Installing 15.04 using manual

[Qqmike]

Good!

[tomp01]

I have managed to install the 64bit version using the manual option, seems ok so far!

[tomp01]

The Kubuntu root filesystem is just /.
/home
/swap
The Kubuntu installer will show these to you so you won't have to type them.

I have not checked the side-by-side option, I'm suprised no one has chimed in here.

If you have Ubuntu 14.04, you can install gparted in it, then use it to do this partitioning (as long as you are not changing any existing partitions, just adding new ones using the "unallocated" space on your drive)--no need for a live GParted CD, but it is nice to do it that way.

If you have Windows 10, I'll bet for sure you are booting your PC using the newer UEFI mode with a GPT partition table -- the new setup being used now. So when you boot your Kubuntu installer DVD/USB, do make sure you are booting it in UEFI/EFI mode. Do so by: re-boot with the DVD in the tray, enter your firmware setup (what we used to call BIOS setup), find a boot menu or a boot override menu, find your Kubuntu DVD in that list, and click the version of that DVD in that list that says something about EFI or UEFI. That way, you will boot and install Kubuntu in UEFI mode.

Actually the PC I have is pre-EUFI, Windows 10 runs fine on that setup. I used GParted on Zorin 9 to clear out some old partitions and get some more free space. I am still baffled as to why the only options now are to install Kubuntu on the entire hard drive thus wiping off everything else or usng the manual installation option. I have installed God knows how many distroes over the years using the side by side option and never encountered any problems.

[Qqmike]

If you boot 14.04, and run at a terminal
sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda
sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda
and do the same for sdb, it will show you if you have a GPT (= GUID Partition Table, used by the UEFI firmware).
It will also show if you have the special ESP partition needed by UEFI (which I'm sure is already there, as Windows uses it, too): ESP =EFI System Partition, usually small, like 100-500 MB, FAT32, sometimes called the System Partition by Windows. (You could post that output here, between code tags, if you want. Maybe you already know about all this UEFI+GPT stuff.)

[Qqmike]

what are the mount points for root, home and swap? Are they just /root, /home and /swap?

The Kubuntu root filesystem is just /.
/home
/swap
The Kubuntu installer will show these to you so you won't have to type them.

I have not checked the side-by-side option, I'm suprised no one has chimed in here.

If you have Ubuntu 14.04, you can install gparted in it, then use it to do this partitioning (as long as you are not changing any existing partitions, just adding new ones using the "unallocated" space on your drive)--no need for a live GParted CD, but it is nice to do it that way.

If you have Windows 10, I'll bet for sure you are booting your PC using the newer UEFI mode with a GPT partition table -- the new setup being used now. So when you boot your Kubuntu installer DVD/USB, do make sure you are booting it in UEFI/EFI mode. Do so by: re-boot with the DVD in the tray, enter your firmware setup (what we used to call BIOS setup), find a boot menu or a boot override menu, find your Kubuntu DVD in that list, and click the version of that DVD in that list that says something about EFI or UEFI. That way, you will boot and install Kubuntu in UEFI mode.

[tomp01]

I fully agree with Qqmike, these 'automatic' installers are scary!

Download an iso, check the MD sum and copy it to a USB flash drive, again check the MD hash.
Boot the computer from this Flash Drive and use the build in partition manager what Qqmike said, partition the HD as you want it.
You don't need a separate /swap, as long as you don't suspend to disk you can share the /swab.
Keep a note of the partitions you just made. (hdax for root, hday for /home, etx, x and y are numbers)

Now you click on the Install icon on the desktop and follow the Manual routine, again as Qqmike wrote make sure you don't format the existing /home.

I actually have two hard drives, one with Windows 10 on it and the other with Ubuntu 14.04, Zorin 9 and Linux Mint 17. I have used the side by side option over many years without any problems, which is why I just can't understand why it has been removed. If I use the Manual option what are the mount points for root, home and swap? Are they just /root, /home and /swap?

[Qqmike]

I don't know about the side-by-side option as I always use Manual. Imo, Manual is easy because you control everything.

First partition your drive to allow for Kubuntu 15.04.
Then install 15.04 (using Manual).

To partition your HDD (I assume you have just one HDD as you didn't say anything was special about your setup), do this as a separate step--for ease, for safety, and, again, to control things. Use GParted live CD/USB. The versions are here:
http://gparted.org/download.php
For newer machines, as it says, and for UEFI, use the amd64 as it says.
General info, manuals here:
http://gparted.org/livecd.php

So download, that, check the md5 or shasums to make sure it is good, then burn it to a CD using K3b or make a flash drive as it explains.

Run GParted live CD and make partitions for your 15.04:
root partition / (format as ext4)

/home partition (do you use a separate /home usually?) (format as ext4)

swap (you can share one swap partition for several Linux OSs, so maybe you already have one set up?).

When that's done, exit GParted, remove the CD, place the 15.04 DVD (or USB) in the computer, re-boot and go through installation using Manual. When asked, do not let the installer re-format root / and /home. It may want to re-format /swap, that's OK.

If you have UEFI booting on your PC, make sure to boot the 15.04 DVD, enter your computer's firmware setup menu, and select to boot the UEFI version of your DVD so you will have a full UEFI installation of 15.04.

That's the outline.

(edit, fixed spelling, it should be UEFI)

[tomp01]

Surely somebody knows the answer? If I am forced to used manual mode can somebody talk me through it?

[tomp01]

I have used Kubuntu over many years but trying to install Kubuntu 15.04 64 bit I noticed that the option to install side by side had been removed. Does anybody know why? I have several other Linux distros including Ubuntu 14.04 and Zorin 9 so I really don't want to use the manual option if I don't have to and risk screwing those up.