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.
“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.
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.
You removed Windows. Not sure why Ubuntu is slow, but that may be because of snaps.
The internet issue may also be just because of missing drivers.
Please test if it works on a live USB or SD (I guess, never used an SD Card) before.
And yes, Windows installer is notorious for removing Linux, so install Windows again, then inside of Windows use their shitty partition manager and shrink the big storage partition, then install Linux in there
Note that I dont recommend Ubuntu as they got pretty shitty. They theme the desktop environment GNOME a lot, and everybody hates their Snap package system. Instead I highly recommend Fedora, which is a less opinionated distro.
I also dont recommend dual booting with Windows, as you should never update Windows again, which is a security risk. The updater often removes the Linux bootloader and you need to unbreak that.
I will try another Disto if I can. I restored windows too. Are there other, safer methods to do this if I only have one SSD. Also, If I do reinstall how do I tell the installer specifically which partition to use
You’re getting good advice here.
“Bricking” though normally means turning a software problem into a hardware problem. You just have a software problem, which is infinitely easier to fix.
Don’t fret.
Boot from the live USB and then restart the install. Make sure you overwrite the existing Ubuntu partition.
Do you have backup copies of your important files? If so, nuke that shizzle and try again starting from scratch.
Editing to clarify: Nuke that shizzle = nuke the installation device, not the backup. 😉
