[RESOLVED] installation trouble, Zorin 9 with Win 7

Hi, have been following instructions on Swarfendorfers video for installing Zorin 9 alongside windows 7. Very clear. Have got as far as attempting to boot into Zorin from Sandisk 16Gb usb. When I select this USb to boot from, Windows just goes ahead and boots up in Win 7. Have tried a few times, including shutting down first. Have checked Asus express Gate is disabled, have checked if secure boot happens to be an option that needs disabling, but it's not listed as existing. When Win 7 gives me option of what to boot from, Sandisk is shown twice - as UEFI SAndisk pmap, and also just Sandisk pmap. Have tried both of those. Have tried re-formatting usb (which was new, clean usb) to clear any residual software from Sandisk, and am currently downloading Zorin installation file again from your official download page at Sourceforge. Both times, the installation will have been downloaded directly to usb, just in case downloading to computer and copying to usb could spoil the file in any way. Could try a used Toshiba thumb drive, which I have also re-formatted just in case, but it only has 1.88 Gb of space - is that too tight?
The machine I am using to install as dual boot with Win 7 is an asus EEE PC 1215b which has just been factory reset, and unused since then.
What am I missing? Can you help please?
I should say that any help needs to be in simple language, as I only have a very simple understanding of the places to look and things to do when something isn't working in my computer.
Thanks, Jay

Hi, I used to get this sometimes when I was using USB on HP Mini Netbook. Having only recently discovered answering another members issues regarding an Acer Netbook, you may need to look in the computer's BIOS - if there is any setting which states 'Fast Boot' this will stop the USB from being recognised each time - see if you can find such a setting and disable if possible.

Keep us posted!

As for thumb drive 1.88 Gb is too small - you need at least 6 Gb I would say to play safe - I only have 16, 32 and 64 Gb thumb drives.

Hi Swarfendorfer, I have looked around, there's no fast boot option.
I noticed in Bios an option to change boot order. Can I change usb drive to number 1 just for the installation process then change it again later? Or is it more complicated than that? .Maybe better to use easy BCD? If I remove thumb drive after installing Zorin, would machine automatically boot into windows instead?
To clarify the thumb drive size, I saw the installation file size as 1.8Gb when it is actually 1.3Gb.I am trying to install on the machine itself as a dual boot with Win7. If I am not intending to run Zorin from the usb in future, I am doubting that I need a larger usb thumb drive just for the. initial installation file. Could you clarify please?
Thanks, Jay p. s, which time zone are you in? Just so I don't keep logging in to see if you've replied when 8t's actually night time where you are

Hi Jay I am in GMT (British Summer Time which means +1 hour of GMT as I write this it is 7.56 a.m. Wednesday 22 July 2015 in the UK. Right I think the issue could be to do with where you are putting the GRUB file. If you want to play safe, I advise that you use Easy BCD - it uses an interface a bit like recovery Console in Windows XP showing which OS you want to boot from. Going back to USB, I would do as you say if your machines booting from USB change the boot order while you carry out the install. Now for clarity reasons it would help if you could post a screenshot (Use the snipping tool in Windows 7) of your Disk Management information - right click 'Computer' (either from desktop or Menu) and select 'Manage' - then select the Disk Management which should show how your hard drive is partitioned. Can't remember what picture format snipping tool saves in but I think it is .jpg - could you post it here for me? How to do it is in this instructional video toward the end (as the video relates to posting from Zorin itself):

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v385833212XzmANbj

Hi Swarfendorfer, Thanks for your quick responses. Am following your video step by step to install as dual boot alongside win 7. Have made progress since last post and have managed to get install process going, a combination of re formatting the thumb drive into a bootable one using Rufus.exe software recommended on net, changing boot order in bios, and restoring bios to optimal defaults.Then machine booted from thumb drive. However had to quit the install because when I got to the part about partitioning the free space - there was no free space - that partition was labelled unusable. Tried selecting it anyway, but not allowed. Didn't know how to take a screenshot in Zorin. I didn't change anything during the 'shrink' process shown on your video. Windows suggested half the 100 Gb 'C' Drive for itself, and I didn't argue. So shortage of space for windows isn't the problem , and there's still plenty of space to try out Zorin. So not sure how to fix that - any suggestions? Do I have to do a system restore point? Or something else? Attached is screenshot of windows partitions from disc management view.
Now that the thumb drive is first option for boot, will window 7 automatically boot up if thumb drive is not there?
It looked so easy on the video Your instructions are so clear.
Hope we can get this sorted soon, Thanks, Jay

sorry, site connection breaks everytime I try to upload screenshot

Actually, looks like you didn't get my response either, here it is again......Hi Swarfendorfer, Thanks for your quick responses. Am following your video step by step to install as dual boot alongside win 7. Have made progress since last post and have managed to get install process going, a combination of re formatting the thumb drive into a bootable one using Rufus.exe software recommended on net, changing boot order in bios, and restoring bios to optimal defaults.Then machine booted from thumb drive. However had to quit the install because when I got to the part about partitioning the free space - there was no free space - that partition was labelled unusable. Tried selecting it anyway, but not allowed. Didn't know how to take a screenshot in Zorin. I didn't change anything during the 'shrink' process shown on your video. Windows suggested half the 100 Gb 'C' Drive for itself, and I didn't argue. So shortage of space for windows isn't the problem , and there's still plenty of space to try out Zorin. So not sure how to fix that - any suggestions? Do I have to do a system restore point? Or something else? Attached is screenshot of windows partitions from disc management view.
Now that the thumb drive is first option for boot, will window 7 automatically boot up if thumb drive is not there?
It looked so easy on the video Your instructions are so clear.
Hope we can get this sorted soon, Thanks, Jay

I should also say that unusable disc is listed in Windows as unallocated, has no format, oand does not state type of disc. So what do I ned to do to it so Zorin can recognise and partition it? Am a exhausted now and won't touch it again for several hours. Bedtime for me!

Hi jay, sorry you have been having issues. I don't know why but your last two postings cropped up as needing approval - I think there maybe some issues with the Forum - will PM zorink about it. OK, can you boot into Zorin with your thumb drive in 'live' mode and post as per my instructional video? You will need to launch 'Gparted' - just enter 'gparted' without the quotes in the search box on the Windows 7 like menu and Gparted will come up as only app found - run it to get a view of your hard drive then go to Accessories | Screenshot and increase the time from zero seconds to about 5. Then click on the button to take screenshot - it will save a .png file to your desktop - double-click on it to view in image viewer and then from the Menu of the Image viewer, select File | Save As and just change the filename after the '.' from .png to .jpg and then upload the .jpg to the forum as per instructional video. Then I can advise from there - I suspect your machine may have 3 or more primary partitions which is causing the issue - I had to work round this with Windows 10 insider pro toinstall another GNU/Linux distro by creating an extended partition and putting /,/home and linux swap inside the extended partition. Hope you are feeling refreshed for another attempt!

First screenshot - from gparted. will try to upload this first. if it works will send screenshot of discs as windows sees them. And yes, you are right. I have more then one primary partition. Seems like it would have been best if I had followed up on my first question. Uh Oh..
Am noticing that forum page didn't crash when uploaded file, but when clicked on 'add the file' there was no indication that was happening, and it's no longer listed under this msg. Have tried twice

So this time uploading jpg seems to have worked. At least you will be able to see the discs from Windows perspective. The 'unallocated drive is what was created after windows shrunk 'c'. I didn't follow up on my previous multiple discs question last time, because I thought it would be best to just folloew the video. Let's see where we go from here......Thanks, Jay

OK, I am somewhat curious as to what that 15.00 GB partition is between unallocated space and (D:) - also not clear if that 16 Mb of space also says (Primary Partition) - if it does, that is why it won't install Zorin.
Now in your first post you said you had done a factory reset - Curious as to why you have a D: drive after the 15 Gb as I suspect the latter is for a factory reset. Do you have anything at all on D: Drive? Is this where you store Data? If it is I would advise backing it up and deleting D: drive unless this is also part of the recovery process. Can you come back to me with regard to what the full label of that last partiition is?

Thanks.

Hi Swarfendorfer,
(C) NTFS Active 100GB Primary. System, Boot, pages file, active, crash dump

(None) NO NAME Hidden Fat 32 Primary 15GB

(D) NTFS Primary 350.75GB (all data in this drive survives a factory reset)

(None) unformatted primary 16.0 mb EFI System
I Didn't understand about ' if that 16 Mb of space also says (Primary Partition) - if it does, that is why it won't install Zorin.' In following your video, I hadn't got as far as installing Zorin, only as far as trying to partition the newly created free space in preparation for installation, using Zorin in live mode. But Zorin live found the free space to be inaccessible, and was unable to do anything with it.
Are you saying that tthe nature of this16mb partition would prevent Zorin live from partitioning 'C'drive ? ,Or just that it could cause a problem with installation later even if we sort out the partioning issue ?
About the suggestion of deleting D drive - I love the way all my personal files in this drive survive even a system Restore, which I do about once a year for a big spring clean of the system. This means that my personal data in this drive also survived a major crash a few years ago. So it's extremely useful, and would like to keep it. If Zorin works well for me, it will become my primary system, and would still like to keep this type of set up - a drive for my personal files that survives a crash. .
What do you think? Thanks, Jay
.

p.s It seems that the 15Gb partition is the system recovery image, according to microsoft answers. The 16mb EFI System partiton has been deleted by some people on their machines, and machine would no longer boot up.

Well, sadly that would appear why you cannot install Zorin - the only way you could install it would be to an external drive or if your Notebook takes additional drives, placing it on that one and disable the other drive - sounds very similar to the setup of my HPMini (but it does not have EFI). I have noticed that, (Netbooks in particular) BIOSes are becoming minimalistic so that you cannot circumvent certain settings - this is a 'fault' of manufacturers - and no doubt their hands are tied by M$ - just like the time of the MMX fiasco with Intel - PC Builders here in the UK were unable to inform Joe Public of the impending release of MMX and they got sleighted by a consumer TV Program here in the UK - Intel were the real culprits who threatened to withhold future supplies of Processors if it was leaked. MMX processors came out a matter of months when I had purchased my first PC, a Pentium P120 (which I upgraded to an AMD 400 MHz processor by Evergreen technologies!).

Looks like the only way you can work around this is back up all of your D (Data Drive) and even then you may have to create an 'extended' partition to fit '/', '/home' and 'linux swap'. I find the partitioning of your netbook somewhat bizarre - so forgetting about the space you created, was it basically:

1. C:\ partition
2. 16 Gb recovery
3. D:\ partition
4. 15 Gb EFI

?

Yes, that's it - you've labelled a couple of things differently, but I think they are just typos. 2: is 15Gb, and 4: is 16Mb. But the sizes are irrrelevent to what you are telling me. It's the nature and position of the partitions which are the issue.
So are you saying that I can install onto a hard drive, and it will have the same functionality as if it were installed as dual boot? Or would I only ever be able to run Zorin live like this?

There may be another way forward. Will post reply related to what I have read.

Hi Swarfendorfer, There is another possibility. Firstly, this machine has no personal data to lose. It was given to me to try all this out, and be able to learn.
Secondly, If the way you show on the video to set up the Linux partitions includes one partition for the Zorin os, and another for personal files, then the 350Gb that's currently in D:\ partition is up for grabs and can be formatted any way that would be useful for Zorin.
I would like to dual boot, but Zorin can have most of the space. Just want personal data to be in it's own partition. I don't need Windows to access this partition.
As far as personal files go, I would like a 10Gb partiton approx. for files which only windows accesses, and are for processing by windows software that people say doesn't work on Wine. I would like a partition of few Gb for file sharing between Zorin and windows - if that's technically possible.( I thought this is what the swap partition is for! Have just discovered it's true nature. ) but this can be done with a thumb drive if neccessary.
Have got Mini Tool Partition wizard free version, a comprehensive partitioning tool for windows, and can do all the partitioning needed, in Linux formats, before I try another install. Including the partiton left by the shrinking process.
Can we move forward from here?
Thanks, Jay

Hi Jay, Here is how I would do with what you have and also coupled with my experience of dual-booting with Windows 10 Insider Pro Preview edition.

1. Backup anything on D: - would be useful to know how much is on there as not clear if anything is on there - GParted would give a better graphical result (will post image here - on a different machine running Windows 7 Pro as I write this reply)

[Update:
This is the layout of Windows 10 with Makulu Linux]

2. Delete D: partition completely

3. Increase your C: drive - but run chkdsk and defrag before resizing - refer to my tutorial video on vimeo. Take your C:\ drive up to 80 Gb.

4. What is left as unallocated space, create a LOGICAL partition, labelled D: and call it DATA - format to NTFS - Zorin can read NTFS partitions natively PROVIDED Windows was shut down cleanly - e.g., no forced shutdowns. This will be roughly 20 Gb so should be ample for your Windows data - then again I don't know what your intentions are - video can eat up a lot of space in no time!

5. Where D:/ is now create an EXTENDED partition - this will be where you have all of your partitions for Zorin. First off create a '/boot' partition of 512 Mb - this is where we are going to place GRUB!


5.1 Inside the Extended partition create a '/' root partition of 30 Gb - no technically correct as posted by another forum member 1 Gig =1024 so 30 would be 30 x 1024 to get the correct size and format to ext4.

6. At the END of the EXTENDED partition, create a Linux swap-area of 4 Gb (4096). You don't have to specify any file system as this is done automatically. (I think Wolfman once posted that he thought it was on the lines of FAT32).

7. What is left in the middle, format as your '/home' partition - this is where you have all your personal data stored and if you use Wine for Windows apps, this is also where the fake C:\ drive and all applications are stored.

8. Make sure that you place GRUB on the '/boot' Partition -based on my Windows 10 experience.
IMPORTANT - make a note of what sda/sdb partition number this is - but the giveaway will be the size of the partition as you won't have any other partition that size so readily recognisable in EasyBCD. Again refer to my tutorial video on how to do this - this will ensure that your Windows Boot file on mbr never gets corrupted so if anything goes wrong with Zorin you still have access to your Windows.

Fingers crossed! Keep us posted!

Thank you Will take me a couple of days before I can try this. In the meantime, just have a couple of questions about things you mentioned in your last reply.....
1." Backup anything on D: - would be useful to know how much is on there as not clear if anything is on there". (? Are you thinking that even though I have no data stored there since factory reset, there may be something important that Windows has placed there?)

"create a LOGICAL partition, labelled D: and call it DATA - format to NTFS - Zorin can read NTFS partitions natively PROVIDED Windows was shut down cleanly - e.g., no forced shutdowns." (? Sometimes, however rarely, a forced shutdown is the only way to deal with something wrong that's happening with the machine. As all of my files are smaller than 4Gb, Would fat 32 be any better here?)

"First off create a '/boot' partition of 512 Mb - this is where we are going to place GRUB!"
(? GRUB is the installation file? - One of those questions that seems too dumb to ask, but making an assumptions can cause trouble)
I am learning the terms as we go along, but some basic things are still very unclear to me.
Thanks, Jay
p.s, i wonder if there's anyway that the forum pages could display screenshots better....I can't make yours out either, even though you have converted to jpg.

jay fora wrote:Thank you Will take me a couple of days before I can try this. In the meantime, just have a couple of questions about things you mentioned in your last reply.....
1." Backup anything on D: - would be useful to know how much is on there as not clear if anything is on there". (? Are you thinking that even though I have no data stored there since factory reset, there may be something important that Windows has placed there?) No, I have just assumed that you or the notebook have that set up for data - just launch windows as normal and see if any of your documents etc are on there.

"create a LOGICAL partition, labelled D: and call it DATA - format to NTFS - Zorin can read NTFS partitions natively PROVIDED Windows was shut down cleanly - e.g., no forced shutdowns." (? Sometimes, however rarely, a forced shutdown is the only way to deal with something wrong that's happening with the machine. As all of my files are smaller than 4Gb, Would fat 32 be any better here?) FAT32 won't make any difference if you have forced a shut down - that said if you store things on D: you should still be able to access but you will not be able to see anything on C:\ drive but I have not come across this scenario before!

"First off create a '/boot' partition of 512 Mb - this is where we are going to place GRUB!"
(? GRUB is the installation file? - One of those questions that seems too dumb to ask, but making an assumptions can cause trouble)
I am learning the terms as we go along, but some basic things are still very unclear to me. GRUB stands for GRand Unified Bootoader - basically the normal place for this would be the 512 Kb boot sector of the hard drive - the downside to this is that if GNU/Linux goes belly up you won't be able to boot into any system - GRUB includes other OS's on the machine - using Easy BCD modifies the mbr so that if things do go wrong you can still get into Windows
Thanks, Jay
p.s, i wonder if there's anyway that the forum pages could display screenshots better....I can't make yours out either, even though you have converted to jpg.

When you click or double-click the jpg it will open a new browser window - NOT a new one but one page FORWARD - so if you close the screenshot you close your session with the forum! So click on the back arrow to get to the original thread

Hi Swarfendorfer, have seen a comment from someone dual-booting Linux on a machine just like this one - and am wondering if the swap partition is essential for Zorin. These machines are 5400 rpm and he had 1GB Ram (this one has 2GB) ( I wish i had kept the quote and the explanation, sorry). But it was something to do with that speed and that amount of ram creating a bottleneck, causing the machine to need a restart in order to function.
(If I Zorin lands up being the OS I use on a daily basis, it will go onto my regular machine which has 4GB ram).
Thanks, Jay

uh-oh... following your last advice ..Got as far as extending 'C' , deleting 'D', and creating a new logical partition 'D' from the unallocated space next to 'C'. Somehow windows has decided this is an 'extension' partition, which definitely wasn't offered in any of the options in the conversion process. When I try to format the 350GB unallocated space that was the old 'D' drive, either with win 7 disk management, or with mini tool partition wizard, I get the following error msgs:- Win says 'unable to create a new volume in this unallocated space because disc already contains maximum number of partitions. Partition Wizard says 'no free MBR slots on the disc'. 4 partitions seems to be the maximum, whether primary or logical, even if the logical one is an extension.
So grateful I am doing this on a machine that's almost identical to my regular one, so I can get a realistic idea of what's involved. For instance - does this mean giving up having a separate partition for windows data, and letting 'C' have the whole 100GB to itself so that the 350GB can be formatted? Although it's easy enough just to try this out, decided to check with you first.
This is would be ok for now, if it's the way forward. Still aiming to try using Zorin as my main os....just need to work out how to get it on this machine. Prefer to keep the option of putting Zorin on an external drive as a last resort.
Partition Wizard can delete, merge, or format partitions to ext 2, 3, or 4, Linux swap,NTFS or Fat 32, if it's helpful to know that.
As this machine is turning out to be a challenging one to set up, I would prefer not to do anything that would change the position of the recovery partition, or put any part of Zorin between 'C' and the recovery partition, in case that causes further complications.
Thanks, Jay

OK, being half awake I forgot about the number of partitions!

So this is what I would do:

1. Restore C to its original size up to that middle 'restore' partition.

2. Where 'D' was make an 'Extended Partition' - all of it! - Make sure this is not 'Primary' or 'Logical' but 'Extended'!

Insided the extended Partition:

2a. Make '/boot' of 512 Mb and format to 'ext4'

2b. Make 30 x1024 '/' format to 'ext4'

2c. Enter 2048 to see what space is left after proposing this after '/' - then the figure that is left is what you actually want to make as '/home' divide by 2;

e.g., say you have 316 Gb of '/home' available, halve this to 158 Gb,

2d. Create 2 Gb 'linux-swap' after '/'

2e. Make a new partition and format to NTFS - this will store your Windows Data and can also be accessible to your Zorin.

Keep us posted if this doesn't work out (or if it does!)

Thanks Swarfendorfer, before I follow through with that could you check over my question about the swap partition (the question before last) and tell me what you think please?

Hi, swap for many years has usually been whatever your RAM and double it. Zorin sometimes will create it's own swap file if you don't create one (I think - there was quite a thread on this and can't remember the 'outcome') Your other alternative would be to just create one ext4 partition and install Zorin to that - bear in mind that this would not create a separate '/home' partition. I used to place 'linux swap' or 'swap area' between Windows and '/' but I noticed that if you install a modern GNU/Linux to any system and let it install for you it always puts it at the end of the drive. Remember Windows used to use this in '9x' using a 'swapfile' in Windows System/32 directory (hidden).

I will try it that way first. (I 've only had a computer for 5 years, so haven't a clue what windows 9x was ) thanks, will let you know how it goes....

jay fora wrote:I will try it that way first. (I 've only had a computer for 5 years, so haven't a clue what windows 9x was ) thanks, will let you know how it goes....

Windows 95 and 98 - I was saving on Web Space!

Have just realised that I don't know if any of the partitions inside the extended partition should be listed as either primary or logical.? If they should, could you tell me which ones would be primary, - both the 512 Mb boot partition, and the 30Gb journalling partition? Getting there slowly.......

From recollection I think they were Primary - memory isn't what it used to be! Just remember that all those partitions, /boot, '/', '/home' and 'swap area' should all live in the Extended Partition!

Hi Swarfendorfer, Weeelll.... I have just created an extended partition using windows disc management. I now in total I have C drive system primary 100GB, recovery partition 15GB, D extended partition 350GB RAW Logical, and another primary partition which is EFI 16MB. All are listed as healthy.
The problem is that windows disc management, and other third party tools (Mini Tool Partition Wizard and Gparted, and Zorin), between them give me only the option to format the whole partition with one format, shrink, delete, change drive letter or create new path, or create partition table.
There is no option like 'create as' or 'new', either when selecting the partition, right clicking on it, or in any of the menus.
Am I missing something? Have restarted since extended partition was created, have tried with and without drive letter allocated in case that made a difference. I hope this learning curve turns out to be useful to someone else too. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so stubborn! Am still hanging in there, am hoping it's all worth it if we ever get the partitioning sorted out on this machine. Glad you haven't given up yet either, thanks, Jay

Hi jay, Can we try getting everything the way it was and if you have access to an external HDDrive I would like to try this first:

1. Download 'redobackup' - only 220 Mb and very simple to use once you burn to CD (if you have a separate machine with an optical burning drive (DVD/CD Writer.

2. Backup your 'test' notebook to the external drive, booting from redobackup CD.

A 450 Gb drive takes about 1 hour 20 minutes to do.

3. Keep the partition that is needed to be present for booting of Windows 7 but delete the recovery partition - (you should ensure you backup everything to external drive.

http://redobackup.org/

Keep us posted!

This advice is quite radical, and could be dangerous on a machine that does not respond in any way that you are familiar with so far. For normal use it works well and I'd like to be able to use it for other things , then pass it on to someone who needs a computer that can't afford one. taking the risk of breaking this machine would be wasteful so I am bailing out here as far as the machine is concerned.
. However is it possible to install Zorin on an external drive, and run it as a fully installed os rather than a live version ? . If so I would like to try installing it on a small USB drive . It is only 16 GB, so it could never run as a full OS. Would it be enough to be able to surf the web, work with and save documents, and listen to some music files? Use the software installed with Zorin and save work, settings etc? if it all works well, I would invest in an external HDD. Thanks.
Windows can only read the first partition on an external drive, what about Zorin? Would I partition the external drive or not?
Partitionwizard can partition the thumb drive, I checked that already.. thanks

Hi, you would need to use unetbootin to add to a thumbdrive - I don't use it myself, I prefer MultiSystem - but you need GNU/Linux for it to work!

Just going back to the suggestion because of your difficulties, I have been looking at spec and any information on GNU/Linux on your particular Note/Netbook - most people have replaced Windows with Ubuntu or Debian - the only issue facing them were Hot Keys not working. Redobackup is worth investing in (it is FREE!) as it can backup entire Drives and restore them how they were. As with any backup procedure, you may want to run chkdsk and do a Defrag analyze before backing up. Stephanie, a forum member, has used redobackup without any issues. Backing up is not radical, but the best way to ensure you can get back a working system and is another tool for contingency planning for when the hard drive will eventually fail.

Which brings me to the issue of thumb/flash drives. These are like miniature SSD's and won't last anywhere near as long as a conventional drive due to their size and the number of rewrites - so it is not worth using long-term. I use thumb drives to surf anonymously when away from home but don't save anything (I don't have 'persistence' which is what you would need to create in order to save data, documents etc.

Take Care friend!

Hi Swarfendorfer, the temporary nature of thumb drives doesn't bother me, as my goal is to try a fully installed version of Zorin, then decide later whether I want to convert machine permanently. Unetbootin seems to be only capable of running Linux live. This link http://linuxbsdos.com/2011/05/23/instal ... hard-disk/ seems to be showing how to put a fully installed (not live) version of Linux on an external HDD, So am going to try it with Zorin. It doesn't say anything about making thumb drive bootable first, so hope it works.( Don't want Ubuntu because would have to learn about command lines to do basic things). Wish me luck!

Hi, Keep us posted!

Hi,

did you fully format your USB stick?:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4771

Unetbootin how-to:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7171&p=34209#p34209

Partitioning guide:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2601

Hi Wolfman, Yes, had fully formatted usb stick with iso to be used as installer, and also usb drive that would be installing onto. When install was completing, after programs had been added by installer, got error msg saying install had failed, and then got the following error msg: ´ This is not an official Zorin package. Please remove any third party package and try again´ iso I was using came from link I followed on your site. So what could be the cause of this? Thanks. Jay

Hi Jay,

did you try a different mirror?:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/zorin-os/files/9/

I suspect that there 'might' be an issue in that zorin-os.com is now zoringroup.com but there are still links to the old zorin-os.com?

I have made progress, with installation completed and confirmed on an external HDD. ( increasing size of root partition fixed previous issue) Now have a different problem!
I restarted, followed the instructions on swarfendorfers video to add new boot option using easy BCD. Restarted again, clicked on zorin option to boot into and got the screen shown in the attached photos, which also show the error msgs I got when tried to enter The words 'boot' or 'zorin' neither of these worked.
What has gone wrong here? Words I used after Grub> were just guesses obviously, I haven't a clue.
Partitons are as follows: /boot between 522 and 547 Mb depending on which software is viewing the size of the partition
Swap4.8 Gb (ram is 2GB)
/ 7GB
/home has rest of space
Thanks, Jay

P.S I should have said that /boot was in ext 2 format, Primary, and other partitions are ext 4, logical.
Was following ubuntu help guide for installing on external HDD, Ubuntu 11, and ext 2 was given as format for/boot. Have remembered /boot for Zorin 9 should be ext 4 so will try that and let you know.

Hi Jay,

all your Linux partitions should be EXT4 format (except swap)!.

Place your Zorin Live CD in the drive and boot the PC from it, once booted, start the terminal with Ctrl + Alt + t and enter the following command and reboot your PC:

Code:

sudo update-grub

If that doesn't work, download a copy of "Boot Repair" and create a bootable disk and use that:

http://sourceforge.net/p/boot-repair-cd/home/Home/

Was following ubuntu help guide for installing on external HDD, Ubuntu 11, and ext 2 was given as format for/boot. Thanks for reminding me /boot for Zorin 9 should be ext 4 so will try that and let you know.

Hi,

http://www.linuxliveusb.com/help/faq/persistence

If you want a normal persistent install, if you want to install to a HDD from a USB stick:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD/Persistence

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Insta ... omUSBStick

IF YOU ARE LEAVING IT ON THE USB STICK, THEN USE EXT2 FORMAT IF YOU HAVE LITTLE SPACE, OTHERWISE I WOULD USE EXT4!. :d

Hi, I am inching forward. Those changes worked - thanks:-), and installation confirmed, now could you check out the pics showing next error msg pls? These are what come up when I select option to boot into Zorin.(Had to pm you with dropbox links, as have been trying since yesterday to upload them here, but page crashes - browser says server error). Have also sent links to pics of partitions, so you can see /boot partition does exist. What could be causing this error?
Thank you for the links that you sent me, I noticed that LiLi only supports up to Zorin 6, and that the Ubuntu instructions need prior understanding of Linux commands, which I don't have. Part of my motivation for wanting Zorin rather than straight Ubuntu is to try something I imagined would be much easier. Old Ubuntu Instructions I was following don't involve any command language.
thanks, Jay

Hi Jay,

I looked at the pics you posted to me, I think you simply may not have enough disk space to run Zorin OS smoothly, on your external drive /home partition, you don't even have more than 3GB. Also on your external drive (sdc), you have mount points as /media/live/root and /media/live/home, did you create those mount points or did the installer do that?, normal mount points would be /root and /home.

Another reason you cannot boot is possibly that the boot manager is installed on the external drive (/dev/sdc) and the internal HDD (/dev/sda) cannot read any commands, try booting the live CD and open a terminal and type:

Code:

sudo update-grub

Did you use an auto install function for Zorin or did you create all the partitions yourself?.

Hi Wolfman,
I had mistakenly thought that /home was just the space for my docs and media files, so didn't give it much space for now. I noticed Zorin wouldn't install properly unless it had at least 5Gb space in / partition, I didn't know that it needed at least 3 GB in /home partition as well.
I won't be trying to install extra software, so can I change / partition to just over 5Gb for now, and give the rest to /home?
Should it be labelled /root instead of just / ?
When run as a persistent install from external HDD, can Zorin read and write to partitions on the internal hard drives of the machine it's plugged into?
About the mount points: I labelled them according to the instructions. The installer must have changed these to what you see in the pics. Will it work if I just re label them correctly?
Your auto install question: I followed the instructions to create the partitions myself. (I have read that auto install can be problematic later,also I didn't know that it can install to an external HDD).( I am surprised to see those two spots of unallocated space, I will need to be more precise)
How do I open a terminal? And is it as straightforward as typing in what you have told me, then hitting enter, or do I need to do anything else before or after typing?
Thanks, Jay

HI, i will let Wolfman answer your partition issues. When you enter a terminal command you need to do so with the 'sudo' command and you will be asked for your login password to elevate you to 'root'. You will not see any asterisks or any other indicator whilst typing your password. You should be able to access your internal hard drive provided your windows side has not had to be forcibly shut down after a freeze for example.

Thanks Swarfendorfer:-) Before we go any further Wolfman - When the Zorin installer puts Grub 2 in the /boot partition, are you absolutely certain that it is in a form compatible with an MBR EFI machine?
Part of my learning curve has been to discover that this is what I have, and that most instructions and supporting software recommended here are for GPT machines.

Hi GPT is the partitioning method used with machines that have a BIOS with EFI enabled - if this is what your require Gizmuntu has made an EFI enabled image for both 32- and 64-bit:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9493

Hi, no, sorry, I don't have UEFI, and I have an MBR drive. Maybe my question wasn't clear enough

Hi Wolfman, you didn't get around to answering the questions below, so am re posting them hoping you will find the time.....
I had mistakenly thought that /home was just the space for my docs and media files, so didn't give it much space for now. I noticed Zorin wouldn't install properly unless it had at least 5Gb space in / partition, I didn't know that it needed at least 3 GB in /home partition as well.
I won't be trying to install extra software, so can I change / partition to just over 5Gb for now, and give the rest to /home?
Should it be labelled /root instead of just / ?
When run as a persistent install from external HDD, can Zorin read and write to partitions on the internal hard drives of the machine it's plugged into?
About the mount points: I labelled them according to the instructions. The installer must have changed these to what you see in the pics. Will it work if I just re label them correctly?
Your auto install question: I followed the instructions to create the partitions myself. (I have read that auto install can be problematic later,also I didn't know that it can install to an external HDD)

Hi Jay,

sorry but I am not around all the time!.

I would start from the beginning and try again, what is important is where you put the bootloader, if you are only going to use the USB stick on your own PC, put the bootloader on /dev/sda/ which is the internal drive (HDD). Wipe all the partitions on the USB stick and resize them to your liking!.

Start by reading this and see if there is anything you can use:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LiveUsbPendrivePersistent

Have got it going! The answer was so simple that had you been looking over my shoulder I am sure you would have sussed it very quickly if we had been talking and you could see and hear my error.. I give a lot of thought to how to phrase questions so that they are clear, but still there are limitations with a forum style of support when the people trying to help can't actually see or hear what's going on.. So I have been pro active in finding someone locally that i can go see and ask whatever I need. If I had done that in the first place, I would have saved myself multiple bodge ups,due to my steep learning curve, and three weeks on forums just trying to install. He will help me out for barter, and some cash. Although he used to be a tech for Linux servers, he's also familiar with the lastest Ubuntu and distros based on it. Meeting him on Weds with my first round of questions. Wish me luck! Thanks for all the time and energy you have both given to try and guide me

Hi Jay,

good luck and keep us posted as to how you get on please!.

A brief description of what you do would be helpful to others.