuxMint, and then have Ubuntu MATE install alongside Solus. The hard drive is really not large enough for 3 installs.

Does anyone have an easier solution? And why does the installer not let me continue and “Do Something Else”?

1 Like
#2

The “something else” option is what you want and should work.

Alternately you could first create a free space with your partition manager then use the “something else” option and choose the option “install to free space”. Just be aware that you will not be able to reboot into your other system until the mate installation is complete and provides the boot loader.

#3

I selected “something else” and nothing happened, including the Continue box remained ghosted. You’re right, it should work. But it didn’t. Should I try again, or what?

#4

When you boot up with the ISO, choose “try Ubuntu Mate” and go into a live session. Once in there, use GParted to delete the partition you want to replace. Then, back at the live session desktop, double click the install Ubuntu Mate icon. This time, it will ask you if you want to install it on the unallocated space. At which point you should choose Yes.

#5

I tried again with the CD and it worked this time. Thanks for your attention. I have no idea what is going on, but I now have Ubuntu MATE installed and am working on installing and configuring my apps.

#6

This looks astonishingly similar to my own setup. I am currently testing Linux Mint MATE, Ubuntu MATE and Solus on different Thinkpads.

#7

Before you install, always use gparted (on the live session) and create a 48-64 GB system disk, /. Then create a partition for your /home partition, which, BTW, can never, ever be too big.

When reinstalling, just choose "Change" in the Something Else window, set the smaller partition to format, and mount it as /. Set the larger partition to NOT be formatted, and mount as /home. That eliminates having to make a /home backup and copy everything over, saving a long-time restoration.

Once you have stuff in /home, BACK IT UP for emergencies like a crashed disk, or an accidental reformat. That's savvy computer usage.