Not sure if this is the right place to ask or if anyone can help me, but today, I installed the ubuntu ISO & converted it to a bootable format on an 128GB SD card (All my USBs are too small) I ran the installer as normal & here’s where I think I messed up. I allocated a 27GB partition for linux but that option didnt apper on the installer upon being asked where to install to. Thinking nothing of it, I ran the installer clicking on the install to drive option & halfway through it failed saying something like Error16 Drive is busy & the installation was only half done. now on attempt to restart windows is completely gone & all I can do is boot up a very fragmented Ubuntu without internet & firefox works very slowly. If anyone can help, then it’s appreciated. I’ve always wanted to try Linux & just got an SD card large enough to do it, but now this happens.
Imma just start typing and see where this goes:
Sd cards arent the same as usbs or ssds. They seem the same because it’s like the same thing right? But they’re not.
Most usbs and all ssds have a controller that actually handles writing and reading to and from the memory chip. The controller lets them do things like recognize bad spots and write data elsewhere, perform secure erase functions, wear leveling and all sorts of the kinda stuff we expect of components we’re gonna use as hard drives.
Sd cards almost universally don’t have that controller. The goal for sd cards was to provide bulk storage to all kinds of embedded devices like cameras and later, phones. Because there’s no controller, there’s no wear leveling, no overprovisioning, no secure erase. That’s fine because the goal was always to just slam the sucker full of pictures and never erase it till it gets full, then start all over again.
But if sd cards aren’t acceptable hard drives then how come we use them in little sbcs like raspberry pi and whatnot?
Well the install process in that case almost always writes the system to the card first instead of doing a million reads and writes to figure out what repositories are available, updating packages, etc. sbc systems using sd cards as their storage are also (or should be!) configured to do minimal writes, with constrained log sizes and minimal swap.
So don’t use an sd as a usb or hard drive.
People might say that I’m wrong in replies to this post. They’ll say that sd cards are fine and that they have over 20k write cycles on their hyinx megacard128. Sd fails silently. I am not wrong. You literally just had problems installing from an sd. I can’t tell for sure if your problems came from using an sd or misconfiguring the new partition scheme but it sure as heck didn’t help that you used an sd as your install media.
Okay, now you said you have windows back up and running. Is it fully recovered and working good?
Is it using the whole drive?
Do you have all your files back?
Have you made a backup?
If you answer these questions I can walk you through the process of setting up windows to dual boot Linux in a way that won’t fuck up.
Yes I have recovered windows & all my files completely now & that USB I used for windows (just bought one big enough for booting) should be able to be used for linux files, I can just transfer them over from the SD can’t I?
I wouldn’t. Go ahead and make a new bootable usb using rufus or something.
What’s your partitions look like right now?
I have a 28GB D drive that seems to be being used for recovery and backups & a 210GB C drive, I could easily free about 30GB for another partition. I have the bootable USB set up.
okay, that’s fine! make sure to turn off bitlocker.
once you’ve done that you’re gonna resize your partitions in windows. i’ll walk you through that.
so your C: drive is 210 GB, how much free space do you have on it?
about 90GB is left on C:\ but I’ll only need 30GB for my linux partition. Besides, I can always resize the partition later, right?
right on, you have enough space to not end up in trouble!
in windows, right click the start menu and choose “disk management”
it’ll bring up an old looking MSI that shows your drive and the different partitions it has.
right click the C drive and choose “shrink”.
you’ll get asked how much you want to shrink it by iirc. type in the number and click okay.
once that is done, the disk management window will show the new free space.
if everything goes as planned, make sure you turned off bitlocker and restart into windows.
okay, that’s done. Now what do I do? I am assuming we need to tell the PC to install linyx into that partition (& only that partition without erasing the entire drive)
alright, go through the ubuntu installer and pick the “install alongside” option when it comes up. it ought to be at the same time that it offers you the option to erase the disk altogether. the “installation type” menu. if you don’t get that option, stop and say so.
e: i just finished installing ubuntu desktop lts alongside windows 11 in a vm using the process you’re doing. its the disk selection menu, not the installation type.
“SmartMedia” cards are the latest consumer flash package that you can get without a controller. Everything else has one. Even SD cards do. SD cards may not have a very good wear leveling algorithm, they may not have a lot of memory to keep track of fancier remapping structures, but they do have some. SD cards have a little arm processor inside managing everything, because it’s far cheaper than not having one. That processor is responsible for self testing pretty much everything at the factory - the testing jig is mostly there to deliver power and wait for the card to map the good and defective flash regions all by itself.