Ubuntu Installer doesn't detect Windows 10 nor its partitions

Question

I recently became owner of a HP EliteBook 8460p laptop with Windows 7. I installed Windows 10, overwriting the previous version. So I tried to install Ubuntu 16 too like normal, but when I get to the menu where the option of installing alongside Windows always is, the option doesn't appear. Instead the main option is erase everything and install Ubuntu. I picked "Something else" to check the table of partitions but there aren't any, just sda and nothing else.

I have read that Windows 10's fast boot may cause this, so I disabled it and tried again. It didn't work. I checked the BIOS configuration and UEFI is disabled, and found no secure boot option (although I believe it's only available in UEFI).

Here's the output of sudo parted -l from a live USB:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo parted -l
Error: Can't have overlapping partitions.
Ignore/Cancel? ignore                                                     
Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
Ignore/Cancel? ignore                                                     
Model: ATA Hitachi HTS72323 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 320GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  316MB  315MB   primary  ntfs         boot
 2      316MB   300GB  299GB   primary  ntfs
 3      300GB   315GB  15.0GB  primary  ntfs
 4      315GB   320GB  5378MB  primary  fat32        lba


Model: Kingston DataTraveler G3 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 3927MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      65.5kB  3927MB  3927MB  primary  fat32        boot, lba

The output from sudo parted /dev/sda unit s print:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo parted /dev/sda unit s print
Error: Can't have overlapping partitions.
Ignore/Cancel? ignore                                                     
Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
Ignore/Cancel? ignore                                                     
Model: ATA Hitachi HTS72323 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 625142448s
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start       End         Size        Type     File system  Flags
 1      2048s       616447s     614400s     primary  ntfs         boot
 2      616448s     585369599s  584753152s  primary  ntfs
 3      585369600s  614662964s  29293365s   primary  ntfs
 4      614649856s  625153409s  10503554s   primary  fat32        lba

Orlando Gutiérrez · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-29T02:17:04.817

The problem was being caused by 2 overlapping partitions (3 and 4 in my case), as seen by the output in sudo parted /dev/sda unit s print.

I had 4 primary partitions already, so I deleted the HP_TOOLS and HP_RECOVERY partitions (which I believe I'll no longer need) to make space for Ubuntu's. All unallocated space was in one section next to Window's. I resized partition 2 (Windows) to make more space for Ubuntu. I only used GParted for all this.

By doing this the option to install alongside Windows appeared again. I chose to create the partitions for Ubuntu myself and both operating systems are working fine. Read question's comments for reference.

Thanks to olfred and Organic Marble I could fix it. Cheers!

Ubuntu Installer doesn't detect Windows 10 nor its partitions

1 Answers1